PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWS AND POLITICAL THEORY 213It is, however, interesting to note that like his rhetorical models
from earlier centuries, Speransky did not go beyond a statement of the
moral duties and character of kingship. He drew no conclusions and
gave no advice as to the possible actions the subjects should take if the
ruler did not conform to this high ideal. True, it would not have been
very safe to do so at the height of Catherine's persecution of all man-
ifestations of liberalism. We should also note his strong insistence on
the ethical and religious side, in particular on the idea that civil
society and government are but a stage on the path towards the higher
realm of God.^1 Again a natural idea for a young theologian, but
significant in Speransky's case as he never repudiated it and considered
his own administrative and practical activities only as means for
directing Russia to the achievement of spiritual and moral ends.
Upon contact with the hard facts of Russian administration in the
early years of the 19th century, Speransky's ethical and religious
preoccupations receded somewhat into the background, although they
never quite disappeared from his consciousness. As might have been
noted, in the plans and projects of reform described previously,
Speransky had no opportunity for theorizing. All his energies and
attention had to be focused on the practical details of administration.
His theoretical framework must be inferred indirectly from the measures
he advocated and the arguments he used to support them. For this task
our knowledge of the philosophical and ethical framework of his
thought will be of some help. The basic moral assumptions can be
detected in all of his plans and papers. Thus, for instance, in a draft
proposal of a reorganization of the judiciary, in 1803, Speransky wrote
of the sovereign: " ... this power acting on the basis of precepts
grounded only in his inner conviction, in the conscience of the sov-
ereign is nothing but the expression or application of his personal rule
[of behavior]." 2 And in a short paper he read to Emperor Alexander
in 1811, analyzing the factors which make for the strength of govern-
ment, he put in first place the spiritual and ethical basis of all
legislation. 3
Our previous discussion of Speransky's legislative work and projects
for reform must have made clear that we can not speak of his
constitutionalism and "liberalism" except with qualifications. Confu-
sion may perhaps be avoided if we recall a distinction made by O.
1 Ibid., pp. 289-290.
2 V. I. Semevskii, "Iz istorii obshchestvennykh techenii v Rossii v XVIII i pervoi
polovine XIX vv.," Istoricheskoe Obozrenie, IX, (1897), p. 270.
3 Speranskii, "0 sile pravitel'stva, (chitano imperatoru 3 dek. 1811) ", Russkaia
Starina, (Dec. 1902), pp. 495-499.