Kelly W.K. The History of Russia: from the Earliest Period to the Present Time. Volume 2
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A.D.
1800]
THE ARMED KEUTRALITY. 185
yet
Stedingk,
the Swedish
minister,
and
Rosenkrauz,
the
Danish
minister,
had
signed
the
agreement
for an armed
neutrality
in the form of that
of
1780
as
early
as
the 17th of
Decemher, 1800,
in
Petersburg,
and
the Prussian
minister,
Von
Luft,
in the name of
his
king,
had
signified
his
acceptance
of the alliance
on the 18th. When
lord
Carysfort
at
length
obtained
an answer
on the 12th
of
February
to
his
demands,
so
long
and
repeatedly
urged
in
vain,
Haugwitz
had
drawn
it
up
so
equivocally
both
in
form
and
contents,
that
we have
only
to
subjoin
the
original
in a
note,
to
give
intelligent
readers some
idea of
the
game
which four or
five
intriguers
at that
time
played
with
the
narrow-minded
king
of Prussia.*
The
emperor
of Russia was so
indignant
at the
ambiguity,
that he
not
only
expressed
his
feelings
on
the
subject
warmly,
but also
took some hostile measures
against
Prussia. On
the
other
hand,
the
emperor
invited
Gustavus IV.
to
Peters-
burg,
where he was received
with
the
greatest splendour.
He
arrived at
Petersburg
at
Christmas,
1800,
and
immediately,
as
if
to
insult the
English,
a
grand
meeting
of the order of
Malta was held
;
the
king
himself
was loaded
with marks of
honour of
every possible description,
and at the
end of Decem-
ber he
signed
a new
agreement, by
which the
objects
of
that
of
the 16th of
the same month
were
greatly
enlarged.
In the
former alliance defensive
operations
alone
were
contemplated
;
but now offensive measures
were also
agreed
upon,
with
the
reservation,
indeed,
if they
should
become
necessary.
Paul
took
measures
to relit
his
fleet,
and an
army
was
equipped
which
was to be
placed
under the
commands
of
Soltikof,
Pahlen,
and
Kutusof;
the
Danish
fleet was
in
good
con-
* "
La convention
(the
confederacy
of
Russia,
Denmark
and
Swoden,
which
Prussia
had
joined
on the 18th of
December,
1800)
dont
on
se
plaint
n'a etc
provoquee que par
les mesures violentes
de
l'Angleterre
contre
les
puissances
du nord. Le traite
n'a
pas pour
but,
comme le
pre'teud
le
gouvernemcnt
britannique,
de former
une
ligue
hostile.
Les
stipulations
portent
que
les
mesuresne
seront
ni
hostiles
ni au
detriment
d'uti
pays,
mais
un'upicmcnt
tendantes
a la surcte commune
el de
la
navigation
de
ses
sujets.
La declaration du comte de
Bernsdorff,
portant
que
la cour
du
Copenhague
n'avait
aueun
projet incompatible
avec le
maintien
de
la bonne harmonic
entre les
cours,
est
claire et
precise
a
cet
egard.
Enfin
la
conduite
arbitraire de
l'Angleterre
est seulc
la cause
d'une
accession a la convention
du
1G
decembrc et
qui oblige
la
Prusse
k
prendre
part
aux evenements
qui
intercsseraient
la
cause
commune."
186
HISTORY
OF
ETTSSIA.
[OH.
LII.
dition
;
the
Russian
minister
in
Paris,
appeared
to
regard
the
circumstances
as
very
favourable
for
gaining
Hanover to
his
master
without
danger
or
risk
;
and Pitt
himself
con-
sidered
the
state
of
affairs so
unfavourable,
that he
seriously
contemplated
the
propriety
of
retiring
and
making
way
for
a
new
ministry,
in
order
to
render a
peace
possible.
This
close
confederacy against
England
was,
however,
dissolved at
the
very
moment in
which the
first
consul
appeared
to
be dis-
posed
to
favour
Naples
and
Sardinia,
in
order to
gratify
the
wishes of
the
emperor
of
Russia.
