part of his vital energy. He did nothing, did not even think
or find time to think, but only talked, and talked success-
fully, of what he had thought while in the country.
He sometimes noticed with dissatisfaction that he re-
peated the same remark on the same day in different circles.
But he was so busy for whole days together that he had no
time to notice that he was thinking of nothing.
As he had done on their first meeting at Kochubey’s,
Speranski produced a strong impression on Prince Andrew
on the Wednesday, when he received him tete-a-tate at his
own house and talked to him long and confidentially.
To Bolkonski so many people appeared contemptible and
insignificant creatures, and he so longed to find in someone
the living ideal of that perfection toward which he strove,
that he readily believed that in Speranski he had found this
ideal of a perfectly rational and virtuous man. Had Sper-
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798
anski sprung from the same class as himself and possessed
the same breeding and traditions, Bolkonski would soon
have discovered his weak, human, unheroic sides; but as it
was, Speranski’s strange and logical turn of mind inspired
him with respect all the more because he did not quite
understand him. Moreover, Speranski, either because he
appreciated the other’s capacity or because he considered
it necessary to win him to his side, showed off his dispas-
sionate calm reasonableness before Prince Andrew and
flattered him with that subtle flattery which goes hand in
hand with self-assurance and consists in a tacit assumption
that one’s companion is the only man besides oneself ca-
pable of understanding the folly of the rest of mankind and
the reasonableness and profundity of one’s own ideas.
During their long conversation on Wednesday evening,
Speranski more than once remarked: ‘We regard everything
that is above the common level of rooted custom...’ or, with
a smile: ‘But we want the wolves to be fed and the sheep to
be safe...’ or: ‘They cannot understand this...’ and all in a
way that seemed to say: ‘We, you and I, understand what
they are and who we are.’
This first long conversation with Speranski only
strengthened in Prince Andrew the feeling he had experi-
enced toward him at their first meeting. He saw in him a
remarkable, clear-thinking man of vast intellect who by his
energy and persistence had attained power, which he was
using solely for the welfare of Russia. In Prince Andrew’s
eyes Speranski was the man he would himself have wished
to beone who explained all the facts of life reasonably, con-
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sidered important only what was rational, and was capable
of applying the standard of reason to everything. Every-
thing seemed so simple and clear in Speranski’s exposition
that Prince Andrew involuntarily agreed with him about
everything. If he replied and argued, it was only because
he wished to maintain his independence and not submit to
Speranski’s opinions entirely. Everything was right and ev-
erything was as it should be: only one thing disconcerted
Prince Andrew. This was Speranski’s cold, mirrorlike look,
which did not allow one to penetrate to his soul, and his
delicate white hands, which Prince Andrew involuntarily
watched as one does watch the hands of those who possess
power. This mirrorlike gaze and those delicate hands irritat-
ed Prince Andrew, he knew not why. He was unpleasantly
struck, too, by the excessive contempt for others that he
observed in Speranski, and by the diversity of lines of argu-
ment he used to support his opinions. He made use of every
kind of mental device, except analogy, and passed too bold-
ly, it seemed to Prince Andrew, from one to another. Now
he would take up the position of a practical man and con-
demn dreamers; now that of a satirist, and laugh ironically
at his opponents; now grow severely logical, or suddenly rise
to the realm of metaphysics. (This last resource was one he
very frequently employed.) He would transfer a question to
metaphysical heights, pass on to definitions of space, time,
and thought, and, having deduced the refutation he needed,
would again descend to the level of the original discussion.
In general the trait of Speranski’s mentality which struck
Prince Andrew most was his absolute and unshakable belief
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800
in the power and authority of reason. It was evident that the
thought could never occur to him which to Prince Andrew
seemed so natural, namely, that it is after all impossible to
express all one thinks; and that he had never felt the doubt,
‘Is not all I think and believe nonsense?’ And it was just this
peculiarity of Speranski’s mind that particularly attracted
Prince Andrew.
During the first period of their acquaintance Bolkonski
felt a passionate admiration for him similar to that which he
had once felt for Bonaparte. The fact that Speranski was the
son of a village priest, and that stupid people might mean-
ly despise him on account of his humble origin (as in fact
many did), caused Prince Andrew to cherish his sentiment
for him the more, and unconsciously to strengthen it.
On that first evening Bolkonski spent with him, having
mentioned the Commission for the Revision of the Code of
Laws, Speranski told him sarcastically that the Commission
had existed for a hundred and fifty years, had cost millions,
and had done nothing except that Rosenkampf had stuck
labels on the corresponding paragraphs of the different
codes.
‘And that is all the state has for the millions it has spent,’
said he. ‘We want to give the Senate new juridical powers,
but we have no laws. That is why it is a sin for men like you,
Prince, not to serve in these times!’
Prince Andrew said that for that work an education in
jurisprudence was needed which he did not possess.
‘But nobody possesses it, so what would you have? It is a
vicious circle from which we must break a way out.’
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A week later Prince Andrew was a member of the Com-
mittee on Army Regulations andwhat he had not at all
expectedwas chairman of a section of the committee for the
revision of the laws. At Speranski’s request he took the first
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