End of the 18th century. The era of the most important events in world history. Bourgeois revolutions swept across Europe and America. The Great French bourgeois revolution has come to an end. And only in Russia is serfdom preserved and reaching its peak. It was in such an environment that the young nobleman Alexander Radishchev entered the St. Petersburg Corps of Pages in 1762. Alexander's parents were kind people. They treated the peasants humanely. For this, the owners were loved. Life on the estate was Radishchev's first encounter with the serfdom. After graduating from the Corps of Pages, Radishchev served in the palace, got acquainted with palace life. Then, among the best students, he was sent to Germany. A huge impression was made on Alexander by the cruel customs of the landowners-serfs, the arbitrariness of the ignorant military. A protest arose in his soul, which then resulted in a wonderful work "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow." "Journey ..." was the result of many years of observation, Radishchev's protest against the system of serfdom. He was the first, he started. The Decembrists, Herzen, came after him. Radishchev understood and showed that all the troubles stem not from individual landowners, and not even from the tsar, but from the existing system. He showed serfdom as it really was: cruel, unjust, in all its disgusting nakedness. With merciless truthfulness, Radishchev shows the ruling class, the feudal lords: "The monster is oblo, mischievous, huge, stozevno." The landlords only care about increasing their estates, about multiplying wealth and entertainment. They want to turn the serfs into obedient machines, they put them on an equal footing and even below the cattle. But the writer himself believes and makes others believe that this is not so. Peasants are first of all people, people with their joys and sorrows. They are smart, fair, and the future belongs to them. Radishchev believes in the great strength of the people, believes that such a people cannot be broken, that they will fight and win. At that time, the ideas of the enlighteners were widely spread. Radishchev also attached great importance to them. But, most importantly, he believed that “a barge hauler can solve a lot of things hitherto guesswork in Russian history,” that is, make a revolution. He brilliantly predicted that the leaders of the revolution would be "great men" from the people. This has been confirmed by time. The writer understood the consequences of publishing a book. He published it himself, in his printing house on Gryaznaya Street, with a circulation of only 650 copies, but the book was read everywhere and by everyone - nobles, merchants, peasants. When the book reached Catherine II, she said that the author was "a rebel, worse than Pugachev," and the book was "obviously and clearly rebellious, where tsars are threatened with a scaffold." Radishchev was captured and imprisoned. The author of Journey was sentenced to death. But in the form of "mercy" he was replaced by exile in Siberia, in the distant Ilimsk. But the writer did not lay down his arms there either. He wrote proud, angry poems denouncing autocracy, studied culture, life, folklore, taught. The kings changed, Tsar Paul I began to rule. Radishchev was allowed to return to the capital. But the change of kings did not lead to a change in the very essence of serfdom. Radishchev understood this. The writer was broken, depressed. He took poison. It was the last way of public protest. The significance of Radishchev's work is great. Although only 50 copies were sold, the book was copied by hand and reproduced in secret printing houses. Radishchev's hopes regarding Siberia came true.
Subject: The life feat of A.N. Radishchev. Overview of the contents of "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow"
Goals
educational: give an idea of Radishchev as a highly moral person, lead to the conclusion, what is Radishchev's life feat;
developing: determine the ideological content of the book as a whole and individual chapters;
educational: to educate students in the desire to take an active life position in society.
Planned result of activity: the formation of the second level of results - a positive attitude towards the basic values of society, a value attitude towards social reality in general,
the acquisition by students of new knowledge about the civic position of A.N. Radishchev;
ability to compare with the present.
Planned effect of activity: acquired knowledge, experienced feelings should help the formation of competence, identity.
Decor:
1. Stand "Radishchev - enemy of slavery"
2. Exhibition of books.
3. Lighted candles.
4. Pointers with the names of stations.
5. Literary dictionary.
On the desk: Radishchev's life feat.
A rebel is worse than Pugachev
Catherine II.