The
catastrophe
in
Petersburg
is
easily explained
by
the
continually
changing
humours
of the
emperor,
by
his
mental
derangement,
which
had
been
constantly
on
the
increase
for
several
months
previous
to his
murder,
by
the
acts
of
violence
and
injustice
which
he
suffered
himself to
commit,
and
by
the
dreadful
apprehension
which
prevailed
among
all
classes
of
society,
from
the
empress
and
the
grand-duke
down to the
very
lowest
citizen.
The
emperor's
sober
and rational in-
tervals
became
progressively
rarer,
so that
no man was sure
for
an
instant
either
of
his
place
or his life
;
thousands
of
persons
completely
innocent
were
sent
to
Siberia,
and
yet
goodness
and
mildness
alternated with
cruel
severity.
The
emperor
one
while
exhibited
the
most
striking
magnanimity,
at
another
the
meanest
vindictiveness.
The
beautiful
and
virtuous
empress
had
patiently
submitted
to her
husband's
preference
for
the
plain
JSTelidof,
who at
least treated
her
with
honour
aud
respect
;
but
she
was
obliged
also
to
submit
to
his
attachment
to
Lapukhin,
who
continually
provoked
strife.
She
endured
these
things
patiently,
lived
on
good
terms
with
the
emperor,
slept
immediately
under
his
chambers,
and
yet
neither she
nor her
sons,
Alex-
ander
and
Constantine,
were
able to
escape
the
suspicions
of
his
morbid
mind.
It
was
whispered,
by
persons
in
the con-
fidence
of
the
court,
that
the
emperor
had said
he would send
the
empress
to
Kalamagan,
in
the
government
of
Astrakhan,
Alexander
to
Shlusselburg,
and
Constantine to the citadel
of
Petersburg.
It is
not
worth
while
to
inquire
what
truth
there
may
have
been
in
these
reports;
everyone
felt
that
the time had
arrived
to
have
recourse to
the
only
means
which can be
employed
in
despotic
kingdoms
for
effecting
a
complete
change
in
the
measures
of
government.
This
A..D.
1801]
1IUEDEE OF
PAUL.
187
means
is the murder of the
despot,
which in such
circum-
stances
was
usually
effected
in
the
Roman
empire by
the
Praetorians,
in
Constantinople by
the
Janissaries,
or
by
a
clamorous
and
infuriated
mob,
in
Petersburg
by
a
num-
ber
of confederated nobles
;
and in all these cases
was
re-
garded
as a sort of
necessary
appendage
to
the
existing
constitution.
Eostopshin,
the
minister,
who had
long
possessed
the
emperor's
confidence,
was
dismissed
and in
disgrace
;
and
count
Pahlen,
who
was at the
head
of the
emperor's
dread-
ful
police,
was
suddenly
and
excessively
favoured.
He,
too, observed,
when
he
had reached the
highest pinnacle,
that he
began
to be
suspected.
The
count
was
an
Esthonian
by
birth,
a man of
a
cold,
deep,
and
faithless
disposition,
and
the instrument of all the
cruelties
and
severities which
had been
exercised
by
the
emperor.
He
was
also
commander-in-chief of all the
troops
in
the
capital,
and
since
the
10th
of March had
become
a
member
of the
ministry
for
foreign
affairs.
Up
to this
period
he had been
successful
in
discovering
and
frustrating
all
the real or
pre-
tended
attempts
at
dethroning
the
emperor,
but
he now
formed a
conspiracy
against
him,
because he knew that
Paid
had
called
to his
aid
two formidable
assistants,
to use
them
against
himself in case of
necessity.
The
emperor
had
previously
sent
away
from
Petersburg,
and now
recalled,
Lindner
and
Araktcheief,
two
of his
most
dreadful instru-
ments
of
violence,
the
latter of whom
played
a
fearful
part
in
Eussia
even
during
the
reign
of
the
mild and
clement
emperor
Alexander.
