70 ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES 1802-1812It was probably fortunate for Russia that the Code was never put
into effect. In the first place the remaining parts of the code had not
been completed by the time of Speransky's fall from power, and after
his exile the members of the Council of State became more critical and
outspoken in their opinions. After 1815 Alexander cooled to the whole
idea arid did not push for completion, let alone insist on the first
part being put into practice. Once he could consider his codification
work objectively, without feeling the need to justify himself, Speransky
readily recognized its inadequacy. He came to realize that before a
definitive code of Russian law could be drawn up, all the legislation
enacted since 1649 had first to be collected and ordered. Already in
1809-1812 he had had an inkling of the need of such a preparatory
task, but had disregarded it. 1 In any case, the experience of his
failure at codification stood him in good stead after 1826 when he
again was set to the task of codifying Russian law.
In short, the ill-fated codification project had, on the one hand,
given more ammunition to his enemies' claim that his policy was
one of slavish imitation of alien and revolutionary French models, and,
on the other hand, it had served as a valuable experience to Speransky
and stimulated his interest in jurisprudence and law, leading him to
more intensive study of the field.
Although Speransky devoted his attention primarily to domestic
affairs, we should not forget that he was active during one of the
most crucial periods in European diplomatic and military history. As
a close and influential advisor to the Emperor, he could not fail to
be drawn into matters relating to Russia's international position. His
participation in problems of foreign relations began, naturally enough,
in connection with the annexation of Finland following a successful
war against Sweden.
The incorporation into the Russian Empire of the newly conquered
Finnish territory had begun in 1808, even before the formal recognition
of its transfer to Russian sovereignty by the treaty of Friedrichsham
(1809). The conquest and annexation of the Grand Duchy of Finland,
an ancient possession of Sweden, had been facilitated by the intrigues
and defection of an influential group of "Finnish" noblemen (actually
of Swedish origin and language); for instance, Governor Sprengporten,
1 It had been Jacob's procedure in connection with his preparation of the Criminal
section of the Code under Speransky's direction. Jacob, Denkwilrdigkeiten, pp. 297,
303, 305. Speransky admitted to Jacob: "Ich muss gestehen, dass ich in diesem Fache
nicht so bewandert bin, urn Ihre Anfragen jetzt geharig zu beantworten. Ich bin
mit zu vie len heterogenen Sachen beschiiftigt urn mit Sorgfalt ein Fach, und ins-
besonderem dieses, studieren zu kannen." Denkwilrdigkeiten, p. 302.