I looked around me - my soul is suffering
mankind has become wounded
A. Radishchev.
No. 1. Org moment.
No. 2. Introductory speech of the teacher.
In the spring of 1790, on the Dirty Street of St. Petersburg, in a printing house that was not subject to censorship, the last pages of "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow" were typed and printed - Alexander Radishchev completed his work.
That distant spring was still a harbinger of the Great French Revolution. Ahead was the storming of the Bastille, when for the first time the words of the song of the times of the French revolution "GO!" sounded menacingly, calling for the hanging of aristocrats on the lanterns, and the execution of Louis16, and the Jacobin terror, which horrified contemporaries, and the collapse of the Jacobin dictatorship.
Radishchev is one of the few not only in Russia, but also in Western Europe, who possessed the knowledge capable of both predicting and explaining the finale of the tragedy that crowned the outcome of the “mad and wise” century.
But the most important and striking thing today is Radishchev's thoughts about the Russian revolution. Even then, at the end of the 18th century, he saw a lot with the piercing clarity that we have recently begun to acquire.
How precious this Radishchev's knowledge must be for us! It's time, it's time to admit our guilt before Radishchev, the guilt of misunderstanding, disinterest, forgetfulness!
Let us, according to Russian custom, light candles - a symbol of life - (both literally and figuratively) as a sign of our respect and memory of that person who was the most courageous thinker of the 18th century, who did not put up with social evil, indifference, limited spirit and thoughts, flew in his dreams to the society that he tried to discern in his dreams through the veil of time.
But Radishchev's book, completed a year before the start of the French Revolution, grew organically on Russian soil, was vitally connected with Russian reality in the last third of the 18th century.
Therefore, we need to know what Russia in the last third of the 18th century.
Student presentation.
Teacher. Yes, during the reign of Catherine II, due to the growth of productive forces, the development of new, capitalist relations, social contradictions sharply escalated in the country. The feudal oppression is becoming more and more rigid.
In her domestic policy, Catherine the Second defended, first of all, the interests of the nobility, then the merchants. And the peasant, as A. Radishchev wrote, "is dead in law."
The most important Russian landowner was the Empress herself. Here and there rebellions broke out. The unrest was suppressed.
The denunciation of serf arbitrariness, sympathy for the oppressed peasantry is the leading theme of the literature of the 18th century.
Radishchev directed his bold blows precisely at the "basis," at the "principle of evil," that is, at the entire system of serfdom and tsarism.
QUESTIONS.
No. 1. How was the life of this amazing, outstanding person?
No. 2. Who influenced these views?
Student performances.
Teacher. Indeed, all progressive people passionately loved their homeland, but it was only in Radishchev's mind that the idea of patriotism was filled with revolutionary content.
A true patriot Radishchev recognizes only one who gives all his strength for the good of the people, who "is not afraid to sacrifice his life," who is capable of a heroic deed.
And Radishchev's words were confirmed by his entire future life. And his main deed and truly a feat of his whole life was the creation of the book “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”, which he addressed to the reader and friend Alexei Kutuzov, who, like himself, was able to go through the difficult path of searching, not to be afraid of the tough, relentless directness of the fundamental questions of being. and - most importantly! - who has found the strength to resist the temptation of reconciling simplicity and clarity.
About the history of the "burnt book" will tell ... a trained student ...
STUDENT'S SPEECH.
TEACHER. Nothing: arrest, the threat of the death penalty, exile to Siberia - did not break the revolutionary spirit of Radishchev. He confirmed his loyalty to his convictions in a poem:
Do you want to know who am I? what am I? where am i going? -
I am the same as I was and will be all my life:
Not cattle, not a tree, not a slave, but a man!..
"Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow" is a very complex book. And not only because, according to Radishchev himself, it is written in heavy language. The complexity lies in the clash of opposite ideas in it: revolutionary and alien revolution, denying it, warning against it. And the contradictions are presented frankly.
Today it's time to understand Radishchev. He doubted the need for a revolution, and his anxiety was not in vain.