Pahlen had
previously
taken his mea-
sures
in
sucli a
manner,
that
a
number
of those
to
whom the
murder of
an
emperor
was no
novelty,
were at
that
time
collected
in
Petersburg,
and
only
waited for
a
hint,
either
with
or without
Pahlen,
to
fall
upon
the
emperor,
who
had
personally
given
them
mortal
offence.
Valerian,
Nicholas,
and
Plato
Zubof,
had
first been
publicly
affronted
by
the
emperor
like
the
Orlofs,
and
afterwards
dismissed
;
they
remained
under
compulsory
absence
in
Germany
till
they
found a
medium for
securing
the favour
of
the
only
person
who had
any
influence over the
em-
peror.
This medium
was
the
French
actress,
Chevalier,
who
ruled
the
Turk Kutaisof
(formerly
a
valet de
chambre,
but
188
HISTOET
OF
BTJSSIA.
[CH.
LII.
now adorned with
all
possible
titles,
honours,
and
orders,
with the
broad
ribbons and stars of
Europe),
and
through
him ruled
the
emperor.
Chevalier obtained
permission
for
the
Zubofs to
return to the
court,
and Plato held
Kutaisof
bound
by
his
expressed
intention of
marrying
tbe Turk's
daughter.
Plato had
been
previously
commander-in-chief
of the
army,
and
could,
in case of
need,
reckon
upon
it
with the
greater
certainty,
as it had been made
dis-
contented
by
the
gross
and ridiculous treatment
of tbe
generals
of the
whole
army,
and
even of such a
man
as
Suvarof.
Participators
in
a
plan
for
setting
aside the em-
peror
were
easily
found
among
the
nobles,
as
soon
as it
became certain
that there was
nothing
to
fear.
It was
necessary,
however,
to
obtain
the
consent
of
the
two
eldest
grand-dukes
;
but
not a word was said
of the
murder,
but
merely
of the
removal of their father from
the
government.
Alexander was
not
easily prevailed upon
to
acquiesce
in
the
deposition
of
his
father,
as,
however numerous
Alexander's
failings
in
other
respects
may
have
been,
both he
and his
mother were
persons
of
gentle
hearts.
Pahlen
undertook
the
business of
persuading
the
prince,
for which
he
was
by
far the
best
fitted,
inasmuch as he
knew all
the secrets
of
the
court,
and combined all
power
in
himself;
he therefore
succeeded in
convincing
the
imperial
family
of the
dangers
with
which
they
themselves were
threatened,
and of the
necessity
of
deposing
the
emperor.
He
appears
to have
prevailed
with
Alexander
by
showing
that
he coidd
only
guard
against
a
greater
evil
by
consenting
to
his father's
dethronement. Certain it
is,
at
least,
that Alexander
signed
the
proclamation,
announcing
his
own
assumption
of
the
reins of
government,
two hours before
the
execution
of
the
deed
by
the
conspirators.
The
emperor
with his
family
lived
in the Mikhailoff
palace
;
the
23rd of
March,
1801,
was chosen
for
the
accomplishment
of
the
deed,
for
on that
day
the Semenovski
battalion
of
guards
was on
duty
at the
palace.
The most
distinguished
men
among
the
conspirators
were the
Zubofs,
general
count
Benningsen,
a
Hanoverian,
who
had
distinguished
himself
in the Polish wars under
Catharine,
Tchitchakof,
Tartarinof,
Tolstoi, Tashvel,
Yesselovitch,
and
Ouvarof,
together
with
count Pahlen
himself,
who
did not
accompany
the
others
A.D.
1801]
HUEDEIt OF
TAtTL.
189
into
the
emperor's
bed-chamber,
but had taken
his measures
so
skilfully,
that if
the
enterprise
failed,
he
might appear
as
his
deliverer.
Very shortly
before
the execution
of
the
deed,
Pahlen communicated
the
design
to
general
Talizin,
colonel
of
the
regiment
of
Preobrajeuski
guards,
to
general
Deporadovitch,
colonel
of the Semonovski
guards,
together
with
some
fifty
other
officers
whom
he entertained
on
the
night
on
which
the
murder was committed.
