ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES 1802-1812 55meeting with Napoleon at Erfurt in 1808. Contemporary rumor had it
that at Erfurt Speransky fell under the spell of Napoleon and French
institutions. The story is told that soon after their arrival in Erfurt,
Alexander asked his secretary what he thought of the French and
Western European political systems; to this Speransky is alleged to
have replied, "Their institutions are better, but we have the better
people". Supposedly Alexander rejoined that this was his opinion too
and that they would talk about it later ("nous en recauserons"). This
incident, nowhere substantiated in contemporary documents, was
probably fabricated in support of the belief that Speransky had fallen
for the blandishments of the French. To anyone familiar with the
attitudes of Alexander and Speransky, their alleged high opinion of
the Russian bureaucratic personnel is, to say the least, highly
implausible; and however much they might have been impressed by
French institutions, they would hardly have compared them to the
personnel of Russia. Moreover, Speransky was not at all ignorant of
French institutions before he went to Erfurt; had he succumbed to
their attraction at all, it would have been before the trip. Speransky's
yielding to Napoleon's and Talleyrand's blandishments or bribery must
be rejected as either legend or idle gossip. 1
After their return from Erfurt, Speransky emerged as the most
trusted and intimate collaborator of Alexander I on domestic political
and administrative matters. As the Sardinian ambassador, Count
Joseph de Maistre, described it, "Ie grand et tout puissant Speransky,
Secretaire-General de l'Empire, et dans Ie fait premier Ministre et peut-
etre meme Ministre unique," 2 However, Speransky's official rank
remained a modest one; he was relieved of his duties as chief of the
Second Department of the Ministry of the Interior and appointed
Assistant Minister of Justice in charge of codification and, later, State
Secretary. But the range of his activities was almost universal and
embraced nearly all aspects of Russia's administration and policy, the
great exceptions being the military and, to some extent, diplomatic
fields. There hardly was a significant administrative measure between
1808 and 1812 in the preparation of which Speransky did not
participate. However, his participation was not significant enough in
every case to detain us here. As this period of his most active
1 Vandal's belief that Alexander took Speransky to Erfurt so that the latter
could study the French governmental system is not supported by the evidence.
Anyway, Vandal is not too reliable on the Russian domestic scene. Vandal,
Napoleon et Alexandre 1, vol. I, p. 408.
2 Joseph de Maistre, Oeuvres completes - Correspondance, vol. IV (Paris 1884-93),
No. 304 (dated 2/21 April 1812), pp. 101-102.