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plans for the elevation of Poland. It seemed as if under
him the power of the Tsar, like everything else in
Europe, was to be humanized, and as if the voice of the
people would be heard. So, under the strong re-actionary
counter-shock towards the French revolution and empire,
it was two persons who were not Russians, the Piedmontese
De Maistre and the Frenchman Bonald, who shaped
the great theory of re-action which was victorious
throughout Europe, which the doctrinaires of Russia
passionately appropriated, and which, easily manipulated by
them, became the new corner-stone of the Tsar’s throne.
The present condition in Russia is, then, neither the
result of a stagnation for a thousand years, nor of a
uniform progress towards the better, which has been too
slow and much delayed, nor of a retrograde movement
in culture uninterruptedly continued for a long time.
It is the product of a re-action now twenty-five years old,
constantly fortified anew by insurrections and attempts
at assassination.
It is not that there is a want of good will and
earnestness on the part of the Tsar. Justice is done
everywhere and in all circles to his character. It is known
that he likes to see honorable, upright men about him,
and also that he was angry at the corruption and deceit
which during the last Russo-Turkish war extended even
to the highest officers of the army, and had so large a
share in the unfavorable progress of the campaign. In
other words, it is admitted that he is a man of honor;
but a great man, a great leader, is at this moment
needed on the imperial throne of Russia. It is,
perhaps, a misfortune for a people to need great rulers.
A country like Holland or Switzerland certainly has no
need of any. But it is a greater misfortune not to have
a great ruler when one is needed.
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