On
the
evening
before his
death
Paul
received,
when
sit-
ting
at
supper
with
his
mistress,
a note
from
prince
Meche-
reki,
warning
him
of
his
danger,
and
revealing
the names of
the
conspirators.
He
handed it
unopened
to
Kutaisof,
say-
ing
he would
read
it on
the morrow.
Kutaisof
put
it in
his
pocket,
and
left
it
there when
he
changed
his dress
next
day
to
dine with
the
emperor.
He returned to
get
it,
but
Paul
growing impatient
sent for him in
a
hurry,
and
the
trembling
courtier
came back
without
the letter on
which
so
much
depended.
On
the
night
of the 3rd
Paul went
early
to
bed;
soon
afterwards
the
conspirators
repaired
to
his
apartment,
the outer door
of which was
opened
to them in
compliance
with
the demand
of
Argamakof,
an
aide-de-camp,
who
pretended
that he was come
to make
his
report
to the
emperor.
A Cossack
who
guarded
the door
of the bedroom
offered resistance
and
was
cut
down.
The
conspirators
rushed in
and found
the
bed
empty.
"
He
has
escaped
us,"
cried
some of
them.
"
That he has
not,"
said
Benningsen.
"
No
weakness,
or I will
put
you
all to death."
Putting
his
hand on the bed-clothes and
feeling
them
warm,
he observed
that
the
emperor
could
not be
far
off,
and
presently
he
dis-
covered
him
crouching
behind
a screen. The
conspirators
required
him
to
sign
his
abdication. He
refused,
a conflict
<
nsued
;
a sash
was
passed
round his
neck,
and
he was stran-
gled
after a
desperate
resistance.
Alexander
was seized with the
most
passionate
grief
when
he learned
at what a
price
he had
acquired
the crown.
He had
supped
with
his
father at nine
o'clock,
and
at
eleven
he took
possession
of the
empire, by
a
document
which
had been
drawn
up
and
signed
two
hours
and
a
half
previously.
The most
dreadful
thing
of
all,
how-
ever,
was,
that ho
was
obliged
not
only
to
suffer
the
two
chief
conspirators,
Zubof
and
Pahlen,
to remain
about
his
190 HISTOKY
OF EVSSIA.
[CH.
III.
person,
but to allow
them to
share
the
administration of
the
empire
between them.
It was a
piece
of
good
fortune
that
those two
thoroughly
wicked
men were
of
very
different
views,
by
which means
he was
first
enabled to
remove
Pahlen,
and
afterwards Zubof also. Their
associates,
however,
re-
mained,
and
at a later
period
we shall find
count
Benningsen
at the head of the
army
which was to deliver
Prussia after
the
battle of Jena.
Paul was
twice
married :
by
his
first
wife,
Nathalie
Alex-
eievna,
princess
of Hesse
Darmstadt,
who
died
in
1776,
he
had
no
family
;
by
his
second,
Marie
Pedeorovna,
princess
of
"Wurtemberg,
who died
in
1828,
he had ten
children. Their
names
are
given
below.*
The death
of
Paul,
and Nelson's
victory
at
Copenhagen,
dissolved
the
northern
confederacy,
and defeated the
hopes
which
Napoleon
had founded
upon
the
alliance between
Prance and Russia.
Prompt
to seize
any opportunity
for
calumniating
the British
government,
the
first
consul
an-
nounced the
assassination to the Prench
people
in
these
words
:
—
"
Paul
died on the
night
of the 23rd March. The
English
fleet
passed
the Sound
on
the 30th.
History
will
unveil
the connexion which
may
have existed
between
these
events."
History
has
completely
refuted
the
charge
thus
insinuated
;
no
one now
pretends
to attach
the
slightest
credit to
it,
and M. Thiers
frankly
declares
that the
British
cabinet
"
was as much
taken
by
surprise
at the death of
the
czar as the
rest
of
Europe."
