1881 год

Thank you, dear Konstantin Petrovich, for your congratulations on our Ksenia. I still find Baranov’s project to be somewhat crazy, and the main thing as a matter of principle is not to fight over the Greeks - they are not worth it. If Baranov wants to prove in practice all the benefits of having ships like Yaroslavl, and all the inconsistency of battleships, then it is better to find another case and pretext. I very, very regret the death of poor Dostoevsky, this is a great loss and positively no one will replace him. Gr. Loris-Medikov already reported this to the Emperor this morning and asked for permission to financially help Dostoevsky’s family. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your sincere letter. I pray and hope in God alone. He will not leave us and our dear Russia. I have the honor to present to your Imperial Majesty a telegram I received from Ufa. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your heartfelt letter, which I fully share. Come see me tomorrow at 3 o'clock, I will be happy to talk to you. Please come see me today at 2 o'clock. I haven’t seen you for a long time and I would like to talk about a lot of things. March 18, 1881 Please, dear Konstantin Petrovich, fulfill my request and make my first steps easier for me. Please talk to the bar. Nikolai about the assumption you know and then tell me your conversation and its solution. Please write bar. Nikolai, that I would like to see him today at 2 o’clock. March 29, 1881. Gatchina. Litvinov is indeed appointed commandant of the main apartment, but this appointment has nothing more than a place of honor in which he will not do anything. There was never any talk of appointing him for my protection in the form of the commandant of the palace or area where I would live. Litvinov does not even live in Gatchina and remains in St. Petersburg. I think that the rumors about Litvinov are exaggerated, and that he is not a dangerous person at all, at least I have not heard anything like that, and I have known Litvinov for a long time. His wife is indeed a dissolute woman and lived with many people, but I have also never heard of political unreliability. Rest assured, Litvinov has nothing to do with security and was never intended for this. I myself often thought about Count Vorontsov and, very possibly, I will take him to me in the form of the head of the main apartment so that he will always be with me. God commanded us to experience this terrible day. It was as if God's punishment had fallen on unfortunate Russia. I would like to hide my face, go underground, so as not to see, not to feel, not to experience. God, have mercy on us. But for you this day is even more terrible and, thinking about you in these minutes, that the bloody threshold through which God wants to lead you into your new destiny, my whole soul trembles for you with the fear of the stormy future for you and for Russia, with the fear of the great unspeakable burden that is placed on you. Loving you as a person, I would like, as a person, to save you from the burden of a free life; but there is no human strength for this, for God was so pleased. It was His holy will that you were born into the world for this purpose and that your beloved brother, going to Him, would show you his place on earth. The people believe in this will of God, and at His command they lift up their hope in you and in the strong power God has entrusted to you. God bless you. May the people's prayer encourage you, and may the people's faith give you the strength and intelligence to rule with a strong hand and firm will. You get a Russia that is disturbed, shattered, confused, yearning to be led with a firm hand, so that the ruling power can see clearly and know firmly what it wants, and what it does not want and will not allow in any way. Everyone will wait in excitement to see what your will will be. Many will want to take possession of it and guide it. Your Majesty, let me tell you this day. The first days of your reign will be especially significant and require special consideration and prudence. I cannot calm down from the terrible shock. I cannot drive away the worry that oppresses me about you and your safety. Forgive me that in these sorrowful hours I come to you with my word: for God’s sake, in these first days of your reign, which will be of decisive importance for you, do not miss a single opportunity to declare your personal decisive will, coming directly from you, so that everyone can hear and know: “I want this,” or “I don’t want this.” No precaution is superfluous at these moments. But I am the only one who is worried: this anxiety is shared by all ordinary Russian people. Today I already met several ordinary people who all spoke with fear and horror about the Marble Palace. This idea has taken root among the people. Meeting on March 21 at V.V. So far the result has only been a rapprochement between individuals, for the first time, and this is good; I rejoice that those who have hitherto avoided me speak to me without coercion. Since that day I have not yet seen any of the ministers. I look forward to when we get together for a general meeting. V. book. Vladimir Aleksandrovich noted that all the disagreement that has existed until now stems only from misunderstandings, but I am afraid that these misunderstandings are deeper than it seems, and should be revealed every time when it is necessary not only to speak, but to begin actions and orders. It is not difficult to reason, and to avoid disagreements, phrases and sharp shades of views and opinions are smoothed out; But when it is necessary to take decisive action, discord is revealed and the power of action is paralyzed. The strangest rumors and expectations regarding this meeting circulated among the public last week and continue to this day. Many were sure that on the 15th, then 17th, 18th something unusual would happen and appear. Rumors about representation have risen again - perhaps now they will die down. But the confusion will not calm down, I am convinced, until the government declares itself with such actions that would not leave doubt or split thoughts in anyone. I dare to think, Your Imperial Majesty, that in order to calm minds at this moment it would be necessary on your behalf to address the people with a firm statement that does not allow for any doublethink. This would encourage all well-meaning straight people. The first manifesto was too short and vague. I will try, if you like, to come up with an appropriate edition and present it at your discretion. At the same time, I continue to think that Your Majesty needs to appear in St. Petersburg. Your constant, travel-free stay in Gatchina arouses among the people many rumors of the most incredible, but nevertheless taken on faith. Today people have already asked whether it is true that the sovereign is no longer in the world and that they are hiding it. The spread and strengthening of such rumors can be very dangerous in Russia, and malicious people, there are so many of them now, use them to confuse the people. There are many of these in Russia - they are all waiting in excitement and fear to see what the real government will say, where it will go. Rest assured, no one will dare come to me with such proposals, and that all six will be hanged, I guarantee that. Your Imperial Majesty. Forgive me for God's sake for bothering and bothering you so often. Today a thought was put into motion that terrifies me. People have become so depraved in their thoughts that others consider it possible to spare convicted criminals from the death penalty. The fear is already spreading among the Russian people that they may present perverted thoughts to Your Majesty and persuade you to pardon the criminals. This rumor reached the old man, Count. Stroganov, who came to me today in excitement. Could this happen? No, no, and a thousand times no - it cannot be that in the face of the entire Russian people, at such a moment you would forgive the murderers of your father, the Russian sovereign, for whose blood the whole earth (except for a few, weakened in mind and heart) demands vengeance and loudly grumbles that it is slowing down. If this could happen, believe me, sir, it will be considered a great sin, and will shake the hearts of all your subjects. I am a Russian person, I live among Russians and I know how the people feel and what they demand. At this moment everyone is thirsting for retribution. Whichever of these villains escapes death will immediately build new forges. For God's sake, Your Majesty, let not the voice of flattery and dreaminess penetrate your heart. Your Imperial Majesty's loyal subject Konstantin Pobedonostsev I completely approve of this idea. If you want to see me, then come to Gatchina on Monday at 12 o’clock. On the occasion of the current terrible events, the Holy Synod decided to publish a pastoral letter to all the people. This will correspond to the actual need stated everywhere. Similar examples occurred in cases of much less importance, for example, after the story of Petrashevsky in 1848. The resolution of the synod was passed by me today and is due to be implemented in the next few days. I have the honor to present a copy of the supposed message to Your Imperial Majesty. Before Easter, proposals for rewards in the spiritual department are usually presented to the highest view. If it pleases Your Imperial Majesty to maintain the same order, then I will await orders when to appear with this report in Gatchina. Gatchina April 4, 1881. I am sending you the image and flag I received today from representatives of the city of Yaroslavl for our cruiser Dob. fleet "Yaroslavl". Please pass it on to its destination. Gatchina 1881 April 21. I am sending you a letter from Karamzina, which I received from Crimea, for you to read. This is again the view of a true Russian who understands our current situation. Our meeting today made a sad impression on me. Loris, Milutip and Abaza positively continue the same policy and want to one way or another bring us to a representative government, but until I am convinced that this is necessary for the happiness of Russia, of course this will not happen, I will not allow it. It is unlikely, however, that I will ever be convinced of the benefits of such a measure; I am too sure of its harm. It’s strange to listen to smart people who can seriously talk about the representative principle in Russia, as if they were memorized phrases they had read from our lousy journalism and bureaucratic liberalism. I am becoming more and more convinced that I cannot expect any good from these ministers. God forbid I'm wrong. Their words are not sincere, they do not breathe truth. You may have heard that Vladimir, my brother, looks at things correctly and, just like me, does not allow for an elective principle. It is difficult and difficult to deal with such ministers who deceive themselves. Please return Karamzina's letter to me. A very curious letter that I received from Paris. “The handwriting seems familiar, but I absolutely can’t guess.” It’s strange that many thoughts coincide with the thoughts expressed in the manifesto you compiled. Send it back to me later. in Ch. Art. Received from the device FROM Gatchina 27/IV 1881 I fully approve of the editors of the project. Come to me tomorrow at 2 o'clock to talk in more detail. Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod of the PV. At the meeting on April 28, the Minister of Internal Affairs will report: 1. A note transmitted by His Imperial Majesty the Sovereign Emperor on the establishment of special investigative commissions, with the central one at the head, to investigate cases of state crimes. 2. A note on the subjects of the department of the state police department, in connection with the assumption of some measures to establish a preventive police force on a solid basis. 3. Considerations on preliminary orders for the revision of certain parts of the Regulations on zemstvo and city institutions, in order to regulate the activities of these institutions. and 4. A note drawn up at the Ministry of Internal Affairs in February of this year regarding statements received at different times from zemstvo assemblies on measures to eliminate the disorder in the life of peasants. There was a lot of discussion, and everything revolved around the institution - the constitutional one. V. book. Vladimir said at the end that the matter should be postponed. When they left, Nabokov announced the news about the manifesto and read it. An explosion of indignation. Abaza, losing his temper, shouted: we must stop, we must demand that the sovereign take back this violation of the contract he entered into with us... Here Loris-Melikov stopped him. Then Abaza said with excitement: Who wrote this manifesto? A dramatic minute. I hurried to leave. It is curious that after this many turned away from me and did not shake hands. Nabokov was very indignant. All this happened on Fontanka, in Loris-Melikov’s office. God, in his inscrutable destinies, was pleased to end the glorious reign of our beloved parent with a martyr’s death, and to entrust us with the sacred duty of autocratic rule. Obeying the will of providence and the law of the state heritage, we accepted this burden in a terrible hour of nationwide sorrow and horror, before the face of the Almighty God, believing that having predetermined the work of power for us in such a difficult and difficult time, he will not abandon us with his all-powerful help. We also believe that the fervent prayers of the pious people, known throughout the world for their love and devotion to their sovereigns, will attract God’s blessing to us and to the work of government before us. In Bose, our deceased parent, having accepted autocratic power from God for the benefit of the people entrusted to him, remained faithful to death to the vow he had taken, and sealed his great service with his blood. Not so much by the strict orders of the authorities, but by its kindness and meekness, he accomplished the greatest work of his reign - the liberation of the serfs, having managed to attract noble owners to assist in this, always obedient to the voice of goodness and honor; established a court in the kingdom, and called on his subjects, all of whom he made forever free without distinction, to manage the affairs of local government and public economy. May his memory be blessed forever. The base and villainous murder of the Russian sovereign, in the midst of a faithful people ready to lay down their lives for him, by unworthy monsters from among the people, is a terrible, shameful, unheard of thing in Russia, darkened our entire land with sorrow and horror. But in the midst of our great sorrow, the voice of God commands us to stand vigorously in the work of government, trusting in Divine providence, with faith in the power and truth of autocratic power, which we are called upon to affirm and protect for the good of the people, from any encroachments on it. May the hearts of our faithful subjects, struck by confusion and horror, all who love the fatherland and devoted from generation to generation to the hereditary royal power, be encouraged. Under its canopy and in inextricable union with it, our Earth has experienced great turmoil more than once and brought strength and glory in the midst of difficult trials and disasters, with faith in God, who arranges its destinies. Devoting ourselves to our great service, we call on all our faithful subjects to serve us and the state faithfully, to eradicate the vile sedition that disgraces the Russian Land, to strengthen faith and morality, to raise children well, to exterminate untruth and theft, to establish order and truth in the functioning of the institutions given to Russia by its benefactor, our beloved parent. Really a lot of truth and common sense. I hasten to present to Your Imperial Majesty a note that I have just received from an unknown person. It is well written and worth reading. I would only object to a decisive judgment about Baranov: it is true that Baranov's power must be directed and restrained. Because of haste and receptivity, he is prone to mistakes and passions, and it is necessary that above him there is a person who can hold him morally. Such a person could not possibly be gr. Loris-Melikov, for they both hate and despise each other. 34. THE VERY FIRST THING IS WHAT RUSSIA NEEDS NOW. The very first thing that Russia now needs is the calm and cheerfulness of the Tsar’s spirit, otherwise a clear consciousness and understanding of the present situation and firmness and energy of action are impossible. The sovereign must have complete confidence that the sacred life of himself and his family can and will always be protected from all hellish attempts by hidden villains. The Scripture says, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” The Lord saved Emperor Alexander II from six villainous attempts on his life; but in none of these attempts were the warning instructions of God so obvious and the neglect of them and the temptation of the Lord so bold as in the terrible event of March 1st. Zhelyabov had already been arrested; Undermining was strongly suspected on Malaya Sadovaya... They say, gr. Loris-Melikov asked the sovereign not to leave for several days; but when the sovereign did go for the divorce, he did not take any measures to protect the royal path and not only did he not personally accompany the sovereign, but there was not even a mayor. The Emperor passed the danger on M. Sadovaya, driving to the Mikhailovsky Manege by a different route. Because of the divorce, the sovereign went to see Vel. princes Ekaterina Mikhailovna and stayed for about 1/2. Consequently, there was enough time to inspect and secure the way back to the Winter Palace... They say that they did not know which way the sovereign would return. Yes, precisely those people did not know, whose very first and most sacred duty was to preserve the life of the king; the villains knew and were well accommodated... From the Mikhailovsky Palace, in addition to the usual convoy, three of his permanent guards followed the sovereign - Dvorzhitsky, Koch and Kulebyakin, and not one of them thought to inspect, first, the path and ride ahead of the tsar (Trepov always did this.) - The first explosion was heard... The Emperor remained unharmed and got out of the carriage. What do guards do? One grabs and holds the villain, the other runs up to the sovereign to say that the villain has been caught. It did not occur to them that such attempts were not limited to one throwing projectile, that there must have been more villains in the same place or nearby, and that, therefore, the first thing was to remove all strangers from the sovereign. This is what the agent who accompanied Napoleon did after the explosion of the Orsigne bomb. But, in all likelihood, Dvorzhitsky, Koch and Kulebyakin had never heard of Orsigne’s bombs, or of assassination attempts with projectiles in general. Meanwhile, people who are entrusted with the direct protection of the life of the sovereign must know in detail all past cases, the entire history of political assassinations, and not only not get lost in the moment of danger, but immediately, with complete composure and composure, take appropriate measures. For such people, the four minutes that elapsed between two explosions would have been too much to save the king. Thus, the entire sequential course of the terrible event of March 1st clearly shows that the regicide could have been committed solely due to the fact that 1) the person to whom the late sovereign entrusted the protection of his life and the tranquility of the entire state, despite all the obvious warning instructions of God, did not fulfill his first duty, did not take any precautions, but only, like Pilate, washed his hands, and 2) at the very moment of committing the atrocity about the sovereign, of his constant, immediate guardians, there was not a single person who knew his business and was capable of fulfilling his most important duties. From all this it directly follows that the real danger to the life of the sovereign lies not in the hellish plans of hidden villains, but in the complete absence of people around the tsar who can prevent the implementation of these plans. in all this there is no sure salvation, but only a new temptation of the Lord and a weakening of the spirit... A king can be quite confident in the complete safety of both his own life and the life of his family, if only he has honest people around him, knowledgeable and energetic. Therefore, we must look for such people and find at least one proper person. The new mayor does not inspire any confidence in himself, and not only among the educated class of the capital’s population, but even shopkeepers and cab drivers say about him: “not the kind of person who will not harass the miners and throwers and will not save the Tsar.” And indeed: the reviews of his corps comrades and the entire past of General Baranov show him to be dexterous and brave to the point of insolence, an intriguer and a careerist, his very first actions as the capital’s mayor, namely: an opening order on the police, a printed statement about his business cards with the obvious purpose of reminding everyone that “we are not just anyone, but the heroes of Vesta” - failure to comply with the rules of the highest decree on the elections of the council of the mayor and completely the childish measures he came up with to protect the capitals from villains - all these actions clearly showed that General Baranov does not understand his extremely important duties at the present time and treats their execution with extreme negligence, even reaching the point of violating the highest orders. But, they say that only extraordinary energy is generated. Baranov is responsible for important discoveries and the arrest of many important criminals who took part in the atrocity of March 1st. A big and harmful misconception, we simply forgot that after each new political attack, the activity of the police, regardless of who was at the head of it, at first always became especially energetic, and discoveries and arrests of important state criminals were always made. The hasty and thoughtless actions of General Baranov and the method he invented for discovering the residence of one important criminal, as it turned out, gave the villains time and opportunity to hide and destroy very important papers and other things. All these are real facts that the police themselves and even the janitors and cab drivers make fun of. How can you trust such a person? Such a mayor, especially in these troubled times, is a true temptation of the Lord. Haste. and the thoughtlessness of General Baranov are all the more harmful and dangerous because the actions of the hidden villains, on the contrary, are unusually consistent and deliberate. All political processes show that the villains act from the very beginning according to a strictly defined plan, pursue their hellish goals with calm, unremitting energy and, in essence, always use the same tactics, changing them only in detail, in accordance with the actions of the government and the measures taken by it. For each attempt, the villains sacrifice several of their like-minded people who make up a certain group, trying mainly to ensure that the main local horse breeders are not captured, but can hide and lay a nest for a new crime, taking advantage of the confusion created. At the same time, a mass of exculpatory and threatening proclamations are being distributed in various, even significantly remote areas, in order to arouse the greatest possible anxiety and excitement, to frighten the government and society with the large number and prevalence of the terrorist party, to divert attention from the main center of action, to assign work on the side and to mislead even senior government officials regarding the real, true reasons for the villains’ attempt on the life of the Tsar. This tactic has so far been successful for the villains, and they have been especially skillful in entangling the city with it. Loris-Melikova. This is how serious people understand this personality and explain to themselves the feigned liberal way of acting; although they do not take an active part in the terribly dangerous turmoil taking place in our country, they are ardently devoted to their sovereign and fatherland and therefore vigilantly following the entire course of events. Count Loris-Melikov is an honest man in the sense that he has not taken and does not take bribes; but at the same time, he is extremely ambitious and power-hungry, a completely heartless egoist, and in his mental and moral inclination he is a purely Eastern man: his mind is cunning and crafty, but by no means far-sighted or deeply insightful and very one-sidedly developed by life practice and intrigue in relations with Eastern people. There is nothing noble, broad-state in this mind. Count Loris-Melikov could still be a good ruler in the Caucasus; but he does not understand Russia and the Russian people and is completely alien to them in his heartfelt desires. He is not loyal to the king and will never put his life in danger for him. His scientific, especially historical and political, education is very superficial and limited. About the social issue, detailed knowledge and deep understanding of which, both in its entirety and in all its ramifications, should constitute for gr. Loris-Melikov's first need and necessity - he has an extremely one-sided and superficial concept; or rather, gr. Loris-Melikov became acquainted only with the external manifestations of this issue here in Russia, from our political processes, and his main source in this regard was the testimony of the criminal Goldenberg. Since in none of the previous political trials was there any such testimony on the part of the criminals, Goldenberg’s testimony was attributed to the extraordinary art and skill of the gr. Loris-Melikova to subordinate even important state criminals to his influence and force them to speak. This undoubtedly inspired the late sovereign with special confidence in the gr. Loris-Melikov and the complete conviction that he is exactly the person who will be able to reveal all the threads of the hidden sedition and destroy it completely. But for sedition, gr. Loris - Melikov turned out to be not only not dangerous, but exactly the person she needed. It was not the Armenian who outwitted the Jew, but the Jew who outwitted the Armenian. Black person. Loris-Melikov passed Goldenberg; and Goldenberg understood gr. Loris-Melikova and conducted it. The seditious men immediately realized that gr. Loris-Melikov fell into their trap, and after the assassination attempt on Molodetsky, they left him alone. Goldenberg's testimony had the most terrible significance for Russia and its Tsar: they made it possible to prepare for regicide - the eternal shame of the entire Russian land, the entire Russian people... These testimonies consist of three main parts: in one, the criminal sets out in detail the Lipetsk meeting of villains, at which it was decided to kill the Tsar, and the failed attempts on the life of the Tsar undertaken in pursuance of this decision, up to and including the explosion in the Winter Palace, and he also names the participants in the attempts. In the other part, the reasons that prompted the villains to make this decision are explained; the main one of these reasons is the conviction of the villains that Alexander II will never give free institutions to his people, who therefore “will have to remain in their extremely ignorant and disastrous economic situation, while state property will be more and more plundered by the tsar’s servants.” - In the third part, Goldenberg says that he makes his testimony quite voluntarily and sincerely, because he realizes that the government is stronger than the socialist party, that every attempt on the life of the tsar, not achieving its goal, causes new, more powerful ones on the part of the government. strong and general repressive measures, which, while constraining the actions of socialists, at the same time delay the development of the entire country and further worsen the plight of the people; that in the end, the government will certainly overpower the socialists and can introduce completely despotic orders. Therefore, before the inevitable execution, he makes completely frank and truthful testimony, reveals all the plans of his party, betrays all the main participants in these plans and leaders of this party, in the firm hope that they will stop all further attempts, as leading to completely opposite results. The frank truthfulness of the first part of Goldenberg's testimony could, of course, arouse confidence in the testimony of the other two parts in a person who has not thoroughly studied the social question, especially the development and all its ramifications in the last twelve years, but the obvious deliberate falsity of the testimony contained in these two parts is completely obvious to everyone who knows the basic first commandment of the terrorist faction of socialists - to destroy every existing family, social and state order, unlimited, constitutional and republican Count Loris-Melikov was completely carried away by the testimony of the criminal Goldenberg, especially the second part of it: this shows his entire subsequent course of action. First of all, it is certain that the mined gr. Loris-Melikov's, indeed, very important testimony, so to speak, elevated him in his own eyes, gave him confidence that he, an Eastern man, cunning in intrigues with Eastern people, could reveal the most sophisticated and latest European sedition. For gr. For Loris-Melikov, it became clear and undeniable that he had penetrated into the modern hiding places of sedition in Russia, held in his hands and knew the surest and, moreover, the most humane and liberal means to completely stop it. His exorbitant ambition and lust for power strengthened him even more in this conviction and then already repeated to him: “you will destroy sedition in Russia and at the same time give Russia free, European state institutions, you will be the first Russian prime minister.” Soon after the end of the political trial of Goldenberg, who strangled himself after the testimony he made, Count Loris-Melikov convinces the sovereign that the high commission has done its job, revealed the main threads of sedition, and therefore it is necessary to begin the transition from emergency temporary measures to the legal ordinary order. Indeed, the high commission is abolished; gr. Loris-Melikov becomes Minister of Internal Affairs, retaining the rights of interim governor general. The III Department is annexed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Police Department is established. In this way, the entire police force, overt and secret, is united in one department. This, of course, was very important and extremely necessary for the unity and consent of police actions and their energetic direction towards one common main goal - to protect the sovereign and to the final disclosure and cessation of sedition. But in order to truly achieve this main goal, it was necessary, following the external unification of all the police in one department, to give it internal unification, an internal correct structure and, above all, to find and appoint the proper people for the direct general management of all the police in the state and also, at least, for the management of the capital-Petersburg police, in order to be completely calm and confident in the complete safety of the sacred life of the sovereign. This should have been the first matter and the first, most important concern of Count Loris-Melikov. But what do we see? The former comrade of the chief of gendarmes, General Cherevin, a person known to everyone for his insignificance, is appointed as a comrade of the Minister of Internal Affairs in police matters. The director of the postal department, Baron Velio, who was once a governor, but has not shown himself in any particular way in political affairs and processes, the main ones in these troubled times, is transferred as director of the new state police department; finally, even the mayor of the capital, the permanent residence of the sovereign emperor, is appointed to be a completely ordinary police person, General Fedorov. All this directly shows that gr. Loris-Melikov attached only secondary importance to police preventive and protective activities, even directly in the capital itself, being firmly convinced that the main threads of the hidden sedition had indeed already been discovered, that it would stop in its further actions, and that, therefore, his main attention and all his actions should be directed to the implementation of those humane liberal measures and the introduction in Russia of those liberal European state institutions which, according to the second part of Goldenberg's testimony, had to destroy all the main reasons that prompted the seditionists to make persistent attempts on the sacred life of the king. Indeed, “new trends” are spreading; the press enjoys wide freedom, despite unrepealed censorship laws and individual supreme commands; The newspapers write quite transparently about the need for the speedy introduction of a European constitution in Russia and quite directly, without any beating around the bush, about a responsible ministry headed by the prime minister. Young people return from administrative exile and are allowed to re-enter universities and other higher education institutions to complete their course. The entire periodical press applauds gr. Loris-Melikov and glorifies all his measures and actions: only “Moskovskie Vedomosti” and “Russian Messenger” do not rejoice, foreseeing the mournful disastrous consequences of the “new trends” that have become too widespread, and directly speak out against them... The Emperor goes to the Crimea; gr. Loris-Melikov accompanies him and, upon his return, announces to the editors of the capital's newspapers and magazines that they should abandon their “illusions,” because the sovereign will not give any free institutions either in the sense of Western European representative assemblies, or in the sense of our former zemstvo councils. But the gr. Loris-Melikov does not abandon these “illusions”; he comes up with senatorial audits, albeit with a hidden, but very transparent goal of collecting factual data on the spot that would convince the sovereign of the need to convene zemstvo representatives. The Emperor returns safely from Crimea. Everything is quiet and calm; secret sedition does not declare its existence in any way, only in universities there are student gatherings that are not permitted by law and unrest is clearly intensifying, but no decisive measures are taken against it. The time comes for the next zemstvo and noble meetings, and they are allowed to discuss the issue of improving the economic situation of the peasants, restoring and expanding the rights of the nobility, ending administrative exile, etc. The meetings represent the most important addresses on the indicated issues, for the general state discussion of which it is necessary to appoint some kind of central commission. And so, rumors begin to spread in society that gr. Loris-Melikov submitted a note to the sovereign in February (they even designate February 17th) on the need to convene zemstvo and noble representatives in St. Petersburg for a general discussion of the above issues; They claim that the sovereign approved this measure, even expanded it, but postponed its implementation until the results of senatorial audits. Suddenly an atrocity occurs on March 1st. There cannot be the slightest doubt that the seditious people knew well that the sovereign agreed to the convening of zemstvo representatives, since this was talked about everywhere in society. Consequently, if the reasons that prompted the villains to attempt the life of the Tsar were really in the conviction that Alexander II would never give his people free institutions, then this conviction of the villains was now completely untenable and should have been completely destroyed, and the villains could not have made a new attempt on the life of the Tsar. On the contrary, the villains accelerate the assassination attempt and commit it precisely after the sovereign’s decision to convene representatives of the zemstvo and nobility. This fact directly and undoubtedly proves that gr. Loris-Melikov was completely mistaken and that the course of action he adopted was extremely erroneous and led to a terrible misfortune, to the eternal shame of the Russian land and the entire Russian people. We do not at all suspect Mr. Loris-Melikov of any premeditated treasonous intentions, but, on the basis of the above-mentioned actual facts, which would convince even the infidel Thomas, we directly affirm that gr. Loris-Melikov was deceived by the seditionists, like the most naive newcomer to political sedition, fell into their network and acted, of course, unintentionally and unconsciously, directly in the views and goals of the seditionists, blinded by his first, completely false success and his boundless ambition and lust for power. So what? Was the gr. heartbroken? Loris-Melikov before the sacred blood of the martyr king - the victim of his deeds; did he recognize his grave errors and, with a contrite heart, did he repent of them? No: the heartless, soulless egoist, ambitious and power-hungry could not partake of the sacred blood of the martyr tsar and, aware, of course, of his errors, did not repent of them, but used all the subtlest bends of his crafty, sophisticated mind in order to confirm his shaken position at the throne of the tsar, to take possession of the new sovereign, and not only managed to restore his former power, but he has already achieved the main cherished goal of his exorbitant ambition: everyone says that gr. Loris-Melikov will be the first Russian prime minister as chairman of the Council of Ministers... Lord, why do You turn away the face of Your mercy from Gossia and her king, and allow this new temptation of You, greater than all the previous ones? King, drive away from yourself the advice of the wicked and the wicked. Listen to God's instructions and follow them. Do not tempt the Lord your God. Seek and you will find yourself advisers and executors of your will - wise men, firm in truth, knowing the affairs and needs of your country and your people, and tireless in labor and work. It is said in scripture: “Seek and you will find.” But the Word of God should not be as holy and inviolable for anyone as for the anointed one of God... The measures that would urgently need to be taken to suppress sedition and establish a firm definite system of government and unity and harmony in the actions of the separate government departments should be the following: 1. The establishment of a special Ministry of Police - the Minister of Internal Affairs, with his numerous other extremely important responsibilities, will never have any opportunity to properly deal with police affairs, which in the present, extremely dangerous, troubled time are of paramount importance over all other matters. The voice of the people pointed to General Trepov as a more capable person and currently prepared for the proper performance of the duties of Minister of Police. 2. To establish a solid, definite system of public administration and eliminate quarrels between individual departments and differences in their actions, there is no need for a new higher state institution. In Bose, the late Emperor, at the beginning of his reign, deigned to establish a council of ministers precisely to introduce greater unity and harmony in government. It is necessary to make this highest state institution permanently functioning, so that in it, in the presence of all ministers, the most submissive reports are made to the sovereign emperor by each minister according to his affiliation. Thus, the Emperor, having listened to the report of a famous minister, can immediately know the opinion of all the other ministers about him. On the other hand, every minister will know the progress of all state affairs, and all ministers will be in solidarity with each other regarding bills adopted in the Council of Ministers and all other measures and decisions approved by the highest authority, i.e. a truly harmonious, solidary ministry is being formed, which can and must be responsible to the sovereign emperor. No prime minister is needed; meetings of the Council of Ministers take place in the presence of the Emperor; in the event of His Majesty’s absence, the senior minister at the time of occupying the place of minister of cabbage soup presides each time by special appointment of the sovereign emperor. A special prime minister, under this name, or simply the chairman of the “council of ministers,” will always become a special authority between the tsar and the people, and this should not happen in Russia. Gatchina 1881 April 30. I received a letter from Mr. Loris-Melikov, in which he asks for dismissal under the guise of illness. I answered him and accepted his request. I haven’t received anything from Abaza yet, but tomorrow is his reporting day, so maybe he will personally convey his request and I’ll see what to do with him. This morning Nabokov visited me, who does not find anything offensive to him in the manifesto and completely shares the essence of the manifesto. My idea is to appoint Count Ignatiev, a man in whom I can fully rely, in Loris’s place, and I’ll still think about his place and talk with him. If Abaza leaves, I, of course, intend to leave his comrade Bunge as the manager of the ministry for now, a man who knows his specialty well and is calm. I saw yesterday gr. Lorisa-Melikova at the parade and then at breakfast at Oldenbtrgsky Ave., and although he didn’t say anything to me, it was clear from his face that he was very dissatisfied and upset. Milyutin was as always and nothing could be seen on his face, no change. Tomorrow I intend to ask Mr. Ignatiev and talk to him. I am sending you this nonsense for fun. Come see me on Saturday at 2 o'clock. I haven’t spoken to you or seen you for a long time. Read this article from Le Constitutionnel. If this article had appeared in a Russian magazine, nothing better could have been written. Please return this article to me after reading it. It’s really strange how we agree on ideas. I just wrote to Peschurov about my desire to appoint Alexey instead of V. book Constant. Nik., I receive your letter in which you tell me about the abnormal situation of the pestilence. Minister - I wish Alexey’s appointment to take place on May 20, his name day. Const. Nick. he flatly refused to submit a request for dismissal, I waited two months for his decision and did not get it, so now I don’t intend to wait any longer, but to fire him directly and appoint Alexey. There was talk about placing court servants in the Admiralty building, it is true, even under the late sovereign, but nothing was finally decided and now there is no need to place anyone there and it will remain for the plague. minister I am sending you some very good and encouraging addresses to read from the peasants of Saratov Gubernia, who were brought with them by the Flig.-Adjut. Kutuzov. Read this note, there is a lot of justice in it and little comforting. - Have you read Galkin-Vrassky’s letter in the newspaper “Rus”, regarding Aksakov’s letter to the late sovereign? It seems to me that it is very true and this is exactly what I would like at the present moment for Russia. I rejoice, gentlemen, that God brought me to Moscow. From the first days of our grave grief, my heart yearned for Moscow: Russian sovereigns always looked for new strength in the heart of the Russian Land in their time of trial. For a long time I have been wanting to come here to pray at the Kremlin shrine with all of Moscow and receive blessings for the feat ahead of me. I am glad that God finally brought me to Moscow - with my wife and children. Here the living feeling of love for the fatherland and devotion to the legitimate sovereigns was never exhausted; here the Russian people never ceased to feel that whoever is an enemy of the Russian Tsar and the legitimate government is an enemy of the people, an enemy of his fatherland. Here, in the midst of living monuments of God’s providence over Russia, I feel more vividly the hope for God’s help and for victory over our lawless enemies. May the Lord help me to establish order and truth, and may He instruct all straight Russian people to serve faithfully and faithfully to me and the state. from Petepgof No. 91/502 From Art. from Peterhof 13/VIII 1881 Telegram No. 1081 Received you... Come see me if you can tomorrow at 2 o'clock Konstantin Petrovich Pobedonostsev I am waiting for a draft rescript from you. A.V. Adlerberg, about whom I told you that time. – Please, if it is ready, come to me tomorrow at 2 o’clock to read it and redo it if necessary. Just in case, I am sending you a draft compiled by D. B. Richter for your information, but much of it is incorrect. Now ordinary people are filled with concern for the safety of Your Imperial Majesty: for many this concern is incessant, giving no rest. The pious resort to prayers or seek to protect you with a revered icon or other home shrine. It is impossible to reject these impulses of ardent zeal. Yesterday a very simple man came to see me, a venerable old resident of the city of Tomsk, the merchant Khranov, who came here for a while. With them, first in the forest near Tomsk, then in Tomsk itself, in Khranov’s garden, a hermit of unknown origin lived in prayer for 25 years, and died in 18C4, already 90 years old. Local residents, especially Khranov himself, revered him during his lifetime as a saint, and even more revered him after his death. They claim that he predicted the future and that many receive healing at his grave. Old man Khranov, regarding the attempts on the life of the sovereign emperor, sent his majesty a portrait of this old man and various news about his warnings and predictions. Now he brought with him from Tomsk this old man’s cap, which he kept reverently in his family and to which he attributes miraculous powers, saying that twice when he took it with him on the road, he miraculously escaped from robbers. I did not want to confuse the faith of this good man and did not dare to refuse him: I took this cap from him with the promise to present it to Your Imperial Majesty, along with a portrait of the elder. Today the terrible year of 1881 ends: the memory of it weighs on my chest like a nightmare. At the border of the new year, I stop with prayer for you, for the state. Imp-tsu and for your children. Save you, God, save and have mercy, and with you all our dear fatherland, all our kind and unfortunate people. Please accept, everyone, sir, warm congratulations from a man who loves you with all his soul and feels unhappy until his soul stops suffering for you and for his fatherland. From morning to night I see people coming from everywhere, of every rank and title; and I receive a lot of news about phenomena taking place in local life. I will tell you in all honesty: it is impossible to list all the evils, all the diseases and vices - there are so many of them. But I also see a lot of good deeds, I know a lot of great workers, a lot of great forces that there is no one to support and encourage, and I believe that my main calling is to serve this cause from morning to night, to the best of my strength and ability. The simple people with whom I spoke, people filled with faith in goodness and in the effectiveness of power, inspire me with great hope for the future. But the people here make me feel despondent and hopeless. And so, wavering between one and the other feeling, I pray to God, in whose right hand is the king’s heart, the course of events, and the fate of tribes and peoples. Once upon a time, in a moment of despondency, I substituted Rachinsky’s letter to V. in order to show what kind of people we have working in dark corners, with good spirits, with faith in success, doing great things in their small circle. I dare now to offer you his last letter, the simple voice of a common man: perhaps these words, at least for a moment, will refresh your thoughts, tired of official reports. The year is ending for me and for our manager. sad event. Yesterday we lowered the mail into the ground. prev spirit. uch. com. prot. Vasilyeva. He was in charge of a very important matter for us - the progress of training in all our educational institutions. establishments for men and women. On Wednesday morning he was with me, cheerful, and went to visit his daughter in Gatchina, and there on the street a blow struck him. God bless the coming summer. Thank you, dear Konstantin Petrovich, for your kind letter to Vata and all your wishes. A terrible, terrible year is coming to an end, a new one is beginning, and what awaits us ahead? It is so desperately difficult at times that if I did not believe in God and in his unlimited mercy, of course there would be nothing left to do but shoot myself in the forehead. But I am not cowardly, and most importantly I believe in God and believe that happy days will finally come for our dear Russia. Thank you for sending Rachinsky’s letter, I read it with pleasure. I forgot to answer you about our Voluntary Fleet Society: of course, with great pleasure I will remain the patron of this useful and patriotic cause. I sincerely wish you and yours happiness, peace and silence for the coming year. Often, very often I remember the words of St. Gospel: “Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God and believe in Me.” These powerful words have a beneficial effect on me. With complete trust in the mercy of God, I finish my letter: Thy naught, Lord. Everything said in this note about the trial is absolutely true. The people who created new judicial institutions in our country did not know what they were doing; but they managed to inflate and glorify their creation both in the opinion of our ignorant society and in the opinion of the closest advisers of the late sovereign. Count Bludov, who had already fallen into childhood, easily allowed himself to be persuaded by the frivolous and vain Butkov. Book Gagarin and Baron Korff, smart but easy people, carried out this matter in the State Council together with Butkov, and since then our statesmen have not dared to raise their voices against any part of this institution: touching it, like the ark of the covenant, is considered some kind of sacrilege. The note states that “uncontrolled, isolated justice is not compatible with autocracy.” Moreover, it is not compatible with any other government, under any type of government. Nowhere in the world is the court as isolated as here in Russia. The huge difference is that everywhere there exists a judicial class that has been established and organized for centuries, in which old leaders, experienced people, take