Moscow memories

In the forties, the first graduations from the School of Law began. It is known that it was founded according to the idea of ​​​​Prince Peter of Oldenburg - to develop educated and honest lawyers as a fresh element of practical litigation. At that time, record keeping in all judicial instances was in the hands of old clerical businessmen, and the matter essentially depended on them, since judges everywhere were people ignorant of the law. The same was true in the departments of the Senate, whose office was especially famous for its experienced, long-serving secretaries and chief secretaries, knowledgeable in the law. Petitioners had to deal with them, and therefore these businessmen, with small salaries, made a significant fortune for themselves. One can imagine what justice was like in such conditions and what it cost to sue. It was necessary to update the composition of the offices (primarily the Office of the Senate) with fresh elements of the new system and attract young people, legally educated and brought up in the new spirit of official truth, to practical judicial activities. For this purpose it was supposed to take advantage of the first graduates from the School of Law. The Minister of Justice (then Count Panin) distributed students upon graduation to the offices of the judicial departments of the Senate, St. Petersburg and Moscow: whoever was appointed where had to go there to serve unquestioningly. The material conditions of this service were, by then standards, and even more so by today’s standards, more than modest. The young man who entered the service had not yet received a full-time position, but in anticipation of this he had to be content with a very insignificant (about 20 rubles) allowance until, having proven himself, he received the position of assistant secretary (desk manager) when a vacancy opened, with a salary of 23 rubles and kopecks per month. The next degree, which not everyone was able to enroll in soon, was the position of secretary, who received 600 rubles a year, and then others had to wait for years for an appointment to the position of chief secretary: her salary, which seemed enviable at that time, was 1000 rubles. So, in the 40s, a company of new people appeared in Moscow, starting service in the departments of the Senate, of which there were four: the 7th and 8th for civil court cases and the 1st and 2nd departments of the 6th department for criminal cases. Among these young people there, in Moscow, were people who went through the first school of service experience and subsequently occupied important government positions or gained fame in other fields. Let us name, among others, the names of Princes Obolensky (Dmitry, Yuri, Georgy, Andrey) 1, Prince Shakhovsky 2, Baron Ferzen 3, Iv[an] Aksakov 4, Prince Lvov 5, two brothers Mengden 6, D. A. Rovinsky 7, Staritsky 8, Glebov 9, Nabokova 10, Zubova 11, Pobedonostseva, Korobina 12, etc. Senate proceedings were then the best practical school for judicial and administrative activities. The young people entered the office, where they were greeted with suspicious glances by a group of old businessmen who saw in them a new element intended to introduce a new spirit and new customs into the office business. Recruits entered the service first as clerks, gradually preparing for secretarial and chief secretarial positions. They immediately occupied a special position among officials. Many of them, belonging to well-known families in Moscow, joined the highest strata of the then Moscow society. Moreover, while maintaining the friendly ties they had left the school with each other, they formed a special company of lawyers in Moscow, supporting each other and getting together for friendly conversations. The old businessmen sitting in their offices looked around at them with suspicious bewilderment. So, young people could not expect either sympathy, support or guidance from people of the old school. But those of them who were appointed to serve in the 8th department of the Senate found themselves in particularly favorable conditions, due to the fact that at the head of the office was an enlightened man - V.P. Zubkov 13, and in its composition, in the position of chief secretary, was the young prince Sergei Nikolaevich Urusov 14, who by birth belonged to high society, a man of high education and noble aspirations, who persuaded him to put himself into the practice of law in the Senate. A rich man who did not need a salary, he donated all his support to the poor officials of his office, and devoted himself to work that was of great interest to an enlightened person. At that time, the 8th Department of the Senate included cases from the provinces, which constituted, so to speak, the main core of the local, historically established domain (Oryol, Tula, Tambov, Penza, Kharkov); I had to sort through a lot of old centuries-old charters, centuries-old land survey records, acts of single lords and Cossacks. On the other hand, from the South of Russia, from the Tauride, Ekaterinoslav and Kherson provinces, cases of foreign - Tatar, Armenian - life and trade cases came from the commercial courts of Odessa, Kerch and Taganrog. All this constituted an area of ​​law hitherto almost unexplored. Her high interest attracted Prince Urusov and little by little attracted young people who worked under his leadership to the same area. Some kind of new spirit wafted from this activity - new work began to boil in the office. The art of legal analysis and