The
overthrow
of the British
power
was
another
project
concerted between Prance and
Russia,
which was frustrated
by
Paul's death. The
plan agreed
on
was in these terms
:
"
A Prench
army
35,000
strong,
with
light artillery,
under
the
command
of
Massena,
shall be
moved
from Prance
to
*
Alexander,
born
1777,
died
1825;
Constantine,
born
1779,
died
1831; Alexandrina,
born
1783,
married to
Josepb,
palatine
of
Hun-
gary,
died
1801;
Helena,
born
1784,
married to
Frederick,
prince
of
Mecklenburg Strelitz,
died in
1816; Maria,
born
1786,
married
to
Charles,
grand-duke
of
Saxe
Weimar;
Catharine,
born
1788,
married
first to
prince
George
of
Holstein
Oldenburg;
secondly
to William
I.,
King
of
Wurtemberg,
died
in
1819;
Olga,
born
1792,
died
1795; Anne,
born
1795,
married to William
II.,
king
of
Holland;
Nicholas,
born
1796;
Michael,
born
1798,
died
1852.
A.D.
1801]
ACCESSION
OF ALEXANDEE
I. 191
"Dim, whence,
with
the
consent of
Austria,
it
shall descend
the Danube
to
the Black
Sea.
«
"
Arrived
there,
a Russian fleet will
transport
it
to
Ta-
ganrok
;
thence
it
shall move to Tzaritzin on the
Volga,
where it will
find boats to
convey
it to Astrakhan.
"
There
it will
find
a
Russian
army
of
35,000
men,
com-
posed
of
15,000
infantry,
10,000
cavalry,
and
10,000 Cossacks,
amply provided
with
artillery
and the horses
necessary
for its
conveyance.
"
The combined
army
shall be
transported
by
the
Caspian
Sea,
from Astrakhan to
Astrabad,
where
magazines
of all
sorts shall be
established
for
its use.
"
The march from the
frontiers of Prance to Astrabad will
be made in
eighty
days
;
fifty
more will be
requisite
to
bring
the
army
to
the
banks of the
Indus,
by
the route of
Herat,
Pelah,
and
Candahar."
Paul
afterwards
agreed
to
increase
the
Cossacks
to
50,000.*
Of this
project,
it is
not too much to
say
that
its abandon-
ment was
a fortunate event for Prance and Russia
rather
than for
England
;
for she
could have
nothing
to fear from
the
remnant,
if
any,
of the
invading
force which should reach
her
Indian frontiers
after such a
march.
CHAPTER LIII.
ACCESSION OF ALEXANDEE
—
HIS
CHABACTEE
—
OPENING ACTS
OF HIS EEIGN
—
PEACE WITH
ENGLAND.
The
accession of Alexander was hailed
with
sincere and
universal
delight,
not
only
as an
escape
from the
wretched
and
extravagant
reign
of
Paul,
but
as
the
opening
fulfilment
of the
expectations
which had
long
been
anxiously
fixed on
his heir. The new
monarch was
twenty-five
years
of
age,
of
majestic
figure,
and
noble
countenance,
though
his features
were not
perfectly
regular.
Ho
possessed
an acute
mind,
a
generous
heart,
and
a most
winning
grace
of
manner.
"
Still,"
*
Hardenberg,
vii.
497.
192
HISTOET
OS
1
ETJSSIA.
[CH.
LIII.
says
M.
Thiers,
"
there
might
be
discerned
in
him traces
of
hereditary
infirmity.
His
mind,
lively,
changeable,
and
sus-
ceptible,
was
continually impressed
with
the
most
contrary
ideas.
But this
remarkable
prince
was
not
always
led
away
by
such
momentary
impulses
;
he united
with
his
extensive
and versatile
comprehension
a
profound
secretiveness
which
baffled
the closest
observation.
He
was
well-meaning,
and
a
dissembler
at
the same
time."
Napoleon
said
of
him
at
St.