precedence; Everywhere there is coherent, systematic legislation, developed by judicial practice over the course of centuries. It recognizes the irremovability of judges, but they are not uncontrollable, and they have authority over them. The court serves, as it should serve, as a necessary and strong instrument of state power to protect the law, to maintain the basic principles of government and order, and to punish the guilty. We have never had and do not have a judicial class. There are very few strong and experienced figures; we have to place inexperienced and sometimes completely inept young men everywhere. And the law recognizes such judges as irremovable. Everywhere you see blades of grass, which are absurdly called oaks. It is obvious that such a court cannot be the support of the state, but only corrupts its leaders with an empty inquiry into imaginary greatness and imaginary independence from all authorities. The disorderly fermentation of minds, which, to our regret, has spread in recent years among youth, has led many astray from the lawful path before they had time to complete their education and become stronger in the sound principles of mental and moral development. Without a doubt, many of the unfortunate victims of this ferment, taught by bitter experience, came to realize their mistakes and delusions and became convinced of the falsity of ideas and the criminality of plans in which they thought to see the truth, being deceived. Others would like to return to the path of goodness and honor if they saw a legitimate opportunity. Some of the people who were involved in a criminal community with enemies of state order and left their fatherland, admitting their errors, turned to everyone. petitions for permission to return to the borders of Russia on the legal paths of peaceful activities, for the most merciful oblivion of their previous reprehensible and criminal activities. To save from final fall and crime those who can still be saved on the edge of the abyss, the mercy of the monarch opens the way for them to return. It is announced to persons who have left the fatherland, even if they have participated in criminal communities and meetings, that if they wish to bring sincere repentance to the government for their errors, they can come to Russia and receive forgiveness if they have not committed such acts for which Russian law threatens the death penalty or indefinite hard labor. There is so much to do in Russia—creative, great work—for one and all: and when we wait, everyone can. Spock dedicated yourself to your business? I was not deceived when I said that now, from the statesman to the last high school student, everyone is busy with politics, affairs and government changes, gossip and rumors confuse the soul - the main reason for this - I am convinced of this - is our newspapers and magazines, and I cannot marvel at the blindness and indifference of those state people who do not want to admit this and do not dare to take measures to limit the press. I have always been of the opinion that this is where we should start, but no one wants to agree with me. I accepted them and thanked them. Your Imperial Majesty, all-merciful sovereign and autocrat. The parishioners of the Moscow Trinity Edinoverie Church, represented by us, bringing to the foot of Thy bright and highest throne their filial greetings and reverent congratulations on the reign over Thy faithful people, they accompany them with a humble prayer that the Lord, in whose hands the power of the earth, will give You His almighty help in lifting the government burden, and in Every time is difficult, but now it is beyond the measure of the painful and unbearable. The feeling of universal national joy about Your accession to the ancestral throne is overshadowed by the persistent memory of the atrocity that deprived You and all of us of a father full of love and benevolence, and covered the Russian land - once holy - with eternal shame. But we believe and hope that the Lord, in His mysterious advice destined to send an immeasurable test upon You, will be moved by the continuous cry of the people and, by the motherly intercession of the universal Church, bowing to mercy, will lead Your soul, not involved in evil, from the darkness of the sorrow that overwhelms it into the light and joy of His divine and ineffable consolation; that he will strengthen and establish Your power to the shame of those who openly and covertly plot against it, that he will guide You wonderfully to perform great and blessed deeds and will make You a victorious enemy, a terrible villain, but merciful and trustworthy to the good. To this end, we dare to present our insignificant but sincere offering before Your most merciful gaze. As witnesses of Your constant care for the organization of the Russian Voluntary Fleet, we, for ourselves and for future generations, have decided for the entire parish: from the sums of the printing house located at our church, to allocate three thousand rubles a year for this generally useful work, for eternity, and at the same time most obediently petition before Your Imperial Majesty, so that this co-religion printing house be included in the list of members of the Voluntary Society fleet. Your Imperial Majesty The state of affairs on March 9 in St. Petersburg was such that it directly indicated the proximity of this date to the day of the terrible catastrophe. Sedition and its supporters, endlessly emboldened by the success of the crime, which seemed impossible for all of Russia, became arrogantly daring both in their plans and especially in their threats of a new series of crimes. These threats rained down from all sides. The mass of real threats was joined by an even greater number of exaggerated statements caused in the population by the panic of the accomplished regicide and the fear of expecting new manifestations of terror. Of the direct participants in the commission of the crime on March 1, the following were detained until the 9th of the same month: Zhelyabov, Mikhailov, Rysakov and Gesya Gelfman. Confidence in the forces of the metropolitan police was completely undermined, and yet they were faced with an extremely difficult and complex task. No matter how necessary and desirable the quick results of the search for the main culprits of the committed atrocity and the preparers of new attempts were, this task paled in comparison with the urgent obligation to do everything humanly possible to protect the safety of the sovereign emperor and his august family. Therefore, the main forces of the secret department and the best part of the external city police were directed to provide for the highest persons during their daily trips to funeral services in the fortress, and then to protect His Majesty during the sad burial ceremony in Bose of the late sovereign Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich. The sovereign's moves to the Anichkin Palace and then to Gatchina raised both concerns and the need to take a number of measures to eliminate them. In Gatchina and the villages surrounding it, it was necessary to establish reliable security and police, and all this had to be organized within a few days and at a time when the St. Petersburg police and the secret part were busy maintaining order in the city, during the trial of the regicide criminals and during the execution of them. The most superficial acquaintance with the matter clearly pointed to many divisions of the revolutionary party. In the search case, the first task is to find dangerous terrorists. One of the guiding threads in the search was conversations with Zhelyabov and Rysanov, especially with the latter. The first arrest was the detention of noblewoman Sofia Perovskaya. Detained by the measures taken by the secret department, the peasant Makar Teterka, under the name of the tradesman Veselovsky, and the soldier's son Merkulov were found to be accomplices of the terrorist party, for the construction of mines and explosive projectiles in different places. “Teterka, with criminal intent, got into a passenger cab and was taken in the dress of a city cab driver. Its purpose was to prevent the passage of the imperial carriage in order to enable the successful throwing of projectiles. He, Veselovsky-Teterka, and his accomplices, executed by Presnyakov and Zhelyabov, loaded a dynamite mine under the Stone Bridge of the Catherine Canal, with the aim of exploding the bridge during the passage of the sovereign. The 126-pound mine was removed from the water in May by two naval officers seconded to the mayor. While continuing the secret search, attention was paid to and the politically criminal behavior of the nobleman Mikhail Zolotnitsky living in St. Petersburg, who turned out to be a student at the Institute of Transport Aizik Aronchik, was clarified; living under the name of the tradesman Nikolai Lansky - the son of the priest Nikolai Kibalchich and the tradesman Denis Kapustin, under whose name was a member of the highest revolutionary administrative commission Frolenko, who was wanted throughout Russia for a year. Of the detained persons, Aizik Aronchik was convicted of participating in an explosion in Moscow on the railway on November 19, 1879. Kibalchich was convicted of constructing projectiles and maintaining a secret printing house, and Frolenko was convicted of consciously and deliberately directing all serious crimes committed. When observing the gatherings, it became clear that their goal was not only to spread propaganda, but also to incite criminal acts. The main culprit in this case, the son of Lieutenant Colonel Nikolai Viktorovich Filatov, was detained and brought to justice. After Zhelyabov’s arrest, his participation in the secret printing business, the construction of revolutionary funds and the delivery of the printing press to the Narodnaya Volya printing house, remained undisclosed. Meanwhile, several months earlier, the secret department began to monitor the son of Colonel Nikolai Bogorodsky, who was dismissed from service without a military rank, and the ensign of the Kronstadt fortress artillery, Ferdinand Lustig, who, through relations with suspicious persons, drew attention to their dubious political reliability. Secret surveillance convinced that Lustig and Bogorodsky were close to the secret printing house. Through them, revolutionary publications were sometimes produced in raw form, straight from the press. In addition, it was revealed that Lustig and Bogorodsky had access to persons held in the Trubetskoy ravelin of the Peter and Paul Fortress, and between these latter, as well as revolutionaries who were not found, they formed a connection to transmit all information about the measures taken by the government on political matters, and about persons newly arrested. Suspicion of the guilt of Lustig and Bogorodsky was fully established when it was possible to find a dray driver who delivered to Lustig a printing press brought along the Nikolaev railway. Lustig not only turned out to be a close participant of Zhelyabov, Kibalchich and others, not only contributed to the cause of the secret printing house, but is the chief cashier of the revolutionary party group to which Zhelyabov and his accomplices belonged. A lot of money for the revolutionary cause passed through Lustig's hands. Students Podbelsky and Kogan Bernshtein, who were convicted of rioting and incitement at the act of the St. Petersburg University on February 8 of this year, according to the information received, turned out to be in complete solidarity with the party of terrorists, which is why their detention seemed especially important. Despite the difficulty of searching for these persons, the secret department, searching for them by signs, arrested Podbelsky, under the name of the Tiraspol tradesman Fyodor Lyalin, and Kogan Bernstein was detained in Moscow. Iriet found out that the named students, after the riots that took place at the university, were hiding in the apartment of the criminals Gesi Gelfman and Teterki, who lived under false names; here they prepared appeals to the students, which revealed their complete solidarity with the terrorist party. It became known that the executed state criminal Rysakov had an accomplice, St. Petersburg University student Nikolai Konovkin, who, in order to hide from persecution, went illegal and lived under an assumed name; He was detained under the name of the Luga tradesman Mitrofan Koptev. Unofficial information revealed that among the terrorists was a person nicknamed “Suguby.” This person was credited with participating in the construction of tunnels and testing projectiles. The actual title of Suguboi was unknown, however, this person was arrested under the name of the son of the psalm-reader Ivan Emelyanov. It turned out that Emelyanov was one of the main figures in the regicide on March 1st. An unknown young man who manufactured military projectiles was closely associated with Zhelyabov and other terrorists. The secret department detained the collegiate secretary Kokhanovsky, and identified this person as a former student of the Medical and Surgical Academy, Grigory Isaev, who confessed to criminal activities and, although he persisted in announcing his place of residence, nevertheless, his apartment was discovered and, with the objects found in it, Isaev’s undoubted membership in the community of persons accused of regicide was proven. From conversations with one of the arrested, namely Merkulov, there was a hint that some naval officer had participated in the undermining on M. Sadovaya Street. After a thorough search, this officer turned out to be Lieutenant Sukhanov, who, having been detained, confessed that he had planted a mine in a mine on M.-Sadovaya Street and connected conductors for the purpose of an explosion during the imperial passage, and also participated in the preparation of projectiles on March 1st. Along with this, in Revel, at the request of the St. Petersburg police, Sukhanov’s sister Anna was detained, in whose possession criminal correspondence and various revolutionary publications were found. In addition, lieutenants Baron Stromberg and Glazko were detained on suspicion of complicity with Sukhanov. On February 26 of this year, an unknown woman was seen in Trigoni’s apartment, traced to the house where, as it later turned out, Zhelyabov lived, and managed to escape. This woman was detained by the secret department, she called herself Maria Kostetskaya, and meanwhile it was found out that since 1879 she had been living on a false passport in the name of the noblewoman Klimovich, the student Osipovich and the bourgeois Vasilyeva. Although the identity of this detention ambassador stubbornly hid her rank and apartment, it was nevertheless revealed that she was a native of the mountains. Odessa Lyudmila Terentyeva, guilty along with others of various state crimes, including, in complicity with Kibalchich, in the maintenance of a secret printing house. In the discovered apartment of Terentyeva, a printing press with all embossing accessories, type and type, various revolutionary publications, many weapons, 9 large cans of dynamite and explosive shells of various designs were found. All measures have been taken to find Terentyeva’s accomplices. In Kyiv, an obviously illegal person who called himself landowner Pyotr Kulichenko was detained, and in his possession was found to have quite a large number of copies of revolutionary publications, which he supposedly received in St. Petersburg. The secret department found out that the mentioned Kulichenko turned out to be a teacher of the Poltava district school, Sidor Nicheporuk, who had escaped from police supervision and had previously been accused of distributing criminal propaganda. – From among the persons wanted for distributing criminal propaganda and inciting a revolutionary movement, the son of an official, Engelhardt, who was dismissed from St. Petersburg University, was detained. During the search, he found printed revolutionary publications, as well as letters and notes, which certainly indicated that Engelhardt belonged to a party of people pursuing the goals of an extremely revolutionary movement. The gatherings of workers that have arisen in recent times have presented an important concern in view of rumors of an impending attempt to arouse a revolutionary movement among the people: why measures were taken to arrest the persons participating in such gatherings and to clarify the real purpose of such gatherings. The difficulty of evidence in such cases in court has always been the reluctance of witnesses to appear to confirm the truth; and yet it seemed necessary to present the perpetrators with factual data. As a result, upon receipt of secret information about the gathering, intended in the remote area of ​​Tsvetochnaya Street behind the Moscow Gate, it was recognized that it was necessary to verify how true the statement mentioned about the gathering was. For this purpose, Cornet Kiselev, who was attached to the secret department, was instructed to set up an ambush in the room where the meeting was intended, while the area at that point was surrounded by secret agents, in case of need to detain the perpetrators. This task, well completed, revealed those responsible for the anti-government movement and the conspiracy to use pyroxylin shells against revolutionary targets. At the same time, all the persons participating were detained, and of them, revolutionary publications were found under the underwear on the body of the people's teacher Khramov, except for those that were found on the table in the room where the meeting was set. Thus, recently the secret department has discovered and arrested up to 40 people, among these people the Yaroslavl nobleman Ivanchin-Pisarev, who had been hiding for about 8 years - one of the main revolutionary figures - was detained who participated in the secret printing house case. These detained persons were handed over with complete evidence and evidence of their participation in their important crimes. Therefore, according to available information, the revolutionary party in St. Petersburg considers itself so defeated that one can hardly expect the kind of unrest about which rumors have arisen and are arising in the capital. However, the police continue their search activities. The seventy-day activity of the St. Petersburg police, outlined in the above essay, caused an extremely large amount of work, sleepless nights and honest energetic activity, both on the part of the head of the secret department, State Councilor Fursov, and several individuals, a list of which is presented here. Finding that the results achieved now confirm what I said, and in view of the fact that by the Easter holiday the St. Petersburg city government and the St. Petersburg police were the only department whose ranks had not received any awards, I allow myself to petition for awards to the mentioned persons. Comparing the results of the previous activities of the St. Petersburg police with those of recent times, one cannot fail to notice a very clear and significant step towards improvement. Although the forces of police surveillance and search in St. Petersburg and its environs will continue to increase every day, despite this, the transition of the state of affairs in the capital to a normal order is possible only under the following conditions: 1. That serious attention be paid to the way of life of the numerous young people studying in St. Petersburg, a significant part of whom, perhaps, in all respects it would be useful to remove them from such a crowded center as St. Petersburg. 2. If possible, immediately employ factory workers, for which some of the capital's factories and factories should be supported by reasonable government subsidies, and others should be closed, assisting in the evacuation of workers from abolished establishments. 3. Clear St. Petersburg of all unreliable persons whose financial support cannot be proven. 4. Strengthening the metropolitan police and regulating its actions in connection with city government to the taxi degree, so that internal supervision of the capital’s houses ceases to be a dead letter, and the householder an irresponsible spectator of what is happening in his house. 5. It is also necessary that all police power operating in the capital be concentrated in one responsible hands: either the state police department, the gendarmerie department, subject to the abolition of the St. Petersburg city government, or in the hands of the latter. and 6. Reasonable management of the periodical press, either through strictness or through subsidies, or perhaps both. Although during the past two months the activities of the St. Petersburg city administration were mainly concentrated in the secret and detective departments, the remaining parts of the administration were not inactive: 1. In view of the strengthening of the metropolitan police, a project for its reorganization has been drawn up. 2. In order to concentrate the police forces, a project has been developed to join the city government with the commission of inquiry and the gendarmerie department. 3. In the interests of simplification and economy, a draft change in the uniform of St. Petersburg police officials has been drawn up. 4. With the participation of the temporary council, several draft rules were developed aimed at ensuring order in the capital and its environs. Some of these projects have already been implemented, and some have been submitted for consideration by the Minister of Internal Affairs. 5. A preliminary draft was drawn up and presented to the Minister of Internal Affairs on the establishment of an emeritus fund for officials of the St. Petersburg police and 6. Currently, draft rules for the responsibility of householders, senior janitors, as well as instructions for all ranks of the external police are being developed. The whole life of our late parent, as well as his prosperous reign that lasted for a quarter of a century, was entirely directed towards the good of our beloved loyal subjects and the greatness and glory of our dear fatherland. The concerns of the late emperor were clearly expressed in a whole series of beneficial reforms that led to the peaceful development of all layers of the vast kingdom entrusted to us by God. By the will of the Lord, having inherited the throne in God of the deceased sovereign, we at the same time inherited a firm intention to steadily promote the gradual growth and development of the well-being of the entire Russian people, to achieve which we recognized it necessary to both extend the peaceful transformations begun by our parent, and to undertake new ones related to improving the economic and internal improvement of the state; but the inscrutable will of God, allowing the atrocity of March 1 to happen, clearly indicated, both to us and to all our beloved loyal subjects, the existence in Russia of persistent and daring sedition, until the eradication and end of which the correct and peaceful development of the good of the homeland is unthinkable. And therefore, although with a contrite heart, we recognize ourselves as forced, before the implementation of the above-mentioned program, to command, first of all, to take measures to strengthen order in Russia and completely suppress sedition that is alien to us. Therefore, we recognize it as a blessing: 1. Form a temporary supreme commission, to which all state institutions, as well as governors general and all other chief commanders, are subject. This commission is given the power of the Supreme Court in all political matters. The commission includes the following persons. 2. Until the end of its work, that is, until the destruction of sedition, in its actions the high commission is not constrained by any laws usually in force in the empire, and is guided by the rules and commands we have indicated to it. 3. All persons belonging to the villainous terrorist party, with the exception of murderers, if within two weeks from the publication of this manifesto voluntarily appear and prove sincere repentance, we will pardon them. As for the murderers, if they repent, not finding a full pardon possible, we promise them the preservation of their lives. 52. PROJECT OF THE PRINCE OF OLDENBURG. All our dear loyal subjects know that great sorrow has befallen Russia, that our beloved parent, the deceased Emperor Alexander II in Bose, was killed by the sacrilegious hand of a villain, in the capital itself, during the day, on the street, by a gang of attackers calling themselves nihilists, who repeatedly encroached on such a precious life. Since ancient times, devotion to their legitimate sovereign has been a characteristic of the Russian people, who even now express their deepest disgust from such a terrible crime committed by a handful of people for whom nothing is sacred, who do not recognize either God, or the holy faith, or laws, or authorities, and no moral principles. All efforts of the government were aimed at eradicating this blatant evil, but the entire population must contribute to it in this difficult task. We appeal to all our dear loyal subjects, to the saints of the church, parents, guardians, mentors and mentors of youth, may they rally around the government against the dangerous enemy - sedition. May the Lord help us in this holy work. Dear Konstantin Petrovich. Only today, at this minute, I received your letter and brochure - I sincerely thank you. My soul and mind are constantly in my homeland and I follow with feverish impatience everything that happens here. I will tell you frankly that I was glad about the recent changes in high circles, and I often have to remember our conversations with you. May the Lord help the sovereign and may he enlighten those around him - this is a difficult task and you need to work together and energetically. I would like to see you and talk about many, many things with you. I think it was not easy to carry out the changes of ministers - especially Count. Lorisa - I will not forget our last conversation with you about him. How good the sovereign's manifesto of April 29 was - exactly what it should have been. What a gratifying impression Jerusalem made on me and the whole journey through Palestine - this is a good memory for the rest of my life; I was happy to pray on May 22 at the Holy Sepulcher. What a glorious mission we have there and Archimandrite. I really liked Antonin - I will need to talk to you about him. Goodbye, dear Konstantin Petrovich, thank you again for your letter. My heartfelt bow to your wife. If you have not yet received a notification from Mr. Valuev about his presence today, at 2 o’clock, in the Council of Ministers, then I hasten to notify you about this, dear Konstantin Petrovich. Dear Sir Konstantin Petrovich. It was the Emperor’s highest pleasure to order me to inform Your Excellency that you would deign to arrive in Gatchina on Tuesday, April 21, at 11 o’clock in the morning. Fulfilling this highest will, I ask you to accept the assurance of true respect and perfect devotion. I hope, dear Konstantin Petrovich, you did not forget to write the book. Golitsyn to Warsaw. – I’ll try to see you tomorrow. I am writing these lines to you in the presence of Baranov and Klushnov, who are chatting incessantly. I visited you yesterday, dear Konstantin Petrovich, but did not find you at home. Yesterday I did not have the opportunity to devote 1/2 hour of free time to see you. “I would very much like you to come see me today, if possible, before the meeting in the State Council. Unfortunately, I myself cannot leave the house today; I’m not feeling well, and the doctor insists that at least today I refrain from traveling. I am waiting for you, dearly respected Konstantin Petrovich, to send the promised draft of the highest order, which we talked about yesterday. The Novoye Vremya article about the Germans is a response to some German’s whippy letter in Golos. Suvorin is rude, tactless and bored me to the extreme with his antics. Believe me, I’m glad when they squabble with Kraevsky. The posters were changed on my orders, and the word “liturgy” disappeared everywhere. In general, this case, like many others, proves that there was nothing to raise the alarm about. It would be desirable for our “educated public” to have a more stable and cold-blooded attitude towards the events and talk of the day. St. Petersburg is definitely a madhouse. Filaret (of Riga), like Antonin of Kazan and Gury of Tauride, were my beloved, long-time friends. A painful feeling takes over the soul when you see that the ranks of close and good people are thinning. I lived with Gury for more than a year in Beijing and he acted as my translator during my negotiations with the Chinese. I persuaded him to begin translating the holy books and liturgy into Chinese, to strengthen Orthodox worship among the Albazinians and promote Orthodox preaching in China. It will be a pity for him. Sincerely respected Konstantin Petrovich. Yesterday we received the sad news of Tyutcheva's death. I share your conviction that the transition of her soul is bright and joyful. By informing you about the Festival on February 19, I fulfilled the highest command; I wanted to talk with you about the details first. When we meet, maybe we’ll remember. Already 6 weeks ago I drew attention to the collection for charitable purposes, and upon closer investigation, very strange things turned out. The governors were charged with the responsibility of supervising in particular the use and distribution of the collected money. I'll tell you when the opportunity arises. The sovereign did not tell me anything about Lyubimov, but I am indignant that they want to treat him this way. His Majesty intends to gather us (including you) these days and resolve the matter of public education. Kharkov is again uneasy due to the expulsion of 7 students. May God grant you a good end to the Uniate affair with Nabokov. I’m not feeling well today, dear Konstantin Petrovich, but tomorrow I’ll go to Gatchino with a report and talk about Sergievsky. Thank God, everything went smoothly yesterday and the people were delighted that the Tsar and Tsarina appeared on the streets in an open carriage. I am sending you the attached intercepted letter (by mistake) for your perusal, please return it. No dramatic performances in Russian are permitted in private theaters during Lent. At breakfast with the Metropolitan, Kozlov was only concerned about the performances, not dramatic ones, of some French farce troupe in Livadia. I told him that, although in French and a French troupe, it should not be allowed in the first and last week of Lent. Kozlov assured that you also agreed to this, since under the pretext of the masses of foreigners and people of other faiths in St. Petersburg, performances in foreign languages ​​were always allowed. Skobelev deeply upset me by making an inappropriate speech in Paris to some Serbian students. He embarrasses governments with his tactless behavior. As for tomorrow’s university act, I kindly ask you, dearly respected Konstantin Petrovich, not to go to this home celebration. I don’t know why you would be there. The measures were taken in agreement with the university authorities, but one cannot guarantee the absence of any bad behavior, given the current mindset and direction of some professors. God protect me, dearly respected Konstantin Petrovich, from inspiring the articles of Novoye Vremya. There was no talk of Katkov’s appointment as a member of the State Council - as far as I know. Prince Dolgorukov introduced him as a Privy Councilor and chatted prematurely around the city. Now Mich. Nick. He says that he was compromised, and I was the first to hear from him (on the third day) that a rumor was being spread about his appointment as a member of the government. advice. There is no shortage of gossip and rumors in St. Petersburg. The proposal to appoint Galagan was made not by me, but by V. book Nikolai Nikolaevich, who asked me the day before the report, “do I have anything against the choice of person.” I answered that he was the chairman of the resettlement commission (informed people) and that it would be necessary to wait at least until the end and postpone at least until the Holy Day. Then I was told that the decree had passed. I do not believe that a meeting of the commission will take place tomorrow, because this evening I informed Baron Nicholas of the highest order to suspend all discussions of the issues raised by him and not allow meetings of the commission until receiving “special instructions” from the Emperor. In my (official) letter I stated the impossibility of allowing elected officials (Kraevsky and com.) - contrary to the rule we adopted, the government itself calling on local people. I also noticed the bar. Nikolai to the inconvenience of communicating a printed notebook to all members of the commission, which will undoubtedly arouse agitation in the press on the issue of the education system. The Emperor sent me an order through Ostrovsky to suspend the meeting of the commission - in response to my letter sent this morning in exchange for a personal report. You see that the possible has been done. I expect a bar. Nikolai is angry with me. I share the view you expressed regarding the Pskov ranting. I am sending you, in confidence, sincerely respected Konstantin Petrovich, my memorandum, sent yesterday evening upon receipt of your note. The sovereign's note means that Albinsky has already been personally given positive orders by His Majesty and that the meeting is considered useless. It’s just a pity that there will be no traces left and no witnesses taken: this could affect the execution. I ask, after reading, to return and inform me at the same time your note with the “orders” of the sovereign, which are mentioned in your own handwritten note. I hasten, dearly respected Konstantin Petrovich, to correct my innocent mistake: the sovereign did not go hunting and, therefore, remains in Gatchino today. Having learned about this, I’m now going to “maybe” with a report. I banned Poryadok for a month and a half for publishing the Moscow decree. mountains etc., prohibited by the governor. Are you finally satisfied with me? And there will be a lot of screaming. Moscow Telegraph will also get it. I'm tired of newspapers beyond belief. I am sending you a list from the draft circular, I decide to remind you about the return of the note regarding the ransom payments. You promised to return it this morning; but I still haven't received it. It seems to me that the draft circular could have been turned into a government message (signed by all ministers) in the Vestnik, if this form had been preferred to a simple circular. What do you think? Good night. In any case, I will not go to Gatchino before 10 1/2 o'clock, because I still have not received the decree. Will this cup pass away? God willing. The whole matter was spoiled by your absence and the speech of Timashev, who began to demand that the government pay 20 landowners under compulsory redemption and spoke against communal land ownership. They voted on this issue. The matter sank into the water. - It was stated that you wanted to speak and the chairman loudly called you, asking why (you didn’t come. It seems to me that nothing prevents a member of the State Council who is accidentally absent - not of his own free will - from expressing his opinion in writing, asking that it be attached to a magazine presented to the highest view. If you are inclined to follow this path, then I will be happy to send you a note as material. Ostrovsky, Stoyanovsky and I were waiting for someone statements to speak. Timashev ruined the whole thing, and you were not there. Sincerely respectful and devoted Tomorrow evening there is a meeting of ministers at Coun. Lorisa. See you later. If I have time, I'll come by this evening. I completely share your opinion about the addresses and various public statements. If the sovereign orders, we can put an end to it. My personal position is somewhat delicate in this case, because I am considered the antithesis of the past. L told Baranov that he should have made a proper reprimand to the St. Petersburg bigwigs in the Duma. As for the article "Voices", I am sending for the book. Vyazemsky, and I will try to curb it. Indeed, the Polish second thought is obvious. From 6 a.m. I was inundated with papers and telegrams. I would like to meet with you to tell you some interesting things and to consult on issues that concern us all closely. I forgot to tell you this morning that the Old Believers submitted a new petition, wanting to bring to the attention of the sovereign that the imprisoned false bishops are ready to serve him faithfully, they will pray for him every hour, but they want freedom and tearfully ask. The petitioners claim that the youngest of the 3 (Gennady) is close to insanity, suffering from a nervous disorder. I reported - by the way - about the request of the Old Believers to the sovereign and added that I spoke with you about their release by the 30th. Apparently it was that His Majesty really liked our idea and that he wanted to have mercy on them on the day of his angel. I considered it my duty to warn you about the impression I made; especially since I told His Majesty that this matter is exclusively in your hands and that you yourself want to give it a favorable outcome. Sincerely and sincerely respecting you and devoted to you I completely agree with you, that the new edition presents some inconveniences. Explanations about the personal reasons for the dismissal of this or that official will be difficult in any case. ministers. But I also find the wording of the beginning of the second paragraph of the resolution and the 2nd paragraph (b) of Article 16 of the Regulations inconvenient. Your insertion was beneficial and absolutely necessary, but the office overdid it and now it turns out that not only m-o internal. etc., but both the mayor and any governor can demand the special presence of the Senate to consider the trial “closed doors.” Don't you think it would be offensive to the Senate in this form? The issue of the Little Russian language was raised last year by Chertkov (from Kyiv) and Prince. Dolgorukov, cat. from Kharkov, and has almost already been decided at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. business when I arrived at my current position. Having closely studied local passions in Ukraine, I treat this matter with extreme caution, but in view of last year and the southern Russian agitation, I consider it necessary to make a reasonable and firm decision for the leadership of local authorities. The case was considered, on my instructions, in the main department of the press (since it was necessary to give a positive decision on some books and articles), but I did not dare to approve it, considering this matter to be very important and sensitive for the future. Therefore, I asked for the highest permission to grant a special meeting the consideration of the Prince’s submission. Vyazemsky. I believe that this path is more correct than a simple administrative decision from the internal office. d. Western Europe has long been busy converting Bulgarians to the Catholic religion. The efforts of the Latins were crowned with success in the early 60s and forced me to energetically support that part of the Bulgarian clergy that wanted to remain Orthodox, although they were at odds with the patriarch on a disciplinary issue. The creation of the exarchate destroyed the union. S. - the Stephen Treaty would ensure the destruction of church strife between the Bulgarians and Greeks and the integrity of Orthodoxy on the Balkan Peninsula. Immediately after the Treaty of Berlin, I predicted a renewal of the efforts of the Latins and the triumph of a union between the Bulgarians. The matter of converting the Slavs to Roman Catholics is so close to me that I would start talking to you until tomorrow. There are a lot of papers on my desk. Goodbye. Thank you, dearly respected Konstantin Petrovich, for your corrections in the draft that I gave to you - as I warned you - completely rough, in an unfinished form. I completely agree with you that, while busy constructing the skeleton of the decree, I omitted in the edition some expressions that were unsuitable for an act of such importance. I will definitely start redoing it this evening and will try to adhere to all your notes. In contrast to your compliance with various slander that concerns me, I continue to firmly believe in our like-mindedness, i.e. that you and I are born allies in the cause of Russian Orthodox interests and that it will always be easy for me and you to come to an agreement on a common goal and point of departure. But when will you, most honorable Konstantin Petrovich, stop believing every gossip that reaches you about me? After all, not even a few hours have passed since our meeting yesterday - and you already seem to doubt whether I really do not allow the revival of “The Voice”. Isn't this offensive from a comrade and like-minded person? Some people rightly note that the opponents and persecutors of purely Russian people will always prevail and gain the upper hand because they stick to each other, trust each other out of hatred for everything Russian that unites them, and help each other. One in the field is not a warrior, especially when he has to act in a world of gossip and intrigue, against elements hostile to Russia and a united, enterprising gang of seditious people, for which any misunderstanding, any discord and any disagreement between government officials is to their advantage. I don’t know on what basis the news conveyed to you about the resumption of “Golos” on April 15 is based. I can only tell you that just today Bilebasov was among my petitioners and, asking for pardon, conveyed his program, based (as he put it) on three pillars: autocracy, Orthodoxy and nationality. Believe it or not, I stood my ground and didn’t promise anything. Soulfully respectful and sincerely devoted Do me a favor: send me a certificate tomorrow morning about 3 false bishops imprisoned in Suzdal. I am under pressure from all sides regarding Old Believer affairs, but I have to choose the lesser of several evils in practical life and it is better to save elderly elders from prison than to make other kinds of concessions. For God's sake, draw up a draft of what we talked about yesterday, otherwise I fear the unexpected from Moscow. It would be a good idea to let me know so that I can support whoever needs it. Sincerely respecting and devoted to you I came to see you, dear Konstantin Petrovich, at six o’clock, but they didn’t let me in, they said that you were sitting down to dinner. Previously, I could not escape from visitors. Upon receipt of your letter yesterday, I immediately sent it to Kozlov, on whom it depends whether or not to allow the festivities in the Summer Garden. He answered me that it is now impossible to take back this permission, because they will file a claim against it, that they have incurred losses, that 14, on the basis of Article 205 of the charter on warning. and suppress crime, there will be no performances or music, but the eve, which falls on Sunday, is not included in the number of prohibited days, and therefore even in the imperial theaters there will be performances on this day. The chief police chief does not consider it possible - not on legal grounds, but at his personal discretion - to prohibit the festivities for those who wish. The trouble is that laws, customs, and the very way of life in St. Petersburg are moving away from church foundations. So, for example, it is not taken into account that according to the Orthodox, the holiday begins the day before with Vespers. In Tiflis I restored this in relation to music, festivals and folk performances, but here cosmopolitans predominate. It is necessary to establish an exact rule once and for all, but it is suddenly inconvenient to stop: there are already so many pretexts for irritation. We'll talk to you about this subject someday. Fear worries me no less than you, most honorable Konstantin Petrovich, but I have to experience worries and anxieties incomparably more than you, especially at the present time. It is in vain that you believe that no measures were suggested in Moscow from here: Prince. Vlad. Andr. I was warned by me on his last visit here, that is, at the beginning of May, and Kozlov was summoned to the commission to convey to him, face to face, orders and information. Those who informed you that “Kozlov lives here” deceived you; I sent it on Thursday to Moscow to Prince. Vlad. Andr. The matter was kept secret, as you saw, despite the difficulties, until Baranov found out about it and the guards on the railway had to be strengthened. Then it was decided to inform those persons (in confidence) who should carry out the execution - each in his own part. Today the railway bed is occupied by troops. What is possible for human strength and reason will be done. Let us pray that God will bless our efforts. But it is difficult to bear the burden and fight the enemies of the state and society when surrounded by intrigue, gossip and people pursuing personal goals. It is easy to see only the negative side of everything and this is a favorite pastime of the Russian mind. And now we need discipline, unanimity and oblivion of personal goals, for a friendly and strong rebuff. You were right in saying that at the present time nothing can be left unattended. I ordered the police to investigate the case of an alleged tunnel at the Red Bridge; but I believe that the fear comes from the oppressive memory of the mines found in this place last summer. Book Dondukov is assigned to the Caucasus. S. A. Durnovo went to Odessa. Drentelnu offered 3 provinces to choose from, but he was pushing for Crimea and therefore had to give it to him. I sent you an official document about the comments I made on the Uniate issue. Albinsky won't like it. I will try to arrange a vice-governor position for Bunin. I stopped by today to congratulate you on your dear birthday, but I didn’t find you or your wife at home. Have you been to the Sergius Hermitage? I hasten to inform you that my efforts to place Bunin in Moscow were not crowned with success. Ep. Dolgorukov wrote me a long message to prove the complete impossibility of disrupting the established order in Moscow by appointing an outsider to such an important position. He decisively and touchily rejects our candidate proposed to him and petitions for Baratynsky, who is personally known to him and is his employee. To forcibly appoint Bunin would cause a scandal and, at first, bring him into trouble with the provincial general, who considers Moscow to be his appanage principality. It seems to me that it would be wiser to look for another place as vice-governor. for Bunin. What do you say? I have made new discoveries and captured very important correspondence. It is a great pity, dearly respected Konstantin Petrovich, that you came to see me at that moment when I was in the fortress on a very urgent matter. I am sending you a memorial note from the Arkhangelsk Seminary. I hope to see you these days. Rumors spread by the “squad” and from the Yacht Club about administrative changes in our country, exposing the insolvency of the government, caused a commotion on the European stock exchanges, and a general decline in our funds, rates and securities followed. This is what it means to joke with fire to inept and inexperienced people. And there is so much care and work, and the help, one might say, is only of the same kind. With all my desire, dearly respected Konstantin Petrovich, I cannot be at your meeting this evening. Now in the very house I occupy, the petitioner called the gene. Cherevin and shot him point-blank with a pistol. Thank God, everything turned out well and the criminal was captured. Under such circumstances, I cannot leave the office for several hours. They constantly contact me both by telegraph and by telephone. It is necessary to respond to requests and give orders. It’s a pity that your meeting was arranged this way, because I would have to make a lot of comments on Uniate affairs to direct it on a good path. Thursday 22 October 1881 The removal of St. Michael - our most reliable ally, a graduate of our theological academy and a strong and enterprising man - is an irreparable blow dealt by the Hungarians and Germans to our influence. I supported him for fifteen years. in a row against various enemies and intrigues. In one fell swoop, they were able to crush what was difficult to create. We are now tasting the fruits of the Berlin Treaty and our shame. Tomorrow I am called to Gatchino. You didn’t tell me anything about my opinion that I communicated to you regarding the negotiations with Rome. Do you agree with the views expressed in the note? I am sending you the attached two notes for your information and further instructions. They say that the Saratov bishop is rather bad. Is it true? If I have time, I’ll come to you to say goodbye. In any case, I wish you a good journey, success and prosperity. You have one arrears: you promised to send me back a note about the Latin seminaries and the agreement with Rome with your notes. I decide not to return Mosolov for now in order to cool down some of the fervor of the negotiations that are troubling me, but I must provide Butenev with instructions and therefore now it is advisable to listen to your opinion. In two weeks it will be too late. If you have time, scribble in the margins of the note with a pencil. Albinsky was summoned today by the highest order for the military commission, here on October 1st. Perhaps you will separate from him. The Kazan newspaper was allowed long ago - as a result of the persistent and repeated petition of Gaines, to whom I entrusted full responsibility for every line of this sheet. That is why the appearance of this newspaper was announced only now, because the editor was absent. Book Vyazemsky could deliver to you a list of up to fifty newspapers and publications that I have not authorized. You can't go any further. I would like to hand over the press matters to you. I wish I could see how terrible it would have been for you then. I ask you to convey my sincere bow to Archbishop Leonty. I will ask your wife about your adventures. I am sending you the attached note for information and as a keepsake. Gire visited me today, and I sang to him about Serbia and our policy in the East, which led to the fall of the Reverend. Mikhail. He promised to telegraph and write to Belgrade. Let's see. Your thoughts about the calling of St. Michael to St. I like the synod. Yesterday I, dearly respected Konstantin Petrovich, was in Tsarskoe and Gatchino on one important matter, which I will tell you about when we meet. I share your opinion regarding the Novgorod zemstvo and immediately after reading the telegram in the newspaper (to Kraevsky) I telegraphed the governor to draw his attention to the illegality of the statement and to the failure to comply with my circular sent in the summer in case of such evasions from direct answers to the requests of my predecessor. Confirmation of what such a decree is, as printed by the grace of the damned international telegraph. agency (the destruction of which I am working on from January 1st) actually took place - I have not received it yet. In order for you to have a sample of what was published in Volny Slovo with money and under the leadership of the notorious “squad,” I am sending you the last issue of this newspaper, edited with the imaginary purpose of “catching nihilists,” “protecting the government,” and “undermining the revolutionary press.” If you wish, I will send you other NoNos of this newspaper, about which the imaginary guardians took great care. Dear Konstantin Petrovich! I am returning Katakazi's letter to you. The matter is familiar to me, especially since in 1871, to prevent a schism in the Bulgarian Church, I myself started an ecumenical council, inciting the late Patriarch Gregory to this proposal. Circumstances were then favorable, and we were able to carry through the matter of agreement on the points indicated by Katakazi, without fear of external complications. Now it’s a different time and different circumstances. The matter is complex and delicate. We must carefully consider and weigh the pros and cons. “Informed people” arrive and increase my activities even more. When we meet, we’ll talk about the “cathedral” and the topics of the day. Happy holiday once again, I congratulate you, dearly respected Konstantin Petrovich, I got rid of my comrade, but the sovereign is pleased to leave Cherevin in charge of his personal security. I don’t know if things will calm down and go well for us. I need to have a serious talk with you about the coronation. I hope to meet you these days. I’m not feeling well this evening and therefore I must take care in order to be able to be in the State Council tomorrow. Thank you for the trip, I hope that one way or another we will get out on the road. I don’t know when they read my letter. It was in Gatchina until 12 o'clock. I'll try to visit you tomorrow. I need to see you today (until the evening if possible) on an extremely important matter. I can’t leave the apartment and therefore I ask you, convincingly, to come see me. The Minister of Internal Affairs, expressing his utmost respect to His Excellency Konstantin Petrovich, has the honor to forward for his consideration a list of issues on which the conclusions of local zemstvos could be requested before they undergo final development in legislation. 