If we can understand that thoughts, anxieties, doubts, hopes are in tune with our own, then we will understand that his book is modern, in tune with our time.
And one of you will help us determine the route from station to station in chronological order, and check how you understood the composition of this work.
The called student attaches pointers with the names of the stations in sequence, then checks with the map - diagram.
TEACHER. At the very beginning of the journey, the voice of the traveler sounds, inseparable from the author's voice. The unnamed protagonist of the book appears as a person who firmly believes in the idea of the Enlightenment - that life can be changed, "relied on wise laws."
How many Russian writers will give themselves “after Radishchev” to the power of the road, the Russian way, the Russian thought…
STUDENTS' SPEECH with an analysis of the heads - stations in accordance with the map - diagram.
Reflection.
TEACHER. This is where our journey ends. Let's sum up, collectively decide whether it was successful, whether you were able to determine what main issues Radishchev is considering.
No. 1. The situation of the peasants.
No. 2. Exposure of the autocracy.
No. 3. Call for revolution.
No. 4. Warning.
No. 1. What is the idea behind the chapters you read?
No. 2. What is the civil feat of A. N. Radishchev?
TEACHER. Catherine II was mistaken when she called Radishchev a rebel worse than Pugachev. He was not a rebel - a revolutionary.
He did not doubt the inevitability of a bloody collapse based on the oppression and exploitation of the Russian statehood. But he was alarmed by the reversibility of social processes.
Why is "liberty" able to turn into slavery? Will this happen in Russia? Is it not coming after the victorious revolution, the newfound freedom, the time of new oppression, new violation of freedoms and human rights?! Will the spilled blood give rise to new blood, new violence, and so on without end?!..
The anxiety was not in vain. Today we understand this.
Does not the world he created, torn apart by contradictions, doubts, pain and hope, remind us of what is happening to us today? Whoever neither groans, nor screams, nor curses, nor calls either for decisive action, or for restraint: both a plowman, and a peasant family doomed to poverty, and a warrior who lost his sight in battle and was forced to beg ...
But Radishchev explains: the main condition for universal prosperity is FREEDOM, which cannot be limited. But freedom inevitably comes with great difficulties.
We should understand Radishchev that the revolution is a great inevitability, a regularity of Russian history, “its face is terrible”, it will not bring grace that is instantly affirmed. And there is only one way for the people - not to let the sprouts of freedom of spirit be stifled. This is hope.
APPEAL TO THE EXHIBITION OF BOOKS.
SUMMING UP.
HOME TASK.
And there is another very important thought I have to voice. Radishchev was not in financial need. But a sense of compassion was very strongly developed in him, he felt someone else's pain as his own, therefore he built his life in this way. I want you to try to learn this from Radishchev. I do not call on all of you to become revolutionaries, but to help a person, even if he does not ask you about it, to support him at the right time - this should become a program for you - at least.
WRITTEN ANSWER TO THE QUESTION /CHOICE OF STUDENTS /
No. 1. Is the work of A.N. Radishchev?
No. 2. What is Radishchev's life feat?
End of the 18th century. The era of the most important events in world history. Bourgeois revolutions swept across Europe and America. The Great French bourgeois revolution has come to an end. And only in Russia is serfdom preserved and reaching its peak. It was in such an environment that the young nobleman Alexander Radishchev entered the St. Petersburg Corps of Pages in 1762. Alexander's parents were kind people. They treated the peasants humanely. For this, the owners were loved. Life on the estate was Radishchev's first encounter with the serfdom.
After graduating
Corps of Pages, Radishchev served in the palace, got acquainted with palace life. Then, among the best students, he was sent to Germany. A huge impression was made on Alexander by the cruel customs of the landowners-serfs, the arbitrariness of the ignorant military. A protest arose in his soul, which then resulted in a wonderful work “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”.