presentation was developed through the preparation of reports, the drafting of resolutions and definitions, so that little by little, in the midst of paper production, a whole school of conscious labor and mental development was formed. Everyone who attended this school at that time retained grateful memories of that time in their lives until the end of their lives. The main idea of ​​V.P. Zubkov was to update the department office, which had become outdated in the orderly custom. Its main strength consisted of old chief secretaries and secretaries, intelligent and experienced experts in old decrees and affairs, but it was difficult to rely on the honesty of their practices. However, the fate of each case was in their hands. The presence consisted of senators, honored generals of the military and civil service, people with little skill in legal subtleties, and therefore the case was almost always decided by the report of the office. V.P. Zubkov decided to destroy this fortress with the help of new elements, for which Prince Urusov came to him as the first weapon at the appointment of Count Panin. Then new recruits from legal scholars appeared, and the chief prosecutor began to operate with them, without disturbing any of the old experienced businessmen. Selecting the most capable young people and preparing them little by little for secretarial positions, he replaced them with the old chief secretaries under his leadership; so that during the report, which was closely followed by the chief prosecutor, the young speaker could always balance the incorrect suggestion of his chief secretary. According to the same system, when young chief secretaries matured under Zubkov’s leadership, he added secretaries from old businessmen to them. So, little by little, the composition of the office was reworked, without offense or shock: the old businessmen lived out their lives in their places and often served as their advice to the young, who turned to their experience in the affairs of the previous time. Our old senators were friendly to young people and showed us complete confidence. It is pleasant to remember them, honored people of the old century. Sitting with us, firstly, was the most respected, well-known throughout Moscow, Prince Alexander Petrovich Obolensky 15 from Solyanka, the patriarch of the large Obolensky family with related Samarins, Lopukhins, Evreinovs. His name, a long-time honorary guardian, was kind to orphans and widows. In the Senate, he was the intercessor and patron of petitioners in numerous cases of the so-called “departing”, that is, peasants seeking freedom from the landed estates. It often happened to him to repeat out loud to the entire presence his favorite saying, “mercy is praised in court,” pointing to the lampshade of the office room, where this saying appeared in the inscription. The former chief prosecutor of the Synod, Stepan Dmitrievich Nechaev, 16 sat with us, and we visited him in his house on Devichye Pole. We sat I.E. Kuruta 17, famous figure in Warsaw under the Great Prince Konstantin Pavlovich 18, Von-Drebusch 19, honorary guardian - Elder Pyotr Semenovich Poludensky 20, Dmitry Nik[itich] Begichev 21, author of “The Kholmsky Family”, Alexander Pavlovich Protasov 22, old Freemason 23, who, according to Moscow rumors, was engaged in witchcraft, Pavel Apollonovich Chertov 24, the husband of the recently deceased venerable Moscow elder Varvara Evgrafovna 25. Vasily Petrovich Zubkov, from a noble family of the Yaroslavl province, after home education began serving (1814) in the colony of His Majesty’s retinue, then moved on to civil affairs, entered in 1822 one of the archival youths of the 26th Moscow Archive of the Foreign Collegium, and then moved to judicial service: first - in the Criminal Chamber, then - in Senate, where since 1840 he served as chief prosecutor. Zubkov's service in Moscow, in constant communication with Moscow society and with the fellowship of the company of archival youths (Pushkin 27, Vyazemsky 28, Odoevsky 29 and others) gave him a way to expand and improve his education, so that in the 40s he was considered in Moscow one of the most enlightened people among the heads of individual departments. Communication with such a person in the service could not but be beneficial for the development of young people who began their careers in the Senate. Knowing French and German perfectly well, Zubkov constantly followed literature, read a lot, and his conversation was always pleasant and instructive for young people. His house in one of the alleys of the Smolensky market was closely familiar to the society of that time: here at dance evenings one could then see all the Moscow beauties of that time (two daughters of Zubkov himself, A. Begicheva, Yulia Davydova, Lydia and Alexandra Khovrin, Luzhina, Akinfova, two Polivanovs). The Paris Revolution of 1848 30 brought new turmoil into the minds and new interests and raised new rumors in the hitherto quiet Moscow society. Everyone began to read newspapers greedily. The conversations of our comradely circle (which met once a week on Saturdays in the apartments of Staritsky and Glebov on the corner of Khlebny Lane) became livelier. During leisure hours, we often ran into Peer’s confectionery (on Tverskaya, on the corner of the building of the former Noble Guest House), where we received a lot of foreign newspapers, and greedily looked through the hand-worn sheets of French newspapers, dotted with many censorship spots at that time. At that