1) The structure of the volost administration; 2) transformation of county government; 3) the organization of public charity for peasants; 4) ensuring the people's food supply by reorganizing this part in accordance with the revealed inconveniences of the previous order; 5) the widespread establishment of small loans for peasant needs; 6) support and establishment of industries to provide winter earnings to peasants; 7) streamlining the drinking business, finding measures to counteract drunkenness, while possibly maintaining the existing government income from drinking; 8) facilitation in the transportation of workers; 9) measures to boost agriculture and industry; 10) protecting individual peasant farms from ruin and determining the size of the allotment and other real estate, which neither due to penalties nor by the peasant himself should be subject to sale, as necessary to maintain his farm. 11) construction of local communications at the expense of zemstvo funds from current revenues or loans with long-term repayment. Dear Sir Konstantin Petrovich! Due to your comments on the draft questions, I consider it necessary to inform: But to the second question: its raising was predetermined by the transfer by the former Minister of Internal Affairs to the zemstvos for the reorganization of county institutions for peasant affairs: consideration of this issue, without its connection with other county institutions, seems fragmentary and, in my opinion, pointless; The current complexity of local government and the inconsistency of its individual bodies stemmed from the fact that they were piled, so to speak, one on top of another without a common system and connection. If we compare our existing district administration with the Prussian Kreis Ordnung, then what is most striking is the fact that, given our lack of people, we require much more people to occupy numerous district posts; this fundamental flaw can only intensify when individual county institutions are reviewed outside of their common connection. This is the reason that makes me insist on the desire to have feedback from the zemstvos on a question that is broadly and more correctly posed than the one that was submitted for their discussion several months ago. On the seventh question, I consider it necessary to insist on it on its merits, willingly allowing editorial changes: the tavern, thanks to the incorrect formulation of the issue by the excise tax, has almost reached the level of a state-owned institution. It is necessary to give zemstvos and rural communities much more scope to combat drunkenness and the irregularities of the drinking trade. This has already been the subject of many petitions, and to the extent that their satisfaction is achievable without harm to government income, one cannot help but wish success to the social work against drunkenness. Regarding questions 8 and 10, I certainly agree with your comments. Accept the assurance of true respect and perfect devotion The Sovereign Emperor, leaving St. Petersburg for a while, deigned to give the highest command: in case important disturbances requiring special orders arise, immediately, under the chairmanship of His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, a commission should be formed: the Minister of Justice, the Minister of State Property, the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod and the Comrade Minister of Internal Affairs the retinue of His Majesty Major General Cherevin, entrusting the latter with the management of the affairs of the commission. The Sovereign Emperor charges the above-mentioned persons with the obligation to take appropriate measures to stop any disturbances or criminal plans that may arise, pending further orders from His Majesty. I have the honor to notify Your Excellency of this highest order. Adjutant General Gr. Ignatiev 5 1/2 a.m., March 2nd. The understandable anxiety of the soul about what is happening in your home does not allow you to close your eyes. As I telegraphed to you, dearly respected Konstantin Petrovich, now, until the call is repeated, I do not consider it permissible to come to St. Petersburg. Not daring in general, and especially by mail, to impose myself personally or with advice, I ask only for a little. For God's sake, pay attention to those who should, that most of all, and above all, measures must be taken to stop the possibility of a repetition of atrocities. Among other measures now possible, to supervise the safety of the person and family who have inherited a heavy inheritance, I would recommend, under the guise of necessary alterations in the still occupied house, to immediately go to one of the suburbs, or, if inconvenient, to Moscow, and also immediately take in a retired gendarme of the unt. – officer, Dremlyuzhenko, St. Petersburg, 10 Peskov Street, No. 8, apt. No. 10. God help you. Your devoted servant with all my heart Yesterday I must have been more in a hurry than usual if I expressed myself in such a way that my words could be taken as a desire to forgive criminals. If I have the physical opportunity, I will come to you today for at least two minutes. Your heartily devoted servant Gr. Vorontsov was appointed head of security. Sincerely respected Konstantin Petrovich. The giver of this seems to me to be a woman who believes and believes what she says. Would you mind “listening to her for a minute”? Such are the times and circumstances that I consider it necessary to pay attention to many things. It will be performed either at the station or now after the parade. (Inscription in the margin): The arrested sailor Sukhanov confessed to direct participation in the murder of the sovereign. I stopped by and saw you, dearly respected Konstantin Petrovich, but I was unable to report to you what was needed. The past two months have convinced me of the absolute necessity, for the success of the business, of truly good relations between the Minister of Internal Affairs. affairs and mayor. Perhaps gr. Ignatiev has someone in mind with whom he would enjoy working. Don't refuse to talk to him frankly. If gr. there is this someone, I will gladly leave. Now there is no time to engage in organization and reorganization, and therefore all the shortcomings of the device can only be replenished by action not individually, but collectively. Neither the brain nor the nerves can stand what the brave Protestants of action and logic think to do. These days, the sovereign will be presented with a report on police reforms in Russia. I'm afraid that out of the entire commission I will remain the only protester. I present at your discretion one (out of 3) copy of my printed opinion. Perhaps, together with another, you will send his greatness. Yours heartily devoted servant Yesterday, at about 4 o'clock, I stopped by to tell you that after receiving your letter yesterday and after listening to the lady you sent, I considered it necessary to delay the departure of the prisoner, known to you. He will not go on Wednesday; his fate in prison has been made as easy as possible and he has been given the opportunity to sign a petition, which I will provide to you. Thank you sincerely for your message about Niger. I already had a chance to hear about his story, something vague, a month ago. I must confess that I believe Niger's reports. But what to do? I’m sure in advance that nothing will work out. Such matters require energy and quick decisions. A trusted person must be sent to help out and deliver Niger here. I am sure that Plehve will not dare to do this without gr. Ignatieva, and gr. Ignatiev will lie for several days about his old acquaintance with Niger, and then he will forget both the matter and Niger. Your letter coincides with the letter I received today from Vienna. I enclose it, asking you, if possible, to read it. Based on all the information from London, Geneva, Vienna and Paris, as well as the intelligence information received here, I clearly see that the revolution is preparing a series of assassination attempts and attacks. Especially in Moscow and the Krasnoselsky camp, least of all in St. Petersburg. Nothing is being done against these plans. Ignatiev lies, assures that he has known everything for a long time, and invents whole stories about his conversations with the sovereign, who, supposedly, either does not allow anything to be done, or completely agrees with his, Ignatiev’s, plan of action, but this plan seems to me not only secret, but, like Trochu’s plan, non-existent. Check Ignatiev, you know, I am deprived of the opportunity, because Ignatiev conveyed to me the sovereign’s reluctance for me to give reports. To top off all the delights, these days they are planning to start a public trial in the case of General Moravinsky, Tyeglev and Fursov on charges of not disclosing a tunnel on Sadovaya Street. This court will find out: 1st: what is missing between the accused: general. Fedorov, Baron Velio, general. Cherevina and gr. Lorisa; 2nd: it will expose the terrible disorder of the government organization, show the powerlessness of the government, and this, in a decent public, will completely undermine confidence in the authorities and all this will ineffably help the revolution, bringing a triumph of recognition of the strength and skill of the revolutionaries, and 3rd, in the dock will sit the head of the secret archives, a person belonging to the category of people whom a reasonable government can, if necessary, execute, but not make dissatisfied. To this it remains to be added that Fursov does not deserve any punishment. This is a man who works like an ox, has a short-sighted mind and is only guilty of literally carrying out the wild orders of his boss. Yesterday I again explained all this to Ignatiev, who of course lied, saying: “What do you want to do, everything you say, I told the sovereign, asked him to allow the case to be completed administratively, but he doesn’t want to hear it, ordering the trial to begin as soon as possible. The Emperor will be displeased if we go against his will.” Much less afraid of angering the sovereign than of harming him, I, of course, am preparing a written report, but I more than doubt whether Ignatiev will present my opinion to the sovereign. Ignatiev personally needs this whole nasty story to show Russia the badness of the state of affairs handed over to him by Loris, and in this Ignatiev thinks to provide himself with an excuse for future misfortunes. I just don't know what to do. I don’t have the opportunity to speak with the sovereign, I don’t dare to write because of my handwriting, my eyes hurt so much again that I write by heart. My soul and nerves ached, looking at what was happening. Thank you very much and sincerely for the news. Unfortunately, it is really very bad in the south. However, things are little better here. The activities of rpai a on Aptekarsky and another count in Peterhof are a secret to me and from me. I'm afraid that it will remain a secret both for Russia and for the business. Tomorrow I will finish the note for the sovereign; I would very much like to show it to you on Tuesday and ask for your opinion. You will probably be at your place at 4 o'clock on Tuesday. Last night I experienced a new torment. I went to Ignatiev to finally get some sense regarding the trip to the sovereign. For a whole hour I was treated to lies. This time it was so unimportant and confusing that I decided this morning to go to Peterhof and try to see the sovereign and in. to Alexia Alkcha, and then catch up with the family in Bologoe by courier train. But Ignatiev’s strong reception poisoned me, my chest was so seized that I had to put on two new front sights and thus, the unfastened uniform decided to fulfill Ignatiev’s wishes, I leave without seeing either the sovereign or Alex. Al-cha. Be kind, when meeting with the sovereign, try to make further gossip impossible. Allow me to thank you again and again from the depths of my heart for your constant kindness to me. Take the trouble to convey your deepest respect to Ekaterina Alexandrovna. I forward the cross and stand that I spoke about yesterday. Dear Konstantin Petrovich, ever since the last terrible events I have prepared a note about our present situation and about the means to get out of it. Now I have reworked it somewhat, but more in terms of expressions than in terms of meaning. Recent events in my eyes have only confirmed my thoughts. I am sending you two copies, one for you, the other in case you consider it possible to present the note to the sovereign. However, I myself will be in St. Petersburg, probably on the 17th or 18th. We are summoned to the railway commission. So, goodbye, I hope to talk about many things with you personally soon. We are going through a terrible time. God grant that it brings us to our senses. I am sending several copies of this note to other persons. I think that under the current circumstances, anyone who has a brain in their head is obliged to have their say. 101. TASKS OF THE NEW REIGN. One of the greatest reigns in Russian history ended with a terrible catastrophe. The monarch who fulfilled the cherished dreams of the best Russian people, who gave freedom to twenty million peasants, established an independent and transparent court, granted self-government to the zemstvo, removed censorship from the printed word, this monarch, the benefactor of his people, fell from the hands of the villains who persecuted him for several years and finally achieved their goal. Such a tragic fate cannot fail to produce a stunning effect on anyone in whom the thought has not become clouded and in whom human feeling has not dried up. But the political thinker is even more embarrassed at the sight of the legacy that this benevolent sovereign, the sower of freedom on Russian soil, leaves to his successor. It would seem that the completed transformations were supposed to raise Russian life to a new height, to give wings to the national spirit that had been shackled for too long. Meanwhile, that’s not what actually happened. Instead of growth, we see decline, both mental and moral, and partly material. Instead of a new beneficial order, there is discord everywhere. Displeasure is everywhere, bewilderment is everywhere. The government does not trust society, society does not trust the government. There is no clear thought or guiding will anywhere. Russia represents some kind of chaos, among which only destructive elements show determination and carry out their plans with unheard-of audacity, threatening the destruction of not only the government, but the entire social system. The latest atrocity has exceeded the measure; it showed that we must tremble every minute for the most sacred foundations of national life. What are the causes of evil, and where can we find a cure for it? Many attribute the sad state of Russian society to those reactionary aspirations that, in the last half of the last reign, gained predominance in government spheres, and which allegedly led to a distortion of transformations. Such a reproach exposes only an extremely superficial view of things. There is no doubt that many of the measures taken in recent years by the Russian government can be criticized; it is even more possible to criticize the way people act and choose. But in general, there is not a single transformation that would undergo serious distortion in its fundamental foundations. The sovereign hand that made them kept them as its own creation. The regulation of February 19 was fulfilled in its entirety; zemstvos and cities act independently within the limits established for them; the irremovability of judges, the transparency of legal proceedings, and the jury were preserved; Censorship over the press has not been restored. If in the past, under serfdom, under the most constraining censorship, and under the omnipotence of the bureaucracy, Russian society could not only breathe, but also develop, if then it had ideal goals, and strength, and talents, and half the sweat of life, then all the more all this is possible under the present order, where a wide scope is open for all activity, and existing constraints have no more meaning for Russia than pin pricks on the skin of a whale. Of course, the government was forced to take emergency measures, to temporarily eliminate guarantees of personal freedom, but was this not caused by the state of affairs, by terror emanating not from the government, but from the depths of society itself? To blame the reaction that has taken place in the government on the blame of public unrest, to attribute the existing discord in society to one or another ministerial circular, to the supposed despotism of governors, to the warnings given to magazines, or even to the existence of the poll tax and the passport system, is to indulge in trifles. Anyone who is content with such explanations can talk about politics just as little as he can talk about flowers with a blind man. The causes of evil lie much deeper; they lie in the very state of Russian society and in the speed with which transformations took place in it. Any society, suddenly thrown out of its usual rut and placed in completely new conditions of life, loses its balance and will wander at random for some time. The French Revolution provided a living example of this. In Russia, the revolution took place not from below, but from above, but the change was no less enormous. The people, who for centuries had been in a state of serfdom and accustomed to bowing before the omnipotence of power, suddenly found themselves in the midst of a civil order created for freedom. Serfdom disappeared; classes became equal. Independent forces emerged; the need for collective activity arose. The leading class in particular was placed on completely new ground and had to abandon all its previous habits. He simultaneously had to maintain his shocked material well-being and take on new social work, and all this without proper preparation, with the meager education that Russian life provided. Even a very enlightened society could hardly tolerate such a revolution; What can we say about a society with little education? All relationships have changed; all legends have disappeared; all the concepts are confused. To crown the misfortune, the transformations took place at a time when our teacher on the path of civil development, Western Europe, along with the great principles that formed the basis of the transformations of the past reign, brought us turmoil. And there a crisis occurs, both in the mental and political spheres: there is a struggle between capital and labor; materialistic teachings overwhelm the minds, and the wild passions that agitate the masses tend to overthrow all fundamental foundations; by which human society is held together. Is it any wonder that these vague ideas, penetrating into an ignorant environment and finding receptive soil in the wandering elements unbridled by the social revolution, completely confuse unprepared minds and produce those ugly phenomena that lead us to horror and indignation. This is where the causes of evil lie; where to look for medicine against it? Those who place all the blame for our social unrest on the reactionary aspirations of the government have at the ready a whole liberal program, which, having completed the transformation, should make the Russian land happy. But if they do not see the cause of evil, then even less are they able to indicate a cure against it. The cure does not lie in the freedom of the press now celebrated. Our own twenty-five years of experience, which confirms the long-standing experience of other peoples, could cure us of this prejudice. Freedom of the press, especially the periodical press, which alone has political significance, is necessary where there is political life; without the latter, it turns into empty chatter that mentally corrupts society. Especially among less educated people, the unbridled press usually becomes a muddy stream into which all sorts of impurities flow, a receptacle for undigested thoughts, vulgar passions, scandals and slander. This is recognized by the most liberal Western publicists who impartially observe the phenomena of life. In Russia, the periodical press, in the vast majority of its representatives, was a corrupting element; she brought not light, but darkness to Russian society. She gave birth to the Chernyshevskys, Dobrolyubovs, Pisarevs and their numerous followers, whose name is now legion. And now, when the press is far from enjoying complete freedom, anyone who can read sees through the liberal mask the socialist aspirations breaking through everywhere. If the government, wanting to appease journalism, abandons the only weapon in its hands, warning, then full scope will be open to socialist propaganda. It is in vain that we hope that it will meet with opposition from healthy elements of society. To counteract the lies that are being dispelled under the scientific and philanthropic specter, thought, knowledge, and labor are needed; and the vast majority of the reading public subsist on magazines and newspapers precisely because they themselves do not want to think or work. Under such conditions, loud phrases and shameless abuse will always be there. have an advantage. A self-respecting writer would turn away from such a tournament with disgust. Freedom is necessary for scientific research; without this there is no mental development; but the periodical press demands from us restraint, not space. It constitutes the most sore point of Russian society. Even less medicine lies in satisfying the so-called demands of youth. In free countries, the government is replaced by a protective party and a liberal one, sometimes teaching programs change, but all these changes have no impact on the situation of students, because everyone is equally aware that here, above all, constant and firm leadership is needed. In our country, the attitude of the authorities towards the student youth continuously moves from one extreme to the other, as if deliberately in order to confuse young minds and not leave a single solid concept in them. Of course, when the reins were too tight, some loosening was needed. But for the government itself to voluntarily bring confusion and discord into educational institutions, stirring up the youth, indignant all reasonable people and causing loud applause from frivolous agitators, so that, in pursuit of popularity, it leads to the systematic destruction of the institutions in which young forces are educated, hardly any other European country provides an example of this. And when you think that our student youth are unusually susceptible to destructive theories, and that the main contingent of nihilism is drawn from them, then such a trend is even more striking in its incongruity. To put an end to this corrupting activity, which threatens the death of the younger generation, as soon as possible, is the urgent need of the day. By its very nature, youth is most affected by social unrest; here frivolous liberalism is more harmful than anywhere else. The cure does not lie in the return of political exiles, in the abolition of emergency measures and in the restoration of legal order. There is no doubt that under the previous administration, and especially under the tools that it used, there were many needless victims, which only aroused greater anger. Administrative arbitrariness, not restrained by reasonable authority, opens the door to abuses of all kinds. Therefore, one cannot help but be grateful to that statesman who, having looked at things more soberly, found it necessary to bring into this matter more prudence, more philanthropy and more condescension towards lost young people. But if it is desirable for the authorities to act in this matter only with extreme caution, furnishing themselves with possible information, perhaps even an advisory institution, then the complete elimination of arbitrariness under present conditions is unthinkable. As a result, one cannot help but admit that the part of Russian youth that has gone astray constitutes the most harmful and dangerous element for the state. To imagine that this intellectual proletariat, generated by the changed position of our classes, the state of our educational institutions, and the chaos that dominates our society, can be gently returned to useful civic activity, would mean to be too naive a utopian. As long as there is a socialist party seeking to overthrow the entire social order, emergency measures will be necessary. Of course, all the friends of the liberal reforms of the past reign could not see without grief how personal arbitrariness was established instead of the guarantees established by law. But anyone who looks at things impartially must admit that it is not the government that is to blame. When a gang of seditionists reaches the most unheard of atrocities, then the salvation of society requires the suspension of guarantees. Only Russian newspapers, devoid of any political meaning, could dream of a return to legal order at the present time. One cannot help but regret that the St. Petersburg nobility, under the influence of the air around them, embarked on the same path. In order for legal order to be restored in institutions, it is necessary that it be established in the minds. The cure does not lie in administrative reforms affecting local government. Apparently, the government paid special attention to this subject and for this purpose sent auditing senators to the provinces. But if these dignitaries bring to the capital the opinions of sensible and practical people living locally, they will convey to the government that although private improvements are desirable, no radical change in local government is required. Thanks to the reforms of the past reign, it has been put on a real footing, and the relations between the authorities have been established correctly. Only those who have never participated in zemstvo affairs can claim that the activities of zemstvo institutions are paralyzed by the power of governors. In reality, the power of the governors can neither be strengthened, because this would violate the rights dear to the zemstvo, nor weakened, because through this the government would be deprived of a necessary body. On the other hand, it is impossible to expand the circle of departments of elective institutions. Given the strength they have, they are barely able to cope with their task; How can they cope with more? The most painful place of the provincial administration is in the peasant administration, especially the volost. The inadequacy of the court, the arbitrariness of the elders, the dominion of the clerks, all this is too well known. But even here, evil can only be helped by private measures, strengthening the personnel of the district presences, transferring some cases to magistrates, replacing cassation with an appeal, etc. Any radical transformation, under the current conditions of provincial life, is unthinkable. It is impossible to destroy a volost without upsetting the entire district administration; You can only either take her into custody or introduce educated elements into her. But neither one nor the other will lead to the desired results, precisely because of the extreme poverty of educated elements in the province. This is the main evil that plagues our local government, an evil that can only be removed by time. Given the current desolation, any organic change will only be a useless disruption. Strengthening the bureaucratic element, not to mention its well-known unreliability, is not desirable if only because it will change the zemstvo character of institutions. The installation of small pashas from local landowners would only lead to the exploitation of the peasant population in the name of private interests, and to the predominant importance of these persons in zemstvo assemblies, where half the votes would be in their hands. The cure does not lie in improving the economic life of the peasants, which is now so loudly talked about, in increasing allotments, in reducing burdens, in resettlement, in equalizing taxes. The newspapers proclaim that now, like twenty years ago, we are faced with a formidable peasant question that we have to resolve. In reality, this formidable peasant question is nothing more than a myth created by the imagination of St. Petersburg liberals, not without significant influence from the socialists. All this agitation can only lead to the confusion of the peasants by arousing in them unrealistic hopes. Undoubtedly, there are private disasters and needs that should be helped, there is even impoverishment of a significant part of the peasant population, but this occurs because the peasants left to themselves, even less than the landowners, are able to stand on their own two feet. The causes of poverty lie in poor cultivation of the land, in the predatory farming prevailing among the peasants, in their unaccustomed savings and excessive habit of drunkenness, in reckless family divisions, and most importantly, in the enslavement of the peasant to the community and mutual responsibility. Through this, those who have the opportunity to get rich are forcibly reduced to the level of beggars. Increasing the plots will not help this evil, because after some time, with the increase in population, the plots will again be small. Relocations, which in some cases may be useful, but which, as a broad measure, do not make sense given the meager population that exists in Russia, will not help either. The real task is not to colonize new lands, but to improve local economy, and for this the only reasonable measure would be to complete the liberation of the Russian peasantry by liberating them from the community and mutual responsibility, appropriating to them the ownership of the land to which they have an inalienable right, for they buy it with their labor money. Only through this could the peasants develop that initiative, without which no economic success is possible: this would be the real completion of the situation of February 19th. But it is precisely this only reasonable outcome of the peasant cause that will arouse the cry not only of the entire false-liberal press, which is always ready to stand up for everything suitable to socialism, but also of a significant part of conservatives who are carried away by Slavophile ideas, or who are afraid of the ghost of the proletariat. At the present moment this question cannot be resolved; it must be pre-prepared by careful field research. The disintegration of the community will inevitably occur; it will not stand against freedom. But it is desirable that it be accomplished in such a way that the peasant’s concept of property is strengthened, without which there is no free civil life and the ground is always open for socialist unrest. As for the equalization of taxes, this is a very respectable beginning; but you need to know what its economic and political consequences will be. When, due to a lack of financial resources, burdens are lifted from one part of the population, one should ask: on whom will they fall? If on landowners, then the latter, in turn, may be burdened with excessive taxes. And now landowners pay from 10 to 13 percent of net income. If you put a few more percent on them, they won’t last. The main evil of our economy is the lack of capital; and with an increase in taxes, its accumulation will become even more difficult, and the economy itself will become so unprofitable that the landowners will be forced to turn to other occupations. Estates will increasingly pass into the hands of wealthy peasants and merchants, the local intelligentsia will completely disappear; and if we realize that at the existing level of the peasant class, the relief they receive can easily be used to increase income from the wine excise tax, as is often the case with good earnings, then we will see that such a theoretically beneficial measure can in practice turn into general ruin. Therefore, you should be very careful here. In addition, we must not lose sight of the fact that the equalization of taxes is also connected with a political issue. We, as well as in other European countries, have historically developed the concept of the upper class as tax-exempt. Taking away this last privilege from the nobility, involving them in the tax burden without balancing this burden with the right to give their consent to taxes and control expenses, cannot but arouse general displeasure in them. It will be said that a government based on the people is strong enough to neglect this displeasure. But is it useful to destroy without compensation the last remnants of historical law in a country where all the concepts of right are extremely shaky, and where, therefore, the concepts of duty inextricably linked with law are equally shaky? And will it be beneficial for the government to arouse displeasure precisely in the most protective part of society, in the one that is more capable than all others of serving as a bond for a shaky edifice? We think that it is not now possible to neglect the nobility. Shouldn't we, however, finally begin to grant political rights, to what we are accustomed to calling the completion of the building? At the present moment it would be least appropriate. After the liberation of the peasants, the nobility for some time dreamed of constitutional rights, with which they thought to reward themselves for the lost privileges. But these aspirations met with opposition from the most reasonable part of society, which understood that it was not in the era of radical transformations that were changing the entire social system that one could think about limiting the supreme power. Subsequently, when minds calmed down and Russian society began to get used to the new order of life, those who were not carried away by modern passions could also want constitutional guarantees. But this time of calm assimilation of transformation passed like a fleeting shadow. New forces that emerged with terrible energy brought terrible turmoil into a society that was just beginning to come to its senses. At present, only followers of nihilism or those who are absolutely incapable of thinking and understanding anything can talk about the completion of the building. Now any limitation of power would be disastrous. Thus, the entire current liberal program that Russian journalists and their admirers of a certain type are running around with must be eliminated. It only leads to the strengthening of the corrupting elements of society, and we need, first of all, to give predominance to the elements that hold together. However, this does not mean that one cannot take a step in the liberal sense. Freedom can and should be used, but not by dissolving it, but by directing it. The new government will inevitably have to turn to society and seek support in it; but the goal should not be to weaken, but to strengthen power, for this is our urgent need. No matter how we look at the tasks ahead of us, this demand appears before us irresistibly. The issue of the day is the fight against socialism. In our country this struggle is in some respects less difficult than in other countries. Socialism is not widespread among the masses, who have remained alien to this infection. The Russian government is dealing with a comparatively small gang, which is drawn from different strata of society, but mainly from the intellectual proletariat, multiplied by our educational institutions and inflamed by the radical press. But this gang carries on the work of destruction with such energy and with such constancy, which is too often, alas, lacking in government spheres. You can only fight it with the same weapons. It is in vain that they dream of the possibility of pacification through concessions. For those who have set themselves the goal of destruction, any concessions will only serve as a means to the fulfillment of their further plans. In these forms they now demand a constitutional order, which in essence they do not value at all. The Russian government and Russian society can defeat them only by showing the same unyielding energy and the same constancy as this rabble of the human race shows. Any relaxation would be ruinous; any attempt to adhere to the path of the law will be a sign of weakness. Without a doubt, such a struggle will require new sacrifices. The innocent will also die; Perhaps some of the best sons of the fatherland will fall. Who knows what the future holds for us? But if one is killed, then another will take his place. The willpower of the Russian people is not concentrated in the regicides alone, and if things go towards fighting sedition, then the Russian land will finally raise up Hercules, who will crush the continuously emerging heads of this hydra. Our salvation, and together with the future of humanity, depends on this. Is the Russian government, however, capable of waging such a struggle on its own? No, this requires the moral support of the entire people, not that which is given by official addresses that have lost all meaning, but that which can only be given by live communication with representatives of the earth. And the land called to council will, without a doubt, give this support. If only she saw determination in the government, she would not refuse him help. But if she finds hesitation in the bearers of power, then everything is lost. Police and punitive measures alone are not enough, however, to heal the evil that is eating away at us. It is necessary to penetrate to its very root; it is necessary to support the shaky edifice of Russian society, to raise healthy elements and curb those that provide food for destructive forces. What is required for this? Smart leadership. In its absence lies the main cause of evil; and only in him will we find a cure against him. Every society needs leadership, whether it comes from above or is erected from below. The main task of constitutional government is to provide leaders for them from among the people. Such in England are the recognized leaders of parties; in France the same role is currently played by the President of the Chamber of Deputies, in Germany the famous statesman who created the German Empire. In a society with little education, leadership is more needed than in an educated one, and in a society thrown out of its usual rut, it is more necessary than anywhere else. But it is precisely this most essential requirement of political life in Russia that is not being satisfied. Having accomplished the transformations and put society on its feet, the government seemed to calm down, not caring about further movement. Those of the statesmen who wanted to lead, occupied more with their personal interests than with a sincere attitude to the matter, only knew how to arouse general opposition and forced the most moderate people, ready to assist the government with all their might, to join the ranks of its opponents. For its part, society, left to its own devices, does not know how to find balance. It staggers like crazy, not knowing what to grab onto, and not finding a solid point of support anywhere - neither in the government, on which it has long been accustomed to rely, nor in its own, not yet formed, forces. Under existing conditions, indeed, leadership is hardly even possible. A government cut off from society is unable to provide it; a society detached from government will not accept it. There was a time when autocratic power, with the help of its own instruments, constantly led the people. All Russian history testifies to this. But this time has passed forever. Already under Alexander I a turning point took place. During the reign of Nicholas, with outward humility, he became even deeper. The transformations of the past reign, taking into account the changed course of life, were intended to organize Russian society as an independent and free force. In this order, government activity alone is not enough. Independent forces must be taken into account; it is necessary to call them to advice and, together with them, to direct their social movement. The very instruments of government are worn out. There were two such instruments: the highest aristocracy, which surrounded the throne, and the bureaucracy, which supplied servants to the state from among its ranks. The Russian aristocracy in former times had enormous political importance. She stood highly both in education and in government abilities. And now we still look with respect at the rare remnants of educated nobles who were brought up during the time of Alexander I. But in modern times it has undoubtedly fallen into decay. The reaction that followed the events of 1825 dealt her a decisive blow. Instead of education and government abilities, they began to demand devotion and obedience from her. The Russian aristocracy failed to preserve its traditions and morally maintain itself at the height of its position. She is currently unable to serve as a leader of society. To do this, she would need to be internally renewed, imbued with education, and return to the traditions of the enlightened nobles of former times. Then only it could become a solid stronghold of state order and the center of public life. The bureaucracy is no less worn out. And the latter, even in recent times, under the influence of the education diffused in society and the intellectual interests that dominated it, was able to produce enlightened figures from its midst. Their largest representative was N.A. Milyutin. But now this environment has become smaller. It reflected the influence of that liberal frivolity that blows through St. Petersburg journalism. Or it plunged into petty intrigues, without any breadth of vision, without any understanding of the true interests of the fatherland. In the bureaucratic sphere surrounding it, the government will not find people. Moreover, if it wanted to get out of the enchanted circle of bureaucrats and turned to independent social forces, then here too it would find extreme poverty. We cannot hide from ourselves that over the past thirty years, education in Russia has declined significantly. What it gained in quantity, it lost in quality. And for the leadership forces, the main requirement is quality. The reasons for this decline are manifold: the complete decline of schools since 1848, the dominance of journalism, which replaces knowledge and work with enthusiasm and superficiality, and finally, the predominance of practical interests over theoretical ones. Serious work on higher theoretical questions raises people both mentally and morally; purely practical interests, on the contrary, if they revolve in a small sphere, lower both minds and characters. During the last reign, when a free field for activity opened up in all directions, the entire Russian society greedily rushed to practical training. Mental questions were forgotten or reduced to the level of means for practical purposes. While the period of transformation was still ongoing, the general enthusiasm raised people. But now this feeling has cooled down. Life settled into an ordinary rut, and everything was immersed in the pursuit of petty goals, in dealing with everyday squabbles or in the pursuit of material well-being. People outside government spheres have the advantage over the bureaucracy that they know their fatherland better and take its interests closer to their hearts, but in addition to broad education, they also lack experience in government affairs, and without experience it is impossible to assume the role of leader. However, it is necessary to reach out to society. If the government itself is not able to lead it, if its own instruments are worn out, then this is the only way out of an intolerable situation. But one should turn to society not in order to draw from it wisdom that does not exist in it, but in order to educate it for political life, creating for it such conditions under which correct political development is possible. It is necessary to tear him out of the narrow sphere of petty practical interests, open up a wider field for him and raise his level, bringing him face to face with the highest interests of the fatherland. In a word, it is necessary to create a body in which social thought and public will could be developed. There is no need for such a body to necessarily be parliament, endowed with political rights. Institutions of this kind are suitable only for a mature society, established on its foundations, and we still have to educate ourselves. Political freedom may be a distant ideal of the Russian man; the urgent need lies solely in the establishment of a living connection between the government and society for a joint rebuff to the corrupting elements and for bringing order to the Russian land. This goal can be achieved by attaching elected representatives of the nobility and zemstvo to the State Council. Of course, such an institution would not be sufficient for constitutional life; but the Russian people will receive in it exactly what they need. Here, for the first time, government and society will be connected not only externally, in an official way, but organically. The disunity that is detrimental to Russian life will cease; government and land bodies, standing face to face and jointly discussing common affairs, will know and understand each other. The government will no longer feel powerless in its solitude; Having gathered around itself all the protective elements of the country, it can boldly enter into the fight against sedition. Here is the only possibility of reasonable leadership. Only in such an institution can people capable of meeting modern needs be developed. For all peoples who have emerged from bureaucratic tutelage, parliamentary life alone is capable of producing statesmen who know how to guide a free society. Here people are no longer brought up in clerical routine; they learn to deal with independent forces and replace underground intrigues with an obvious struggle of opinions. Here it is impossible to neglect the essential interests of the fatherland; they are there, and we must take them into account. Without a doubt, parliamentary majorities can often misunderstand these interests. But a state council replenished with elected officials does not have this disadvantage either, since it is given only an advisory voice. What is important here is not so much the resolution of issues by this or that majority, but the creation of an environment in which people can act and which alone is able to develop in them state abilities suitable for an order based on freedom. Only such an institution can rid society of the dominion of journalism. At present, any feuilletonist who owns a somewhat lively pen and knows how to attract the attention of the public through scandals and enthusiasm becomes the leader of public opinion. Neither knowledge, nor intelligence, nor even talent are needed here: shamelessness is enough, which in newspaper polemics will always prevail among a society unaccustomed to subtle analysis and evaluation of thought. In the institution where elected representatives from the whole earth will be gathered, society will find other leaders. His gaze will turn in the other direction; the debate will take on a different character. Journalism will fade into the background; it will become the organ of parties and their zemstvo representatives. This is its true purpose, and only under these conditions can it play a useful role in public life. Freedom of the periodical press is a necessary accessory for representative institutions; without them, it becomes a corrupting element of the social organism. This is what we see in ourselves. Finally, only such a measure can satisfy both conservatives and liberals at once. The last value is form, as an expression of emerging political freedom; The first are convinced that the earth will pour healthy content into this form. The currently scattered and disunited protective forces of the country will find a focus and acquire their due weight. And whoever lived inside Russia knows that security elements have a huge advantage over the rest. Only the prevailing mental disorder and the weakness of the government give importance to anti-social aspirations, in which misguided youth see the expression of advanced ideas and the future of humanity. These aspirations will not find an echo in the elected representatives of the nobility and zemstvo. The only danger is that the representatives flocking to the center do not succumb to the liberal wind blowing in the capital. It is up to the government to take