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VIII.

1826.

CHAP. not acquired the force of a law, and that he was consequently emperor, and if he meant to renounce, must do so afresh, when in the full possession of his rights. The Council still contested the point; but finding the Grandduke immovable, they submitted with the words, “You are our emperor; we owe you an absolute obedience : since, then, you command us to recognise the Grand-duke Constantine as our legitimate sovereign, we have no alternative but to obey your commands." They accordingly declared Constantine emperor. Their example determined the Senate; and the guards, being drawn up on the place in front of the Winter Palace, took the usual oath to the Cesarowitch as the new emperor. motives which determined Nicholas to take this step i. 168, 169. were afterwards stated in a noble proclamation on his own accession to the throne.1*

1 Ann. Hist. ix. 381; Schnitzler,

116.

generosity

The

Matters were in this state, the Grand-duke ConstanContest of tine being proclaimed emperor, and recognised by all between the the authorities at St Petersburg, when the Grand-duke Michael arrived there, with the fresh renunciation by the former of his rights, after the death of the late sovereign had been known to him. Nothing could be more clear and explicit than that renunciation, concerning the vali

two brothers, and Nicholas

mounts the throne. Dec. 24.

de Renonciation sera, pour que la notoriété en soit assurée, conservé à la Grande Cathédrale de l'Assomption à Moscow, et dans les trois hautes administrations de notre Empire, au Saint Synode, au Conseil de l'Empire, et au Sénat Dirigeant. En conséquence de ces dispositions, et conformément à la stricte teneur de l'acte sur la succession au trône, est reconnu pour notre héritier, notre second frère le Grand-duc Nicolas. ALEXANDRE."-Journal de St Pétersbourg, No. 150. SCHNITZLER, i. 163, 164.

"Nous n'eûmes ni le désir, ni le droit, de considérer comme irrévocable cette renonciation, qui n'avait point été publiée lorsqu'elle eut lieu; et qui n'avait point été convertie en loi. Nous voulions ainsi manifester notre respect pour la première loi fondamentale de notre Patrie, sur l'ordre invariable de la succession au trône. Nous cherchions uniquement à garantir de la moindre atteinte la loi qui règle la succession au Trône, à placer dans tout son jour la loyauté de nos intentions, et de préserver notre chère Patrie, même d'un moment d'incertitude, sur la personne de son légitime souverain. Cette détermination, prise dans la pureté de notre conscience devant le Dieu qui lit au fond des cœurs, fut bénie par S. M. l'Impératrice Marie, notre mère bien-aimée."-Proclamation, 25 Dec. 1825; Journal de St Pétersbourg, No. 150. SCHNITZLER, i. 169, 170.

VIII.

1826.

dity of which no doubt could now be entertained. Never- CHAP. theless Nicholas persisted in his generous refusal of the throne, and, after a few hours' repose, despatched the Grand-duke Michael back to Warsaw, with the intelligence that Constantine had already been proclaimed emperor. He met, however, at Dorpat, in Livonia, a courier with the answer of Constantine, after he had received the despatches from St Petersburg, again positively declining the empire, in a letter addressed "To his Majesty the Emperor." Nicholas, however, still refused the empire, and again besought his brother to accept it. The interregnum continued three weeks, during which the two brothers a thing unheard of-were mutually declining Ann. Hist. and urging the empire on the other! At length, on 24th Pièces HisDecember, Nicholas, being fully persuaded of the sin-hitz cerity and legality of his brother's resignation, yielded i 192, 194; to what appeared the will of Providence, mounted the aux Puisthrone of his fathers, and notified his accession to all the Etrangères, sovereigns of Europe, by whom he was immediately re- 1825. cognised.1

ix. 75, 76;

toriques;

Schnitzler,

Nesselrode

sances

13/25 Déc.

But while everything seemed to smile on the young 117. emperor, and he was, in appearance, receiving the reward Account of of his disinterested and generous conduct, in being seated, racy against the conspiby general consent, on the greatest throne in the world, him. the earth was trembling beneath his feet, and a conspiracy was on the point of bursting forth, which ere long involved Russia in the most imminent danger, and had well-nigh terminated, at its very commencement, his eventful reign. From the documents on this subject which have since been published by the Russian Government, it appears that, ever since 1817, secret societies, framed on the model of those of Germany, had existed in Russia, the object of which was to subvert the existing government, and establish in its stead representative institutions and a constitutional monarchy. They received a vast additional impulse upon the return of the Army of Occupation from France, in the close of 1818, where the officers, having

VIII.

1826.

CHAP. been living in intimacy, during three years, with the English and German officers, and familiar with the liberal press of both countries, as well as of Paris, had become deeply imbued with republican ideas, and enthusiastic admirers of the popular feelings by which they were nourished, and of the establishments in which they seemed to end. The conspiracy was the more dangerous that it was conducted with the most profound secresy, embraced a number of the highest nobles in the land, as well as military officers, and had its ramifications in all the cond'Enquête, siderable armies, and even in the guards at the capital. Dé So strongly was the danger felt by the older officers of Hist. ix. the empire, who were attached to the old régime, that Schnitzler, one of them said, on the return of the troops from France, "Rather than let these men re-enter Russia, I would, were I emperor, throw them into the Baltic."1

1 Rapport de la Com

mission

1825; Ann.

