THE BEGINNINGS 23for the Capital, Speransky formed two friendships which deserve to be
mentioned, although they did not last very long. One of the members
of the Commission of Provisions was A. Radishchev, author of the
famous Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow, who had been allowed
to return from exile by Paul I. The evidence accessible to us does not
tell how close Speransky and Radishchev were at the time. In any
case, their acquaintance could not have lasted for long, as Radishchev
took his own life in the fall of 1802. But recent research has shown
that Speransky had a first-hand acquaintance with Radishchev's ideas
and valued greatly his learning and knowledge. 1 Although Speransky's
political ideology developed along somewhat different lines from that
of Radishchev's, there can be no doubt that he benefited from the
contact.^2
In the Chancery of the Senate, Speransky made the acquaintance of
V. N. Karazin, the visionary and enthusiastic correspondent and
"friend" of Alexander I. Karazin fancied himself the Marquis Posa of
Alexander I, but was not really up to this role. Later in life, Karazin
played an active part in the successful establishment of the University
of Kharkov and'tried to make a political come-back by presenting an
ingenious scheme for the improvement of the conditions of the serfs.
The characteristic feature of Karazin's letters and projects and of his
personal activity as curator (popechitel') of the University of Kharkov
and as big landowner in the Ukraine, was a high moral pathos. He
did not approve of liberal social or political reforms, but he wanted
to set a high standard for the moral leadership of the Emperor and
the state. In all fairness to him it must be said that he applied this
1 In his first plan for administrative reforms, Speransky recommended Radishchev
as best qualified to write "a history of Russian law - a necessary work, and his
(Radishchev's) talents and knowledge will shed much light on this unknown field."
V. I. Semevskii, "Pervyi politicheskii traktat Speranskogo," Russkoe Bogatstvo, 1907,
No. I, p. 57.
2 In 1801, upon the accession of Alexander I, Count A. Vorontsov submitted the
proposal for a "Charter to the Russian people" by which the Emperor would
guarantee certain basic rights to his subjects and set forth the guiding principles
of his reign. The draft for this Charter was prepared by A. Radishchev, the final
text is in Speransky's hand. On the evidence of this latter fact it was thought that
Speransky was one of the authors of this Charter. Recent investigations, however,
show that Speransky opposed the idea of the Charter and that, in any case, he did
not participate in the drafting of the document. From all evidence, Speransky's
participation was very small, limited to some stylistic improvements added after
the Charter had been the subject of discussions in the Unofficial Committee.
However, the fact remains that Speransky was familiar with the ideas contained
in the Charter (the Charter itself was never promulgated). See: V. P. Semennikov,
Radishchev-ocherki i issledovaniia, Moscow·Petrograd 1923, pp. 177, 430, 431, 433;
Georg Sacke, Gra! A. Voroncov, A. N. RadiUev und der "Gnadenbrie! fur das russische
Volk." EmsdetteT 1939 (?). On Radishehev's connections with young government
officials see D. E. Ilabkin, A. N. Radishchell - Literaturno-obshchestvenllaia dejate/'-
nasi', M.-L. 1966