Helena,
"
The
emperor
of
Russia
possesses
abilities,
grace,
and
information;
he
is
fascinating,
but
one cannot
trust
him
;
he is a
true
Greek
of
the
Lower
Empire
;
he
is,
or
pre-
tends
to
be,
a
metaphysician
;
his
faults are
those
of
his edu-
cation,
or
of
his
preceptor.
What
discussions
have
I not
had
with
him !
He
maintained
that
hereditary
riglri
was
an
abuse,
and I
had to
expend
all
my
eloquence
and
logic
during
a
full
hour,
to
prove
that
hereditary
right
maintains
the
re-
pose
and
happiness
of
nations.
Perhaps
he
wished
to
mys-
tify
me
;
for
he is
cunning,
false,
and
skilful."
Alexander's
capital
defect
was
indecision
of character.
His
impulses
were
generous
and
humane
;
the circumstances
of
his
position
were of evil
tendency,
and
the
stronger
of
the
two
contending
forces
habitually
prevailed.
Hence,
he
was
continually
acting
in
violation
of
his
principles
and
his
pro-
fessions.
He
had been
trained
to
ultra-liberal
views
by
his
republican
tutor
Laharpe—
he,
the
destined
inheritor
of
a
military
despotism
;
and
his
twenty-four
years
of
reign
served
only
to show
the
utter
futility
of
his
aspirations,
and
to
furnish
his successor
with
a
specious
apology
for
his
stern
intolerance
of
every
germ
of
freedom.
The
difficulty
of
judging
Alexander,
and
some
of
his
acts,
has been
felt
by
very
competent
persons.
We
quote
the
words of an
ambassador
of
France
at
the
court
of
Eussia,
whom
the
emperor
and
all
those around
him
highly
esteemed,
namely,
the
vicomte
de la
Eerronays,
who
on
the
19th
May,
1823,
wrote
to his
court
as
follows :
"
It becomes
every
day
more
and more difficult
to
comprehend
the
character
of
the
emperor.
I
do
not
believe
it
possible
that
any
man
can
talk
the
language
of
honesty
and
sincerity
better
than
himself
;
a conversation
with
him
always
leaves
a
favourable
impres-
sion:
you
quit
him
persuaded
that
here
is
a
prince
who
unites
to
the finest
qualities
of
the
gentleman
all
those of
a
A.D.
1801]
CHAEACTEE
OF ALEXAKDEE.
193
great
sovereign,
of
a
man of
profound
experience,
gifted
with
the
greatest
energy.
He reasons
wonderfully
well
;
he
urges
his
argument
home
;
he
explains
himself with
eloquence,
and
with the
warmth
of one
who
is earnest and sincere.
"Well
! after all
this,
experience,
the events
of
his
life,
what
I
see
every day,
warn
you
not
to
rely
too much
upon
him.
Multiplied
instances
of acts
of
weakness
prove
to
you
that
the
energy
he throws
into
his words
does not exist
in his
character.
And
yet
on
the
other
hand,
the same character
may
be
seized all at once
with
a fit of
energy
and excitement
—
a
paroxysm
that
may
suffice
to
bring
him
instantly
to de-
terminations
the most
violent,
whose
consequences
may
be
incalculable.
Besides,
he is rather
jealous
of us :
he cannot
reconcile himself
to
the fact that Paris is
the
capital
of
Eu-
rope,
and that St.
Petersburg
is
only
a
pompous
aggrega-
tion of
structures
raised
upon
a
swamp,
which no one
cares
to
visit,
and whence its inhabitants
are
glad
to
escape
to
any
distance as
often
as
they
can.
The
emperor,
in
fact,
is ex-
cessively
suspicious
—
a
proof
of
weakness
;
and
this
feeling
is
a
misfortune so much
the
greater,
as this
prince
is,
to
the full extent of the
word
(at
least,
I believe
so),
the
most
honest man I know.
He
will,
perhaps,
often do
wrong,
but
it is ever his desire to do
right."