78, 80, 383;

i. 200, ii. 7, 14.

118.

the conspi

racy.

The conspiracy was divided into two branches, each of Details on which formed a separate society, but closely connected by correspondence. The directing committee of both had its seat at St Petersburg, and at its head was Prince Troubetzkoi-a nobleman of distinguished rank, but more ardour than firmness of character, who was high in the emperor's confidence-Ryleif, Prince Obolonsky, and some other officers in the garrison, besides sixty officers in the guards. The second society, which was much more numerous, and embraced a great number of colonels of regiments, had its chief ramifications in the army of the south on the Turkish frontier, then under the command of Count Wittgenstein. At the head of this society were Captain Nikita Mouravieff, Colonel Pestel, and Alexander Mouravieff, whose names have acquired a melancholy celebrity from the tragedy in which their efforts terminated. These men were all animated with a sincere love of their country, and were endowed with the most heroic courage. Under these noble qualities, however, were concealed, as is always the case in such conspiracies, an inordinate thirst for elevation and individual ambition, and an entire

VIII.

1826.

ignorance of the circumstances essential to the success of CHAP. any enterprise, having for its object the establishment of representative institutions in their country. They were among the most highly educated and cultivated men in the Russian empire at the time; and yet their project, if successful, could not have failed to reduce their country to anarchy, and throw it back a century in the career of improvement and ultimate freedom. So true it is that the first thing to be inquired into, in all measures intended to introduce the institutions of one country into another, is, to consider whether their political circumstances and national character are the same. The conspiracy was headed by the highest in rank and the first in intelligence, 1 Rapport, because it was on them that the chains of servitude hung 1825; Ann. heaviest. "Envy," says Bulwer, "enters so largely into Hist. ix. the democratic passion, that it is always felt most strongly Documents by those who are on the edge of a line which they yet Partie 2. feel to be impassable. No man envies an archangel."1

1

14/26 Déc.

80, 81;

Historiques,

tion given

spiracy to

Information, though in a very vague way, had been 119. communicated to the late emperor of these societies; but Informait was not suspected how deep-seated and extensive they of the conin reality were, or how widely they had spread through- Alexander. out the officers of the army. The privates were, generally speaking, still steady in their allegiance. Wittgenstein, however, and Count de Witt, had received secret but authentic accounts of the conspiracy at the time of Alexander's journey to Taganrog, and it was that information, suddenly communicated during his last illness, which had so cruelly aggravated the anxiety and afflicted the heart of the Czar. The project embraced a general insurrection at once in the capital and the two great armies in Poland and Bessarabia; and the success of similar movements in Spain and Italy inspired the conspirators with the most sanguine hopes of success. The time had been frequently fixed, and as often adjourned from accidental causes; but at length it was arranged for the period of Alexander's journey to Taganrog, in autumn 1825. It was only pre

VIII.

1826.

CHAP. vented from there breaking out by the appointment of Wittgenstein to the command of the army of the south, whose known resolution of character rendered caution necessary; and it was then finally resolved it should take place in May 1826. The conspirators were unanimous as to an entire change of government, and the adoption 14/26 Déc.. of representative institutions; but there was a consider1825; Ann. able division among them, at first, what was to be done. with the emperor and his family. At length, however, as usual in such cases, the more decided and sanguinary ii. 87, 91.' resolutions prevailed, and it was determined to put them all to death.1

1

Rapport,

Hist. ix.

81, 82; Doc. Hist.

Ibid. 383;

Schnitzler,

120.

conspirators.

The death of Alexander at first caused uncertainty in Plans of the their designs; but the long continuance of the interregnum, and the strange contest between the two brothers for the abandonment of the throne, offered unhoped-for chances of success of which they resolved to avail themselves. To divide the army, and avoid shocking, in the first instance at least, the feelings of the soldiers, it was determined that they should espouse the cause of Constantine; and as he had been proclaimed emperor by Nicholas and the Government, it appeared an easy matter to persuade them that the story of his having resigned his right of succession was a fabrication, and that their duty was to support him against all competitors. As Nicholas seemed so averse to be charged with the burden of the empire, it was hoped he would renounce at once when opposition manifested itself, and that Constantine, supported by their arms, would be easily got to acquiesce in their demands for a change of government. Their ulterior plans were, to convoke deputies from all the governments; to publish a manifesto of the Senate, in which it was declared that they were to frame laws for a Rapport, representative government; that the deputies should be 1825; Ibid. summoned from Poland, to insure the unity of the emDoc. Hist. pire, and in the mean time a provisional government

2 Ann. Hist. ix. 385;

26 Déc.

p. 82, 84;

established.2 Constantine was to be persuaded that it

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