2 THE BEGINNINGS
The boy's childhood passed quite uneventfully. The records that
have been preserved, indicate that he was a healthy, normal and happy
child. He spent his days playing with the peasant children of his native
village, and together with them he received the first rudiments of educa-
tion from his father. Tradition has it that Speransky showed a stronginterest in books and learning at a very early age, withdrawing from
the company of his playmates in order to read. Was this really so, or
was it only one of those common pious fancies which transform future
great men into precocious bookworm& and Einzelgiinger? - we do not
know, although the latter explanation seems more likely.' The only
noteworthy event in Speransky's childhood w,as the visit to Cherkutino
of the famous court chaplain A. A. Samborskii, who was a guest at
the nearby estate of Count Saltykov. Samborskii noticed the bright,
lively, and likeable boy and suggested that young Michael keep in
touch with him when he was ready to start on his advanced education.
Speransky remembered the offer and made good use of it when he
went to St. Petersburg.If little can be related about Speransky's boyhood, not much more
can be said about his family. The father, a rather colorless and
ineffectual man, died when Speransky was still a boy. The family was
kept together and run by the mother, who was an exceptionally
intelligent and energetic woman. Her physical and moral strength
provided a psychological anchor for the entire family. She commanded
eVl:rybody's devotion and obedience, and the love her children had
for her was always mixed with the awe and respect usually shown the
father. In later years, Sp~ransky regularly corresponded with his mother
until the end of her long life (she died in 1824 when her son was
Privy Councillor and a member of the Council of State). Characteris-
tically, in his letters Speransky never allowed himself any familiarity
or unrest:[~ained show of feeling; and while he made allowance for his
mother's lack of education and limited horizon, he addressed her only
in the polite form C'vy") and never failed to ask humbly and
respectfully for her blessings and prayers.
The most striking and unusual person in the family was Spemnsky's
grandmother. In later years Speransky often recalled the awe and fear
he experienced when, waking up in the middle of the night, he saw
his grandmother's tall, gaunt and grey figure prostrated in fervent
prayer before the icons, heaving mournful sighs as she bowed her head
to the ground; thus she would spend the whole night. The waking
hours too she spent in constant prayer. Every year, in spite of her
advanced age, she undertook long and difficult pilgrimages to distant