time, Emile Girardin's articles 31 in the newspaper La Presse aroused particular interest, and many of us began to subscribe to it after reading it from Zubkov. At that time, we saw from him the famous works of that time, which were considered forbidden, but aroused general interest (Louis-Blanc 32, Proudhon 33, Fourier 34, Lamartine 35 - “History of the Girondins”, etc.). Few of this young company of fellow lawyers survived, but those who remained cannot help but remember V.P. Zubkov with gratitude. The writer of these lines spent many pleasant evenings in his office, where he told us a lot about the affairs and people of former and modern times, showed us new books he had received, explained the wonders of the microscope that always stood on his work table 36 the beetle named after him (Carabus Zubkovii) is known. – P[etr] B[artenev] 37 .. Here I happened to meet some of his friends, mostly interesting and intelligent people 38 .. From the 8th department, Zubkov was transferred as chief prosecutor to the general meeting of the Moscow departments, and from here to St. Petersburg as chief prosecutor of the 1st department. In 1855 he was appointed senator, but a serious illness forced him to leave service, and already in 1862 he ended his days in Moscow, in an old Moscow house. K[onstantin] P[obedonostsev] Obolensky Dmitry Alexandrovich (1822–1881) – prince, statesman, publicist. Since 1862, he chaired the commission to develop a new law on the press. He was a member of the circle of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna and was close to the Slavophiles, especially to Yu. F. Samarin and his fellow graduate I. S. Aksakov. Obolensky Georgy Alexandrovich (d. 1890) - prince, actual state councilor, member of the council of the Minister of Finance. Obolensky Andrey Vasilyevich (1825–1875) – prince, actual state councilor; Class V special assignment officer of the Ministry of Finance. Shakhovskoy Nikolai Ivanovich (1823–1890) – prince, privy councilor, senator. He graduated from the School of Law in 1842 and was sent to the Senate, where he served all his life. In 1864, he was chairman of the commission on false State loans. Ferzen German Egorovich (died in 1862) - baron, actual state councilor, Augustov governor. Aksakov Ivan Sergeevich (1823–1886) – lawyer, publicist, editor, poet, public figure, one of the leaders of the Slavophile movement. Lvov Georgy Vladimirovich (1821–1873) - prince, statesman, actual state councilor, scientist, publicist; After completing a course at the School of Law in 1842, he decided to serve in the Senate, served in the Naval Ministry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Mengden Vladimir Mikhailovich (1825–1910) – baron, actual privy councilor, member of the State Council, director of the St. Petersburg orphanage. He served in the 7th and 6th departments of the Senate, in His Imperial Majesty's Own Office for the Affairs of the Kingdom of Poland, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mengden Nikolai Mikhailovich (died in 1888) - baron, actual state councilor; was at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Rovinsky Dmitry Alexandrovich (1824–1895) – lawyer, art historian and compiler of reference books on Russian portraits and engravings of the 18th-19th centuries. Honorary member of the Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Arts. Staritsky Egor Pavlovich (1825–1899) - a judicial figure who served in the Moscow departments of the Senate, in the Ministry of Justice, took part in the work on applying judicial reform to the Caucasus region, and a member of the State Council. Glebov Pavel Nikolaevich (d. 1876) – Privy Councilor, member of the naval auditor general, figure in the reform of military and maritime criminal legislation. He took an active part in the preparation of measures to abolish corporal punishment, the author of the draft Charter on the Naval Court, one of the closest assistants to Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich on reforms in the naval department. Nabokov Dmitry Nikolaevich (1826–1904) - statesman, employee of the civil cassation department of the Senate, chief manager of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery, close associate of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich on affairs of the Kingdom of Poland, member of the State Council, Minister of Justice, father of politician V. D. Nabokov, grandfather of writer V. V. Nabokov. Zubov Pyotr Alekseevich (1819–1880) - statesman, lawyer, teacher, senator, privy councilor, State Secretary of the State Council, chief manager of the 2nd department of His Majesty's Own Chancellery, member-editor of the Highest Commission established at the State Chancellery for drafting legal provisions on the judiciary in the Russian Empire, criminologist. Korobin Vladimir Grigorievich (1826–1895) - Privy Councilor, first-present senator of the United Presence I and the Cassation Department of the Senate, member of the special presence of the State Council for the consideration of complaints against decisions of the Senate. Zubkov Vasily Petrovich (1798–1862) - privy councilor, senator, scientist, served as adviser to the 2nd department of the Moscow Chamber of Civil Court, adviser to the 2nd department of the Moscow Criminal Chamber, chief prosecutor of the 1st and 2nd departments of the 6th department of the Senate, chief prosecutor in the 7th and 8th departments of the Senate, Chief Prosecutor of the General Assembly of the Moscow