While
Alexander was
yet
an
imperial
prince,
subjected
to
the severe
rule,
first of
Catharine,
and then of Paul
I.,
he
formed
an intimate
acquaintance
with some
young
persons
of
his
own
age,
such
as
Paul
Strogonof,
Novosiltzof,
and
prince
Adam
Czartoryski.
This
last,
descended from one of
the
most
ancient
families in
Poland,
and much attached to
his
native
land,
was at St.
Petersburg
as
a
sort of
hostage
:
he
served
in the
regiment
of
guards,
and lived
at
court
with the
young
grand-dukes.
Alexander,
drawn towards
him
by
a
mutual
analogy
in sentiments
and
ideas,
communicated
to him
all the
dreams and
hopes
of his
youth.
Both
in
secret
deplored
the
misfortunes
of
Poland,
a
thing very
natural
in a
descendant
of the
Czartoryskis,
but
rather
surprising
in the
grandson
of
Catharine.
Alexander
solemnly
vowed
to his friend
that
when he
ascended
the
throne,
he would restore her
laws
and
liberty
to
unhappy
Poland.
Paul,
who had observed
tins
intimacy,
felt
offended
at
it,
and
exiled
prince Czartoryski, by naming
him
his
minister
to
the
vol.
n.
o
194
HISTOEY
OF
RUSSIA.
[CH.
LIII.
king
of
Sardinia,
a
king
without
a
realm.
Scarcely
was
Alexander seated
upon
the
throne,
when
he
sent
off
a courier
to
his
friend,
then
resident
at
Borne,
and
recalled
him to St.
Petersburg.
He also
united near
his
person
Novosiltzof and
Paul
Strogonof.
These
three
formed
a sort
of
occult
govern-
ment,
composed
of
young
men
without
experience,
animated
by
the most
generous
feelings,
and
full
of
illusions,
little
proper,
it must
be
said,
to
direct a
great
government
in
a
difficult
conjuncture
of
the
times.
They
were
impatient
to
free
themselves from
the
old
Eussians,
who
had,
until
then,
held the
reins of
government,
and
with
whom
they
had
no
kind
of
sympathy.
One
personage alone,
older and
more
serious than
themselves,
the
prince
Kotchubey, mingled
in
this
youthful
coterie,
and
tempered
their
sanguine
impulses by
his
riper
reason. He
had
travelled all
over
Europe, acquired
a
vast
deal
of
knowledge,
and
engaged
his
sovereign's
atten-
tion
upon
every
opportunity
with
the
ameliorations
which he
believed
it
would
be
very
useful
to
effect in
the
interior of the
empire.
All
alike
censured the
course of
policy
which led
at
first
to the
making
war
upon
France
on account
of her
revolu-
tion,
and
afterwards in
carrying
it
on
against
England
in be-
half of
a
thesis
about
the
law
of
nations.
They
were
against
a war of
principles
with
Prance,
or a
naval
war with
England.
The
great
empire
of
the
north,
according
to
them,
was
best
employed
in
holding
the
balance
between the
two
powers
that
threatened to
swallow
up
the
world in
their
quarrel,
and
in thus
becoming
the
arbitrator
of
Europe,
and the
support
of the
feeble
states
against
the
strong.
Generally,
however,
they
directed
their
attention
much
less to
foreign
politics
than
to the interior
regeneration
of
the
empire.
They
medi-
tated
nothing
less
than
giving
her
new
institutions,
modelled
in
part
upon
those
they
had
seen in
civilised
countries
;
they
had,
in
a
word,
the
generosity,
inexperience,
and
vanity
of
youth.
_
The
ostensible
ministers
of
Alexander
were the
old
Eus-
sians,
prejudiced
against
Prance,
warm in
behalf of
England,
and
moreover much
disliked
by
the
sovereign.
Count
Pahlen
alone
did
not
share
the
prejudices
and
predilections
of
his
colleagues,
but
wished
that
Eussia
should
be free
from
every
influence,
remaining
neuter
between
Prance and
England.
In
this
respect
his
ideas
agreed
with
those of
the
new
emperor
and