action against this. Liberalism will have its turn when minds calm down and order is restored. Now the concern is different. But in order for such a transformation to bear fruit, it is necessary that it not be limited to half measures. If the government had called only experts to the State Council, although elected, but without the right to vote, then instead of satisfaction it would only arouse discontent. The elected officials will feel humiliated, and no one will be willing to sacrifice their time and labor to perform such a comedy. Any inequality between members of the council will have a detrimental effect on their activities and on their mutual relations. The elective element should also not be limited to too small a number. One deputy from the nobility and two from the zemstvo of each province - this would presumably be the most rational solution to the problem. The point here is not at all to give an advantage to the elected or government authorities. The opinions of the State Council are not given decisive force. The supreme power can equally agree with the majority and with the minority, and in fact both elements, governmental and elective, will be mixed when the votes are cast. The essential task is to gather a sufficient number of forces and create a real center of political life. We must not forget that all the transformations of the past reign found favor with the people precisely because they will remain pillars of the future and an eternal monument of Russian legislation, because they were not limited to half measures. Neither in the Regulations of February 19, nor in the judicial reform, nor in zemstvo institutions is there visible petty and fearful distrust of society. Everywhere the task is understood broadly and a framework is set within which social life can develop in the open. Without such a broad definition of the task, a strengthened state council will remain a stillborn institution. They will say that it will be the same parliament. With such a significant number of elected officials, can we guarantee that their first order of business will not be to demand rights? Perhaps individual voices will be heard, but they will be drowned in the mass. With a firm government there is nothing to fear. If there is a principle that has been suppressed throughout Russian history, it is right. That is why it has so few roots in the folk spirit. No one here stands up for their rights and everyone is ready to give them up. After the liberation of the peasants, there was some constitutional organization in the nobility; but this temporary excitement quickly disappeared, leaving no trace behind. This could be seen during the discussion of the tax issue and when conscription duty was extended to the nobility. Nowadays, Russian society is less inclined than ever to demand rights for itself. It is frightened by the phenomena of socialism and is ready to crowd around any government that will give it protection. One can surely predict that if Russia is destined to take the constitutional path, it will be only when the supreme power itself sees a social need in this and, on its own initiative, leads it to political freedom. But this is a matter of further development of life. At present, the urgent need is only for a friendly union of government and people to repel the destructive forces and create a center from which to lead the social movement in Russia. A government disconnected from the land is powerless; land separated from government is barren. The entire future of the Russian state depends on their strong connection. I received your letter, dear Konstantin Petrovich. I thought I’d be in St. Petersburg myself one of these days and talk with you personally, but they write to me that God knows when they’ll gather us, and I don’t think it’s necessary to go there to spend time. But I cannot help but respond to your letter. We live in a time when people who want to benefit their fatherland need to come to an agreement. This is all the more possible for you and me because, in essence, we view the state of affairs in the same way and only differ in means. In response to your objections, I will ask you one question: do you really think that you are able to do anything worthwhile with the existing St. Petersburg elements? You can believe or not believe in what the country will give, but there is one thing that cannot help but believe, this is that the St. Petersburg spheres have completely worn out and contain nothing but rot. And you want to save Russia with this rot. One of two things: either the current government is capable of introducing a person like Mikhail Nikolaevich Muravyov, whose name is now on everyone’s lips, but in this case he will want to rely on the dark force and lead it along. Or the current government, apart from the existing sloppiness, is not able to come up with anything, but then the only salvation is in an appeal to the Earth. I agree with you that, perhaps, even the majority of those called up will consist of empty talkers, but there will also be a sensible minority in which the government will find support. To continue the current order, in which each minister pulls to his side, and everyone agrees on only one thing - to start liberalizing in front of each other and somersaulting in front of the St. Petersburg trash, this, in my opinion, is unthinkable. This is undoubtedly the path that directly leads us to destruction. Then I don’t think there’s any need to rush into this at all. On the contrary, let the government settle down and society come to its senses. Do not cloud your minds with supposedly liberal measures, which are now completely untimely, and do not be afraid of manifestations of power, which alone can calm an agitated society. But in our country, unfortunately, power is manifested in such a way that it always happens contrary to sound policy. "Petersburg Bulletin" is banned, but "Country", "Golos" and "Order" are left untouched. What are you going to do here? I just received a telegram convening our commission for Tuesday. See you soon. It’s very, very sorry, dearest Konstantin Petrovich, that I didn’t find you last night. I wanted not only to say goodbye and hug you, but also to talk to you. The other day I was with you and exhorted you, in the name of the fatherland, to be more compliant, because in these troubled times, unity is required in the government, not discord. Yesterday I wanted, again in the name of the fatherland, to ask you to be unyielding and inflexible. I learned that Abaza had submitted his project to the State Council on reducing redemption payments and on compulsory redemption. I have already told you that nothing can be said against reducing payments in those areas where the peasants are too burdened; but the general measure that changes the foundations of the situation on February 19th shakes the main pillar on which the renewed Russia is based. Raising the issue of compulsory ransom in these troubled times, in my opinion, is simply madness. And I’m not the only one who sees things this way. Dmitriev, whose close relationship with Abaza is known to you, is in despair. The most subordinates of Abaza, Turner, Mengden are horrified by this measure. Who would have thought that this extremely cautious man, contrary to the opinions of his friends and his employees, would decide to pull out such a thing? We live in a time where everyone's head is spinning. Your duty, dear friend, is not only to rebel against this in the State Council, but also to convey to the sovereign that raising the peasant question and changing the foundations of the Regulations of February 19th can shake his kingdom, agitate the peasants, give strength to the nihilists, confuse all reasonable people and push away from the government precisely those protective elements that should rally around him. And why do these gentlemen need to convene elected officials when they consider it possible, without asking anyone, through a purely bureaucratic procedure, to lay their hands on the best monument of Russian legislation? When you think about who and how drew up the Regulations of February 19th and who and how is encroaching on it, you feel bitter and afraid for Russia. I firmly shake your hand and with all my heart, which is torn for your homeland, I wish you strength and success, for you alone think not about yourself, but about business, while everything else is carried by the will of the wind, imagining that you will thereby strengthen your position. Oh, human madness! I’m going home to work in my corner for our common cause. Moscow. April 11, 1881 I am sending you, dearest Konstantin Petrovich, the note that we talked about on our last date. Since you advised sending it directly to the sovereign, I am enclosing a letter addressed to His Majesty. I ask you to convey both. I am sending another copy to Abaza, notifying him that I sent a note to the sovereign on my behalf. Given my relationship with Abaza, I had to do this. Whether anything will come of this, only God knows. But in any case, it is the first duty of a citizen to counteract harmful measures. If during your meeting with the sovereign there was talk of summoning me for something, or assigning me somewhere, say that I am currently writing an essay against socialism and would like to have six months free to bring it to an end. I’m going to the village on Fomina Street and would be completely satisfied if the plight of the starving peasants due to crop failure did not await me there. I hope to be there on the 24th, staying for two days in Tambov. If, more than aspirations, you needed to tell me something, then my address is: Tambov province, Kirsanov, Karaul village. (On the back of the letter is the inscription: “Reduction of redemption payments in the non-black earth zone in proportion to the value of the land. Mandatory redemption of plots.”) Karaul village, May 11, 1881 Dear Konstantin Petrovich, I am sending you for information the resolution of our district assembly regarding the proposed reforms in local government. We had in mind to resist those aspirations for disruption that are manifested in government spheres, and even among zemstvo people. Moscow serves as a living example of this. Dmitry Samarin told me that Ignatiev allegedly shares his views on the reorganization of the districts. This would be sad, because the districts do not need any restructuring. If all these undigested reform plans, and with them the measures on peasant issues that had already passed through the State Council, sank into the water, then it would be impossible not to recognize the benefit of the turn that has taken place in the government, although I cannot hide from you that the method of action, as far as I know it, is unable to inspire confidence. We'll talk about this with you when we meet. Now I will tell you one thing: at present, [more than ever, the government needs public trust; and meanwhile, in view of the changes taking place, Russia remains in complete bewilderment. [Some kind of game is happening in front of her, in which she understands absolutely nothing. In Kirsanov, during the zemstvo meeting, a manifesto was received - what does this mean, who encroached on the autocracy? There is no question about this inside Russia. For whom are manifestos published? For those initiated into the St. Petersburg sacraments? All this convinces me even more of the need to involve zemstvo elements in the government. They write to me from St. Petersburg that in the State Council, Timashev alone, when discussing compulsory redemption, stood in favor of remunerating the landowners in full. Was there really only one person in the entire composition of this meeting who guessed that a 20% discount is a confiscation, which is least appropriate when there is a fight against socialism? What kind of trust can society have in such a meeting? With bureaucratic forces alone, you will not be able to cope with your task, and if you call on journalists for help, it will turn out even worse. On paper there will be a concentration of power, but in reality there will be, as it already is, a complete absence of power: on paper there will be platonic appeals to society, but in reality there will be greater and greater disunity. When, in sad moments, I reflect on the possible consequences of the recent turn, I imagine war, bankruptcy and then a constitution granted to a society completely unprepared for it. God grant that my premonitions do not come true. Presenting answers to the questions proposed to him, in the form of correcting the shortcomings of existing institutions that have occurred in life, the Kirsanovsky district zemstvo assembly considers it at the same time a duty to declare to the government: That in general terms it recognizes the transformations carried out in local government during the past reign as fully corresponding to the real needs of the zemstvo and requiring only conscientious implementation; That it values ​​the rights granted to it and sees the only guarantee of future success in the preservation, strengthening and development of existing institutions; He considers any radical change in local government undesirable and harmful, and the desire for a general breakdown of such a recently established order is positively dangerous. Dear friend, Konstantin Petrovich, Dmitry Kapnist, who was visiting us, is going to St. Petersburg today, and I take this opportunity to write you a few words in response to your letter. I, along with you, rejoice at the change that has taken place, because the fallen so-called statesmen obviously followed the wrong path. The suspension of the measures projected by Abaza is already a very good result. It is impossible not to notice that those who call themselves liberals wanted to carry out this essential issue in a purely bureaucratic way and through rough-and-tumble, while conservatives call on experts. God bless! It’s a great pity that I can’t talk to you personally; You would explain to me what still remains incomprehensible to me, namely, why it was impossible to simply replace people who were going in a harmful direction, but it was necessary to publish a manifesto on this issue, which for us living in the provinces remained completely incomprehensible. We expected a manifesto, but of a completely different kind: we thought that the government would explain to the peasants that the Tsar was killed not by landowners, but by nihilists, and that the peasants had nothing to fear for the rights they had received, nor to expect new benefits. From the manifesto of April 29, the peasants, in their current mood, can draw the conclusion that there were probably some intrigues and encroachments on the royal power in the noble spheres; this may rather confirm the rumors circulating here. I think that the main reason for all these misunderstandings is that you and I, dear Konstantin Petrovich, that is, the government in St. Petersburg and the provincial zemstvo people, live in two different worlds, and therefore we do not always understand each other. To this I attribute your view of our, Kirsanov’s, statement. For us it was absolutely necessary in order to fight in the provincial assembly, relying on the opinion of our district. You probably don’t know that, as a result of the Ministry of Ext. etc. questions, the minds of zemstvo people from Perm to Taurida are busy composing all sorts of projects for the general transformation of local institutions, and that we have to fight this locally, under the previous ministry, even under unequal conditions, because the government itself stood for the breakup. And in this regard, I consider the change that has taken place useful. You say: what good is it if some say one thing and others say another? And I will answer you: what good is it if only some people speak and others remain silent? The Protective Party is always and everywhere reproached for relying on the government for everything, while doing nothing itself. Why condemn us for raising our voices? For our decree has a purely protective meaning; it is caused not by the fear that our rights will be encroached upon, but by the fear that we ourselves, striving to expand them, will fall into a hole. This is how it was understood by those zemstvo people to whom I sent it. I have already received reviews from different provinces, some with a protective, others with a liberal tint. The issue has been raised and opinions cannot be suppressed. I think that it is very important for the government itself to know in whom exactly it can find support. If we remain silent and limit ourselves to official addresses, then everything will go as before. Official addresses can be sent on any occasion, even regarding the abolition of the salt tax, which is laughed at by those who send it. All this convinces me more and more of the need to call elected officials to the State Council. It is impossible for the government and society to live in different liras. They need to come together, and the only means for this is a constant exchange of thoughts and a joint discussion of social issues. S. Karaul, August 10, 1881 I am writing to you, my dear Konstantin Petrovich, to again draw your attention to the peasant question, which, according to information reaching me, received a completely wrong turn from experts called by the government. They apparently wanted to correct Abaza’s absurd project, but in no way lagged behind him in the desire to provide the peasants with all kinds of benefits, but on the contrary, expanding their care for the smaller brethren. Philanthropy is a laudable thing, but it must be consistent with common sense and state needs, and here I don’t see exactly that. The question arises: on what basis can a general reduction in peasant duties be made? There is no way to argue that these duties are too heavy in comparison with what these peasants received; it means directly going against the truth. In our area, for example, a peasant pays 7 rubles per capita for 3 1/2 tithes. 20 k. interest and redemption, while the rent for one tithe is 12–15 rubles. That is, if you count in three fields, from 7–9 rubles. How can we talk about the severity of payments here? If we take into account the redeemable duties, then it must be said that the landowner by law had 3 working days a week, or 150 days a year, for men and women, but in reality he took more. Considering a man's day on foot and horseback as an average of at least 30 rubles, and a women's day at 15 rubles, it will come out to 67 rubles. 50 k., with a tax consisting of 2 1/2 souls; Nowadays, the quitrent is 9 rubles per soul, but the ransom is only 7 rubles. 20 kopecks, that is, from the quitrent tax 22 rubles. 50 kopecks, but the ransom is only 18, therefore less than a third of the previous one. And we will apply this calculation to all of Russia. How can we talk about the severity of payments again? If the reduction of duty should be simply a favor, then the question is, on what basis is such a favor suddenly granted to one class and from what amounts? I think that such a measure will be not only harmful, but also dangerous, because after this the peasants will constantly expect this kind of mercies. There is no ridiculous rumor that they would not believe. Finally, if the reduction is caused by the fact that there is an excess of payments, then it is much better to shorten the period and quickly get rid of this whole operation. This will be more profitable for both the state and the peasants themselves. In a word, no matter how hard I rack my brain, I just can’t figure out on what basis the experts came to this conclusion. I am afraid that if the government and society continue to play for popularity in front of each other, our poor Russia will not be happy. The matter will probably go through the State Council. As a member of this philanthropic institution, pay attention to this matter. You are one of the few who can say a reasonable word. When I think that Abaza’s projects were unanimously passed there, I get a chill down my spine. Where will we finally get with philanthropy and liberalism? I rejoiced from the bottom of my heart at the successful journey of the Emperor and Empress. Who came up with this happy thought? Thank you for the little circular from the synod. I hope the newspapers don't lie this time. I am writing my book calmly and do not envy your worries, although I myself often become despondent about what is happening in this world. Will you and I live to see happier days? My wife went to Little Russia to visit her sisters, and I was left alone to protect my daughter and think about the vanity of the world. I intend to live in the village as long as possible. If nothing interferes, I will stay here until the end of November; Then I’ll go to Tambov for the zemstvo meeting and the noble elections. Maybe we'll see each other sometime in the winter in St. Petersburg. I would very much like to know from you many details that interest me. Valrose, 8/20 March 1881 Dear Konstantin Petrovich. It is difficult to concentrate when all interests are suppressed by an event that made the whole world shudder; - but on such days, more than ever, one lives with the heart, and therefore I do not put off my heartfelt conversation. For your letter of February 24, I am incredibly grateful to you. I never expected that you would take the trouble to respond so thoroughly to my patriotic ravings. However, this work of yours belongs not to me, but to history, and will pass on to my children as one of the most curious acts of our time. Addressing you, I knew your direction, and the characterization you expressed of the paths followed by the latest transformations did not surprise me at all. That is why I found you, because I think according to you, and in order to describe to you in short words exactly how I think, I will allow myself to write out here a few lines from a lengthy letter that I wrote 4 months ago to the heir sovereign, now the reigning emperor, regarding the change in the Minister of Finance. These are the lines; “The demands of the time are the same everywhere, and we will not escape their irresistible influence, but in order to follow these demands, we must develop institutions that already exist, which correspond to the character and habits of our people, and not transplant onto our soil the tricks of the West, which has already experienced a better era of people’s life, and is suffering from all the attacks of political decrepitude.” ...I don’t dare write now, write to the emperor; but if I could, I would write: “Beware of seditionists and do not neglect precautions; but do not think that the villains can be appeased by constitutional concessions. The more you give them, the more demanding they will become. Do what your reason and your conscience tell you for the benefit of Russia; but don’t worry about the effects, they will be able to turn them against you, just as they turned them against your departed parent. Let me speak factually; the truth in print, as well as before your throne, but forbid to print what stirs up the people, inciting their desires and feeding vain hopes. Call on. state activity, moral forces, of which there are quite a few in your native land, but call them by name, and not by class, call them with your sovereign word, and not with a general law, from which they would not hesitate to make a weapon, both against you and against the peace of state.” Forgive me, kind Konstantin Petrovich, that I am not writing about what is needed; - but, you see for yourself, I write with tears, and no one is the owner of my tears. If I had not been chained here by my sick children, I would not have remained away from my homeland for an hour during the difficult time it was going through. With all my heart I would mix my strength with the strength of people who honestly serve their fatherland, but instead I have to sit with folded hands, lost in sight and thought in the endless distance of the churned sea. My patriotic project, so definitely developed by you and Rachinsky, seemed to me difficult to implement. In some particulars I do not agree with you, but I trust your talents much more than my own, and therefore I consider my business a complete failure - and I will not say more about it. I have always been of the opinion that we do not have people to systems, but systems to people, we should adapt - but this is only possible in unhurried cases or in private tasks. I do not know how to apply this principle to a task as general and urgent as protecting people’s morality from the harmful influences that have overwhelmed it. This is the only way I can justify my failed attempt. For getting acquainted (even if only through letters) with a great personality, Prof. Rachinsky is very, very grateful to you. And I’m ready to support him, and the girl in Galernaya Harbor, and any other useful figure - I’m only waiting for your more positive testimony - although to tell the truth: it’s not particularly tempting for me to waste my money, I helped here and there - when my exceptional means give me the opportunity and benefit to bring exceptional benefits. In any case, I ask you to believe that by challenging me to a good deed, you will always do me a moral service, and besides: if something were not to my heart, I would not hesitate to admit it with complete frankness, and you, of course, will not complain about me for this. May God bless you. Having re-read the letter, I find it useful, just in case, to make a reservation that my above-mentioned letter to the Tsarevich was unsigned. Signed patriotic letters to the rulers of the earth always seemed to me to be the pursuit of some personal goals, or at least boasting, and I was afraid of being suspected of one or the other. His Highness K. P. Pobedonostsev. (Written in pencil): What do you think of answering him? It seems to me that now we know what we want and how to go. If you answer him in this sense and thank him heartily from me, I believe it would be enough. Your Imperial Majesty. Six months ago I had the courage to send you a letter in which I described the present situation in Russia. Since then, colossal events have occurred, but the situation in Russia has not changed, so my considerations, presented to Your Majesty at that time, remain invariably valid to this day. My above-mentioned letter was not signed, so I could not receive an answer, but I know that the thoughts contained in it were approved by Your Majesty. Applying these thoughts in practice, although not entirely easy, is more than possible. What was the matter? I think it’s because none of your subjects can take to heart the measures that I recommend. Meanwhile, all upcoming appointments (ministers: military, naval, finance, chairman of the boards of trustees, and probably also the chairman of the State Council) directly depend on whether it will be pleasing to Your Imperial Majesty to introduce the indicated measures into the flesh and blood of our government administration. If I had the happy opportunity to convey to Your Imperial Majesty in words everything that has matured in my mind and heart during those ten years during which, keeping aloof from Russia, I never stopped living its life, I would prove to everyone in your face that the enormous task, the solution of which so suddenly fell on your royal shoulders, is not as insoluble as it seems to those people who, carried away by theories, are confused in words, instead of getting things done. I do not have the good fortune to be personally known to Your Majesty, but my previous activities in Russia are sufficiently well known to judge by it the degree of seriousness and - forgive me, sir - cordiality with which I come to the foot of your throne. In addition: due to family circumstances, I am deprived of the opportunity to accept any service that would oblige me to live permanently in Russia - therefore, ambitious thoughts cannot have anything to do with my present appeal to Your Majesty. I am writing to you, sir, at the bedside of my dying daughter. I don’t dare leave her and go to Russia, risking not getting the opportunity to speak with Your Majesty. But if you were pleased to condescend to my most humble request and allow me to introduce myself to you, then order me to be summoned by telegram, and in three days I will be before you, no matter how great the personal grief that is holding me here. Russian imp. active services Art. owls The Emperor, having received your last letter from Bonn, deigned to instruct me to notify you that His Majesty read it with attention and sincerely thanks you both for this and for the previous communication of your thoughts, the thoroughness and patriotic direction of which he fully appreciates. At the present moment, His Majesty hopes that our internal policy will take a firmer and more definite direction. The times are extremely difficult and difficult, there is a great scarcity of capable people who know Russia, but there is no hopelessness to get out of our labyrinth and restore order, as long as we know what we want and what we are striving for. Life is a struggle for existence, say physiologists, referring this definition to everything that lives and breathes, i.e. relating it to plants, animals, and humans. The likeness of God, which was inherited only by man, gave him the opportunity to stand out from the general mass of creation, but physiological weakness and the prevailing strength of material needs meant that human life, along with the life of other organisms, comes down to the struggle for material interests. This is true in relation to millions of people, and can only be disputed in relation to individuals in whom the mind, feeling or passions, predominant without limit, have pushed material concerns into the background. The state, as a union of people, has the same general properties as a person taken individually. Consequently, the state must fight for its existence. He also has external enemies - strangers whose interests do not agree with his interests; He also has internal enemies - people of his native tribe, but those who have separated their personal interest from the general interest - the state. History, both in that anecdotal form in which it is understandable to most students, and philosophical history, usually called the history of civilization, rarely dwells on the material reasons for this or that event, but if you look closely at the facts, then you can always find some material basis for what happened. It is difficult to formulate conditions under which an external enemy would be less tempted to attack, and therefore measures taken against it can only be palliative, negative. But the positive nature of those conditions that are necessary to weaken the internal enemy is clear and undeniable. The less need there is, the better the material conditions of the people, the stronger the existence of the state, for the more difficult it is for internal enemies to shake the state’s foundations. By good material conditions of the people's life, we mean a situation in which the needs of each individual citizen are commensurate with his personal capabilities, and the general state needs do not exceed the sum of the people's payment forces. In those countries where the financial system has been strengthened for centuries, and where payment forces operate without much strain, the whole task is to evenly (relatively evenly) distribute among payers the total amount that is necessary for the annual use of the state treasury. Russia does not yet have a healthy and strong financial system, and we make ends meet only by incurring debt. True, we have classes that do not bear direct taxes, but these are classes with few people, while many times the predominant peasant class is burdened with taxes beyond its strength. Thus, our economic task comes down to the need: at the same time, reduce taxes and increase the total amount that is obtained from taxes. This problem is obviously unsolvable, and therefore remains: - or, closing our eyes, continue along the same path that led us to an economic catastrophe, expressed in the ominous depreciation of our credit ruble - - or decide on a measure that would give us the opportunity to live on funds that do not exceed the payment power of the people. It is obvious that both the state part and the people's welfare require the urgent adoption of the latter of these systems; it is obvious that until time - we need to narrow down materially, and as a result, perhaps, diminish politically; but, 1st, we have no choice, and 2nd, by sensibly focusing on our internal interests, and thus increasing our inner strength, we will gradually regain our due external influence. – This is the most urgent task of the Russian government. The breakdown of our finances is usually explained by the costs incurred by Russia in the last two eastern wars. This explanation is as simple as it is unfounded. A state as vast as Russia, and possessing (1853) such credit that a paper ruble was paid for 410 centimes in gold, could cover the costs of the wars mentioned without at all damaging its credit. War is not the reason for our impoverishment, but there is a whole series of other reasons, more terrible because they are not accidental, and more annoying because they were not created by an external enemy. These reasons are: 1. Hastily accomplished and economically thoughtless transformations of the last 25 years, and 2. Waste and hopeless enslavement of the treasury for purposes that have nothing in common with the state benefit. We will not dwell on the peasant question, the financial side of which has just been the subject of official discussion. We will not dwell on the issue of theft of state property, which has also already attracted the attention of the government. It is useless to talk now about the hundred-million-dollar loss of gold in a rash exchange operation... What is lost cannot be returned. - Finally, we will not attach special importance to the harm caused by various banking and railway figures, only because they do not end up in the dock because someone needs their thieving activities. Is it worth talking about them: after all, these are only soldiers, behind whom the real generals are hiding... And besides: we cannot cope with the description of all the features of the present moment; It will be enough to give individual, specific examples from which it is convenient to make premises to the general. To outline the extent of the harm caused to our economic interests by the one-sidedness of recent reforms, we will take judicial reform as an example, and to paint a picture of the thefts leading Russia to state bankruptcy, we will try to find and outline the terrain that serves as a favorite arena for thefts. Speaking about judicial reform, we will not explore: – nor the extent to which the general breakdown that formed the basis of the reform was necessary; - nor whether it was good at all: instead of trying to develop our historically established institutions, to transplant distorted foreign orders to us; - nor whether the new judicial formalities are suitable for the Russian people and whether the glorified jury trial is suitable for us, in its present form. All these are serious issues, but from our economic point of view, they are not particularly important. We will try to investigate only this: is the new court within the means of both our people and our state treasury? How did we go to court in pre-reform times? At the designated time, the local court was organized by the very classes it was supposed to serve, and consequently its dignity was ensured by public supervision and social influence - the first conditions of state success so readily put forward today. The court, thus organized, worked under the supervision of the prosecutor and under the audit of the Senate. We believe that both the seriousness and the moral principles of these two factors (the prosecutor's office and the Senate) in the decade preceding the reform were quite satisfactory; if the judges were not good, then it’s their fault. It was not the government, but those classes that elected the judges. However, it is generally unnecessary to talk about the personal qualities of the service personnel, because the new courts are composed for the most part of people who were already operating under the old order, and if they are good now, then we must assume that they were not bad before the reform. Based on the news of these courts, it is still difficult to say whether they are better or worse in comparison with the previous ones, but the heavy delay in maintaining them is already evident. This fact constitutes their important, although not the only, inconvenience; for, even in economic terms, there is another drawback behind them - no less significant. Under the previous order, there was no obligatory mediation between the court and the litigants; if the litigant did not want and could not conduct the case himself, then he took instead an attorney who worked for a piece of bread. Of course, this was not a salon tribune, not a privileged supplier of sales phrases, of course he did not smell of truffles, but he served his client from the heart, which is why he was truly useful to him. Such an attorney in the hostel was called a pod'yachim; he had no nickname other than this half-word, untranslatable into foreign languages; therefore, there could be no place for him in the new courts, tailored according to a foreign pattern. Without hesitation, we decided on the underlings, and created a class of lawyers - an elegant, sleek class, loving comfort and claiming not only command over their clients, but even political influence. To meet the needs of this new caste, a lot of money is needed. Where did they come from? Perhaps some new values ​​were created that became a source of new income? No, there was nothing of the kind, and thus, having created a class that was, for now at least, unnecessary, but over time promising to become a social ulcer here, as elsewhere, we at the same time imposed a heavy, heavy tax on the people for the maintenance of this class. The new trial is not for the money of the treasury, not for the money of the people. Neither there nor here are the means to satisfy his material demands. Consequently, no matter what the newspapers say, speculating on the harmful instincts of the reading public, it cannot be kept in its present form. It is wise to take away from the people a benefit once assigned to them, but it is not only possible, but also necessary, to transform the order in order to remove unnecessary material burdens from the people. Our other shortcomings from creation are more or less of the same kind, and therefore, without dwelling further on them, we will move on to the shortcomings from ruin. In general, we don’t need to look far for examples of this category, but, in modern times, we will find the most lively, the most unimaginable and the most unceremonious in the field of railway practice. The history of our railway business is approximately as follows: All our railways, with the exception of the Nikolaev, St. Petersburg-Warsaw and Moscow-Kiev, recognized as having state significance, were not built in accordance with any general plan for the railway network, but simply because hunters came to build them. The Nikolaev road, built by order of the treasury, was so expensive that it discouraged government buildings. Emperor Nicholas also pointed out the need to attract private enterprise to the construction of railways, but during his lifetime this idea was not realized. Following his death, almost simultaneously with the conclusion of peace, and for reasons that were also not alien to diplomacy, the Russian railway system was entrusted to a large French company, which to this day has retained the name “Main Society of Railways.” This company undertook to do a lot, did little, but through various powerful patronages, both foreign and acquired in Russia, it achieved that it was released from unfulfilled obligations with impunity, and all its shortcomings and losses were accepted at the expense of the treasury. It would seem that such generosity of the Russian government should have strengthened the conviction that railway enterprises in Russia could not be more profitable, but that was not the case. The cries sent throughout the world about the losses caused to the French company by our invincible construction and administrative difficulties ultimately discredited the Russian railway business. It was difficult to restore the railway credit, and if this difficulty was overcome, then this should be attributed, firstly, to the happy choice of K.V. Chevkin as Minister of Railways, and then to the successful activities of the companies formed to build the Rigo-Dipaburg, Moscow-Yaroslav and Moscow-Saratov roads. However, this success was by no means an accident: success could not fail to happen, because Minister Chevkin did not allow such private entrepreneurs for whose success he could not vouch. The principle is wonderful, the principle characteristic of a person who respects himself and looks at service to the fatherland as a religion with which there is no accommodation - but the principle is not prudent in the sense of self-preservation. The justice of this was not slow to affect K.V. Chevkin. His restraint in issuing concessions did not please influential persons who sought to trade concessions; little by little they managed to portray him as a brake holding back the development of Russian industry, and removed him from the business that he created and he alone held on to. When he left the Ministry of Railways, Chevkin took with him both state seriousness and civic truth. The railway field was open to anyone who knew how to make himself pleasant either to the new minister himself, or to influential people whose minister (who had neither personal virtues nor connections to support) was, to some extent, under orders. The concerns of this minister were no longer focused on maintaining state interests, but solely on how to arrange his personal affairs and strengthen his position. He sometimes met resistance in Chevkin’s pupil, the most honest and devoted Minister of Finance (Reitern), but in such cases technical arguments were used, and since it was impossible for a non-technician to compete in this field, the Minister of Finance had to give in. Under such circumstances, the railway world developed its own special practice, which should be called the systematic plunder of the state treasury. We will explain below what routes this plunder took. In order to depict as consistently as possible the twists and turns that were invented by the robbers, and at the same time, so as not to give this presentation the sense of criticism against one particular company, we will imagine a railway that does not actually exist, and apply to it all the above-mentioned twists one after another. This is what the history of this road will be. Mr. X appears and asks for a concession for the railway from Anapa to Sukhum-Kale, approximately 250 versts in length. The government responds that such a road is not needed, because there is a completely sufficient sea route between the two points indicated. - To this they object: “For mercy, we are undertaking to build a road with our own money, without requiring a government guarantee, how can you interfere with our work.” In this form, a request to the government for permission to build a road becomes like a simple compliance with a formality and therefore the applicant is of course not refused. A concession is issued, a company is formed; some work begins, and after that the Minister of Railways receives a statement from the company that it can neither complete the job with its own funds, nor make a pledge, because no one gives money without a government guarantee. A submission is written to the Committee of Ministers. The presentation explains that the company, without a government guarantee, really cannot get money, it says that it is a pity to abandon the work it has started, it says a lot of other things in a businesslike style... it is forgotten only the fact that the road in question was recognized by the government as unnecessary, and that the concession was issued only because the entrepreneurs promised not to demand a government guarantee. - The Committee is convinced by the logic of the Minister of Transport, the Minister of Finance does not object, - and the company pays 800,000 rubles. per year in gold, for the entire duration of the concession, is allowed. With a government loan thus placed at the disposal of the company, money is obtained without difficulty, the road is somehow completed and put into operation. In the first years, while the road is new, the board of the company conducts business in such a way that the proceeds are used in full for the costs of maintaining and running the road, and interest on the shares is paid with the 800,000 rubles in gold that the government pays under the guarantee; but little by little the road begins to wear out, it needs to be repaired more carefully, and the revenue is still insignificant - because who needs to ride between Sukhum-Kale and Anapa? How can we be here? After all, you can't deprive shareholders of their income? One refuge is the treasury: one path is the committee of ministers. So a new message is sent there, in which it is said that the Anapa merchants are upset by the slowness of transporting their goods to Sukhumi, that their complaints are fair, but that in order for the Anapa-Sukhumi road to transport faster, it needs to strengthen the means of transportation, and in order to do this, it needs a government loan. The Committee of Ministers is again convinced and grants a loan. The Anapa-Sukhumi road calms down for a while; but once she has tasted government money, she is again inflamed with the desire to get close to the treasury. This time, considerations of a technical nature are called upon to help, and a request is written for approximately the following edition: “Steel rails are stronger, therefore, more profitable than iron ones, therefore, wanting to save on road repairs, which will make it possible to take the government guarantee not in full, the Anapa-Sukhumi road suggested: along its entire length, replace iron rails with steel ones; but does not have the several million needed for this, and therefore asks the government for a loan.” This is not the first time that the Minister of Railways has been convinced by such logic; it is not the first time that the Minister of Finance has agreed to such a donation in favor of a railway company; - on this, a report is written to the committee of ministers, and the courier takes it to its destination. Then the question comes down to whether the courier will still be found by the Committee of Ministers, i.e. that institution in which matters are decided at the will of the minister making the presentation, and are reported to the presence only for the sake of form, or, instead of this committee, he will end up in some independent presence, for example, even in the department of economy of the State Council. In the first case there can be no refusal, because a similar proposal of the minister, approved by the committee a few days earlier, serves as a precedent, which to change would mean admitting frivolity. In the second case, i.e. if the paper handed to the courier, instead of the committee, ended up in the department of state economy, a surprise of a different nature may come out, because the department will inevitably ask: 1. What state considerations make you want to donate government money to the Anapa-Sukhumi railway? 2. How large is the amount of government donations already made for this road? 3. Don’t these donations amount to too much damage to the treasury, and wouldn’t it be more correct, instead of issuing subsidies periodically requested by the company, to look for suitable measures in another direction? And here's the reference: 1. That in general, given the tight financial situation, it is impossible to give loans to private companies, and even more so to the Anapa-Sukhumi road company, which is recognized by the government as useless. 