"Journey." was the result of many years of observation, Radishchev's protest against the system of serfdom. He was the first, he started. The Decembrists, Herzen, came after him. Radishchev understood and showed that all the troubles stem not from individual landowners, and not even from the tsar, but from the existing system. He showed serfdom as it really was: cruel, unjust, in all its disgusting nakedness. With merciless truthfulness, Radishchev shows the ruling class, the feudal lords: "The monster is oblo, mischievous, huge, hundred-eyed." The landlords only care about increasing their estates, about multiplying wealth and entertainment. They want to turn the serfs into obedient machines, they put them on an equal footing and even below the cattle. But the writer himself believes and makes others believe that this is not so. Peasants are first of all people, people with their joys and sorrows. They are smart, fair, and the future belongs to them. Radishchev believes in the great strength of the people, believes that such a people cannot be broken, that they will fight and win,
At that time, the ideas of the Enlightenment were widely spread. Radishchev also attached great importance to them. But, most importantly, he believed that “a barge hauler can solve a lot of things hitherto guesswork in Russian history,” that is, make a revolution. He brilliantly predicted that the leaders of the revolution would be "great men" from the people. This has been confirmed by time.
The writer understood the consequences of publishing a book. He published it himself, in his printing house on Gryaznaya Street, with a circulation of only 650 copies, but the book was read everywhere and by everyone - nobles, merchants, peasants. When the book reached Catherine II, she said that the author was “a rebel, worse than Pugachev,” and the book was “obviously and clearly rebellious, where tsars are threatened with a scaffold.”
Radishchev was captured and imprisoned. The author of Journey was sentenced to death. But in the form of "mercy" he was replaced by exile in Siberia, in the distant Ilimsk. But the writer did not lay down his arms there either. He wrote proud, angry poems denouncing autocracy, studied culture, life, folklore, taught.
The kings changed, Tsar Paul I began to rule. Radishchev was allowed to return to the capital. But the change of kings did not lead to a change in the very essence of serfdom. Radishchev understood this. The writer was broken, depressed. He took poison. It was the last way of public protest.
The significance of Radishchev's work is great. Although only 50 copies were sold, the book was copied by hand and reproduced in secret printing houses. Radishchev's hopes regarding Siberia came true.
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The great thinker believed that only a person who is free in his thoughts and actions can consider himself a “true son of the fatherland”: one who “always strives for the beautiful, majestic, lofty.” The “true son of the fatherland” is well-behaved and noble, but not by origin. In the understanding of the author of the Journey, a noble person is characterized by virtuous deeds, inspired by true honor, that is, love of freedom and morality. serving your people. By writing "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow", Radishchev acted precisely as a true son of the fatherland. He accomplished a feat by standing up for people who had been deprived of human rights, including the right to be called a man.
The passionate denunciation of autocracy and serfdom could not go unnoticed in a state where no manifestation of free thought went unpunished. Pe could go unpunished and the author of a seditious book. Radishchev knew all this and chose his fate himself. While the vast majority of the nobles, Radishchev's contemporaries, lived only for themselves, satisfying their whims at the expense of serfs and household servants, the author of Journey rejected coziness and comfort, personal well-being in order to challenge the feudal landlords and herself empress. Just as N. G. almost a century later, Radishchev, in the prime of his life, was forcibly torn away from his family, from society, from literature, isolated from political struggle and life.
Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev was born on August 20 (31), 1749 in Moscow in the family of a hereditary nobleman, collegiate assessor Nikolai Afanasyevich Radishchev. His mother Thekla Stepanogna Argamakova came from the nobility. Alexander was the eldest of seven brothers. His childhood passed in Moscow and in the estate of his father “Nemtsovo, Kaluga province, Kuznetsovsky district. In the summer, the boy, along with his parents, sometimes went to the village of Upper Ablyazovo, Saratov province, where Radishchev's father, a wealthy landowner, owned an estate with 2,000 souls of serfs. Afanasy Radishchev owned 17 more villages with peasants in different provinces of Russia. In the house of his parents, Sasha did not see scenes of reprisals against serfs, but he heard quite a few stories about cruel landowner neighbors, among whom he remembered a certain Zubov: the latter fed his serfs like cattle from common troughs, and for the slightest offense he ruthlessly cut.
