ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES 1802-1812 65ed but little education in their youth, had risen to their present rank
by virtue of mere seniority, and now saw their hope of retiring with
an esteemed rank and adequate pension suddenly imperiled by the poli-
cies of an upstart, a priest's son, a popovich. The two decrees, more
than anything else, contributed to isolating Speransky and to putting
him in a most exposed social and political position, while at the height
of his influence with the Emperor. 1
Even the best trained bureaucracy needs clear and precise rules and
laws to administer effectively. This fundamental tenet had been well
known to 18th century Western statesmanship, and it had been no ac-
cident that the bureaucratic enlightened absolutism of Frederick II
and Joseph II sponsored the codification of laws, to guide their offi-
cials so that they would rule on the basis of law (Rechtsstaat). 2 Russia,
however, possessed no up-to-date, complete, and easily accessible col-
lection of laws and regulations to direct the functionaries in the per-
formance of their duties, be they executive or judicial. The most recent
code of Russian law dated back to 1649. But since that time Russia had
undergone a profound transformation at the hands of Peter I and
Catherine II, and the country was governed on the basis of decrees,
laws and regulations issued after 1649. There was no reliable collection
of the laws and decrees in force; the legislative acts were widely scat-
tered among many offices, archives, and ministries. Conflicts and con-
tradictions - the inevitable result of piecemeal legislation - had not
been eliminated nor reconciled. Even the judges on the bench were
often ignorant of very important legislation and not infrequently de-
cided cases on the basis of obsolete and conflicting statutes. The senate,
acting as highest court of review, was flooded with cases which could
not be decided because of conflicting legal norms and lack of uniform
procedure. It was imperative to bring some order into this chaos.
Since Peter the Great, Russian monarchs had been keenly aware of the
1 For instance, Count S. R. Vorontsov wrote to his son, M. S. Vorontsov, in 1812:
"Le prince Koutousoff et Ie comte Rostopchine jouent des roles brilliants et hono-
rables de Pozharskii, quoiqu'ils ne savent pas plus de latin que leur modele, en depit
de l'opinion de l'illustre Speranskoi, qui a decide qu'un gentilhomme russe n'est
bon it rien s'il ne sait pas Ie latin, et cela aCin de remplacer la noblesse par des
popovichi [sons of priests], des fils de d'iachok [sexton] et des ponomar' [lector] qui
ont appris cette langue dans les seminaires. Ce Speransky et les pauvres ministres
qui 1'0nt soutenu, ont fait l'impossible pour exasperer cette noblesse vraiment
noble." Letter dated Londres, 20 Novembre 1812, No. 134 - P. Bartenev (ed.)
Arkhiv Kniazia Vorontsova, vol. 17, p. 255. Cf. also: D. P. Runich, "Iz zapisok D. P.
Runicha," Russkaia Starina, vol. 105 (January-March 1901), p. 353; A. la. Bulgakov,
"Vyderzhki iz zapisok Aleksandra Iakovlevicha Bulgakova 1811-1812," Russkii
Arkhiv, 1867, pp. 1367-1368; A. la. Bulgakov, "Iz zapisok A. la. Bulgakova (0 1812m
g.)," Russkii Arkhiv, (1900), pp. 14-17.
2 P. Klassen, Die Grundlagen des aufgekliirten Absolutismus (List Studien - Unter-
suchungen zur Geschichte der Staatswissenschaften, Heft 4), Jena 1929, pp. 22, 115.