2. That the assignment of a government guarantee to the Anapa-Sukhumi road was not seriously motivated by anything and directly contradicted the above-mentioned government opinion about the uselessness of this road. 3. That the government guarantee of 800,000 rubles in gold, applied to the Anapa-Sukhumi road, which does not generate net income, amounts to a direct donation of C4,000,000 rubles in gold (800,000 X 80) on annual issues alone during the normal concession period; but if we take into account that in order to pay the guaranteed amount, the government itself must borrow money abroad, then the amount of government losses will increase to such a figure that at first glance may seem fabulous. Note: An exact calculation of this amount, made on the assumption that the government borrowed the money paid to the company from 5% of the year, indicates an amount of 775,746,651 rubles. gold, as an actual loss made by the treasury at the moment when it agreed to guarantee the 250-verst Anapo-Sukhumi road for 80 years. It is not surprising to foresee, in accordance with this certificate, a decision on the petition for the Anapo-Sukhumi road. It will be an unconditional refusal; and, moreover, it will give rise to such state considerations, such general state measures that will make it impossible to repeat a financial disaster such as the one we have just described. True, in reality there is no Lnapa-Sukhumi road; but the point is not in the name - and as for the facts presented, you can find more than one example of them in our railway practice. To complete the picture of our railway business, which absolutely does not have a fulcrum and spins in the direction of the random impulses it receives, it is necessary to pay attention to the exemplary ingenuity in arguments composed according to need. Thus, proceeding from the point of view that state-owned road construction is worthless, they offer an English company the construction of a road to Sevastopol, on conditions that, in terms of profitability for builders, have nothing similar in railway practice, and after that they reject private proposals that are very profitable for the treasury for the construction of the same road - because construction by order of the treasury is considered the most profitable. Thus, recognizing that the treasury cannot profitably exploit the railways, they almost for nothing give the operation of the most profitable Nikolaev railway to the Main Society of Railways, and a few years later, they buy the unprofitable Kharkov-Nikolaev railway for the treasury, in the hope that its exploitation by state engineers will be less unprofitable. Why is such unprecedented confusion possible in our state affairs? Is the Russian person offended by his head? Not at all, he differs from other peoples in his ingenuity. Is he more immoral than others? By nature no; but political morality is developed by circumstances, and in order to preserve the dignity of a person’s weak nature in the field of state activity, it is necessary, if possible, to protect him from both mistakes and temptations. To make mistakes less possible, it is necessary that the discussion of government measures be comprehensive and independent. In order to eliminate the influence of temptations, administrative procedures are needed in which official activities, while remaining constantly visible, could be verified in a timely manner, and, in case of unsatisfactory, immediately terminated. In constitutional states, the generally accepted measure against errors is organized parliamentary opposition; The guarantee of the official activities of the government is the responsibility of ministers. Of course, there cannot be a parliamentary opposition where there is no parliament and no organized political parties. The responsibility of ministers for the general direction of affairs cannot be in an autocratic state: for the highest direction of domestic and foreign policy here belongs to the emperor. But even under autocratic rule it is possible to organize an intelligent opposition, and under autocratic rule it is possible to introduce real responsibility for ministers. We say “real” responsibility because the “formal” responsibility of ministers to the sovereign still exists; but it is insufficient, because the sovereign does not have the material opportunity to monitor the actions of each and every one of them, and moreover, he sees the very thing only through their eyes. To talk about useful opposition, it is necessary to determine the soil on which it would be desirable to breed it. Opposition can be done verbally or on paper. In old Europe the latter method is highly developed and often achieves its goal. This is not the case with us. Printing is of no use to us. We are still too sensitive to the printed word, we do not know how to appreciate it, and therefore we must use it with great caution. Consequently, the only thing that suits us is opposition through the living word, translated into print to the extent that it corresponds to the general benefit of the state. Our arena for verbal opposition can be any higher legislative institution: – whose meetings would be public: - which would be composed of people elected by the highest power, but independent in convictions, irremovable, and not receiving any awards or distinctions; – which would have the obligation to involve in the meeting persons who in this case are natural specialists, and - to which the voice of any Russian could reach. To talk about the responsibility of ministers, it is necessary to agree in advance for what a minister of an autocratic monarch can be held accountable. Autocracy presupposes one will. The general direction of state policy, both domestic and foreign, depends on her, on her alone. No one can judge the correctness or expediency of this direction, and therefore: we cannot talk about the responsibility of ministers for the initiative. But we don’t need this responsibility. Our minister should have the role of a commissioner assigned to the implementation of a program approved by the highest authority. He must be responsible for the correct execution and for the actions of the performers assigned to him. Having established this point of view, and without abandoning the basic idea that we should adhere to the institutions we already have, let us try to apply the above principles to our highest legislative institution - the Council of State. It consists partly of people who are unable to work, but this composition corresponded to its purely formal meaning, and can easily be replenished in accordance with new tasks. We believe that since the meetings of the Senate became public, the meetings of the State Council are directly awaiting their publicity. Their relative colorlessness had previously prevented them from admitting it. But as soon as the decisions of the State Council become significant, as soon as they are a response to the thoughts and desires of the Russian people, as soon as they can be used to authoritatively clarify to the people the motives of any new law, the publicity of meetings will become not only possible, but also directly necessary for the success of our fatherland. One of the major shortcomings of our central government institutions is that they are on their own, and the people are on their own. It is generally necessary to change this; as for the State Council itself, in this regard it would be useful: 1. Having distributed the provinces among its members, provide to the special attention of each, according to the province they belong to, statements that may be made by individual individuals, as well as all information coming from the provinces by other means; 2. Assign to the members of the council the right to make an official, in the presence, request; 3. Establish as a fundamental rule that a petition coming from the nobility or zemstvo or any province, if recognized, by the chairman of the council, subject to discussion in the council meeting, must be considered in the presence of a deputy from the petitioning board - to allow the nobility and zemstvo of each province to elect permanent deputies who, if necessary, could be directly summoned to be present in the council. In order to show respect for local representation, these deputies should be given a vote on an equal basis with other members of the state council. Then, in order to prevent misunderstandings, both as to what subjects can be discussed in the council, and as to the form in which the discussion should take place, it would be necessary to establish that statements and petitions concerning the form of government or the prerogatives of autocratic power cannot be accepted for consideration, just as neither critical comments about the actions of the emperor, nor disrespectful expressions relating to the emperor or his family can be allowed. The duties of the State Council would continue to be the consideration of the annual budget; But this consideration, which now amounts to just a formality, would turn into a comprehensive study of the proposed expenses. The budget, considered in this manner and approved by the emperor, would constitute a law subject to execution by the ministers - according to the subject matter. The minister receiving such a law must be responsible for its exact implementation - before the very institution that edited this law, i.e., before the State Council. Such a procedure for supervising the actions of ministers would be of fundamental importance, both in terms of its influence on our internal affairs, and in terms of the importance that would be attached to it by our foreign creditors and connoisseurs. Responsible ministers, who are obliged to give the State Council an account of their actions and any required explanations, cannot be members of the State Council. Such a necessity, while on the formal side somewhat lowering the position of the ministers, would inevitably create an unnecessary difficulty in carrying out a new measure, but even here there is a way out that can reconcile personal interests. We recalled above that the general direction of our state policy can depend only on the direct will of the sovereign emperor; We said above that one-sidedness of views was one of the reasons for our economic misfortunes, and we think that from the same reason there were many troubles in other parts of our state administration; We said above that one of the reasons for the impossibility of the emperor observing the actions of the ministers is that he must look at the matter through their own eyes; - therefore, the emperor needs his closest, so to speak, armchair assistants to formulate his initiative, - therefore, state benefit requires the destruction of individual reports and their replacement with reports in the presence of other competent persons who would have the opportunity to express an opinion that disagrees with the opinion of the reporter, and would be witnesses when stating facts cited in support of any belief. To satisfy this administrative need, it seemed appropriate to us to establish a personal council under the emperor, in which each state specialty would have its own representatives. Those ministers who are undesirable to fit into the new ministerial program would also join this council. Members of this council could be at the same time members of the state council, and the chairman of the state council would be the indispensable vice-chairman of the sovereign's council. In this last council, matters of higher public policy would be discussed - before their transfer to legislative or executive power; Memories of the State Council would be read here, and reports of ministers to the emperor would also take place here. We needed these general considerations about public order in order to insert into a ready-made frame the financial measures that seem urgent to us - and now we will move on to depicting these measures themselves. At the beginning of the note, we said that a way out of the current financial crisis is possible only through the most severe austerity. All its chances must be calculated in advance, and the reduction of costs must be guided primarily by the ability to cover them from the expected state income, obtained without straining the payment forces. To draw up a serious government balance sheet, you need to have before your eyes not only bare figures indicating the amount of expected revenues and expected expenses, but, along with them, detailed explanations of why revenues cannot be increased and expenses cannot be reduced. In order for the reduction of expenses to lead to a result corresponding to our financial difficulties, it should not be limited to making existing institutions cheaper, but should go further, i.e. abolish everything that is not absolutely necessary and rebuild the rest on a cheaper footing. Reductions in items of the expenditure budget that are subject to the will of the legislator should be all the more significant because in this budget there are items that are not subject to the will of the legislator (payment of interest and repayments on loans) - and there are others, such as, for example, costs for civil and spiritual education, which, instead of being reduced, will inevitably require an increase. The reductions, the possibility and even necessity of which are most striking, in our opinion, are the following: 1. Abolition of the Committee of Ministers, as an institution that does not correspond to the systematic state program. 2. Abolition of the 2nd department. own e.i. V. office, as an institution that does nothing, and, with its current composition, cannot do anything, which is proven by the assignment not to him, but to commissions from outsiders - to develop serious legislative projects. The affairs of the 2nd department would naturally go to the department of laws of the State Council. 3. Abolition of the independent Ministry of State Control and its merger with the Department of Economy of the State Council. – The ultimate task of both of these institutions is the same: to protect the state treasury and regulate its spending. Concentrating measures taken for this purpose in one hand would be especially useful. 4. Abolition of the Ministry of Railways and limitation of the tasks of the railway department to those subjects that are currently handled by inspections. - In addition to the significant savings that would result from the abolition of the entire ministry (which does not need to be replaced with anything else) - the business itself, under the new order, would benefit significantly: a) Because the railway department would stop talking about the benefits of roads and waterways, a subject in which it has been interfering for longer as an amateur, without having either scientific or factual data to resolve it. b) Because with the destruction of the authority of the Ministry of Railways, the actions of companies that are in contractual relations with the government will be dealt with by the court, or better said, will be subject to judicial proceedings whenever a company violates its contract. c) Because the non-contractual, therefore arbitrary, issuance of subsidies to companies that ruin the treasury would cease. d) Because it would be possible, without humiliating the dignity of the minister, to carry out a detailed audit of both central and local railway affairs and discover various thefts, some of which the ministry does not know, while others, if they become known to it, do not entail such responsibility that would discourage the use of all sorts of unclean hands in the treasury. Significant reductions can also be made in other departments, but it should not be assumed that these reductions can lead to sufficient, so to speak, decisive savings, unless the government with them reduces, by approximately half, the costs of the army and navy. We are deeply convinced of the urgent need to reduce the number of troops - for financial purposes, but we are not sure that this measure does not have other advantages. By allowing Prussia to become excessively strong, we lost a significant share of our political influence, a clear proof of which was the peace dictated to us by other governments. The Russian government was humiliated, the Russian people suffered from this humiliation, and to make them suffer again in this way would be an injustice. Consequently: we could not start a new European war, not only because the war is expensive, but also because, while risking losing a lot, we in no case risk winning anything. Now the question is “which is better”? Remain in the present situation, constantly embarrassed by our weakness, or adopt an open policy in which we would declare in advance that we are reducing our army and navy by half, because we do not want to get entangled in European combinations and, concentrating on our internal interests, we will defend them, as we have always defended. Neither diplomacy nor strategy will help resolve this issue; it can only be solved correctly by the tsar himself, who has an innate sense of proportion and on whom both the honor and strength of Russia are concentrated. But with this decision, let him not forget that all nations are languishing under the yoke of excessive military costs, and, therefore, having courageously set the first example for disarmament, he will gain the sympathy of all peoples and erect a miraculous monument to himself in the forum of world history. When the general figure of such annual income is determined that can be received without any special burden on payers, when all upcoming expenses fit into this figure, then all that remains is to publish the state budget and strictly protect its exact execution. The publication of the annual budget is of great importance everywhere; but in other lands it is needed solely so that payers know why they are charged so much and not less. It cannot be completely denied that the publication of the budget is useful to us in this internal sense, but much more important for us is the impression it makes on our foreign creditors, on the foreign public. The fact is that the hundred million rubles that Russia must annually pay in gold for interest and repayments on government loans, and on securities issued by banking and railway companies, makes the exchange rate issue for us a matter of life or death. The fact is that a paper ruble, which is not accepted for exchange, has no value in itself, and therefore its value is supported only by the need and respect abroad for those items that can be purchased with this ruble. The point, finally, is that, given our particularly low exchange rate and in the hope that it might improve, the foreign public bought a huge amount of Russian paper funds and then - our financial affairs are beautiful, our economic hopes are bright, - so she intensifies the purchase of the said funds and thereby increases the exchange rate of the paper ruble, and - our financial situation is indefinitely depressed and, due to the obvious ways, there are no ways to improve it; - this is how panic takes hold of the foreign public; she throws a lot of our paper funds into our markets and, in order to gain her pounds, marks or francs, gives rubles for anything - which quickly drops our exchange rate. The limit to this depreciation cannot be foreseen, but meanwhile: taking the exact figure of our obligatory payments in gold, it is easy to determine the moment from which the inevitability of our state bankruptcy begins. From all this it follows that the sharper, the more unusual the measures taken to correct Russian finances, the louder this is announced and the more positive the digital conclusion, the consequence of the measures taken, is, the more reassuring we will have an effect on our foreign creditors and the easier it will become for us to cope with our foreign payments, because an increase in the exchange rate - in this case certainly forthcoming - will give unexpected savings, and the publication of these savings will give a new, even more decisive impetus to the approval of our credit. Here is everything that should be noted regarding the publication of the budget. There remain two words about measures to protect its exact execution. We have all sorts of controls; there is not one that would not allow us to spend more than we have. Until now, estimated government expenditures have been accepted into the budget according to need, without taking into account the funds available to cover them. The previous discussion has shown the need to limit these expenses to the limits of our ability to pay. But there are still “extra budget”, unforeseen expenses that cannot be completely avoided. Regarding these last expenses, it would seem necessary to us: 1. Have a special, limited allocation for them in the budget; 2. Spend such an allocation with the greatest frugality and, moreover, in such a way that in a 5-year period, for example, the total amount spent in no case exceeds what was allocated for this period of time. Here are the basic rules needed. The question remains: who will ensure, step by step, that they are followed exactly? Who will be the key, without whom it is impossible to reach the government box? Such an observer is as necessary in the state mechanism as an accountant is necessary in a merchant's office, without whose name nothing can be paid. We would like to see the chairman of the department of economy of the State Council as such an accountant of the Russian Kingdom. Dear Sir, Konstantin Petrovich! I ask you to place at the feet of His Majesty the reverent feeling with which I accepted the highest gratitude expressed to me through you. May God grant our pious sovereign to get out of what you call the labyrinth into which circumstances and people have led Russia, but it is difficult and is becoming more difficult every day. The sovereign himself and you, the few faithful sons of the fatherland standing at the throne, are all depressed by the worries of the current day and are happy if it has not brought with it new sorrows. Of course, first of all you should be concerned about the troubles that have befallen Russia recently. But our old, chronic illnesses are worse than the new ones, because they do not have the character of an extravagant accident, but have entered our blood and are preparing an inexorable catastrophe. These illnesses are monetary illnesses. In the context of Russia's material interests, the sovereign and you with him, can only see what they show you and must understand things the way experts present them to you. But can you guarantee that these specialists want to tell you the truth, or at least that, thinking of serving the fatherland faithfully, they do not serve as a blind tool for any thieves or seditionists? Don't guarantee it. You risk making a terrible mistake. You have appointed an audit of some provinces. You have done well: it will help you see Russia in its present form and give it a device that will be most suitable for the collected data; but the need to revise your railway business is even more urgent, because your last funds are going into it, like into a bottomless abyss. Save what you can, save now, but if you waste time, it will be so useless to recognize trouble, because there will be nothing to help it. Speaking about the audit of railways, we mean an audit by people of the same rank as the senators who audit the provinces, and not by engineers imbued with a corporate spirit, and not by adjutant generals, kind, honest, but inevitably subject to outside influence. - By the way, the audit carried out by Count Baranov had nothing to do with financial tasks. She did not delve into the monetary details of the operation of the railways, nor into the question of whether those ruinous surcharges to income that the treasury makes under guarantees are really necessary. And this is the main essence of the outrages. Forgive me for returning to the railways so often, but I myself once worked in this field. I have the right to be proud of this activity of mine, because it was absolutely honest and absolutely useful to the fatherland, and yet I have to blush in front of my children at the thought that I belonged to that sphere in which they now see a den of robbers. Six months ago, when I wrote to the heir to the crown prince, I still had some illusions. Now they too are lost. I came to the conviction that there could not be an honest and capable person in Russia who would not be tempted by the easy opportunity to make money at the expense of the treasury. Nevertheless: you still need to have people managing public funds, and therefore your only salvation is a form in which people would serve honestly, because they will not be allowed to serve dishonestly. You now have a famous financier as your Minister of Finance. As a deeply scientific person, he must be “not of this world.” He will not lie if you demand the naked truth from him. Ask him: – Can Russia get out of financial difficulties, that is, without reaching state bankruptcy, if the most extreme measures are not taken immediately? – Does he foresee the possibility of saving himself in some other way, without undertaking a colossal reduction in government spending? In addition to this information, the minister will explain to you with figures: what enormous losses Russia suffers with each new depreciation - and then you will easily be convinced that the widely proposed principle of meeting state needs - only within the limits of our material capabilities - remains the only salvation; translating this principle into numbers and publishing these numbers remains the only way to stop the depreciation of the exchange rate, that is, to correct the value of our paper ruble. The accompanying note was prepared for presentation on occasion. This will not happen, and therefore I allow myself to send my work by mail: perhaps you will find something solid in it. The Anapo-Sukhumi railway described there is the Baltic railway. I must explain this so that the calculation of state losses I compiled does not have the appearance of an empty fantasy; but the name is not important here; for the described bends, in the same form, and to the same, if not greater extent, are practiced on a whole series of other roads, living on public money. In order to stop, which became known to me through the newspapers, the recent petition of the Ministers of Transport and Finance for a loan to the Baltic Railway Society of 2,300,000 rubles. for the purchase of steel rails, - I sent Count Loris-Melikov a sharp explanation of the ugliness of this matter. In response to this, I immediately received from Melikov, whom I don’t know at all, a warm telegram of gratitude; but I do not know whether my intervention served to save the treasury from the above-mentioned loss. Thank you for your kind Christian participation in my family grief. But, alas, all hope of curing my sick daughter is completely lost. In conclusion, let me respond to the remark of your letter regarding the slander that the press is erecting against you. Forgive me: you are wrong. Only those newspapers slander you, whose praise would be an insult, yet others, even those that are unfriendly to Russia, speak about you sympathetically and respectfully. True, they do not predict success for you, but this is because they generally doubt the possibility of improving the material future of Russia. And besides: slander, if there is any, should rather please you. Slander is a product of envy, and envy will inevitably grow as you succeed in the difficult field that has opened up for you. May God protect and strengthen you. This is my sincere heart's desire Just now I read a rumor in the newspapers about the appointment of Georgievsky as Minister of Public Education. The public will be offended by this, but it doesn’t matter if you arrange the possibility of an intelligent opposition. For God's sake, think about it. This is a matter of primary importance, because the opposition organized by you and expressed before you will be useful, and if it organizes itself and in areas that are not subject to constant supervision, it will ultimately be disastrous. Sorry generously for being a nuisance; but I am concerned about the fulfillment of the highest command, which I received yesterday morning, and which necessarily requires the most precise clarification of its meaning. Have you not received an answer to your letter to the Emperor? I would consider sending the enclosed note; Do you approve of it, or would it not be required due to the answer you received? Sincerely respecting and devoted to you I sincerely thank you for all the information and instructions provided: but I think that I need, in view of your failure to receive the expected answer, to send my note to Gatchino for the following formal reasons: 1. the resolution sent to me by the sovereign is expressed so vaguely: “I still remain that it is impossible to allow a commission in this form and composition” - that I in no way have the right to limit a change in composition to my personal convictions, but must have documentary instructions for my protection in the future, 2. that I have in my hands the official highest written order to suspend the opening of the commission until further instructions from His Majesty. I did not receive these instructions, and without them I do not have the legal right to open the commission’s activities. I hope that you will agree with me that in such a case, in which outsiders intervened in writing, I need written support. If you approve of my view, then don’t worry about answering – there will be a tacitiis consensus. Once again I thank you for your participation in this matter, which of course will not make me want to do anything again. Dear Konstantin Petrovich, now, at 5 1/2 o’clock, I returned home and received your note; It’s terrible that you have lunch at 5 1/2 o’clock, and I have lunch at 6 o’clock. If you definitely want to see me as soon as possible (I admit, this scared me), then couldn’t we see each other at 7 o’clock, when we had both had lunch: would you like to come to me, or would you like me to come to you? Dear Konstantin Petrovich, in the hope that you have not yet had the opportunity to convey further the content of our conversation yesterday, I allow myself, to ease your memory, and in full confidence in your desire to convey everything I said, to send you a brief sketch of what I told you yesterday. I changed my mind a lot after you left and until late at night. They all confirmed my conviction that I would be obliged to submit, but, in my conscience, I had no right to voluntarily agree. I tried to help both myself and you by finding other more suitable candidates; came to mind: book. Livep - state property - and comrade Loris-Melikova. Both are educated people and of course honest in character. For min. state property easy to find someone. Finally, our new state member. council auditor Kovalevsky, I don’t know him personally, but he seems to be a man of fresh years and strength, and I’ve heard a lot of good things about him. You probably know him better than I do. Until the end of the audit, one could safely let poor Saburov live. What do you think about all this? I do not expect a written response from you, but I am simply submitting this for your consideration. When you no longer need my enclosed confession, please take the trouble to return it. Whatever happens, I would like to keep this document for my, perhaps, later justification. I end with what I started yesterday: “If they order me, I’ll go to the chopping block,” but I myself cannot accept what I don’t believe in. Sincerely respected Konstantin Petrovich, you took such a warm and heartfelt participation and mediation in the events of my life these last days that I cannot help but share with you the feelings of the audience that just took place. That its results justified all my fears on the merits of the matter itself, I was prepared for this from the minute I received your note. But I can truly say that if anything could ease the heavy feeling with which I accept the burden placed on me, then this is the form in which it was finally placed on me by the Emperor, and the reception that I was awarded. From the words of His Majesty, I learned how much you, with friendly participation, conveyed everything that I told you, without forgetting the needs of the heart of a father and a private person. This didn’t surprise me at all, but I can’t help but thank you for it from the bottom of my heart. I have placed myself at the disposal of my sovereign, but at least I know how the burden that is placed on my old shoulders is assessed. Now what God will give. Having taken up the matter, of course, I will not drop my banner - honest devotion to duty, and what success will be, I will not judge. The reasons why, both in conscience and in full consciousness of my enormous duty to my sovereign, I do not consider myself capable at the present time of fulfilling the duties of the Minister of Public Education with due success, are the following: 1. I allow myself to think that every new reign, especially in such a time of rapid movement of minds that we are experiencing, should, with new appointments to the highest government positions, elect figures among the people who are still young enough so that they could be representatives of the present and the future, but not of the long past. Belonging in the time of my upbringing and the beginning of my social activities to the first half of the reign of Emperor Nicholas I, in my way of thinking, in my views and beliefs, I belong to an era long past, to a school completely different from the one that should have been formed under the influence of the past reign. I cannot remake myself in my seventh decade of life, and therefore, in such a delicate matter as public education, I must, of necessity, be at odds with modern needs. People of my time can still be advisers during the new reign: they represent a conservative element of tradition, but they are not capable of being new figures. 2. Almost my entire life and work took place in the Caucasus, on the far outskirts, so I can admit without shame that I don’t know Russia at all; I don’t know its modern needs for public education, local desires and needs, I don’t know any of the modern leaders, I don’t know strangers who could usefully be called to activity; When I take up the post of minister, I would have to devote years to study, to study with my own observation the basis of my new activity, to get acquainted with the people with whom I would have to act, with those who could usefully be involved in the matter. Until I have time to look around so much, I cannot act with any certainty. It’s no longer time to start all this at 60 years old. 3. Although I spent part of my service in the department of the Ministry of Public Education, I also held the title of Comrade Minister; but since that time 18 years have passed, during which I was completely alienated from this sphere of activity; Since that time she has changed in many ways; new demands have arisen, new attitudes of society towards the cause of public education, and therefore if I bring in the memories of my previous activities, I will easily become at odds with the present demands; I am not able to throw away my past convictions, having no basis for new convictions, and therefore I can do more harm than good. 4. Many new branches of education have arisen since the time when I was active in this field; For example, women's education has been created in a form that is not at all consistent with my beliefs formed in another era regarding the purpose of women in society and the educational needs and responsibilities of the state to these needs. I cannot change my beliefs, subordinating them to the modern view; I do not consider myself to have the right to break the created and already acquired right to life. This should result in an incorrect attitude of dislike towards what one is forced to protect. 5. The burden of the Ministry of Public Education at present is a heavier burden than it was 20 years ago; the future of Russian society to a large extent depends on its correct direction; To lift this burden, strength is needed that is still fresh, not yet strained by the previous long labor. To accept such a burden at 60 years of age - after 40 years of labor service - would be unconscionable or presumptuous. 6. I do not consider myself in the right to mention my private family conditions, for which accepting the post of Minister of Public Education would be the most difficult sacrifice; this sacrifice would be made without complaint if there was a conviction that it was repaid by the consciousness of the benefit that could be brought, and at least some fruitful service that could still be rendered to one’s sovereign: but when such a conviction does not exist, and on the contrary, there is confidence in one’s inadequacy to the trust that one is worthy of, then the sacrifice of private life only joins as a new burden to that heavy feeling with which one goes without faith in oneself, without hope for successes, towards an unsightly future. These are the reasons why I, as an honest man and loyal subject, cannot, in good conscience, voluntarily accept the title of Minister of Public Education; then everything depends on the will of my sovereign; If he demands this service from me, I will treat it with the same devotion to duty in which I grew up and lived to this day, and with a sincere desire, to the best of my remaining strength, to justify the trust placed in me. Ivan Davydovich Delyanov, Secretary of State, member of the State Council, repeating the same thing since May 1880. Does the Emperor read Moskovskie Vedomosti? From March 1st to April 7th, instructive articles are posted there. What an excellent article about the government's fabricated response by other newspapers. April 7 about students. Those returned from administrative exile turn out to be good people. Oh, Loris, Russia will not remember you well. Today I read the appointment of Tagantsev as a member of the consultation. And after that they are surprised that the Zhelyabovs and Rysakovs will be born to us. Who forms them, if not the Tagantsevs, Muromtsevs, etc.? They say that Markov had an effect here. It is not freedom that is dangerous, but demoralization from above. How they deceive the poor sovereign. However, what is surprising when Satan is at the head of the government. Ivan Davidovich Delyanov, State Secretary, member of the State Council. Of course, I already read the telegram that so excited Count Stroganov. This is an extract from the Blue Book, and the Journal de S. Pétersbourg has nothing to do with it. Duffering reports to his government about my conversation with him, that I spoke about English intrigues in Akhal-Tek, which could prompt us to go further than we thought; about what he heard from Shamsi about our peace-loving policy (I don’t see any French mediation here), and finally about the fact that Skobelev, à sa demande, due to poor health, intends to return to St. Petersburg and will be replaced by General Rerberg, so says the report of Lord Duffering, which I read, and that we have now set ourselves the main task of pacifying Akhal-Teke. It seems to me that all this should be more unpleasant to the English than to the Russian ear. However, you never know what Blue Book doesn’t print? For me, the main thing is that our business is well managed, and if I fail in this, then of course we must wish that our policy was in more skillful hands. This would not sadden me at all. Believe the sincere feeling I am sending you “Letters on the current state of Russia.” – Do not refuse to read it. I am convinced that in a general sense you will agree with the principles preached in these letters. “I am confident that this is the only program that can lead the Russian government onto the rocky road, out of the swamp in which it is stuck. Please believe in my deep respect for you I would be happy if I could introduce you to the author of these letters. All evening I remain under the impression of today’s meeting and, finally, going over in my memory every word, every thought that was stated today, I dwell with special attention on your speech. I will tell you quite frankly that in many ways I do not share your view, but this does not in the least prevent me from positively and with complete sincerity bowing before your remarkable truthfulness, before the civil courage with which you spoke today. You based your entire speech on a completely correct, absolutely fair thesis: “there are lies, lies and lies all around.” Yes, indeed, they filled and inflated that government bubble with lies, which, despite the brilliant phrases and praise of newspaper articles, burst with a crash, taking with it into eternity the martyr king we mourn. You have spoken a great truth and, moreover, in the way a person can speak who speaks the truth living in his heart. Tomorrow I will not go to the State Council and therefore will be deprived of the pleasure of shaking your hand from the bottom of my heart. This is what prompted me to take up the pen to write these lines to you. I repeat that no personal motives guide me and cannot guide me. I will not hide from you at all that, despite all the internal merits, your speech had a huge flaw, excuse the truth, which often harms the success of your opinions and statements in deliberative sessions. This disadvantage is extreme. Feeling, truth, faith and deep devotion to the cause captivate you and you, in a moment of excitement, forget your boundaries. That is why at the beginning of the letter I said that in many respects I do not share your opinion on the merits. Sorry for being so frank. It is inspired only by a feeling of deep respect for you. I will say two words about myself. I analyzed in detail and calmly my behavior in the meeting. After gr. Stroganov, I was the first to speak against it; I remember that I spoke without ceremony. My topic was different from yours; I found that such measures as those discussed today cannot be solved with one stroke of the pen, that the motives given in the report, journal and draft announcement “collapsed” and “collapsed irrevocably.” They collapsed like a false note under which the string broke, having withstood this falsehood for too long. I said that no minister has the right to present himself as a benefactor of the people, that this right belongs exclusively to the monarch. I “finally stated that the matter requires a thorough review, and I dare to think that this turn resulted in the outcome of the meeting that I sincerely desired, that is, that the matter would not be decided today. I know that I have made irreconcilable enemies for myself, which was already stated to me in the corridor of the Grand Prince. Konstantin Nikolaevich, who said that I almost committed a crime by saying that the proposed measure is the first step towards limiting autocratic power. I already know that the phrase: “motives have collapsed irrevocably” offended some people to the core. The Lord is with them. I’m not afraid of anything, I don’t cling to my chair and I don’t know how to lie. Consequently, I remain convinced that today I fulfilled the duty of a loyal subject, as best I could, as my conscience told me. And this conscience told me; that lies and falsity would be a great crime at such moments as we are experiencing. In conclusion, I repeat once again that God grant that our young sovereign calls all the ministers to him more often, He will then see that there are voices that are not afraid to speak the truth. You have repeatedly reproached me for initiating a case to revise the law on the press, Konstantin Petrovich. You don't know under what circumstances it was done and why it was done. Someday we’ll get together at our leisure, and I’ll tell you everything in detail. It's not my fault that things took such a turn. It could not help but take this turn given the conditions in which our governmental situation suddenly found itself. My letter, in which I initially intended only to say sincere and friendly greetings to you, turned out to be prohibitively long, but it poured out from the heart and under the influence of everything I changed my mind and experienced during the day. Once again I ask you not to complain about me and once again with deep respect I shake your truthful hand. Thank you very much for your kindness in sending the brochure about the schism. This question has always interested me. I have already started reading it. The presentation is remarkably impressive, although I still have no idea where the author is going. In response to the last friendly lines in your letter, I allow myself to say the exact opposite. Being aloof from the pressing issues of the day, I now do not feel their burden and enjoy watching the first, even if secondary, signs of new trends. I am glad that the sovereign writes all resolutions on French papers in Russian, all notes as well, and thereby forces our principal to write in Russian. Perhaps they will get to our diplomats and order them to express their thoughts in Russian, then maybe they will begin to think in Russian. I am also glad that the sovereign refused to read the piles of papers sent to him from the ministry, and demands that he be given to read only what, in the minister’s opinion, is for him, i.e. for the sovereign, it may be important and useful to read. I am glad that Makov has been removed from affairs, especially spiritual ones. Finally, I was very happy when I learned that the sovereign did not succumb to the lures of the Berlin Mephistopheles and did not at all want to suffer a diplomatic failure at first on the issue of international agreements against the nihilists and communists. Not a single news of this reckless step has reached me yet, and therefore I can completely indulge in the delights of the honeymoon of the new reign. Still honey, despite the tragedy of the moment. With deep and sincere respect I remain I return with gratitude the interesting article from Sovremennye Izvestia and ask permission to also use the Moscow Church Bulletin. Let me tell you the attached clipping from the Koenigsberg Newspaper, which contains the characteristics of the current sovereign. Regarding rumors of important changes, I involuntarily recall what was said in the well-known article “Revue des deux mondes” about Spain: “...Un gouvernement très capable n'est pas nécessaire là qu les nécessités sont tellement évidentes, tellement primitives, que tout le monde doit les voir, tellement considérables qúen de longues années on ne saurait y satisfaire.” Alas, it turns out that Nikolai Karlovich Gire deceived me regarding the subsequent decision regarding the issue of the right to asylum. There were negotiations on this occasion and even, apparently, a circular. Thus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs managed to suffer a diplomatic failure already in the first days of the new reign. With deep respect, your humble servant Fulfilling the wish of one of the local scientists, let me convey to you the beginning of his work. From his letter to me you will see what the matter is. I regret that I could not provide you with any information about the Beyer girl, but I do not have any agents, and she lives under an unknown name. I do not dare bother you with a longer letter and ask you to accept the assurance of your sincere devotion to 20 August/1 September 1881 Dearest Nikolai Mikhailovich. On the third day of August 18/30, many evening Parisian newspapers published the following dispatch: Saint – Pétersbourg, 30 août...Le Messáger du gouvernement annonce que, M. Kosloff, grand maitre de la police à Moscow, est nommé grand maître de la police à Saint-Pétersbourg. Le même journal annonce que le maior général Jankowski, gouverneur de la Bessarabie, est nommé grand-maitre de la police à Moscou, et que M. Baranoff, commandant de la ville de Saint-Pétersbourg, est nommé gouverneur d'Arkhangel." Although your appointment as Arkhangelsk governor is incredible and even impossible to me, nevertheless, taking into account that this news coincides with the official announcement of the abolition of the St. Petersburg city government, I wanted to find out how and from what source such a rumor spread. With proper information, this is what it turned out to be. The Russian agency openly sent a telegram to Brussels and Paris announcing the appointments of generals Kozlov and Yankovsky. A letter was sent to Lemberg through the conductor of the Warsaw Railway, repeating the same news, but with the addition of your appointment to Arkhangelsk, and from Lemberg, according to the usual procedure, a dispatch about this was transmitted to the magazine “Le Télégraphe”, the main figure of which is the Pole Yazersky. For what purpose our “self-devourers” spread this rumor, I can only explain to myself with the hope of turning into reality what they desire, i.e. the removal of an efficient, honest and loyal person to the sovereign. The fact itself is of little importance. But as a manifestation of the long-accepted system of “devouring oneself” and spreading lies abroad, it is not without interest and edification. No matter how positively common sense may affirm the impossibility of your appointment to Arkhangelsk, I will still ask you to reassure me by telegraph regarding your fate and, moreover, to notify me of the receipt of my letters dated 8/20, 11/23 and 15/27 August. I am a complete stranger to you. I only have the honor of knowing you, by general rumor, as a man of warm faith, a fertile mind, spiritually devoted to Orthodoxy, the sovereign and Russia. This is enough to give me the courage to forward to you the enclosed two notes with my humble request that you read them with attention and discuss them impartially. It may be that, for various government reasons unknown to me, you will find the ideas I have developed inconvenient or untimely. But I am convinced that their essence will not be condemned by you. In your position, you should know better than anyone to what extent it is desirable to restore and strengthen the disintegrating unity of Orthodoxy. Hereditary study of all eastern issues and personal thirty years of diplomatic activity allow me, I hope, to express, from the point of view of our foreign policy, my deep conviction in the burning need to return to that Orthodox soil, from which in the last twenty-five years we were removed not so much by adversaries and enemies, but by our own mistakes and one-sided desires. To achieve this goal, convening an Orthodox council in Moscow, simultaneously with the royal coronation, seems to be the best, surest and safest way. You have, however, the opportunity to verify this opinion with the assessment of a statesman who has studied and experienced everything related to the East, namely Count N. I. Ignatiev. If you deign to find my notes worthy of attention, then I humbly ask you to communicate them to the count. Since last August I was called, by order of the late emperor in Bose, to St. Petersburg gr. Loris-Melikov, I was with him and with his successor, through the means indicated to me by the bar. Velio and General Baranov, in constant official correspondence, but due to their departure and the absence of any invitation to continue, I can no longer directly address Count Ignatiev. Upon my accession to the throne of the Sovereign Emperor, I dared to express in a letter to His Majesty my most submissive readiness to devote all my strength, all my abilities and all the experience I had acquired in the diplomatic field to his service. I still don’t know whether the expression of these feelings reached the sovereign, but in the absence of any response, unconditional submission to the royal will does not allow me to resume such expression. I hope that by devoting my bitter leisure time to attempts to at least indirectly serve the sovereign and Russia, I do not go beyond the limits of modesty and obedience. In this case, I humbly ask you to graciously consider the feelings and convictions that prompted me to turn to you. With deep respect, I have the honor to be Your Excellency former Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States. I am returning to you the patriarch’s letter with advice to use gr. Ignatiev, who, if you send him to Bunge, will extort from him not 25,000 rubles, but 2 1/2 million, especially since he will be pleased to at least partially atone for his grave sin before the patriarch and the entire church. Of course, you have no time for that, but, for God’s sake, do not neglect this case, which is seemingly insignificant, but in essence is very important. This trifle can be the beginning of a good cause for peace, especially given the sobering direction that the policy of the Bulgarian prince is taking. Kume, fight! I saw you in the State Council so close that you could not help but notice me; but I couldn’t say hello to you, because you were all looking at one point. Why such posture? You will have to endure quite a bit; this is just the beginning of your challenge. But with temptation comes excess. Bless God for the tightness in which he has placed you for the good of your people, sovereign, and church. And the overthrown - not all of them, of course - can be pardoned: their suffering is considerable. When we meet, I’ll tell you about my meeting with Abaza. Rev. Savva writes to me to ask you to speed up, if possible, the case about Ms. Bulakh, since every day of her stay at the school is to the detriment of the investigation. Would you like to go for a walk for some air this evening? I will have Leontyev and Golitsyn en trois, if you count the owner; I would be very glad to see you in this interview and, perhaps, we would agree on action, to which it is time to move on from words. Son-in-law o. Matthew, the blind priest Marian of Sretensky (in Rzhev) is still eligible for pension in August, but still does not use it. I asked Ilyinsky about it, but