The following fact testifies to the humanity of the Radishchevs and their sympathy for the peasants in their struggle for freedom: when the peasant war under the leadership of Yemelyan reached Upper Ablyazov, the old Radishchev armed his yard people, and he himself went into the forest; Nikolai Afanasyevich "distributed" his own four children among the peasants. “The men loved him so much,” says the writer’s son Pavel, “that they didn’t give him away, and their wives smeared the little gentlemen’s faces with soot, they were afraid that the rebels would not guess from the whiteness and tenderness of their faces that these were not peasant children, usually dirty and untidy. Not one of the thousand arcs thought to inform on him ... ".
In November 1762, with the assistance of the Argamakovs, Alexander was granted a page and was able to enter the court educational institution - the Corps of Pages in St. Petersburg. There he became friends with Alexei Kutuzov, who stood out among the pages for his erudition and exemplary behavior. Both young men were in love with Russian literature and read at that time the works of famous Russian writers M. V. Lomonosov, A. P. Sumarokov, V. I. Lukin, F. A. Emin, D. I. Fonvizin. In the house of Vasily Argamakov, where Alexander visited, writers and poets gathered, here they read their stories and poems, argued passionately, dreaming of the time when fine literature would finally leave the walls of aristocratic salons. In the Corps of Pages, young Radishchev stood out among the pupils for his "success in the sciences and behavior."
In the autumn of 1766, among the twelve best students, he was sent to Germany to complete his education. Beginning in 1767, Alexander listened to lectures at the University of Leipzig on the history of literature and philosophy. Radishchev also studied chemistry, medicine, continued to study Latin, German and French. In their free time, Russian youths gathered in the Ushakovs' room and had heartfelt conversations.
A test of courage turned out for him when the students clashed with Major Bokum, who was appointed by the tsarist government to "look after" the former pupils of the Corps of Pages. The greedy Bokum robbed the students, embezzling the money allocated by the government for their maintenance, subjecting the young men to insults and humiliating punishments; Bokum even invented a cage for punishing students, in which "it is impossible to stand or sit straight on the pointed crossbars." Young people rebuffed the rude actions of the martinet. By his own example, the young man was convinced that the brute force of a police state can and should be opposed by the force of conviction, the spirit of a highly gifted and highly moral person who lives by the ideals of goodness and justice. The entire subsequent life of the author of the Journey testifies to the fidelity to this oath. The origins of his feat in life lie precisely in loyalty and following to the end his convictions, the convictions of a revolutionary.
In December 1777, due to financial difficulties, Alexander Nikolayevich was forced to return to the service. He was appointed junior officer, with the rank of second major, to the College of Commerce, where the chief was Count Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov, a liberal nobleman of Catherine's time. Being an assistant to the head of the St. Petersburg customs since 1780, Radishchev, already in the rank of court adviser, proved himself to be an honest, incorruptible employee, for whom the interests of Russia are above all. He declared a merciless war on smugglers and bribe-takers, foreign adventurers and embezzlers. They say that once one of the merchants, wanting to smuggle expensive materials, came to his office and laid out a package with banknotes, but was driven away in disgrace. The merchant's wife, an uninvited guest, visited Radishchev's wife and left a bundle with expensive materials as a guest.
When the "gift" was discovered, Radishchev ordered the servant to catch up with the merchant's wife and return the bundle to her. The writer fearlessly spoke out in defense of junior employees, including his colleague customs examiner Stepan, who was slandered and then exiled to hard labor. Later, in "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow", in the chapter "Spasskaya Poles'" Radishchev spoke about the gross violation of the rules of legal proceedings, referring to the case of the customs official Stepan Andreev. Radishchev earned a reputation as a straightforward and fair person. This was how his loyalty to the oath given to Fedor Ushakov was manifested.