Departments of the Senate. Urusov Sergei Nikolaevich (1816–1883) - graduate of Moscow University, lawyer, privy councilor, senator, secretary of state, minister of justice, served in His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery, the State Council, the Holy Synod and was a member of the main censorship department of the spiritual department. Obolensky Alexander Petrovich (1780–1855) - prince, senator, Moscow honorary guardian, actual privy councilor, judge of the Moscow conscience court, manager of the Military Orphan School. Nechaev Stepan Dmitrievich (1792–1860) – chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod, historian, archaeologist, first explorer of the Kulikovo field, founder of the Museum of the Battle of Kulikovo, senator, actual privy councilor, writer, poet, philanthropist. Kuruta Ivan Emmanuilovich (1780–1853) – count, governor of the Vladimir province, senator. Konstantin Pavlovich (1779–1831) – Tsarevich and Grand Duke, second son of Paul I and Maria Feodorovna. For 16 days, from November 27 to December 13, 1825, official institutions in St. Petersburg and Moscow swore to recognize him as Emperor and Autocrat of All-Russian Constantine I, but he did not reign and did not recognize his accession to the throne; commander of the troops located in the Duchy of Warsaw, commander-in-chief of the Polish Army, commander of the Lithuanian Corps, deputy of the Polish Sejm from the suburb of Warsaw-Prague, acting governor of Poland. Drebush Alexander Feodorovich von (1783–1855) – senator, state councilor, Minsk governor, Lutheran by religion, participant in the Battle of Austerlitz. Poludensky Pyotr Semenovich (1777–1852) – leader of the Council of Guardians, Privy Councilor, Senator. Begichev Dmitry Nikitich (1786–1855) - writer, trustee of the Moscow House of Diligence, senator. Protasov Alexander Pavlovich (1790–1856) - senator, privy councilor, freemason and mystic, member of the Imperial Moscow Society of Agriculture, honorary member of the Moscow Society of Natural Scientists. Freemasonry, Freemasonry (from the French franc-maèon - free mason), a religious and ethical movement that arose at the beginning of the 18th century in England and then spread to France, Germany, Spain, Russia, Denmark, Sweden, India, the USA and other countries. In Freemasonry, under the sign of ethical teachings that proclaimed “the unification of people on the principles of brotherhood, love, equality and mutual assistance,” the ideas of “bourgeois anticlericalism” were intertwined with elements of religious mysticism. The movement began in England (the creation of the Grand Lodge, 1717). The Book of Rules, compiled in 1723 by the London preacher James Anderson, instructed the Freemason to be “neither a stupid atheist nor an irreligious freethinker,” to support civil authorities, and not to participate in political movements. Denying church dogma and cult, Freemasons represent God as the “great architect of the universe” (in the spirit of deism), allow the practice of any religion, and introduce elements of Christianity, Judaism and other religions into their teaching and ritual. (See: Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. – M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1974. – P. 1329). Chertov Pavel Apollonovich (1782–1874) – infantry general, senator. Chertova Varvara Evgrafovna (1806–1903) – philanthropist, founder of the Alexander-Mariinsky School on Prechistenka in 1869. In the 20s of the 19th century, young employees of the Moscow Archives of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs, who were engaged in analyzing, reading and describing ancient documents, were called archival youths. They also created a literary society (F. I. Tyutchev, N. V. Putyata, V. F. Odoevsky, V. P. Titov, S. P. Shevyrev, M. P. Pogodin, V. I. Obolensky, D. P. Oznobishin, A. N. Muravyov, etc.) and the “Society of Philosophy.” Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich (1799–1837) - great poet, playwright, prose writer. Vyazemsky Pyotr Andreevich (1792–1878) - prince, poet, literary critic, member of the Russian Imperial Academy, father of the literary historian and archaeographer Pavel Vyazemsky. Odoevsky Vladimir Fedorovich (1803–1869) - prince, writer, philosopher, teacher, musicologist, music theorist. He was the last representative of one of the oldest branches of the Rurikovich family. His father Fyodor Sergeevich descended in a direct line from the Chernigov prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich, who was martyred in 1246 in the Horde and canonized. On February 22, 1848, an uprising began in Paris, leading to the abolition of the July Monarchy and the establishment of the Second Republic in France (1848–1852). Emile de Girardin (1806–1884) - French journalist, writer, deputy, illegitimate son of General Count Alexandre Girardin, husband of the writer Delphine de Girardin (née Gue). Blanc Louis (1811–1882) - French socialist, figure in the 1848 revolution, historian, journalist. Proudhon Pierre Joseph (1809–1865) - French publicist, economist, sociologist, one of the founders of anarchism. Lamartine Alphonse de (1790–1869) - French poet, writer, journalist and politician. Fourier François Marie Charles (1772–1837) – French utopian socialist V. P. Zubkov was also involved in natural sciences: in entomology 1 Bartenev Petr Ivanovich (1829–1912) – historian, literary critic, publisher. Once, when I was walking to him, N. F. Pavlov 2 left him You might be interested in: