CJIAPTEl\ XIILAST YEARS - CONCLUSIONBy bringing to a successful conclusion the task of codifying and
digesting Russian law, Speransky had accomplished the major goal
and purpose of his administrative work. It was the fulfillment and
crowning glory of his career. When in January 1833, at the Council of
State, Nicholas I bestowed his own star and sash of the Order of St.
Andrew, upon Privy Councillor Speransky in reward for his labors
on the code, the son of he priest of Cherkutino village could
well feel that he had attained the pinnacle of bureaucratic success.
From then on, until his death in 1839, Speransky continued as an
active member of the government, a high ranking and respected official,
but he contributed no fresh ideas or methods. He participated in
practically all important government discussions and administrative
reorganizations, but played no leading role; and his voice was not a
decisive one.
He was an elder statesman, though it might be more accurate to
call him an "elder bureaucrat" - as during the reign of Nicholas I
statecraft had been replaced by plodding committee work and limited,
piecemeal administrative ameliorations. Even more than his advice
and opinion, it was his pen that was in demand; after all, Speransky
was Russia's most skillful redacteur. In that capacity he drafted the
manifesto on the war with Turkey in 1828 and the proclamation on the
majority of Grand Duke Alexander, the heir. Speransky's recent success
at codification gave him the aura of legal expert. He was selected to give
lectures on law to the heir. The lectures have been preserved and pu-
blished. They illustrate Speransky's fundamental political attitudes with
great clarity and full force. Though some of his statements seem some-
What colored by a consideration for his imperial pupil, they are a truth-
ful picture of his views. He starts with a definition of laws that is very
close to that of natural law, but tempers it with the historical approach
(especially when he comes to discuss serfdom and the political organiza-