Radishchev was a versatile person. In his free time, Alexander Nikolayevich attended noble assemblies and societies, the English Club, the Masonic Lodge, attended balls, found time for literary studies: he read a lot, wrote love poems, translated foreign works into Russian, one of which is “Thinking about Greek history, or On the causes of the prosperity and misfortune of the Greeks "Gabriel de Mab-li - provided the following note:" Autocracy is the state most contrary to human nature. None of his friends or contemporaries would have dared to express such an extreme thought. Obviously, in the depths of the consciousness of the great thinker, a huge creative work was in full swing, and religious brilliant thoughts, which were destined to find an outlet in his revolutionary writings: the ode "Liberty" and "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow."
The great thinker believed that only a person who is free in his thoughts and actions can consider himself a “true son of the fatherland”: one who “always strives for the beautiful, majestic, lofty.” The “true son of the fatherland” is well-behaved and noble, but not by origin. In the understanding of the author of the Journey, a noble person is characterized by virtuous deeds, inspired by true honor, that is, love of freedom and morality. serving your people. By writing "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow", Radishchev acted precisely as a true son of the fatherland. He accomplished a feat by standing up for people who had been deprived of human rights, including the right to be called a man.
The passionate denunciation of autocracy and serfdom could not go unnoticed in a state where no manifestation of free thought went unpunished. Pe could go unpunished and the author of a seditious book. Radishchev knew all this and chose his fate himself. While the vast majority of the nobles, Radishchev's contemporaries, lived only for themselves, satisfying their whims at the expense of serfs and household servants, the author of Journey rejected coziness and comfort, personal well-being in order to challenge the feudal landlords and herself empress. Just as N. G. Chernyshevsky almost a century later, Radishchev, in the prime of his life, was forcibly torn away from his family, from society, from literature, isolated from political struggle and life.
Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev was born on August 20 (31), 1749 in Moscow in the family of a hereditary nobleman, collegiate assessor Nikolai Afanasyevich Radishchev. His mother Thekla Stepanogna Argamakova came from the nobility. Alexander was the eldest of seven brothers. His childhood passed in Moscow and in the estate of his father “Nemtsovo, Kaluga province, Kuznetsovsky district. In the summer, the boy, along with his parents, sometimes went to the village of Upper Ablyazovo, Saratov province, where Radishchev's father, a wealthy landowner, owned an estate with 2,000 souls of serfs. Afanasy Radishchev owned 17 more villages with peasants in different provinces of Russia. In the house of his parents, Sasha did not see scenes of reprisals against serfs, but he heard quite a few stories about cruel landowner neighbors, among whom he remembered a certain Zubov: the latter fed his serfs like cattle from common troughs, and for the slightest offense he ruthlessly cut.
The following fact testifies to the humanity of the Radishchevs and their sympathy for the peasants in their struggle for freedom: when the peasant war under the leadership of Emelyan Pugachev reached Verkhny Ablyazov, the old Radishchev armed his yard people, and he himself went into the forest; Nikolai Afanasyevich "distributed" his own four children among the peasants. “The men loved him so much,” says the writer’s son Pavel, “that they didn’t give him away, and their wives smeared the little gentlemen’s faces with soot, they were afraid that the rebels would not guess from the whiteness and tenderness of their faces that these were not peasant children, usually dirty and untidy. Not one of the thousand arcs thought to inform on him ... ".
In November 1762, with the assistance of the Argamakovs, Alexander was granted a page and was able to enter the court educational institution - the Corps of Pages in St. Petersburg. There he became friends with Alexei Kutuzov, who stood out among the pages for his erudition and exemplary behavior. Both young men were in love with Russian literature and read at that time the works of famous Russian writers M. V. Lomonosov, A. P. Sumarokov, V. I. Lukin, F. A. Emin, D. I. Fonvizin. In the house of Vasily Argamakov, where Alexander visited, writers and poets gathered, here they read their stories and poems, argued passionately, dreaming of the time when fine literature would finally leave the walls of aristocratic salons. In the Corps of Pages, young Radishchev stood out among the pupils for his "success in the sciences and behavior."
In the autumn of 1766, among the twelve best students, he was sent to Germany to complete his education. Beginning in 1767, Alexander listened to lectures at the University of Leipzig on the history of literature and philosophy. Radishchev also studied chemistry, medicine, continued to study Latin, German and French. In their free time, Russian youths gathered in the Ushakovs' room and had heartfelt conversations.
A test of courage turned out for him when the students clashed with Major Bokum, who was appointed by the tsarist government to "look after" the former pupils of the Corps of Pages. The greedy Bokum robbed the students, embezzling the money allocated by the government for their maintenance, subjecting the young men to insults and humiliating punishments; Bokum even invented a cage for punishing students, in which "it is impossible to stand or sit straight on the pointed crossbars." Young people rebuffed the rude actions of the martinet. By his own example, the young man was convinced that the brute force of a police state can and should be opposed by the force of conviction, the spirit of a highly gifted and highly moral person who lives by the ideals of goodness and justice. The entire subsequent life of the author of the Journey testifies to the fidelity to this oath. The origins of his feat in life lie precisely in loyalty and following to the end his convictions, the convictions of a revolutionary.
In December 1777, due to financial difficulties, Alexander Nikolayevich was forced to return to the service. He was appointed junior officer, with the rank of second major, to the College of Commerce, where the chief was Count Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov, a liberal nobleman of Catherine's time. Being an assistant to the head of the St. Petersburg customs since 1780, Radishchev, already in the rank of court adviser, proved himself to be an honest, incorruptible employee, for whom the interests of Russia are above all. He declared a merciless war on smugglers and bribe-takers, foreign adventurers and embezzlers. They say that once one of the merchants, wanting to smuggle expensive materials, came to his office and laid out a package with banknotes, but was driven away in disgrace. The merchant's wife, an uninvited guest, visited Radishchev's wife and left a bundle with expensive materials as a guest.
When the "gift" was discovered, Radishchev ordered the servant to catch up with the merchant's wife and return the bundle to her. The writer fearlessly spoke out in defense of junior employees, including his colleague customs examiner Stepan Andreev, who was slandered and then exiled to hard labor. Later, in "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow", in the chapter "Spasskaya Poles'" Radishchev spoke about the gross violation of the rules of legal proceedings, referring to the case of the customs official Stepan Andreev. Radishchev earned a reputation as a straightforward and fair person. This was how his loyalty to the oath given to Fedor Ushakov was manifested.
Radishchev was a versatile person. In his free time, Alexander Nikolayevich attended noble assemblies and societies, the English Club, the Masonic Lodge, attended balls, found time for literary studies: he read a lot, wrote love poems, translated foreign works into Russian, one of which is “Thinking about Greek history, or On the causes of the prosperity and misfortune of the Greeks "Gabriel de Mab-li - provided the following note:" Autocracy is the state most contrary to human nature. None of his friends or contemporaries would have dared to express such an extreme thought. Obviously, in the depths of the consciousness of the great thinker, a huge creative work was in full swing, and religious brilliant thoughts, which were destined to find an outlet in his revolutionary writings: the ode "Liberty" and "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow."
Events of the Peasants' War of 1773-1775. played a decisive role in the political education of Radishchev. Having studied the entire course of the uprising according to original documents; The author of Journey recognized as natural and fair the struggle that the peasants, working people, Cossacks and soldiers waged against the landowners and the tsarina as natural and fair. However, the writer realized that the rebels were inevitably doomed to defeat because of their spontaneity and disorganization. He considered the Pugachev uprising as an act of popular revenge on the oppressors. “They were looking more for the joy of revenge than for the benefit of shaking the bonds,” wrote the author of Journey in the chapter “Khotils”.
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