you will also add a word of strength to this. Almost 9 months. And, as they say, this is the usual order. It would be necessary to change it. Thank you, dear Konstantin Petrovich, for your two letters; Of course, I am not angry, but on the contrary, I am grateful to you for these letters and ask you always, when you find it necessary, to write to me with the same frankness as always. Come to Gatchino tomorrow at 1 o'clock, we can talk in more detail. I am very grateful to Your Excellency for the memory of the state police. I have long paid attention to the information about our seditious people published in Sovremennye Izvestia and, while paying tribute to the good intentions of the editors, I cannot help but complain that the execution of the task is not always entirely successful. In articles about sedition, truth is mixed with fiction so closely that they will only create fog for the uninitiated. Making sure that you have published, but are following not without interest, the progress of the police fight against our all-Russian, unfortunately, ulcer, I allow myself to submit to your gracious discretion, in complete confidence, the work of my department on grouping investigative revelations for the period from July 1 to October 1 Gero, with the most humble request to return it after reading. Please accept the assurances of our deepest respect and respectful devotion. I had the honor to receive your Excellency’s letter, as well as the leaflets that you were pleased to forward for my considerations. I understand the last expression to mean that I do not need to return these sheets of paper, and therefore I am keeping them. The only fact that I could verify was complaints about the Balashev police officer, Postremov. I have positive information that Postremov is an excellent police officer. He was an official of special assignments for 15 years; he is a very experienced and conscientious person, who received a university education and has an excellent command of the pen. He was even recommended to me as the head of the office, and Senator Shamshin responded to such a proposal that he would be a good choice. Judging by this fact about the entire note, it is worthless. Generally speaking, people in the highest circles often do not want to resort to legal means, but demand that extraordinary or even illegal measures be applied to them. The police, in their opinion, should drive peasants out to work, punish unauthorized choppers, and catch livestock in the grasslands. They don’t want to turn to magistrates. Maybe some judges are not good. But in any case, it is not the administration that is to blame for this, but those individuals who elect bad judges or, by their absence, give the opportunity to the worst layer of society to operate in elections. I am afraid to get carried away by this subject, since the reluctance on the part of developed people to understand the law, for the sake of their own convenience, always outrages me; and therefore I apologize and ask you to forgive me for my already too long letter. With respect and devotion, I have the honor to be Your Excellency They are reporting from St. Petersburg, dear Konstantin Petrovich, that the St. Petersburg Duma is planning to bring me to court for an article in which some of the members want to see an insult to public office subject to judicial punishment. I would not pay attention to this buffoonery, but in view of the truly revolutionary mood that has reigned among us, it is possible to expect anything. Let the matter be limited only to me. But if, in fact, the provincial government approved such a resolution of the Duma and the complaint were accepted by the prosecutor, then this would certainly be used to create a big scandal not only for me, but also for someone else. That’s why I consider it my duty to draw your attention to this incident before it’s too late. I hasten to inform you, dear Konstantin Petrovich, that I have now received correct information (which comes from Count Ignatiev). At the meeting to which you are invited today, there will be a discussion about an absurd, outrageous, stupid idea, to which Ignatiev and Loris, as well as Milyutin and Abaza, agreed: to form provincial committees (in all provinces, in all parts of the empire) from elected people, three from the peasants, four from all other classes, a total of seven members; transfer various projects to these committees for development; then, if necessary, represent delegates from them to St. Petersburg. All this fuss is planned in order to somehow satisfy the reigning new society and keep it occupied. I am afraid that this idea, which was thought out in secret from you, would not take you by surprise tomorrow. Nothing could be more absurd and, I think, more destructive than this plan. This means simply revolutionizing the country by force. It is obvious that our government speeches, with their efforts to somehow occupy society with something, positively fulfill the program of sedition. I can’t resist not writing these lines to you. Either Ignatiev is very cleverly cunning, or he has completely given himself over to Loris. This does not mean occupying society, but pleasing the party, which is in no way significantly different from the Zhelyabovs. In Geneva they could not have come up with anything better in this regard. On Wednesday evening N.S. Abaza called me to his place and generally reproached me for a whole series of recent articles that supposedly aroused the opposite side. He especially did not like the accusations of other newspapers. “Wait two or three weeks and then write whatever retrograde articles you want.” But I didn't think that prosecution was being prepared at the same time. No wonder we write harshly; If there had not been such a mass of atrocities among us with which we have become accustomed, there would not have been the great atrocity of March 1st. It is at the grave of the sovereign that both consciousness and grief awaken. Even in the article in question, we only call on everyone to pay attention, to obedience and order. As for the depravity and licentiousness to which we have lived, this is no secret to anyone. Note at the station 1035 gave us the right to write what we wrote. I ask Your Excellency to accept the assurance of my deepest respect. Dear Sir, Konstantin Petrovich. I know you to be a Christian - and, without remembering everything that I know about you, this is enough for me to boldly turn to you with an important and difficult request to convey to the sovereign the letter I wrote about the terrible events of recent times. It was not arrogance that prompted me to such a bold act, but the only thought, or rather the feeling that haunts me, that I would be guilty before myself and before God if no one told the king what I thought, and that these thoughts would leave some trace in the king’s soul; but I could have done it and didn’t. You stand close to both the sovereign and the higher spheres; You know everything that has been said and is being said about the present situation. For God's sake, take the trouble to read my letter, and if you find that there is nothing in it that has not been expressed, please destroy the letter and forgive me for the trouble that I have caused you. But if you find that there is something new in my letter that might attract the attention of the sovereign, then please pass it on or forward it. Forgive the boldness of my address to you and believe in the feeling of true respect and devotion with which I have the honor to be your most humble servant (There is a pencil note on the letter: He wrote that it is necessary to leave the villains without any prosecution). Now everyone is thinking about only one thing and discussing all sorts of measures proposed so that Russia can finally get out of its present plight. Therefore, I decide to tell you my own assumption. If you like it, then of course you will report it to the Emperor. I believe that in order to eradicate vile and destructive sedition, it is necessary now and as soon as possible (since the main criminals have already been hanged) to issue the highest manifesto on the final abolition of the death penalty in Russia. There is no need to prove to you the reasons for this assumption - you yourself know them very well. Your Excellency, Dear Konstantin Petrovich. This morning I received your note. It struck me as one of the symptoms of our terrible social illness, and at the same time it suggested to me that, despite my past faith in progress, you have not yet lost your good opinion of me. Thank you. I won’t show your note to anyone, but can I advise Turgenev to leave as quickly as possible without startling him or arousing alarming bewilderment in him? Will he believe me? Just yesterday evening, upon his arrival, he told me with delight that the German Crown Princess made him stay an extra day in Berlin, because she invited him to breakfast, was very kind to him and talked with him a lot. Just yesterday, after listening to my reproaches, he was amazed at how far gossip could go, and justified himself to me in all the accusations leveled at him that I heard from Grigorovich and Markevich. I could, of course, convey to you what these justifications were during a personal meeting, but I don’t dare bother you with reading a long letter. Judging by his words, Turgenev will stay here for a little over a week, stop for one day in Moscow, and then go to his village, where he invites my family, my wife and children, who have never seen a Russian village. And without my advice, he doesn’t want to see anyone except old friends, and will order everyone to refuse. And who will go to him now? “The time of applause has passed, and its glory is old glory.” You are afraid that Stasyulevich or the “Order” circle may stir him up or influence him. But can Stasyulevich’s conversation have an impact? – Judging by myself, I don’t think so. Stasyulevich admires his literary talent and, perhaps, expects a handout from him, but Turgenev is a hundred times smarter and more insightful than him. And what does “Order” mean in front of the mass of newspapers and magazines that Turgenev read in France, England and Germany? Hundreds of thousands of Russians wandering around Europe read hundreds of liberal, radical and all kinds of newspapers abroad, and if they do not infect them, then can “Order” infect them, and on the contrary, if they are already infected, then “Order” will not have an effect on them. I didn’t read anything as a censor, but, thank God, I didn’t become an atheist, a socialist, or a traitor. Judging by our reports, about eleven million volumes of foreign books have recently been imported into Russia and sold annually. In our committee, I believe, we read up to 700 titles of newspapers and magazines subscribed from abroad. What does the entire Russian press mean in front of such numbers, and what is so surprising that part of Russian society is becoming infected with Western ideas? You write that I am friendly with Turgenev, but would I really be friendly with him if he looked at all like a nihilist, or if I considered him a dangerous person for our government? God save me! For what he should be scolded, that is why I scold him. But on my honor I assure you, if I could only imagine that at the present time Turgenev could in one way or another have a bad influence, I would be the first to advise him to go, but not to the village, but directly abroad for a year. Today I will hardly see Turgenev, but tomorrow in private I will try to fulfill your order, if you do not cancel it by tomorrow. “Lord, save Your people and bless Your inheritance.” This is a prayer that constantly asks itself to my lips, and every day I repeat it both as a prayer and as a great national anthem. And there is nothing else left to do but pray to God to save Russia. Please accept the assurances of my utmost respect and devotion, with which Here is the note that I told you about that I received from abroad. I don’t know Skrypitsyn at all, although he says he’s a relative, I’ve never seen him. Yesterday I received your parcel for delivery to Moscow. Your words are disappointing, and what you instruct Bobrinsky to convey will give him a chill. Today “Order” talks about the sympathy caused by Solovyov’s speech. Will Perovskaya really not be executed along with the others? Only an enemy can advise the sovereign to mitigate her punishment. Nothing can be more tormenting than this unclear situation. You involuntarily ask yourself who the Emperor sees. Goodbye, good morning. Dear Sir, Count Sergei Dmitrievich. Involuntary (due to illness) life at the present time outside Russia does not detract from the horror and oppressive pain about the latest and, in particular, the last event, which surpassed everything disgusting in terms of meanness and daring worthy of eternal damnation. In such a difficult time, in a thinking person, if he is imbued with civic goodwill, the ability to think is involuntarily concentrated, one turns to the acquired experience, and the result of the work of the brain and heart requires an outcome in communication. I am turning to you, dear Count, as a person close to the throne and unknown to you who is not alien to me by blood (your mother’s mother and my father’s mother, Natad. Petr., were sisters) - with the most respectful request to read my hastily written, but maturely thoughtful, sincere for the benefit of our country, word, in any case justified by the circumstances of horror and darkness, and then act with the attached a note, as you please. Accept, Your Excellency, the assurance of the perfect respect and devotion of your humble servant More than 20 years of observant and at the same time active life (in the service of peasant affairs and the judiciary), in various localities of Russia, persuade me to briefly express my beliefs regarding what Russia needs. First, I must make a reservation that the interests of the vast majority of the population of our country, over 90%. him, have almost nothing in common with the interests and views of a small minority, the missing 10%. Based on considerations of the need for the government to comply with this proportion in all significant activities and finances. costs, it seems advisable to concentrate care on the majority of the population, the beneficial results of which will certainly become both thorough and absorbingly obligatory for the minority. The economic state of such a vast country as ours at a certain period of time is not easily or quickly amenable to decisive determination, but we already have it in general, obvious and therefore indisputable phenomena. What is economic? the situation is incomparably bad, that it is becoming closer and closer to almost total ruin, this seems, unfortunately, to be an immutable truth. I am deeply convinced that the present, full of sorrow, life of the people was determined, after wars, which were disproportionately costly, most of all by prolonged, general, excessive drunkenness, an incomprehensible to the people variety of local (in the district) authorities, mutually paralyzing their authority and independence for the population. All the reforms of recent years, no matter how good in purpose they were, as a result did not improve or increase the resources of the masses, but, on the contrary, developed needs beyond the scale of their well-being, moral level and mental development. The currently visible impossibility of moving back, equally as the need to improve the current situation, to ease the burden of the unbearable burden of the supreme power and a certain responsibility of ministers to it, causes, in my extreme conviction, the following, further, indicated only in general terms, measures. The concentration of concern, as I said before, on the welfare of the majority, on confining the governmental system to the limits of its needs and understanding. The main basis for this should be a decisive denial of the importance for us of diplomatic and the warlike splendor identified with it, which, together with the newly acquired outskirts, amounts to nothing except the unbearable burden of expenses. A significant expansion of the boundaries of the department of zemstvo institutions, satisfied by necessity with the people available for them (whether they are good or not), but with an improvement in the election procedure, so that in this election the own desires and gullibility of the population are truly expressed. Uniting in them (zemstvo institutions) tasks according to the needs of the people: economic, religious, educational, moral (the most important of these is sobriety), security, judicial, including the local police under the same jurisdiction. Providing provincial zemstvos with the election of councilors (one or two from the province) for the central or higher representation of the needs and desires of the population, with their active participation in the discussion and projected resolution of them. The latter can be organized by introducing central representatives into the rights, the Senate (its 1st department), and relatively few of them, approximately 20 to 30, into the Committee of Ministers and States, the Council, so that they do not constitute a minority in these boards in comparison with those appointed from the treasury, and enjoy the same freedom of voice and opinion. Dear friend, Konstantin Petrovich, having arrived last week, I’m thinking of going at the end of this week to pick up my wife to take her to a summer residence in Klin. From the bottom of my heart I sympathize with everything for which you are so scolded, I would like to hug and kiss you from the bottom of my heart. I know how difficult it is to catch you. Would you allow me to come to your place for lunch sometime? If you can accept me, drop a word (New Street, Hotel), I'm always free. Heartily loving you May 3rd. In my remote place, I only learned today about everything that has happened and is happening. The manifesto is the first ray in the darkness, the first breath of royal power in the nightmare that oppresses us. Your name is on everyone’s lips, but for me it’s not you, but the fulfillment of what I believe in: the action of God’s providence, which has been terribly obvious and terribly close to us over these months. Is it possible to say something ordinary now, similar to everything that was said yesterday, the third day; It’s impossible, everything will be vulgar and false. Living with you mentally, sweetly praying with you, believing with you, praying for you and wanting to believe in you. Yes, faith in you has touched the soul, but it has not yet firmly entered into it, for everything hangs on the question: will your strength be enough to the end? Will God give you to be a complete instrument of his will? This doubt of the question is tormenting. The manifesto is a ray, but God forbid the ray remains lonely for a long time. Signs of the degeneration of darkness into darkness should quickly appear behind it (sic!). The manifesto is a word, and behind it there must be an action, without which the word will not produce the desired transformation, and this action is the appearance of the king to the people. The people will not understand the manifesto, but the people will understand the Tsar’s visit to Moscow and trips around Russia. This is necessary, it is necessary at all costs now, and not later. If now there is a gap, all the St. Petersburg abomination of corruption will strain all its immoral forces, refine all its satanic abilities of the mind, in order to again stir up trouble, waver, agitate... The Tsar must get out of here as soon as possible and appear to the people. The thought of security is a damned thought, not Russian and not Christian. Or there is faith in God, then there is no fear and there is surrender to His providence. Or there is no faith in God, then there is nothing: no power, no right, no trust. After all, you cannot believe half, and it is even more impossible to show half faith. The manifesto encourages with the words of the king; but is this enough? Now begins the era of endless talk. Is it political to allow such an era to happen? It must be stopped, and every minute is precious. We need the appearance of a cheerful Tsar, as the first thing, and the appearance in Moscow. There, and only there, will the king speak divinely. Here we are tormented by fear, so that the forces of the enemy will not overcome again, at the moment when faith in the almighty God weakens. It is dangerous when the tsar's word and sharp policy - at the top, inaccessible to the people, become the subject of passionate discussions and a battle of minds. At a moment like this, it is necessary for the king to concentrate everything on us and in us, everything in the sense of attention, the spiritual world. His actions, his appearances and his personality must draw all the attention of Russia and not allow their minds to be occupied with trifles. Then, from the manifestation of this full power, the enemies will disappear, and from the manifestation of light, darkness will disappear. Half-action will ruin everything. I hug you, God is with you, dear, Dear Konstantin Petrovich. You have always been my friend, mentor, and my feelings for you resonate in my soul with something bright. Be a doer of the matter of the heart; can I not want one thing: to have the thoughts and feelings of a sovereign; This thirst torments me, burns me and does not give me rest either day or night. You will understand this thirst, because it is no longer possible to erase from your heart everything that was once experienced. On the other hand, you know that it is enough for one person to say or think that I am taking advantage of this opportunity to impose myself, and my holy impulse will be desecrated. That is why, I ask you, be my father in this matter. Read the letter without telling anyone. If you decide that you should not be afraid of a false trial, send this letter with a word from you. If you decide that you shouldn’t, so be it, and return it to me. I hug you tightly. If there is anything that needs to be remade or thrown away, please indicate or cross it out. Dear Konstantin Petrovich, here are two merchants of the Pavlovsk district who would like to have your advice and guidance regarding some statements in memory of Emperor Alexander II. I ask you to accept them and give them a minute of your very busy time. I think about you a lot and my heart is heavy. Dear Konstantin Petrovich, excuse me for disturbing you at a time when you already have too much to do and are tired. But here's the thing. You know that now during Great Lent there is only liturgy 4 times a week. During the liturgy they pray for the repose of the sovereign's soul. On other days there is no prayer for him in the parish churches. I asked our parish priest why funeral services are not being held. After all, the people so want to pray for the king. He replied that they could not serve general funeral services without orders from their superiors. So, is it possible to obtain an order from the Holy Synod so that during the 40 days, which will extend to the entire Great Lent, daily memorial services would be served for the people throughout Russia. I sent two men to you yesterday. Their words struck me: “The death of the king, shame and sin are on us, but God, loving him, sent him such a death. God wanted to equalize his heavenly rank with his earthly rank. Here he was vouchsafed to be a liberating king, there he was vouchsafed the crown of great martyrdom. His martyr’s blood covers his weaknesses and our sins” (their actual words). Now we can pray: Lord, rest the soul of your murdered servant and forgive him his voluntary and involuntary sins, and we immediately add: holy passion-bearer, pray to God for us. I sent these peasants to you, they wanted to consult with you. The people, they say, want to mourn publicly, and how to arrange this. Farewell, my friend, I firmly shake your hand and bow to your dear wife. Trubny Ave., near Povarskaya. What horrors, what shame we have lived to see. You will not recover from these terrible March events. There is one voice here: “It’s time to turn to the entire Russian people to help with their grief.” They are afraid that the sovereign might be led to think about a constitution and other overseas innovations, but everyone is convinced that the Zemsky Sobor would point the tsar to people who are sincerely devoted to both him and Russia. God, what tough times. This note will be given to you by I.T. Tikhomirov and Labzin. What wonderful people these are! I am so glad that you have not turned your back on them, but on the contrary, you are helping them so much. Their idea of ​​transporting the body of the sovereign to Moscow and placing it under the Church of the Savior is unlikely to come true, but this is a good idea that would inspire all of Russia. But I'm interrupted. Give my most affectionate greetings to your wife and don’t forget Yours, who sincerely sympathizes with you, O.K. Please read the enclosed letter and do something for Onerbeck’s “cause.” After all, this is a holy cause, these old Catholic Anglicans are essentially Orthodox. As many Orthodox as blessed Old Believers, there is no talk here of any “retaining the meaning” of the filioque, of any concerns about maintaining connections with the existing churches of the West, etc., here it is all about purity, everything is done openly, omnino gine reservatione mertali! Moreover, in addition, and with the approval of the synod. After all, this matter is close to us, we, Orthodox, are interested in it. Ups nostra agitur! Help. Congratulations on your success (I’m talking about the manifesto), it’s just a pity that it didn’t appear on March 2nd. I congratulate you because the public considers you to be its inspirer (but not its editor), and that, in any case, in this whole matter pars magna fuisti... it’s only a pity if Abaza leaves (it’s a pity, although for me personally, despite our good relations, hardly anyone has damaged my affairs more). - Now, if only Nikolai had fallen ill, or if not he himself, then at least this ugly university charter of ’63, with which Nikolai rushes everywhere like a hen with eggs, and from which Golovnin smells. From Rev. Alexia from Moscow I bow to the ground for the memory, especially for the consolation of the great royal word, today every Russian heart rejoices and rejoices: To our Great Tsar for his great word, salvation, glory and many years. If, on my visit on the morning of March 2, I offered you to give me a card to Count Loris-Melikov, then it was out of the conviction that the atrocities of the regicides had not yet ended. Like many, I am sure, at the present time, Russian people, I thirst for action (not to say revenge), I thirst to work as hard as I can to eradicate the hydra, which dares to raise its sacrilegious hands against God’s anointed, to oppress and disgrace the Russian land... In order to try to quickly put an end to the turmoil that depresses us, in addition to all the measures taken by the government, would it not be found useful to declare all those convicted of participating in the plans of the revolutionary party, for the unheard-of crimes it has committed, outlawed, and for the slightest new attempt or action against the order established by law in Russia, responsible without exception, in corpore, with their lives. It goes without saying that, once declared, it must be carried out with inexorable severity. Please accept the assurance of my complete respect and devotion to you. Inscription on the envelope: To His Excellency Konstantin Petrovich Pobedonostsev. Mr. Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod, in his own hands. To St. Petersburg. From the Head of the Minsk Women's School Arsenyeva. Odessa, Khersonskaya, 25, apt. 10. Dear Sofia Dmitrievna. This is a very important matter. Please, immediately forward this letter to Count Pobedonostsev, but in such a way that it will certainly fall into his hands, and not into anyone else’s; this is quite important and should be kept secret. I trust only you, dear Sofya Dmitrievna, fully confident that you will keep, and I hope to earn, the count’s trust; If you find it possible, describe me to the count as a person in order to make sure that I can know a lot, that I carry brains in my head and that I am an honest person. Be so kind, fulfill my request immediately, believe that I am not using your entreaty for malice, and in this case I will show that I will always be worthy of your friendship. Just remember, don't tell anyone. It looks scary at first, but then I’ll explain to you why I demand the secret. With true respect, devoted to you Bronislav Lyubichankovsky, the son of a doctor, was brought up in the Olonets gymnasium and in 1870, after successfully completing a course in science, he entered the Medical-Surgical Academy. While in the Olonets province, he was not seen in anything reprehensible and did not belong to any parties; on the contrary, it was known that in the gymnasium he was distinguished by good behavior and especially by his readiness to help his poor comrades, although he himself had meager means of living. In 1879, information was received that Lyubichankovsky, being among other Russian subjects in Krakow, was arrested in the case of the socialists. In October 1880, while with his mother in the city of Lodeynoye-Pole, he applied to the Ministry of Internal Affairs with a request for permission to continue his education at the University of Warsaw, and according to the report of the above to the former comrade of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Secretary of State Kokhanov, the said petition was resolved so that secret police surveillance would be established for Lyubichankovsky. Finally, in a note delivered in July of this year by the head of the St. Petersburg provincial gendarme department from the inquiry into the St. Petersburg commune of the Polish social revolutionary society, it is mentioned that the student Lyubichankovsky, who came from Warsaw, among others, was at a meeting organized in the apartment of Bogushevich and Lyaskovsky, where he spoke about the Krakow process of the socialists, in which he himself participated as accused. Lyubinchankovsky is not listed among the persons involved in the investigation of this case. I am sending you, dear Konstantin Petrovich, the last two letters of the young man, his photograph. I didn’t dare refuse him to forward the letter to you; I apologize again, I relied on your wisdom and kindness. Do not harm him, he is now the only son of a blind mother; I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but it’s impossible to answer even for a loved one, not just a Pole, I can only guarantee that I acted, sending the letter, guided only by a strong attachment to you, and still thinking that Bronya would not bother me for nothing. We have known him under this name since the time of his father’s exile from Minsk to Petrozavodsk, it seems, in 63. Forgive me, for God’s sake, if I was stupid, but I would have sent a letter to my father, that’s my fault. Devoted to you with all my soul and grateful I received your letter an hour ago. I may seem strange to you, my dear Konstantin Petrovich, but I really don’t dare do otherwise. I have now received the attached letter from Bronislav Lyubichankovsky, the son of Doctor Lyubichankovsky, who was exiled to Petrozavodsk in 1963. In 1964, this doctor successfully treated me; when his son grew up, his husband sent him to a gymnasium and took him in. The father died, the son remembers that I caressed him, and when he is in Minsk, he visits me; writes from afar on holidays. I don’t have the slightest reason not to believe him, but he begs to find a way to you. And his father was honest, he was exiled due to intrigue. The son studies in Odessa and supports his blind mother. If I did something bad, forgive me, I really don’t dare do anything differently. Devoted and grateful to you with all my heart The address of the young man’s mother, with whom he lives: Odessa, Khersonskaya street, No. 25, apartment No. 10, Bronislav Lyubichankovsky. Inscription on the envelope: To His Excellency Count Pobedonostsev in personal. hands. I want to make you one important discovery, it cannot be written; I need an audience with you, Your Excellency, and as soon as possible. You will see that the matter is very important, Your Excellency, I will reveal to you many new things regarding internal politics and strengthening the throne. Mme Arsenyeva knows me personally, from her you can find out what kind of person I am, and I propose to you, Your Excellency, to untie the Gordian knot of all the current unrest, which, without my instructions, will quickly expand and require great sacrifices. If you want, Your Excellency, for me to appear, provide me with a document and money for travel, either through Mme Arsenyeva, or at the following address. This all requires the greatest secrecy. Only to you, Your Excellency, and at your discretion and to the Emperor, I will not hand it over to anyone else. If there is no secret, the case is lost. By audience, I hope to earn your trust. With true respect, devoted servant of the student. new Univ. Bronislaw Lyubichankowski December 6, 81. Odessa Khersonskaya, no. 25, apt. No. 10. If I’m now going to answer you for your friendly letter, which I’m hiding as valuable to myself, I’ve been so busy all this time, I have so much work that every minute is precious to me. Imagine: university takes me 26 hours a week, listening to professors’ lectures in the morning; we managed to set up a so-called seminary here, in the manner of foreign universities, where professors gather, scientific abstracts are read, an abyss of questions is raised here, disputes are refuted, as you can see, this thing is very developing and advancing science; I belong to two such seminaries: one in mathematics, the other in history, I know this subject quite well and consider it important for myself; it takes 10 hours, therefore we have 36 hours, and in total, counting the new savings in working hours of 10 hours a day, that means in 6 days - 60, I have only 24 hours of time, or 4 hours a day; After all, you need to have lunch, rest, and do something yourself. You see, dear Sofia Dmitrievna, how my time keeps flying while I’m working. I get so tired every day that I don’t have the strength to put pen to paper; I sat down at the table, prepared everything, I’ll start thinking about you, and so time flies by quickly, soon, but the paper remains blank. This is the reason for my long silence. How are things going with Mitya? There is nothing to ask about Vera Yulievna, she is always your joy and pride, give me my deepest bow, but our boy is such a disaster, strange, I keep thinking about him. If I can be useful to you in anything, contact me directly, Sofia Dmitrievna; it will be happiness for me when, even in the slightest service, I can express my devotion to you, prove how much I can appreciate you, how proud I am of your friendship. My mother conveys to you, dear Sofia Dmitrievna, her sincere greetings; The poor old lady constantly sits at home, doesn’t go anywhere, because she can’t take a step without me, her eyes won’t allow it, and I don’t have time. In a future letter we will talk about magnetism, now I must hurry to Professor Trachevsky; an extremely talented personality, already known to the learned world for his works in the field of history, with whom we talk about his exemplary school, opened here; I’ll send you the program of this school, and then my comments, this will surely interest you too. Well, goodbye, dear Sofia Dmitrievna, I shake your hand cordially. Again I distort the handwriting, again I write and do not sign what I write, contrary to what was bequeathed to me by my parents, again to you, Your Excellency, Mr. Pobedonostsev, because I think that you are one of the few dignitaries who truly love our precious, much-loved young monarch; he has disappeared, and therefore all of Russia has disappeared, if things continue like this, enough flirting with the so-called liberals, it’s time to cover their mouths, no matter who they are, whether they are senators or chairmen of courts. Believe me, if you don’t calm down the Ministry of Justice and the Senate in general, it will be bad, if you don’t calm down the Suvorins’ clerks, “Budilnikov” and similar servants, they will break the necks of everything decent; senators and many bigwigs directly play into the hands of the socialists and for this reason they not only do not hang them, but on the contrary they hang them with crosses, endow them with money and the Suvorins praise them, which is more valuable to them than any royal affection; We'll probably live to see St. George's Day, but how easy it is even now to baptize us all into the Christian faith, you, the Tsar's friends, don't have enough spirit. There are no long-armed people between you. Where you, strong people, appear, we perish. Enough, to the point. Do you know what a riot is? Have you seen the ruined crowd? This is a terrible thing that from the very beginning, right or wrong, from the very beginning, with the most energetic measures, the most merciless orders, must be pacified; then, after, you can enter into the investigation of why the crowd dispersed, but the one who pacified the noisy crowd must be given George, for to pacify an angry crowd of Russian men is both more difficult and more terrible than fighting on Shipka; Well, for God’s sake, read the entire trial of Lashkarev, Tokarev, and so on. and you will see from the extremely biased, inflated narrative further on this unfortunate case that its authors are senators, like our entire senate and our entire judicial department, reds, scoundrels, friends of the socialists, like the Suvorins and all their similar servants, and after Lashkarevsky and Skaryatinsky, they say (however, I don’t know this case), who pacified the dissenting Tatars, no one will dare to energetically pacify the rebels. After reading this case, you come away with an extremely difficult feeling. The king, who was killed, instructs the Divine to consider during his lifetime whether he was mistaken when he mercifully bestowed an estate on an old servant, almost as a gift, and wrote: “of course,” because this does not mean defame all the poor old people, take away their honor, a piece of bread, everything decisively. The late sovereign was misled by the loud phrases of the channel: “loyal feelings force us, etc.” We know your loyal feelings, Mr. Horses and all sorts of trash; this whole business and Skaryatin’s business was started at the behest of the Armenian socialist Loris; protect the suppressors of riots and conservatives in general, everything has capsized on them, do not give them offense, let the king with his mighty: “leave my faithful servants alone,” return to his defenders and therefore to all decent people the courage they lost in the performance of their duties, commanded by their conscience, love for the God-given king and oath. We have become timid, only the socialists and scavengers Suvorins are allowed everything, they alone can trample into the mud everything that is still decent, scold everyone with vulgar words of the Bobrinskys and people like them. We have become somehow guilty, we are some kind of slave owners, we are criminals, but are we really to blame? Really, talk to the king, change the system, restore power, and give it to decent people. The Russian people are a very special people, they love strength and power, they meekly carry out the orders of the strong authorities, moral and physical strength is their idol. If a headman or foreman is squeaky, small and weak in spirit and body, then he is a sufferer, not a boss; restore power, give it to local bigwigs. The peace mediators served the purpose, for they had power, albeit small; in every volost there should be an owner from the nobility, no matter what the Suvorins say, but still the nobility, if supported by the throne, will render a service to the tsar; without the establishment of serious and significant power in each volost, instead of the complete absence of it from the very disappearance of the world mediators of the first convocation, among which I was (now a voice crying out in the desert and morally killed on March 1st by the explosion that disfigured and killed my beloved king, who was carried away by liberalism and dreamed of creating a democratic, black people's empire with the help of the traitor Decembrist Rostovtsev), without protecting the pacifiers the riots of Lashkarev, Skaryatin and thereby return aplon, courage and energy to those who will be called upon to protect the Tsar, and consequently, everything legal and divine against the inexorable element called the popular uprising; without the support of the royal greatness, giving away to Tokarev, Kulomzin the blockhead and the fool Lieven what was most mercifully granted to them by the late sovereign, and without anything else, it will be bad. Do not forget that the timidity of the army ruined Louis XVI. I know this Romanovich, he was an excellent officer and distinguished himself in the last war, but now he is completely crazy and had to leave the service. Your Imperial Majesty, Most Gracious Sovereign, Sir, do you know those delays, do you know the need? You know the difficult things that people suffer, and you are the only kind one who does not forget the poor. There is a lack of knowledge to do something like this all around. 3 All around there is positively shuffling, all around “just to fake the Tsar.” Please don’t forget Peter, I was furious that not only did they not do it, but that they did it in defiance. Here’s a simple word: I don’t invite you to chop off heads, but to shake up those who are barichi. So there is no sincerity in love for the Idea of ​​the People being Happy; there is no life that is needed, no expressions of the mind, feelings, Honesty, Sovereign. Simple is what I am sending. Read, Your Majesty, and you will learn that Our People have the right, that the People feel that they are preparing mean things with pistol and non-pistol shots. One newspaper after another is closed “by law”, closed because they call the actions of ministers harmful, because they are truly harmful; and it turns out that they again mean that it is not offensive for them to set the matter, to please the sovereign and to have slaves of officials and to think that the government is not a necessity of the life of the People, but that It and the People are those different things. I won’t tire you any more, read it and, I beg you, hand it over to the Chief Prosecutor. You'll see what happens. All yours with heart and mind. Colonel of the Sovereign's service. Alexander the Third and His Family, Feodor Lvovich Romanovich. I ask you to tell me frankly whether you believe that punishments take place in public life. It’s not easy, it’s not easy, but it’s not to say that all the special and non-special ones exist only due to the impossible impossible real misunderstanding and ignorance. You, gentlemen, do not need to talk very much about logic and knowledge and the same and the same and that is very convenient in this case, that you know very well about the impossible meaning of punishments, living concepts, and even so recently. Please remember to have a special sense of decency. Do not allow what is called being this way or that way in relation to anything, and especially in relation to both your peace of mind and your loved ones. That you won’t forget this, of course, and what is called brotherly decency. You do not know and will not know a single joy without destroying punishments. Well, haven’t you read something decent from this letter, gentlemen, and that you will not forget to bring into consciousness not only you. Would you believe that it was inconvenient for both types of punishment to exist? Well, I won’t list all the types, but it’s simple and why not bypass what is not funny, not bypass it so that not an iota of doubt remains about our calling to revive the Lord, the World, the People. This is a reason to talk about the abolition of all types of punishment. Well, don’t forget this and that, gentlemen and madams, that the murder and torture of a person was impossible, and that it was expressed in forms, just to name it, that are striking now, but that it was, it was then, gentlemen, when there were no concepts not only about anything, which our time has already mastered. You should be the messengers of ideas that are not just that, something decent. I say and believe and my compatriots believe that the life of the Russian People will not pass without a trace in those Future and present centuries of the world. I am not one of those people who do not forget to give all their abilities and specifically to the right one. I also ask you not only to give peace and work, but to give positively in the form of simple service. Give then give and give your life to the idea of ​​good. That is why I find it necessary to pay attention to what humanity has experienced. Please do not be offended by the list. Here comes that primitive execution of beating that body that should live happily and in the foreground, of course, is the concept corresponding to savagery: don’t forget the beating of that body that isn’t everything the same for you and those who are one with you. You see, this is already the beginning of preserving both yourself and the Lord personally from the possibility of what you yourself do in relation to others. That you did not understand that emphasis and that admonition that was already conscious to you. You see, it is inconvenient to be one way or the other, bringing happiness to poor people. What should and what should insistently, gentlemen, is that more than one national thing has already been so special in those spheres of decent that it is inconvenient for us Russians not to bring it into the common humanity. I ask you not to forget those who live and live the life that all your ancestors lived. They beat your ancestors and they beat them not only so especially delicately. They beat and beat and constantly and cruelly and therefore suffered. They beat us and, don’t forget, brutally. 2nd sheet of letter dated July 29, 1881 from the mountains. Pyatigorsk. What was it? Believe and one thing will stir in your consciousness. I will not talk about what could cause tears not only in general in people who are not particularly hard-hearted, but would cause them in people who are very, very accustomed to all kinds of cruelty. Now I need to talk about impossibility and not just from feeling, but I need to talk simply. What do you think now, was it good for your ancestors? Well, the answer has already been told to your consciousness. I tell you all, from the Emperor to the last, that he will know this letter. Please don't forget your brother. I ask you not to forget the dignity and dignity of the special and not to be unworthy of respect in your own terms. I ask you not to forget and not to forget the Lord that it is impossible to be deliberately unkind and not know what is decent and very kind. That's the concern. But I also ask you to believe that the care will ennoble your life. I will no longer tell you that you will not die in the most distant descendants. What is not a caring feeling that caused you to always be human? So don’t forget to be them. It won’t be difficult to talk about this with the Emperor. There will be just a letter in the hands of Our Hope. What did that journey mean, and it was serious, both to Kostroma and not to Kostroma Province. What if not that there is a commonality. So the Sovereign is right and completely right to Worship God at That dwelling, which was and became according to the will of God. I will not forget to say the word that more than one thing will arouse brotherly Love for that “gray”, and for that “Grey” who chose Mikhail Feodorovich. Please, this is not a funny thing, I ask you not only to think, but with feelings of boundless reverence for God and the People. There’s just no need to say much. Everything is clear and the prices have already been set. What is needed. People need to not be tormented. The people need to be original, and don’t forget, they need to be something that will live an educated life, not just in units. The People and through us and the Peoples need those Holy Concepts and that neither one nor the other will allow us to know anything else, only one special respect for the Right of every person to live without being in the situation that the Ancestors of each of us were, and what is now, according to that impossible concept that it is inconvenient not to say. A simple circumstance. A simple circumstance is that this is not the case. The simple fact is that there was and was a stigma. You see, it is inconvenient not to learn from the Affairs of the Ancestors the Reason and the Good and the Wise and, generally speaking, the Human. So I’m not saying this because I need to say it knowing that my letter will be in the hands of the Emperor; This is not why I leave it to the good conscience of everyone to judge because he is not devoid of feelings and truth, and don’t forget those feelings that are worth taking care of so that they exist. 3rd sheet of letter dated July 29, 1881 from the mountains. Pyatigorsk. According to a sense of special decency, this expression is both kind and true. So it is necessary for God to judge the affairs of everyone, but for Us and We, too, are not deprived of the Right by God to Judge what was done by One or Another Sovereign. That’s why I will talk about those good and very good measures that showed the way, don’t forget. I ask you not to think and not to think and not to think that I do not recognize the Right to say to my Brother the Sovereign and also to the Sovereign, by God and so it is true. By God to Us and to That All-Russian Autocrat, who would not have offended and would not have given his Life for his Life unless it no longer existed. So I say to him: there is no lie in the words about which confirmation in the Deeds of Merciful Attitude towards Our Brothers, towards the “grays”. I just won’t forget to say and will always be what the State needs, I won’t forget to tell the truth and tell it especially since my life was very close to those who are Waiting for Mercy. And so, I will not forget to say that word and that, and let it be mine, still on the fresh Tomb of Him who gave the right and hope for a change in the situation to the poor Exiled Convicts and exiled settlers. So I ask that at the Tomb of Our All-Russian brother and Sovereign, let the truth be said and that which was not suggested by meanness. May God have mercy on Him, the Poor One, and may He forgive us for not knowing how to be Good Advisors to His chosen one. I ask you not to forget to know and to know very well so that in the coming centuries the Grandchildren will not forget that there is no other Understanding of the Relationship of the People to Their Sovereign and His to the People than what was already expressed by me earlier. This is the careful work so as not to die in the Posterity. So let the good things that Our Sovereign Alexander Nikolaevich Did not be forgotten, that He did by destroying the whip, the brand, and would have done the same, He did not know, and He would also cancel the punishments, both those cruel ones, such as whips and other punishments and in general. So let and let the content of my future letter be what I have already said that is striking in its novelty. Please believe p Brother and Loyal Subject of the Sovereign, Colonel Feodor Lvovich Romanovich. I ask you not to disdain to find out, Dear Sirs and Dear Sovereigns, that there is no knowledge and so much decency, and there is not even that knowledge that was in common with an almost decent one. You are not very and not very interested in knowing that you are nothing but quite impossible, then I ask you to know that if you lose your fortune and the place you occupy, you are zero. Here is a topic for conversation and a topic that is inconvenient not to say that you know it. So really sad and so not joyful; what society does, what each of us does, what we do is nothing in the sense of not being unworthy in the absolute sense of understanding decency. This is nothing more than a reasoning, and that, Gracious Sovereigns and Gracious Sovereigns, that we rightly need to be very thoroughly not those who are servile, and not those shufflers, and not those impudently sneaky ones, that if we got into what is called a position, then forget that a simple person is your brother, that he is your equal and the one who can call you to be decent. What is inconvenient to listen to is inconvenient to see the reflection of something and what is called not that which does not suit your own understanding, in relation to others it is inconvenient to see your own card. The right reproach and the fear that will strike you when reading this letter; that you and the fact that my truthful word has more than once awakened the feelings of a person in you, that you do not recognize that main thing, that impossibly dishonest thing, that until now you have not made a single reasonable order. So I ask you not to think that you or anyone in particular, that any of you would not be required to answer and simply and so won’t you tremble when reading this letter. But I am not a joker, Your Excellency, not a joker, that’s why I demand from the entire Russian Land that you stop that servility of Ministers that cannot be called otherwise, that you are all nothing more than those who, under existing concepts, your life is a disgrace to the People. Do you understand that I am not one of those who hang, I am one of those who demand why they hang, why. You, I say, are unworthy, you are no one else. You are obliged to influence what is not permissible in relation to the People. You are obliged to work for the right not to be scoundrels to anyone and to give the People the Right that they should: Learn to everyone to be with the Right on earth by Everyone, to be Everything without dishonest Ministers, to be without those who can’t make anything out of nothing, only that’s a shame. Commissions, what, what are they. It's a shame, you know, they're a shame. To you, close from the People, the Sovereign, to you, one of Those that the People, Choosing the Ancestor of the Current Sovereign, promised to the Father of the Infant Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov (in terms of the Duma, in terms of Advisors, in terms of Those Honest People who will help Lead the People to Happiness, who will help the Sovereign, This Necessary for the Life of the People, who will help for the Happiness of the People to Make All the Relevant Orders and to the fact that there was a Child then and to all of His Descendants for the Happiness of the People), - so you, close to the People, should not miss the fact that you are standing like a Sentinel at the Post and to be an Honest Executor of the Life Desire of our Wise, Full-Righted Ancestors; You Tell the Sovereign what constitutes the need of the People, what constitutes the Right of every Person; Tell You What He Should Do. So I ask you to accept from one of the Descendants that the People have you as representatives of us standing with the Sovereign and me, what he says to you and what he says is not a joke, but what you will do. So let me believe that you are the Citizen of the Russian Land, that you will not disgrace the land, that you will not make the Sovereign even once think that we have been crushed, that we have lost Honesty and that we have turned into lackeys. Please don’t forget: you are my brother, you are what I am and what the silverback is. You know that there is no reason why Alexander the Third should not be the one who made the Holy One out of a pancake maker. Well, you understand, You know rightly, Your Excellency, everyone should be happy. You know You have the right to know that all People are equal. You know that you live in mansions and the last Subject of the Russian Emperor should also be happy. But you already understand and there is no need for you to go the wrong way as indicated. The right, Education for everyone, Reduction, general expenses and to know that there is no need to have the salaries that we all receive. Here is the Holy Word from the Earth. I receive two thousand one hundred rubles and tens and will receive about four thousand and a half, I give exactly half of what I will receive to support those who are poor. You and everyone understand that I don’t want to live without amenities. You should know that I am not the only one who receives that thousandth of maintenance, and you are the only one who does not receive it. So it is necessary that everything be given in half, or, I ask on behalf of all the poor, that an order be made: exactly half of the content for everyone and that the reduction in prices that is caused by the disproportionate amount of content be announced together. Here is your Duty and for you to Know that you have understood: that you know that it is impossible to be and not only those who will react with a smile, but you must thank me for the harsh word of Truth. You want to live and I want to live and be in the Theater and drink wonderful Wine, and drink that drink of Happiness that Russian and non-Russian people will not need to go far away to study like Lomonosov. Have you understood that with all due respect to you, I do not allow superficiality, I call on the Entire Russian Land to Understand what My Right Means, I say the Russian Land and those Nations that have ascended into My Common. You understand that it is impossible for me not to tell you, Your Excellency Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Government Synod, that I have the Right to do so. I ask you not to be saddened by my demand and, having thought on your knees, will thank the Living Lord in that strictly and brotherly and as it should be calling on you and all ministers to be not different, but only those that are convenient for the People, with the Sovereign for the People. What else can I say? I will not forget to ask for the right for myself so that the Minister does not get me drunk, because he is not able to understand the nonsense that the Commission said, which did not require any considerations, which I ask to consult with the State Control from the Administrator, His Excellency the Actual Privy Councilor Savvsky. You no longer need views about the Rights of the People, You do not need those Rights to be all nothing other than literally equal. You are not alien to the concept that it is inconvenient to leave the People in that position, that the offended and offended of them are not so Humanly declared and fired. You know all this and I assure you to be a friend to the truly poor Sovereign, who does not know what to do so that the people would have rights as soon as possible. Well, I tell you and all the Ministers and the Committee of Ministers and the Chief Executive Officers and the Heads of Departments and all the Heads of Departments and All the Heads of Chiefs and Everyone, All the Service People, that you need to be honest towards the Earth. So it’s easy for you to tell everyone, and regarding the fact that newspapers cannot be closed, that they are being judged on the actions of the impossible administration and that you are all being educated and that there is a voice of the People and that you are obliged to respect and not be guided by those articles of the law that are not based on the Right but on arbitrariness and concealment of worthlessness, self-interest, and ignorance and often... I will not be allowed to say and that they are not based on that intentional: so that vulgar actions are not discussed that so were done often. You know, I am not a joker and not a robber and not a socialist and not a nihilist, and I am only a Christian and I urge you to be honest and guard your honor, your right to be caring about the rights of the People and about the rights of those that no longer need to be explained. I ask you to believe in brotherly love, in respect for all that is good and that also applies to all those who were people in relation to the People. Your Excellency's humble servant Colonel Fyodor Lvovich Romanovich - Knight of the Holy Victorious George, which is kept in the Coat of Arms of the People, not only you and me, but each of the People and all people, and the Holy Rt. Vladimir, who baptized those who are capable of eating nations and people again, and St. Anna, that her blood is with Jesus Christ and with the Blessed Mother. Konstantin Petrovich, of the three copies of your “Good Word” sent to me, one was given to my son Nikolai, the other to Tolstoy’s granddaughter, and the third will remain with me in memory of your kind disposition towards me and in memory of the significant days from March 8 to April 29, where you managed to destroy the machinations of people of untruth with your strong and truthful words. Please accept, dear sir, the assurance of my respect and devotion. (100 rubles in favor of religious schools). Dear Sovereign Konstantin Petrovich. Having positively learned which of the closest executors of the Tsar’s will we owe the manifesto of April 29, I cannot refrain from expressing to you all the feelings of joy and gratitude for this great act of state, which at once restored to us faith in the Tsar and ourselves. Now we can calmly look into our future, with the end of uncertainty and confusion in our minds about our main fundamental principle of state, all the illusions of our frightened intelligentsia will cease, all the specious machinations of our obscene press will lose ground, the cunning deception of neutrality between God and the Devil will become impossible, in a word, all those elements from which our yeast for fermentation and revolutionary production were composed will be abolished. It may even happen that after the decisive word from the Tsar, a new fashionable trend will form in our country, along which our public intelligentsia will float, like the original Panurgov flock. We will only be left as punishment with the shame of a shameful memory that in a country where, under an autocratic sovereign, the government has no one to take into account except the interests of the state and the good of the people, where the 60 million Orthodox people are faithful, devoted, unconditionally submissive to the authorities and even rebel only in the name of the tsar, a group of dead scoundrels could form into a formidable force, all of whom, almost to a man, and some several times, were already in the hands of our pathetic justice. But such was God’s will, which allowed us to be distorted by Esa, to undergo a full practical course of theoretical deceptions and, finally, with the blood of the martyr king, the benefactor of his people, to buy ourselves a saving lesson of admonition. As for the robber gangs, then, left without the conscious and unconscious support of our false liberalism, which undoubtedly supported and encouraged them, they will enter the category of ordinary robber gangs that can be caught and destroyed to the last, if, of course, the government acts as a real and not a nominal force, let it without hesitation adhere to the once chosen system, and if, moreover, it Our school, which until now has served as the main breeding ground for all our chaff, is in good working order. Now, after the manifesto, school affairs are an urgent issue for us. But, unfortunately, the circular of the new minister, which, according to the correct remark of I.S. Aksakov, could have been signed by his predecessor, does not give hope for any rational solution to the problem. The mere adoption of the 1963 charter, which ultimately ruined our universities, as the basis for its management, clearly proves that the author of the circular is inaccessible to the depth of the matter and is only skimming its routine surface. The fact is that the educational system, which historically grew up on Western European soil, turns out, at the present time, to no longer correspond to the needs of life. Life has already moved far ahead of her. At a time when only selected priests, with their few students, served science, and when no more than 10 academic centers were formed from them throughout Western Europe, universities occupied a legitimate position, satisfying the needs of both their own environment and society, which distinguished among them individuals striving for scientific priesthood. But as education spread and the need for it arose, the number of universities began to grow and has now grown to such a number that they have descended from the churches of academic science to the level of general higher education. This new position of universities changed both their character and their former viability. On the one hand, life has grown into countless ramifications, requiring scientific strength and diverting talents from the academic service of science to a more profitable field of practice. As a result, the level of scientific university forces everywhere has dropped significantly, and in our country it has dropped to zero. On the other hand, the developing need for higher education sent a lot of people incapable of academic speculative science to the university. Thus, both professors and students now contribute not to prosperity, but to the damage of speculative development, and have already managed to establish the dominance of negative thinking, as the best evidence of the mental impotence of modern scientists. It is clear, therefore, that universities are now out of place, that a different educational ladder is needed, namely, one along which everyone would ascend only to the level at which his personal mental powers will tell him to stop. This is the criterion that should form the basis of the new educational system. Universities should be raised to such a height that only talents could climb, and one or two such academic universities per state would be enough. A decent environment would have been found for them. For the mass of golden mediocrity, it is necessary to open higher education in the sphere accessible to them, that is, in the sphere of applied knowledge. In other words, between the gymnasium and the university there should be a higher school in all branches of applied sciences, starting with medicine (which, let’s say in passing, is now attached to the university as an applied parasite), with these schools being given all the rights of the current faculties, that is, giving those who complete the course the title of full students and the degree of candidate and corresponding junior degrees. Entrance to the university from these schools should only be available to those with the highest degrees. Of course, only talents will go into it, whose mental powers will require supplementing their scientific development with the help of higher academic science. Only the university will give master's and doctoral degrees. With only such a system of distribution of knowledge, mental development will fall into the rut of a natural, correct sequence, and enlightenment, balanced by the forces of each individual organism, will turn into a real instrument of benefit from an instrument of current undoubted harm. As for the universal, so-called humane education, laying good foundations for it is the task of the gymnasium, and supporting it in higher applied schools is a matter of thorough religious training, which is completed with it, as well as such subjects necessary for all types of education as history and the native language, which make it possible to carry into the soul a national, patriotic current, this very real force that ennobles a person. Higher applied schools are subject to school discipline. Academic universities are free from it. I have been carrying this thought in my head not since yesterday, but for more than 20 years, and, having carefully observed all the experiments that have been carried out on this subject, I not only have not deviated from it, but have become completely stronger in it. I even have a detailed explanation of it in my briefcase. Whether my thought is correct or incorrect, I submit it, in general terms, to your judgment, as a person whose mind I trust more than myself. But one way or another, we need to get down to school work urgently, and it, in any case, requires resolution not according to Western outdated models, but by understanding the significance that enlightenment has in the life of the people, as a double-edged weapon and as a need that must be reconciled with the conditions of spiritual human inequality. Unsustainable mental food, like unbearable physical food, equally instills inevitable illnesses in the body. But, in order to solve a school issue in this sense, one should not entrust it to people with routine concepts about it or the personal relationships associated with it. This complex question is not for one head, especially one equipped with office assistants. For this we need fresh, independent people, chosen from society, but chosen not by public talking shops, but by the supreme power itself, as historical wisdom has already shown us in solving the serfdom issue. This is how we should act in all important state matters: the king entrusts the matter to a competent person known to him. This person selects an employee from among people noted for their competence in this matter, and submits them for approval to the highest will, with such a deliberative meeting subordinating it alone. This is the path to freeing the tsar from bureaucracy and to resolving state issues in unity between the tsar and the people. We do not need another constitution and this is the only one that is desirable and useful to us. In deciding school affairs, you can be the only elected leader. This is my sincere conviction. It seems to me that in such an important state matter, you yourself could offer yourself to the sovereign. The Tsar knows you closely and, of course, would accept such a step on your part not as an ambitious move, but as a sacrifice. Forgive the 80-year-old man for this perhaps empty chatter, which only takes up valuable time from you. But this old man now has one dominant thought, one, on the edge of his grave, persistent concern: the good of his passionately beloved fatherland. I highly value you, deeply respect you, and after the manifesto on April 29, you further strengthened my faith in myself. So I embarked on a heart-to-heart conversation with you about what I see as our salvation in the future. And I would so like to die with a calm spirit for my Rus'. Once again forgive me this senile weakness. With deep respect and heartfelt We Serbs always turn our eyes, and after this war we turn them even more, to Russia as our only support, as the only hope of the Slavic world. If all Serbs do not think so, then I can safely say that the majority of the Serbian intelligentsia and the rest of the people think so. Therefore, it is clear that we closely monitor everything that is happening in this country that is kindred to us, and from the bottom of our hearts we wish that all its internal affairs would be so well-ordered that the great Russian monarchy would serve, as the poet puts it: “for the glory of us, for the fear of our enemies.” I am, of course, far from offering you, as one of the most experienced and enlightened statesmen, any advice whatsoever; but I allow myself to express to you some thoughts that my love for the now reigning sovereign inspires in me, with whom, at your request, I had the good fortune to personally meet and talk; inspires a friendly attitude towards you, which you were pleased to show me and which I value very much; inspires the interest of the Slavs, as far as I understand it. In any great state, and especially in the Russian one, it is necessary for the supreme power to be strong, and at the same time, for responsibility for all the deeds that others do in the name of the supreme power to be removed from the supreme power. And to combine these two, so that the supreme power is strong and irresponsible, in my extreme understanding, gleaned only by some art in our small land, where there were so many vicissitudes, is not impossible. It is necessary that the army and foreign policy be exclusively in the hands of the supreme power, and that no one interfere in this. And all other sectors of public life are placed at the disposal of the responsible ministry, which can listen to the opinion on all issues of the advisory corps composed of people's representatives. The Constitution in this sense would be in the Slavic spirit and, if I know the Russian people well, and in the spirit of the Russian people. I note this Slavic constitution not because constitutional states are governed better; no, sometimes in constitutional states things go worse, but only because in this way responsibility is removed from the supreme power. And I precisely wish that for the good of the Russian people and the entire Slavic world, that in Russia the tsarist power would be strong and at the same time inviolable, holy. And for this it is necessary to remove all responsibility from her. It is painful to see that ministers quietly remain in their positions for 20–30 years, while sovereigns are persecuted for their, their ministers’, deeds. True, you are also a minister, but I dare to say this to you, because you are a sincere friend of the now reigning sovereign and a patriot of the Russian land. Once again I ask you to forgive me for this frank conversation, inspired by friendship for you and boundless love for the Tsar. I am sending this letter to one of the last volunteers who is returning to his homeland, with a German name, but with a Russian soul - Drumpenman. Please accept, Konstantin Petrovich, the assurance of my deep respect and complete devotion. Such statements are comforting and encouraging. On the 18th day of March 1881, we, the undersigned, gathered, the peasants of the Morshansky district, the Ostrovsky volost, the Khlystovsky rural society, and decided: on the first of March, on the day of the martyrdom of our benefactor, Tsar Liberator Alexander Nikolaevich, to fast until the end of our lives, as on Christmas Eve we do not eat anything until the star, what to bequeath to each of us on our deathbed and to our children, so that from generation to generation honored the memory of the Great Martyr Tsar, and so that our children can serve faithfully and faithfully to our new sovereign Alexander Alexandrovich and would not be as dark as we are, we undertake to send all our children who have reached the age of ten to school without excuse, to ensure that they fear God and honor the Tsar’s father, and to present the real verdict to the authorities, and to present a copy of it to the priest, asking him to keep it in the church, in which sign: Village Headman Tarabrin and Volost Foreman Tarabrin and peasant owners Efim Chernov, Ivan Shamov, Semyon Khomyakov, Vasily Zimin, Emelyan Slivin, Stepan Sedov, Osip Sychev, Roman Pletnev, Dmitry Sychev, Nikifor Sychev, Petr Kostin, Matvey Sychev, Pikifor Sychev, Ivan Sychev, Efim Sychev, Dmitry Sychev, Tavrilo Slivin, Kozma Slivin, Vasily Sychev, Efim Kapustin, Pyotr Kapustin, Sergey Pavlov, Kuzma Vyakhirev, Ivan Shamov, Anton Slivin, Yakov Sukhov, Osip Pryanikov, Philip Tarabrin, Roman Vikhirev, Philip Vikhirev, Mikhey Tarabrin, Naporm Shamov, Grigory Gladilin, Stepan Shamov, Timofey Vikhirev, Artamon Vikhirev, Pavel Sychev, Abram Kamaev, Nikita Shamov, Timofey Ponomarev, Fedor Mishaev, Foma Gubarev, Ivan Gladilin, Grigory Kolobeev, Pavel Kolobeev, Dmitry Slivin, Semyon Slivin, Trofim Sychev, Matvey Gladilin, Grigory Slivin, Efim Tarabrin, Fyodor Kostin, Emelyan Polukhin, Safron Chernov, Philip Sychev, Arkhip Vyakhirev, and due to their illiteracy, at the personal request, the peasant Ivan Slivin signed up. Volost Sergeant Major Tarabrin (m.p.). Literate peasants Kuzma Shamov, Fedot Vikhirev, Elisey Skorokhodov, Dementy Tarabrin, Lazar Shamov, Vonifaty Tarabrin, Antip Tarabrin, Alexey Chernov, Evdokim Gladilin. It’s strange to hear such speeches from a Pole. Your Excellency dear sir (your honor as a count-general). What surprises us here is that many of the Russian statesmen openly declared the need to introduce some kind of constitutional reforms in order to strengthen the state. We here are accustomed to looking with surprise (reverence) at Russia as such a power where every word spoken from above is accepted by all members of such a great nation with special (greatest) respect and obedience. In the present time of troubles, in view of the terrible death of the most merciful (holy lord) sovereign of all Russia, the Tsar of Poland, etc. etc. Alexander II, we do not allow the government to be so weak as to indulge (open wide gates) such desires in the state. Let's look at the states of Europe and America and what we will see there. Here's what: enmity and desire (greed) to collect as much wealth as possible in order to use it to rule their people, which is very regrettable, and they are no longer able to rule or rule otherwise, because there are very few, or rather not a single one, that has not long ago lost its moral dignity and strength, indicated by God for the government and ruler. And if God poured out his anger on our state, it was probably only because the customs of the West, striving for paganism and anarchy, found a hospitable shelter in our State. After all, the constitution of the West, as your Excellency knows, is nothing more than the weakness... or laziness of its sovereigns. We believe that if any of the Western sovereigns wants to transfer his power to the legitimate heir to the throne, he must certainly become a self-lover, as if a pagan god among his people, who neither rewards the good nor punishes the evil; – neither attracts the former, nor repels the latter. We have not yet lived to see such a sad time that any of the great sovereigns of Russia, the Kingdom of Poland, etc. went so far as to build Jewish or pagan chapels or give them benefits. No. This is done only in the West, which violates and insults justice and is unworthy of our Christian fatherland. Therefore, all the hopes, thoughts and deeds of people of good will are directed towards autocratic power in the Russian State, the Kingdom of Poland, etc. I would be happy in my exile, among our people under the rule of Austria, if your Excellency reported our arguments and desires to the most gracious sovereign, his Tsar-Royal Grace Alexander III. I am a faithful subject of his Cesar-Royal favor, the sovereign of all Russia, the King of Poland, etc., a Roman Catholic, yearning for his homeland (the Kingdom of Poland), where I would like to return. Translated by Assessor N. Kharlampovich The shame that covered Russia with the murder of the Tsar, God’s anointed, forces me to ask you to listen to me for a minute. Peter's Cemetery, which rewards our fatherland with all the benefits of frantic unbelief, opened all the theaters during the days of Lent. In the name of God, in memory of our holy father Anthony, influence the cancellation of the order of the Minister of the Court, dictated by his friend Kister 5 years ago. Perhaps you will have time to spend days of suffering and fasting to save these distractions, which do not distract the Communists of the Internationals from their criminal plans. May the Lord God bless your work, for the glory of the Orthodox Church, which has long been trampled upon by progressive people. Wishing you success and a collaborator like our Bishop Anthony, I ask you not to complain about the unsolicited letter of deep respect to you Your Excellency, Konstantin Petrovich! Forgive me that a person completely unknown to you dares to turn to Your Excellency and bother reading this long letter, and a special notebook sent with it, asking for advice, thereby taking away part of your expensive and extremely busy time. I decide to accept this courage because you, as a former professor and the author of such major works as “Civil Law” and “Judicial Manual”, were and continue to be the teacher of a number of generations of lawyers and generally honest service people who are not alien to science, that you are known to Russia from among its dignitaries, as a native Russian, who followed the direct path of learning and hard work and can be one of the most useful figures in the transformation - and that from high-ranking officials In St. Petersburg, I don’t know anyone other than you who could react less formally and more complacently and condescendingly to such, somewhat strange, treatment. Last year, when, after the explosion in the Winter Palace, which gave a threatening warning to the Russian people about the deadly ulcer hidden in it, the chief head of the former Supreme Administrative Commission addressed the famous appeal to society about assisting the government in the fight against evil, I, along with many others, carried away by this appeal, decided to group and present my thoughts on this subject, and began to compile for submission to the administrative commission note: “Review of the reasons and outline of measures and means to prevent and suppress the spread of anti-state and anti-social teachings and theories in Russia.” But, being in the service, with such a mass of activities that I could find only rare hours for extraneous work, in fits and starts from rest and sleep, during the first two months of March and April, I only managed to develop a general plan, develop a system, write the first general part - the introduction, and about a third of the 2nd, dogmatic part “on the cause of evil” and sketch out many notes for the 3rd practical part “on measures and means.” With this in mind, at the beginning of May, while on a short vacation, I went to St. Petersburg, where I hoped to receive advice and instructions from competent persons, to request an extension of the vacation so that I could exclusively engage in this work in the library of the II department of my own e.i. V. office, and upon completion of the main part of the note, present it to E.S. Count Loris-Melikov. But my hopes were not realized: I did not receive a continuation of my vacation; I also did not have the chance to receive encouraging advice about my work, but on the contrary, to hear 2-3 opinions of this kind, that after 300 projects received by the Supreme Commission, it is almost superfluous to appear with the 301st, that my views are too harsh and gloomy and may seem unseemly, even incur suspicions and a reprehensible way of thinking. In such doubt, in need of authoritative advice and direction, I came to Your Excellency three times, as a member of the High Commission and for the same reasons that I appeal to now. But, to my misfortune, your time was extremely busy at that time, and due to the assumption of the post of Chief Prosecutor of St. Synod and due to the death of the Empress Maria Alexandrovna - and I could not be admitted. Although on my last visit the answer was given to me that in 3-4 days Your Excellency would have more free minutes to receive me, my vacation period ended, and I could no longer stay in St. Petersburg, given the then military-police situation. On that wasted trip, I only managed to read what I had written and show what was prepared for the note to V.M. Yuzefovich (now vice-director of the General Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs), who listened favorably to me, was sympathetic to my work, but did not express a definite opinion to me and did not find it possible to report it to the count (then also extremely busy), for the very good reason of its incompleteness. Leaving St. Petersburg, I left him the first part of the note “introduction and output of the system,” with a promise to send him the remaining parts as they were completed; but upon returning to my place, the work activities that had accumulated during my absence and the increased arrival of new ones did not give me the opportunity during June and July, and at the beginning of August the administrative commission was already closed, and I considered my project completely unnecessary and inappropriate. Six months have passed since everything seemed to have calmed down. Suddenly, unexpected lightning from the clouds, which seemed to have already scattered, shook all of Russia. According to the Russian custom of coming to your senses when it’s too late, it seems to me now that it was cowardly to lose energy in continuing the work begun, that in my note some provisions were not devoid of approximately correctness, gloomy views were not exaggerated, and the foreboding thought expressed in the administration that “one should not be deluded by the coming calm and wait until the thunder strikes a second time” came true a hundred times more terrible than the imagination could allow; - and Now, under the fresh influence of a loss common to all of Russia, I feel, as it were, a reproach in my conscience that if I had the patience, despite doubts and obstacles, to finish at least part of the note so that it could be presented to the person to whom it was intended, then who knows if it could not make a useful warning impression, if not with its content, which may very well be erroneous, then with its gloomy coloring. Living for seven years almost without a break, immersed in my service, on the outskirts, where nihilism, thank God, is not widespread, I cannot know well the state of society in Russia, but it seems to me that its decomposition, which previously required careful study, now requires it even more urgently. Therefore, I return to the intention left to continue the note begun for the administrative commission, on the assumption that the dream would not be suitable in any way for another corresponding institution. But since doubts about the usefulness and appropriateness of my work are as strong in me as the attraction to it, and since, moreover, my service does not allow me to spend significant time on erroneous work, then, first, I decide to send along with this general program a note on the completely authoritative opinion of Your Excellency, with the most respectful request to instruct someone who is with you to convey to me in a few short lines your opinion about it. Whatever it may be, it will in any case be a torch for me. If you find it useless or unnecessary, which I most likely expect, then I would not tear myself away from my daily tasks and waste time on something to which I am not called either by position, knowledge or abilities. If, on the contrary, this program earned your approval, then I would set about its implementation with renewed zeal, to the best of my ability and ability. If perhaps, before giving me advice, you would like to review what I have already written for its content, then I would ask V.M. Yuzefovich to convey to you the beginning left with him, or he would resume it using the remaining draft sheets, and then, by correspondence, he would send in addition to what I have stated from what follows. Finally, not receiving an answer at all, which, I am fully aware, I have no reason to count on, as a completely undeserved honor and favor, will serve as a sign to me that I have taken on the wrong business. With the deepest respect and most respectful devotion, I have the honor to be Your Excellency's most humble servant Warsaw magistrate, Warsaw, Leszno street, no. 49. Inscription on the envelope: St. Petersburg to His Excellency the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Governing Synod Pobedonostsev. You are a sincere person and you are in power. Let me, with the best of intentions, express to you my deepest faith. You don’t want politics for the Russian people; you fear it like a plague, eradicating everything lofty and holy from a person’s heart. You are partly right. But “a debunked idol cannot be God,” pre-Petrine Russia is irrevocable and, just as a river cannot flow from its mouth to its sources, the Russian people will not go back. By forcing him to pray to the Orthodox God when he asks for political life and bread, you will bring about exactly what you fear. Political life, if not given, is taken, and the struggle over it requires the sacrifice of chastity of the soul. You will force a Russian person to give his soul first to politics, and then to the ruble. These two idols are only dangerous when creative forces are wasted on them, pure faith is put into them and deep passions are poured out. Eliminate political struggle, make it unnecessary, stand ahead of the entire people, ahead of their needs and political needs, give them all a voice in the affairs of all of Russia - and their soul will survive, be preserved and flow into another, truly holy and great cause of renewal of living man and God. The Russian people, the Slavic people, are not politicians and do not like struggle. He is soft and harmonious and kind by nature. And look what he brings out of himself. Political assassinations. Be afraid of these contradictions, this is the desperate cry of a painful soul that is being led to death. Be careful not to push him down this path. Do not forget that the Russian socialists were forced into a political movement; they did not want it. The future of the Russian and Slavic people is great. Great is its historical mission. Look, these children are regicides, these terrible dynamites and destroyers - they themselves are only half aware of the great mission that history has entrusted to them. They, like infants, are half-blind instruments of the will of Providence. Without being spent, the Russian people will step over all forms of struggle experienced by the West, and will give the world a new faith in the real organic and One God of the Universe, will give a new religion, new purity and new life. This will be a new civilization that the West is looking for in vain, but does not find the creative strength to create. This is a socialist civilization. The Christian view, being processed by consciousness and decomposing, goes through all forms of moral, intellectual, political, aesthetic and economic decline and is militant only in one of them - politics. The socialist view constitutes an inevitable logical conclusion from the Christian view and completes it; in the process of its creative synthesis, it goes back through those forms of creation - economic, political, moral and religious. It is militant only in one of them – political. Woe to the Russian government if, with its stupid and powerless stubbornness, it causes a meeting and a fraternal handshake between these two militant sentiments in the Christian and socialist parts of the Russian people. There will be something terrible and contrary to the will of Providence: the strength of the soul of the Russian person will be spent, a bourgeoisie of world-eaters, tyrants and liars will be created, but a way out, a living way out, will still not be found. Become aware of this gigantic world task; stand in front of the Russian people and the socialists themselves, the struggle and terror, take upon yourself, together with all the people, the entire burden of political and economic restructuring, without which it is as impossible to do as making the earth rotate from east to west; protect it with your breasts from bloodsuckers and tyrants - and then you will be at the height of your position, terror will not be terrible for you, you will save the soul of the Russian people and people for the whole world and eternal glory will be your reward. With true respect to you You are an honest, loyal person, not just in words. You have never chased popularity, and it is for this honesty that the majority of people loyal to the sovereign love and respect you. Take a look at these two articles and familiarize the sovereign with them; it may turn out that after reading them, you will finally put a limit to the conclusions of harmful talkers. Are some g.g. Can Kraevsky and similar self-interested people be tolerated at the present time? All evil comes from this vile journalism. Nobody cares about their printing presses. No one cares about the people visiting the editorial offices. And this is where all the evil nests. Why not make householders responsible for persons living secretly in their homes, imposing severe punishment on them according to their pockets (fines). One must assume that these printing houses would open sooner. What is needed here is not the popularity of the gr. Loris Melikova, and the system of the late Muravyov. Muravyov did not seek popularity, but as a man devoted to his duty, he acted firmly and therefore was alien to everything that the newspapermen would say. Andrieu's opinion on the state of affairs in Russia: “Although for a comprehensive detailed judgment on such a question it is necessary to be on the spot, nevertheless I decide to express my general view.” “One should ask the sovereign to issue a manifesto in which it would be announced that he wants to give the people guarantees of prosperity and peace, not only by strict preservation of existing laws, but by reforms and progressive freedom, as his father did, but before the murders and threats of the nihilists, all his intentions stop. No government should yield to threats. He won't give in either. On the contrary, until the conspirators harmful to Russia are wiped off the face of the Russian land and are cut off from its body, like members affected by gangrene, then all laws are canceled and persecution begins without mercy. There are wounds that require hot iron, and nihilism is one of them.” “The Emperor calls for the cooperation of all those devoted to order in order to quickly finish the task of destroying the gang of murderers who call themselves a political party.” “Once this matter is over, we can think about peaceful reforms and progress.” “This is the meaning of the manifesto that I would ask for.” “Announcement of vigorous repressive measures, without mercy, to assert their power and together with confirmation that this state of affairs will only be temporary.” “After this, the task of destroying the terrorists should begin with all the forces and means available, and great power should be concentrated in the hands of the chief of police.” “It will be his responsibility to take further measures regarding the nihilists already taken; whether to execute them behind closed doors, or leave them in secluded dungeons, where they will begin to speak in despair and betray their accomplices.” “I don’t recognize a military trial – it’s just a slowdown.” “As for the public debate, the slowness of the procedure and the whole atmosphere of the trial of the sovereign’s murderers is, in my opinion, a huge mistake.” “Anything that excites and maintains feigned sensitivity is dangerous.” “Nihilists act through terror; a powerful counter-terrorism is needed, which will be carried out by the strongest power and acting on the same basis.” “Severe diseases require strong medicine.” “For the wrong cause, exceptional and threatening measures are needed. Terrorists must be tamed, just as wild animals are tamed. Otherwise, the government will fall, because there is already a strong social revolution in Russia. One should by no means resort to half measures, since? Only with the full firmness of the government will the people feel truly secure and confidence will be renewed.” “In addition, one should resort to the power of money.” “You should buy one of the nihilists, who will also sell others; along with this greater content, more worthy people can be attracted to the police service.” “In France, the amount for secret expenses is very large.” We can report that bouquets of flowers saturated with poison will soon be received from abroad. For Your Serene Highness Princess E.M. Yuryevskaya-Dolgorukaya, who only cares about lining her pockets at the expense of the people. And for Count A.V. Adlerberg, who takes great care of the French-German theater, this grand-ducal and aristocratic den of debauchery. You, K.P., will also not get away with such a gift if you manage the department entrusted to you in bad faith. The search for murderers, villains and enemies of Russia, as well as their punishment, is quite necessary, but these measures are completely insufficient. In our opinion, minds should now be calmed, and most importantly, serious causes of displeasure should be eradicated. The granting of a constitution to Russia, firstly, is premature, which is proven by our impracticality in electing justices of the peace and zemstvo officials. In addition, despite the horrific events of recent years, the granting of a constitution could still be interpreted by the enemies of the government as a sign of weakness and, as it were, a concession to their threats. Under present circumstances, the best measure of pacification, without in any way diminishing the high importance of the supreme power, is the responsibility of ministers. The third department of His Imperial Majesty's own chancellery, in the first 20 years of its existence, had mandatory supervision over the ministers and made them de facto responsible, if not before the law, then before the person of the emperor, and this then greatly contributed to order and tranquility, because it gave the actions of the ministers a greater degree of caution. Over time, the importance of the III department diminished, and now it has been abolished. The number of dissatisfied people increased proportionally and, cursing the actions of those of them who reached the point of crime, one cannot help but admit that many injustices are happening, and that there is nowhere to seek protection for these injustices. Meanwhile, nothing multiplies the number of dissatisfied people more than injustice. The person of the emperor, despite all his greatness, can be subject to one weakness, which in essence proves the high virtue and feelings of a Christian. This is excessive trust. Ministers, like people, sometimes abuse this trust, hide from the Tsar the truth in general and the consequences of their mistakes in particular, and sometimes even go as far as deception. From this order of things flows a lot of displeasure, which, like everything bad, by the nature of human nature, quickly develops, especially with the assistance of ill-intentioned people. The writer of these lines, brought up by his parents in feelings of boundless devotion to the legitimate government, shaded to this day by the example of his worthy father and personally blessed by the late emperor, has always remained and remains an ardent patriot and, to the last drop of blood, a loyal subject. But in his life he was subjected to incredible injustices and slander four times, which would not have happened if our ministers had been responsible. He never blamed the emperor for the misfortunes that befell him, well aware that his benefactor was involved in deception through his excessive trust. But it is obvious that the individuals who deceived him would not have attempted this if there had been a court to which anyone offended could turn, with the knowledge that his complaint would not evaporate in vain if it turned out to be thorough. We even think that such an institution would have very little to do, for it would immediately impart a large amount of caution and, consequently, a lot of peace of mind to the monarch himself. The Supreme Committee, authorized for this purpose, could consist of a chairman and several members elected by the highest authority, from among the best statesmen of the empire. One of the articles of the charter of the said committee grants it the right to enter with all-submissive reports to ask His Imperial Majesty for clarification of disagreements that may arise between those who filed a complaint against the minister and the latter’s explanations. Anyone who has suffered from the inaction, slowness in business, arbitrariness or illegal act of a minister has the right to file a complaint against him with the Supreme Committee, which, in turn, must consider this complaint, and if it is thorough, restore justice, and subject the guilty minister to the punishment he deserves, not excluding, in extreme cases, bringing him to trial. It would be unnecessary to dwell on the good consequences that will flow from the establishment of such a supreme committee. The Tsar was killed in broad daylight, in his capital, the most vile, the most vile, the most unheard of crime was committed at the hands of such anathemas, such nasty devils that you positively do not believe what you have almost seen and touched; Many days have passed since then, we continue to do nothing, drink, eat, argue, quarrel, make peace, everything seems to be going well, and as if nothing unusual has happened. What has been done to calm the king, his nervous wife and his dear family, which is threatened by the villains with the same thing? Is this done to calm society? Absolutely nothing; there is some kind of unsteadiness in everything, but calm is necessary; What is this? Are energetic people really, people of action, not empty chatter, smart people - all gone over to gangs of villains, apostates, regicides; does the tsar really have only honest, considerate servants left, boyars who believe that even such renegades, dogs like the Perovskys and Zhelyabovs, should not be treated differently, as politely, and play with them this foolish and ugly comedy that they played with them at the trial, allowing them to rant, explain their apostate activities, and boast about them? atrocities and scientific debates. Do you know what I will report to you: the people - Russia - will not say thank you for all this, the judges spent almost three hours discussing in the room what punishment to give to the criminals, as if anything less than hanging could be said; Yes, we are not happy with this execution either, we should have tortured them and, most importantly, tried to get them to say everything they know. In our opinion, all these “booth masters” are traitors: Koni, the chairman who tried Zasulich, Aleksandrov, who defended her, the prosecutor who so cautiously accused her, the jury who acquitted her, Mrovinsky and all the police officers who accompanied him when inspecting the cheese shop on Sadovaya, Senator Fuchs and his comrades, who treated these monsters, rabid beasts, like holy fools or traitors, with such refinement and hospitality, should be executed or sent to hard labor. The people believe, I can assure everyone, that the tsar is surrounded by treason; It is dangerous to live now, it is necessary to show energy and the most terrible severity, you cannot go into battle with a whip in your hand with a man armed with dynamite, a revolver and a dagger. With these monsters, everything is allowed in order to achieve their goal, but with us, nothing is allowed, because it’s a joke for the chickens. They announce to these bloodthirsty kings and people-killers: “I will ask you, but you don’t have to answer; What kind of foolishness is this really, there is no way to tolerate it, that’s why these dogs are so brave in court, they mock the Russian Tsar, his court and his people, and they are not the only ones who mock, as a result of this madness of ours, but all of Europe laughs at us and has lost all respect for us. Everything has fallen apart with us, everything has blossomed, there is no end to the absurd talk among the people, but many believe them, they shout in the taverns that the nobles killed the Tsar because he, the dead man, wanted to take away all the land from them and give it to the peasants, the Orthodox people are worried, but nothing is being done to avert the danger that threatens the Tsar, the propertied class and all of Russia. The underground press is active, scolding the Tsar, the warm-hearted, poor Tsarina, threatening her even for the head of the bitch Perovskaya - how sad the whole ego is, how murderously heavy. What a pity for the young knight tsar, the light and joy of the queen, his firstborn son and his entire family, pity for our dear ones, pity for all of Russia. Everything is standing still, nothing is being done, they want, they say, to dig up all the streets or almost all of them, because this is madness and leads to nothing. The Tsar does not show himself anywhere, of course, if there is the slightest risk, God forbid, let the Tsar not leave Gatchina, but how desirable it would be for the Tsar to show himself to the people or the army from time to time; this is necessary, but whether it can be done or not, of course, it is better for those who are closer to the matter to know about it. Everything has become loose, everything is wavering, the seal is muddying the already muddy waters; read “Novoe Vremya”, “Golos” and other magazines, they do nothing but arouse class hatred. The other day, “New Time”, in view of the possibility of negotiations between European governments among themselves, but the matter of revising the laws on the right of asylum, came out with a special article, from which it is clear that the Swiss socialists have nothing in common with our home-grown villains, which means don’t touch them. Just the other day, Novoye Vremya gloatingly reported the speeches of Tula and other Zemstvo nobles, who claim that it is impossible to wish for an improvement in the life of the peasants, because then the nobles will not find working people - these newspapermen are probably lying, but slander does its job. It is necessary to take measures and strict measures so that publicists do not muddy the waters and riot the already troubled country. I would also like to say what, in my opinion, needs to be done: excuse me for bothering you, but it seems to me that now everyone is obliged to say what they consider useful for the cause. If you find anything useful from my defilement, take it; if you find that I am talking nonsense, tear up my writing, that’s all. The whole trouble is that you will waste ten minutes of time, forgive me generously; I ask one thing - read and do not inquire who I am and what I am, and even if, after reading, you find it necessary, order it to be rewritten, and tear up my sheets yourself, you will greatly oblige me if you fulfill my earnest request. 1. Taking into account that it is impossible to satisfy the socialists, and therefore it is not only useless but also dangerous to flirt with them, and it is impossible to make concessions to them: in every concession made to them, they will see timidity and weakness, and will not be mistaken, and having seen timidity and weakness, they will do their job bolder and more mercilessly. 2. At present, no changes, in the liberal sense, even any necessary transformations and improvements in this direction, are impossible to make, because any such action of the government will be considered not only by socialists, but by all the people as forced. 3. It’s time to stop timidly keeping silent from this evil, it is necessary to engage with it, this very minute, in a cruel, inexorable, bloody struggle, not sparing for this struggle: no money, no rewards, no executions, no torture, no boyars, no scrupulousness, no white hands, outdo the villains themselves in the means of combating this evil, remembering what God and conscience orders to do everything that is needed to protect: religion, the king, his family and family in general, property, and therefore the homeland, and that the servant who protects not only his life, but also his reputation, when the salvation of the king and the people requires sacrificing both, is a traitor and nothing more. 4. When we defeat this enemy of Christianity, order, tranquility, property, family, legality, the kind, beloved and necessary for all Russia Tsar and his heirs, when we cleanse society of these monsters, then we can think about being more liberal, but for now, God forbid, everything needs to be twisted in the opposite direction. 5. I won’t talk about transformations now, because that will take me far, but they are necessary, a lot is needed, in my opinion, and if I’m alive, I’ll say a word about them on occasion, but for now I’ll say only about this matter what I consider urgent: now is not the time to limit autocratic power in any way, not the time to be liberal, not the time to talk about the allotments of the peasants, and about this last question I’ll add a few words now, because there’s something about it they spoke loudly: God forbid that the peasants' allotment be increased: where the peasants did not drink themselves to death, in those rare villages where there are no taverns, the peasant prospers, wages have risen terribly everywhere, a well-cultivated plot, or the land hired by a peasant almost everywhere provides for him and his family completely; Believe me, the welfare of the peasants with the increase in their allotment will fall completely, he will get drunk and become lazy, and Russia will be bankrupt, there will be less grain produced and born, because the peasant works poorly for himself, Russia will have nothing to sell abroad, because there is nowhere to take land other than to take it away from the landowners, to show once again an example of violation of property rights, when we pay so bloodily and dearly for daring to touch this right in 1861 - the right on which the well-being of the state is based, I beg you, believe me, I myself have already become a man, I have been living with him inseparably for 30 years, don’t believe me, God is with you. Just as you will not satisfy the socialists by granting the most beautiful liberal institutions, so you will not satisfy the peasants by increasing their allotments, but will completely corrupt them, showing them once again that the right of property is inviolable as long as the people do not make noise, and irritate their appetite terribly. If you want order and tranquility, then now, at least for a while, our management system should be: chuck, be silent, don’t dare, be quiet. Man, drink in moderation, and God forbid, then only the man will say: I understand, Your Imperial Majesty, you are our sir and father. 6. At the present moment the following is needed: a) to show now an example of the highest morality from the very top; so that there are no mistresses walking around St. Petersburg with cynicism and parading with terrible luxury; In the name of the happiness of Russia, all those most highly placed by fate are obliged not to debauchery, not to drink, but to do business, live economically and be extremely strict with oneself. Some dignitary is debauched, does not live with his family and wife, comes to work at 2 1/2 o'clock and leaves at 3 1/2 o'clock. - down with him; b) show an example of the most austere economy, say goodbye to luxury forever, down with apartments filled with thousand-dollar armchairs, sofas and covered with silk wallpaper, with footmen - jesters, dressed up in stockings, down with dining at Dussault and Borel, all this must be shown and ordered from above, down with wives' trains of three arshins, down with ladies' hats, costing thousands of rubles and ruining husbands and fathers, why do these latter get into debt and then register as thieves; c) in financial terms, the system of stinginess is necessary; they said: if a senator, then a senatorial allowance, everyone was happy, the law came and he was retired, but Abaza, not the savior of the fatherland, received 8,000 allowances, Velio 12,000; Of course, the tsar is free to do everything, but the young tsar gets tired of fighting everything, refusing everything, and the sin lies with those speakers and petitioners who petition for this; Do not think, however, that I applaud the deed of Lieven and Kulomzin - God forbid. I find this whole story to be a scandal; by this matter the royal word, i.e. the law above the law is trampled into the mud, the memory of the martyr king is insulted, the king gave, granted, and the huntsman Lieven, after his glorious martyrdom, dares to return his gift, spits on his royal mercy, Kulomzin also follows him, they are brought to justice for this, these insulters of the deceased royal majesty. The king knew what he was doing, and no one has the right to judge his actions; During his lifetime, it was still possible for a loyal subject to give him advice, as Dolgoruky gave them to Peter, Vasilchikov to Nikolai, but Lieven cannot be thrown away with royal favor in this way, he should be flogged for this. 7. They say they want to transform the police, ennoble them and make them a decent and respected institution: with an increase in salaries and the number of employees and with the release of the police, non-police officers will carry out business until the introduction of these orders throughout Russia - God help, for now the police are bad: terrible immorality, bribery, certain incomes of private bailiffs, police officers and all employees, which in other areas, like Sennaya and other markets, can be significant, positively must be strictly and decisively relentlessly pursue this evil, directly gather everyone, write everywhere the royal order not to take anything from any of the employees and from whom, under pain of the most terrible responsibility, and mercilessly punish those guilty of extortion, then decent people will not disdain the police service; good service should certainly be rewarded generously; Whoever caught Perovskaya so cleverly was rewarded? It is harmful for business to spare rewards for good service and weakly punish for bad ones; Should Mravinsky and the police officials, for example, who so strangely inspected the famous cheese shop in Mengden’s house, be allowed to live calmly and serenely? 8. It is necessary to establish that the owner of a house, dacha, village estate, factory, plant, apartment, or anything similar, is strictly and very strictly responsible if he has a nihilist tenant, a printing house, a laboratory, a club or anything like that, the guilty owner must be judged very strictly, but in addition he is obliged to pay a huge fine within six days, after which, if it is not paid for, the house, namely the estate, and in the case extreme movable property is subject to immediate auction sale on a general basis. It is necessary to do everything possible to make it difficult for criminals to live among us, and therefore it is necessary that every person, male and female, from 12 years old to sixty, living in capitals, cities, towns, villages and villages, in a word, anywhere, be provided with a special written form, on which it would be written by the local police, the city mayor, or the leader of the nobility, that this person is known to her or him, that he is well-intentioned, in the political sense, the persons, unknown to the local authorities, they are obliged to present two guarantors for themselves, who vouch for him solely in the sense of political reliability, and if this person kills someone for the purpose of robbery, the guarantors are not responsible for that; a notary must certify such signatures free of charge; without such a form, no one dares to accept anyone, even for an hour, or keep anyone in a house, estate, trade, industrial or other institution, under pain of liability with money by order of the administration, without any trial and in court in special cases. I know that this measure is drastic and will embarrass even decent people, but what can we do? Circumstances force us to resort to emergency measures. 10. There are many young people and people who are no longer young, but who were once young, who are in the company of these apostates unwillingly, they are in despair that they are considered in the ranks of these damned renegades, but only because, at that time, perhaps already a very long time ago, they, out of their youth and stupidity, in those happy days when life in Rus' was so easy and good for everyone without exception (yes, I affirm that for everyone without exception) in those days blessed, when being a little liberal was both pleasant and useful, and was in fashion, they, these stupid, but unspoiled good young people, went to Switzerland, France and England, there they considered it lucky to meet renegades and all sorts of rabble, got excited in their reading rooms, and carelessly signed up among the conspirators, gave their portraits, signed various oaths and thus were completely compromised. They, these young people, are needed by the villains only because they suck money out of them, and these unfortunates, who never imagined that their liberal chatter would lead them to complicity with the regicides, involuntarily give money to Zurich and all these villains, but now it is no longer possible not to give them, they will immediately end up in Petropavlovskaya. It is necessary to officially announce through the “Government Bulletin” that those criminals who did not directly participate in the murders, especially those who, due to their youth or recklessness and the hobby for which they repent, will come to confess, with full consciousness that they acted badly, that those persons will be completely forgiven, even if they participated in the gatherings, contributed with money to the reproduction and existence of these arch-criminal atheists, gave and signed oaths, moreover, explain that they are not obliged to extradite and name the conspirators, for the extradition of their former friends may deter some from turning to the right path. In addition, they must be sure that only the sovereign and the person whom he officially entrusts to accept the repentance of these unfortunate young people will know their names. I repeat, in my opinion, this must be done so that they, the villains, do not have serfs who do not sympathize with them: and then this is a Divine work. 11. I will not talk about students, technologists, medical surgeons, even artillery and engineering schools and similar unfortunate young people, because, they say, the government wants to pay attention to them, put everyone in uniforms and leave to continue studying only those who solemnly declare that they want to study and not make noise; I would only ask the government to get to know the professors well, there are many bastards among these gentlemen who are leading our sons astray from the true path. 12. The last point, the most delicate, I will begin by repeating what I have already said above: you cannot go into battle with only a whip in your hands, with a person armed with firearms, dynamite, etc.; in matters exclusively such as are now happening, that is, only with regicides, it is allowed, in my opinion, or even charged as an obligation to every self-respecting person, to be completely different from what he is obliged to be, as a decent person and as a boyar, in relation to all people, even terrible criminals, but still not regicides. Socialists are not people, they are rabid animals, therefore they are outside the law, and therefore I ask you to think carefully about what I am going to talk about now: public executions should not be carried out, the government seems to agree with this; public, although not public, executions are, of course, necessary, but the fewer of them, the better, after all, everyone knows about these non-public executions, it is necessary to destroy the villains, and therefore, if they are caught, they must disappear without a trace: pills, for the sake of which a person dies without suffering, in these cases a necessary thing, before death, the villain or villainess must express at all costs everything they know, for this they can and should be used if necessary torture, but not Ushakov’s, but the lightest; Light torture will force you to speak the truth, but cruel torture will only force you to lie. Fined soldiers are not spared from corporal punishment; what is better than such a soldier is a socialist, for him there should be a rod, a spitzruten, etc. - I will also say the following: the main figures of the Dragomans, Lavrovs and similar villains, even famous foreign socialists, must die, this is necessary for the peace of mind not only of the Russian Tsar and the Russian people, but is necessary for the peace of the whole world, but beating them in Zurich, Paris, London and other places can very easily be carried out with money and the help of skilled people dedicated to the cause. For money in Italy and London, many villains will be killed at the same time; killing a few such villains would spread terror and demoralization in their camp. It’s not difficult to get their portraits, and they exist, their place of residence is known, which means everything that is required for this matter is available. In the eyes of Europe and the whole world, this case should be the work of a private secret company, consisting of rich people, unknown to the government, wanted by it, and ready to severely punish such a criminal act; An Italian or Englishman hired for this bravo should not know who hired him and who pays him money; masks and so on can serve in this case with success. He spoke out, he is guilty, and you and the government do what you want. Take Senator Zhikharev into the service again, he is an energetic and useful person. Your Excellency. I am an elderly man, with a family, I live by my own labor; completed a course at Moscow University; I didn’t listen to you as a professor, but I knew you as a highly developed, honest and truthful person who could and should have brought “Victory” to truth and reasonable freedom. So what? As soon as you stood up at the council of the young, kind, but inexperienced sovereign, you brought “trouble” to everything honest, sincere and free. You, in some way the official, so to speak, defender of reason, advice, truth and freedom preached by the Christian religion (as chief prosecutor of the synod), you have become a conductor of the dark forces of obscurantism, constraint, lies and a supporter of the oppression of truth and freedom. You submitted to the well-known retrograde, hated by all of Russia - Katkov. You go hand in hand with Count Ignatiev, known not only throughout Russia, but also throughout Europe, who with his boasting, vulgar messages in the Government Bulletin (for example, about some woman-man who personally presented the Count with a gift for his behavior in the last war), impossible relations with the press, compromises the entire government and the sovereign himself, outrages everyone, even the most ardent adherents despotism, and produces muted but dangerous discontent among the very numerous, calm, strong admirers of reasonable monarchism. This dissatisfaction of the mass of elderly family people is the soil on which despicable and savage murderers and detonators grow. I am not a seditious person, not a nihilist, not only do I not know any of these madmen, but I have never seen a single one. I’m not an official, I’m not an important person in general, obviously I don’t have any contacts or relationships with high-ranking officials, but I’m Russian, I’m a member of society, I stand closer to you to the people and I feel and experience for myself the difficult, gloomy, dangerous direction of the present internal policy, and I beg you: come to your senses, become the former real “Pobedo” - and not the “Pobedo”-nosev. Remove Ignatiev, with your influence on the sovereign, this is not difficult for you. Both the count and him Comrade Gotovtsev, not only here, but also inside Russia, do not enjoy any authority, especially the latter, a strange man in all respects. They will destroy Russia and, what is worse, they will destroy the Tsar and you. adopted from Penza on the 25th 1881 Now we have read the sacred words of the monarch. Russian Orthodox hearts sighed with powerful breasts, the Tsar Father, the Tsar Autocrat poured out the blessed myrrh on the wounded souls of sorrow, from now on we believe that Russia is saved. Bring our feelings of boundless devotion and love to the feet of the adored autocratic sovereign. Let's lay our bones for his life and happiness. Chamberlain Arapov, Lieutenant Raevsky, Chamberlain Ustinov, Chamberlain Loznyak, Alexey Lopatnev, Podgainy, Rabotkin, Smirnov, Vezsonov PBG. Chief Prosecutor of St. Synod to Konstantin Petrovich Pobedonostsev. Foundry. Let a Russian noblewoman unknown to you - Russian in feeling and spirit and Orthodox faith - express to you my deepest gratitude for everything in which your influence is seen and felt in the heart. In this difficult era for Russia, you declare yourself both as a Christian man and as a Russian man faithful and devoted with all his soul to the Tsar and the Fatherland. Forgive me generously that I dare to bother you with my studies, to disturb you with these lines, but from the abundance of the heart, the lips speak. Believe that real Russian people both understand and feel completely all your activities, which are alien to any ambition, etc., but are aimed entirely at the common good. The heart, which passionately loves the homeland and the king, ached all this time, but at the same time it is full of hopes for a better future, in the hope that the Lord will help the sovereign, in which as much will and fortitude is expressed as simplicity and caring for the real needs of his subjects. After God, all hope is in the autocratic, Russian and Orthodox tsar in spirit. Dear Konstantin Petrovich, support Orthodoxy. All sorts of false teachings are besieging our one Catholic Apostolic Church. Return those who have fallen away to the depths of it, return the students to the correct teaching - give to everyone, abandoned by many, the teaching of the Holy Spirit. the fathers of the church, our spirit-bearing holy teachers of Orthodoxy. You, with your influence, can do a lot, and the Lord will certainly help in all good endeavors for the glory of the name of his saint. Do not be angry at these words, accept them in peace and love about our Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that he is a righteous giver of bribes and will reward you a hundredfold for everything. May the mercy of the Lord and the Protection of His Most Pure Mother and the prayers of all the saints of God cover you. Telegram No. 214 from Moscow Foundry, Konstantin Petrovich Pobedonostsev. We are going by courier and bringing the icon lamp of Alexander Nevsky, measure 6 ver. and 7 ver. in the Russian peasant spirit, we wish the eternal memory of our great martyr Alexander Nikolaevich, who died in Bose, over the coffin, please kindly ask the great sovereign Alexander Alexandrovich for his discretion; We sincerely bow from the bottom of our hearts, we will be with you. Yakov Labzin and Tikhomirov and other Pavlovsky Posad merchants of the Moscow Province. Bogorodsky district. Tikhomirov Allow me, as one of the Russians, to share with you some thoughts that involuntarily arose in my head about the rumors about the political role that will supposedly fall to your lot during this reign. I will say first of all that I deny the possibility of a significant and useful role for any of the servants of the murdered emperor. I deny this because the St. Petersburg emperor did not create either statesmen or a strong administration, as in the West, and did not have time to form a political party capable of fighting. Agree that a scattered herd of people feeding themselves at the expense of the emperor cannot be called a party. In the West, the administration represents an institution whose members change, but whose spirit and traditions have survived five revolutions and, in the absence of monarchs, solidly support the bourgeoisie and capital (i.e., the producing bourgeoisie). What historical traditions does she support? Where and how does she protect your beloved social foundations? It did not prevent the development of nihilism; special law enforcement officers did not provide for either mines or bombs on March 1st. If the dying empire seizes on some individuals, conscientious like you, but powerless to go against new trends, then it will be interesting to see what new road you will lead Rus' on? It will be impossible for you to turn sharply onto the Nikolaev path. Who will you rage to protect? Believe me, reasonable Western conservatives will laugh at the reactionary warfare of the officials of the peasant state. No matter how reactionary the conservatives of the West may be, they still do not recognize you as one of their own. All your efforts will remain in vain: you will exile people to Siberia before the first bomb. Or maybe you want to lead Rus' through the jungle of false reforms of the former reign? In that case, what will you do? A new allotment - but this is an old fishing rod, and, moreover, a double-edged sword in the country of Pugachevism. The humble Rus' of serfdom has become obsolete. The nobility is extremely small. The merchant class is also, and in addition, devoid of any political education; it is rotten, greedy and tyranny. Neither the nobility nor the merchants can, therefore, be reliable allies in the fight against Zemskaya Rus: there are no ruling classes. Slavophile or Pogodin Russia also does not exist: this is only one fiction of good Moscow dreamers who naively believe that Russia is called upon to reconcile autocracy and despotism with ancient people's liberties. Present-day Rus' (that is, the revolutionary youth and people) also has nothing in common with the kingdom of conquests and violence; No. New Russia is Novgorod Russia, which was suppressed by Tatar-Moscow predators and Holstein immigrants. New Rus' will be a country of people's freemen, broad communal self-government, and a people's council. In the absence of Western conservative elements among us, this young Russia will not allow either you or anyone else to make constitutional experiments on themselves, with two-chamber parliaments, with a curtailed vote, in a word - to make experiments with all the rubbish that was introduced by the feudal lords and the bourgeoisie into the political life of the West. To fight the revolution, you will also not have that faithful friend of all reaction, which is called the church. You have nothing to count on her. Remember how insignificant its influence on the people was always, how it was suppressed first by kings and then by emperors. You, the pillars of the empire, have reduced her to the pitiful police role that she played and is playing. The emperorship and its “oprichniks” were afraid of the educated clergy and the independent church as a political institution. Remember Patriarch Nikon or even Philaret of Moscow, who secretly fought with Nicholas first. The Synodal Chief Prosecutor replaced the church. However, the future Rus' will sincerely thank you for this involuntary service. I will say in conclusion that your calculations for the army will turn out to be incorrect: it will prove this to you at the last minute. The difficulties that you will encounter on the path of internal liberal-bourgeois reforms will become insurmountable due to the diversity of Russia. You have old scores to settle with Poland, in the south there is the Caucasus, full of nationalities, everywhere there are vast and open borders, which a Pole, a Finn, a German, a Little Russian and even a Kazan Tatar will not always agree to defend. Bourgeois-liberal reforms will raise the question of nationalities; and, you must agree, it is not the St. Petersburg bureaucracy that will be able to harmonize disparate aspirations and create one huge, constitutional Russia. Please note that young revolutionary Rus', alien to the system of seizures and conquests, will not support you. It will answer the call of the oppressed peoples against the common enemy. If you do not have arrogance, then you must admit that you will not be able to support the St. Petersburg emperorship with bourgeois reforms among peasant-democratic Rus'. Be able to leave the stage on time, and therefore with honor. Give this lesson of Russian meaning to the clerical-feudal West, and the Russian peasant will forgive you many of your sins in the future. Moscow. An unparalleled atrocity has been committed; the Russian heart is aching from the horror of the present, from fear for the future. The blood of the sovereign is on all those who failed to prevent the catastrophe. Everything is shaken, everything wavers, everything threatens imminent destruction, but the soil of the Russian land is so solid and good that it would be worth making a well-intentioned effort, and the building would strengthen and become unshakable. But it is difficult to create when there are no architects. Everywhere you look there is nothingness or malice. You, according to rumors, are a Russian and Orthodox man, they say that the sovereign loves you and you can bring him the greatest benefit by opening his eyes and telling the truth. Do you have enough civic valor for this? Perhaps you too will be carried away, like Loris-Melikov, who is an honest man, but ignorant, and at the instigation of the hellish St. Petersburg press, sought popularity, was humanitarian, liberal, ruined the tsar and earned the praise of “The Voice.” Who and what this organ of the French commune glorifies is harmful for Russia. They assure you, but we don’t want to believe that you sympathize with her red minister Sumburov, who traveled around Russia to rebel young people. Is it conceivable with such a minister to eradicate the greatest evil in Russia - the anti-religious evil trend, both in higher educational institutions and in public schools. All universities are polluted, and Moscow seems to be the most polluted, its rector has neither God nor conscience, its vice-rector is a liberal of poor quality, there are also professors who are obvious atheists, like Babunin, etc. Until there is a fiery love for the fatherland and the valiant Russian people in the intelligentsia and the administration, until the malicious press is silenced and the disastrous direction of public education is changed, no constitution will save. The anti-constitutional party in Russia is very strong, it includes people who are considered liberal, and they are all convinced that the constitution will bring about a revolution. Those who write these lines find that a constitution would be less premature, especially if it were created in the spirit of the people, than a trial by jury, which justifies all crimes and thereby demoralizes the people. The monstrous acquittal of Vera Zasulich gave audacity and strength to our nihilists. Now one and the most important thing is severity, merciless severity. Execution, imprisonment, exile to places from which it would be impossible to escape. You cannot pardon villains in order to make it unaffordable for honest people to live. Destruction of the administrative link, i.e. only “Golos” and similar St. Petersburg magazines and newspapers could have the audacity to express forgiveness and encouragement for further crimes, like the amnesty of the Communards, and only the Armenian Loris-Melikov could sympathize. Public opinion is confused by rumors that the upbringing of the sovereign's children is in the hands of nihilists. If this is so, then you, as a person close to the sovereign, as a scientist and at the same time a patriot and Christian, must counteract this greatest evil. What will happen to Russia if nihilism spreads in the reigning house? There are rumors that you are the main intercessor before the emperor in postponing the reforms, that you advise him to first kill the sedition. I did not believe these rumors for a long time, but they find confirmation in the fact that the talented Count Mikhail Tarielovich is retiring and the reactionary Shuvalov is appointed in his place; that you are an enemy of reforms, I know privately from your private conversation with one developed person. But are you, a former professor, so little familiar with history in general and the history of our fatherland in particular, so as not to understand that the terrorists were the result of the reactionary policies of those close to Alexander II, who were afraid of reforms and intimidated this noble but weak personality to such an extent that our socialism, a game of propaganda, was considered something terrible and began to be executed and exiled by the masses. Loris-Melikov’s policy stopped revolutionary activity for a while, but then things went as before again and the revolutionaries began to act. Only representative institutions of freedom of thought and speech can save Russia; I do not belong to the revolutionaries, I am a learned sociologist and am sensitive to social needs. I know that Russian society has outgrown an unlimited monarchy and desires representative institutions, especially after they were given to Bulgaria. I had already written to the sovereign, begging him not to execute the murderers of Alexander I, but my voice was not heard. You want to kill sedition, but it increases every day and hour, the ranks of its adherents increase every day, thanks to strict measures, and you will not cope with it with despotism, it will disappear only in the light of freedom; I beg you - and all of Russia is with me - to stop the homicidal massacre that causes the heinous murders of administrators and even children, give Russia the opportunity to decide matters itself, allow all adult men into the people's assembly - heinous murders will disappear, disappear like smoke before the bright face of freedom, and the friendly work of the people and the tsar for the benefit of Russia will replace modern political slavery, manifested in the suppression of the press and political murders. Let Russia breathe freely and do not interfere with your petition to postpone reforms. Christ is Risen, Konstantin Petrovich. Our dear Russian person, forgive me for my insolence in daring to address you. I am a Russian, a Muscovite, under the influence of a deep feeling of devotion to my beloved monarch and love for my dear fatherland, I allow myself to convey to the honest Russian dignitary standing near the throne, on whom much depends for the strengthening of the dear fatherland and the destruction of the weeds sown on our native land, the impressions made on me, as well as on many Muscovites, by the message of St. a synod compiled and written on paper by the fathers of the Orthodox Church; I am afraid and regret that this message does not remain a dead letter on paper, and I doubt that it will reach its goal, but I see in it only one desire of the fathers - to show that we are taking part in the common grief: we send out messages, anathematize lost people. Those who read and listen, even without it, will recognize the severity of sin and feel the bitterness in their hearts more deeply and more consciously than this cold message was written. Liberal people will remain the same and will only laugh and draw conclusions according to their own concepts, root and spread tares, anathema means nothing to them. Consequently, this measure cannot be recognized even as a palliative, and I think that until deeds replace words, nothing good will happen: until a person realizes that he was created in the image of God, and not according to Darwin’s theory from an ape, until they stop apeing, playing at liberalism and new things, until they throw off the masks under which they speak, in accordance with the circumstances, the state of affairs, until those who give the message are sincere well-wishers the good of the fatherland, and not the dead executors of the letter of the law, and care only in word, and not in deed, about their flock, until by their example they serve the people in the image of a person, until they deserve that deep respect and love of the people, as the Most Reverend Metropolitan of Moscow Philaret was loved and honored by everyone, who deeply understood the people, served as an example of love, meekness and a strict executor of the law, did not succumb to liberalism and innovation, ardently defended cherished traditions of antiquity, fully aware that for the Russian the main and lasting fundamental is the church, “the law of God,” for which he published his catechism, and most importantly, he is a strict guardian of church laws; That is why his word gave life and greatly influenced not only the sons of the church, but also his enemies. Remembering St. Philaret, one involuntarily recalls the stanzas of the great poet: I shed streams of unexpected tears, And the strength of meek and loving But alas, the moral guardian of the Russian land has passed into eternity, the voice from Moscow, disgusting to the liberals, but strong and strong, striking them with the people's feeling and the spirit of age-old legends, has ceased to sound. A new era has come, everything has changed and the death of our dear fatherland has begun; the same St. The synod itself began to speak in a liberal language and began to treat the dear foundations of the Russian land not only with indifference, but ignored them and began to sow disastrous weeds among the youth and people. First: a careless attitude towards the law of God taught in schools, especially in state-owned gymnasiums; these are the first seeds sown in youthful hearts: disrespect for the law of God, supported by educational institutions. superiors; there were many cases in gymnasiums where children of religious parents studied this subject, i.e., the law of God, received good grades, while in Latin and Greek, which were difficult for them, only mediocre scores, then remained in the same classes, but on the contrary, those who never studied the law, but also did not pay attention to it and received 1 or 2, and then out of the condescension of the teachers, often even at the request of the school authorities, because they had satisfactory balls from Greek and Latin, even without re-examinations of the law, were transferred to the highest class. This attitude gave rise to a disdain for the law in almost all young men, and everyone began to devote free hours and even law classes to Latin and Greek in order to move from class to higher class, knowing that the law was not obligatory for them and that at the exam there would not be an examiner like the late saint. Filaret. Then, upon moving to the university, the theology professor tries to show himself as a liberal too, speaks, speaks a lot, speaks in sublime phrases in the area of ​​​​the incomprehensible, as if it were clever, but in essence there is nothing (at the same time, you involuntarily recall the fair words of the late F. M. Dostoevsky in his last diary), a mere mortal understands nothing; and even if he decides to speak in understandable language, then at first we hear the voice not of a shepherd and teacher of God’s law, but of a liberal. For example, I remember well one sermon by Sergievsky, in which only “custom” was heard: we have gathered today according to a custom that has taken root since the founding of the university, etc. Science and heterogeneous fellowship, often ridicule of religious rituals, confuse the younger generation, leading them along the path of false liberalism to atheism, and whoever does not recognize God and does not know the law is capable of anything. Second: The destruction of churches, the closure of parishes, so that many religious peasants, regularly attending church, involuntarily lose the habit after closing, due to the long distance, especially during bad weather and muddy roads, and young children get used to not visiting at all or only occasionally from an early age: little by little, this only basis or solid ground for the peasant, the church, and with it religion, is lost. These two main seeds, for the intelligentsia and peasant life, were thrown by the synod under the rule of the unworthy memory of Dmitry Andr. Tolstoy, and how many more harmful little seeds have been thrown: the permission of theaters during Lent and various entertainments on holidays and Sundays, as if Russian people cannot live without these entertainments; Providence itself points with its finger, but we spent the current fast in heavy grief without any pleasures and entertainment, no one died from this, no one lost anything, on the contrary, everyone was more aware of the approach of the solemn holiday of the Resurrection of the Redeemer. Is it really possible that after this obvious finger of God, St. the synod will not understand the meaning of fasting for the Russian people, both in remembrance of the preparation of the Savior of the human race for suffering and martyrdom, and in remembrance of the martyrdom of the beloved monarch, liberator of peasants and Christians and renovator of the Russian land, will not restore it to the legal framework in which the late Saint Philaret kept it for so long? Every day articles of the most outrageous content appear in St. Petersburg newspapers, corrupting thought and calling for self-will. But, to the delight of many sensible Russian people, Petersburg Vedomosti published on March 8 (attached herewith) an article filled with indignation against the enemies of order, enemies of the autocracy and against dishonest magazine articles - It would seem that one should rejoice at this, that at last the indignation of at least one St. Petersburg newspaper turned to the right. But all the frantic newspapers took up arms against Petersburg Vedomosti. On Tuesday a new article appeared, although harsh, but also to the right. So what? The Ministry of Internal Affairs, which did not prosecute newspapers for the most outrageous articles, decided to put Petersburg Vedomosti on trial for this article. What will ordinary people in Russia say about the government now? That it patronizes the depraved party in journalism and wants to strangle the voice of truth and Russian feeling. There is no doubt that Katkov faces the same danger. He had already been called here and persuaded to stop and not write his patriotic articles for a while. And the court - the same one that acquitted Vera Zasulich - is it any wonder that it will condemn her for a patriotic expression of indignation. Again I must ask you for forgiveness for my importunity, because I am returning to the same subject about which I already wrote and bothered you. L has already dared to write to Your Majesty about a subject that I consider important - about Skobelev’s reception. Now in the city they say that Skobelev was upset and embarrassed that you did not show a desire to know the details about the actions of his detachment and about the expedition, which attracted everyone’s attention and which was the last, main military action carried out during the past reign. They are now talking about this, and everyone who is dissatisfied with the latest changes is singing about this topic. I heard about this from serious people, from old man Stroganov, who is very concerned about this. Today gr. Ignatiev told me that D. A. Milyutin spoke about this impression of Skobelev with some gloating. I consider this subject so important that I risk incurring Your Majesty's displeasure by returning to it. I dare to repeat again that Your Majesty needs to attract Skobelev to you cordially. The times are such that they require extreme caution in techniques. God knows what events we may still witness, and when we will experience calm and confidence. There is no need to deceive yourself: fate has appointed Your Majesty to go through a stormy, very stormy time, and the greatest dangers and difficulties are still ahead. Now is a critical time for you personally: now, or never, you will attract to yourself and to your side the best forces in Russia, people capable of not only speaking, but most importantly, capable of acting in decisive moments. People have become so shredded, characters have been so weathered, the phrase has taken over everything so much that I assure you on honor, you look around you and don’t know where to stop. All the more precious now is a person who has shown that he has will and reason, and knows how to act: ah, there are so few of these people! Circumstances are shaping up to our misfortune in a way that has never happened before in Russia - I foresee the sad possibility of such a state in which some will be for you, others will be against you. Then, if on Your Majesty’s side there are people, although loyal, but incapable and indecisive, and on the other side there are leaders, then there may be great grief both for you and for Russia. It is necessary to act in such a way that such an accident is impossible. Now, it seems, some who are not disposed towards Your Majesty and consider themselves offended, whisper to Skobelev: “Look, we said that he does not appreciate his previous merits and merits.” It is necessary to make sure that this crafty word turns out to be a lie, and not only to Skobelev, but also to everyone who declared themselves with real ability to conduct business and exploits in the last war. If Your Majesty has a dislike for some of these people, for God’s sake, extinguish it in yourself: since March 1st, you belong, with all your impressions and tastes, not to yourself, but to Russia and your great service. Dislike can come from impressions; impressions could be inspired by rumors, stories, anecdotes, sometimes frivolous and exaggerated. Let Skobelev, as they say, be an immoral person. Remember, Your Majesty, how many great figures and commanders there are in history who could be called moral people - and they were the ones who moved and decided events. You can be personally an immoral person, but at the same time be a bearer of great moral strength and have enormous moral influence on the masses. Skobelev, I will say again, became a great force and acquired enormous moral influence over the masses; that is, people believe him and follow him. This is terribly important, and now more important than ever. Every person has his own pride, and it is the more legitimate in a person, the more obvious to everyone the deed he has accomplished. If it were just a matter of honeyed vanity, it wouldn’t be worth talking about. But Skobelev has the right to expect that everyone is interested in the work that he did, and that the Russian sovereign is interested in him first and foremost. So, if it is true that Your Majesty did not show any interest in this matter in a short conversation with him, a desire to know its details, the position of the detachment, the consequences of the expedition, etc., Skobelev could take out a bitter feeling from this reception. Allow me, Your Majesty, to take a moment to look into your spiritual disposition. I can imagine that you felt awkward, unfree, restless with Skobelev, and that you tried to shorten the meeting. I understand this feeling of awkwardness, combined with a reluctance to see a person, and the uncertainty that stems from it. I fear that such a feeling may in many cases embarrass Your Majesty in receiving certain people. When ordinary people come to you, they always come out comforted and happy by your attention and questions. This comes from the fact that you, by nature, feel at ease with ordinary people; and when you feel constrained in your soul, you are burdened by your position and attitude towards the person. But I dare to think, Your Majesty, that now that you are the Russian Sovereign, there is not and cannot be a person with whom you would not feel free, for in your person, Russia itself, the whole earth with its supreme power, stands before everyone and everyone. Is there at least one that you could not master morally the first time, from the first word? Your Majesty, you do not know all your strength. For God's sake, get to know it, understand it, believe in it - then everything will be clear to you, then every personal impression of the past will no longer cast a shadow on your relationship with people. When a person approaches you, think that it is not he and you, but he and Russia, then it will be clear to you how to treat the person and what to say to him, and your every word will be with authority and force. I hope that Tchaikovsky’s request can be fulfilled and I will send you to tell you about the result. I received your letter today. It made me very happy, relieved and comforted me. Since I sent you my request, it always seemed to me that I had committed some kind of indelicate, indecent act due to its untimeliness. Your encouraging words completely calmed me down. Now I will hope not only that my petition will be granted, but that in the event of a refusal, I will not be charged with the determination with which, at a critical moment in my life, I turned through your favorable mediation directly to the sovereign. Please accept my deepest gratitude, dear Konstantin Petrovich, and believe in the feelings of sincere devotion with which I have Address for simple letters and telegrams: Fastovskaya line, Kamenka station. 2) for insurance companies: Fastov. line st. Bobrinskaya, locality. Smela, from there to Kamenka. I am sending you 3000 rubles for transfer to Tchaikovsky. Tell him that he may not return this money. June 2, 1881. Yesterday evening I was delighted by your dispatch. I absolutely have no words to express to you my feelings of endless gratitude for your participation in my case. Let me ask you, on occasion, to express to the sovereign my boundless devotion and gratitude to him. Your Excellency's most humble servant In Romanovich's letters, the style and capital letters have been preserved without corrections. Red