Can Radishchev be called a true son of the fatherland? The pedagogical ideas of A.N.
This is a revolutionary publicistic article (1789), published in the journal "Talking Citizen". Arguing about who can be awarded the title of the true son of the Fatherland, Radishchev puts forward the main condition: he can only be a "free being." Hence, he denies this title to a serf-dependent peasant, refuses with great pity. But how angry his denunciation of the oppressors sounds, those landowners-serfs, "tormentors" and "oppressors" who are accustomed to regard themselves as sons of the Fatherland. In the article we have a whole series of satirical portraits of evil, insignificant, frivolous landowners. But who is worthy to be a true son of the Fatherland? And Radishchev replies that a true patriot can be a person full of honor, nobility, capable of sacrificing everything for the good of the people, and if necessary, if he knows that "his death will bring strength and glory to the Fatherland, he is not afraid to sacrifice his life." This is one of the strongest political speeches of the revolutionary Radishchev, who demands freedom for the people.
Ode "Liberty"
For the first time, the theory of the people's revolution receives a journalistic and artistic embodiment in the one written by Radishchev in 1781-1783. ode "Liberty", excerpts from which were included in the "Journey".
The fate of the homeland and people is in the center of attention of the author, an advanced person who is able to compare historical facts and events with the present and come to generalizing philosophical conclusions about the laws governing the emergence of a revolution in Russia, whose people are capable of responding with violence to violence. The ode "Liberty" is a work of tremendous poetic and oratorical passion, testifying to the maturity of Radishchev's revolutionary outlook. The "diviner of liberty" proves that "a person is free from birth in everything." Starting with the apotheosis of liberty, which is recognized as a "priceless gift of man", "the source of all great deeds," the poet further discusses what hinders this. In contrast to the educators of the 18th century. Radishchev, speaking of freedom, has in mind not only natural, but also social equality, which must be achieved through the struggle for the rights of the people. He passionately denounces slavery and despotism, the laws established by the autocratic government, which are "an obstacle to freedom." He exposes the alliance of the tsarist government and the Church, which is dangerous for the people, and opposes the monarchy as such.
The monarchy should be replaced by a democratic system based on social equality and freedom. In the "kingdom of freedom" the land will belong to those who cultivate it.
Belief in the future victory of the people's revolution inspires the poet, it is based both on the study of the experience of his country (the peasant uprising led by Pugachev), and on examples taken from the English and American revolutions. Historical events, the historical names of the leaders of the revolution, Cromwell, Washington can be instructive for other peoples. Recreating the controversial image of Cromwell, Radishchev gives him credit for the fact that “... You taught in generation and generation how peoples can take revenge on themselves: you executed Karl at the trial. "
The ode ends with a description of the “chosen day” when the revolution will triumph and renew the “dragoe fatherland”. The pathos of the ode is the belief in the victory of the people's revolution, although the historically minded Radishchev understands that “the year is not yet ready”. The philosophical, journalistic content of the ode finds appropriate stylistic forms of expression. The traditional genre of ode is filled with revolutionary pathos, and the use of Slavicisms, which give a solemn sound to the expressed ideas, only emphasizes the unity of artistic form and content. The success of the ode was enormous.
The theme of the revolution in "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow" by Radishchev. (printed in 1790)
Radishchev began writing Travel in the mid-1980s. There is no calm narrator, immersed in the world of his own feelings and experiences, but there is a man, a citizen, a revolutionary, filled with sympathy for the powerless and indignation for the oppressors. The theme of the revolution sounds in many chapters of "Travel". Pictures of an inhuman attitude towards the people, a consciousness of social injustice, evoke passionate calls from Radishchev to overthrow the power of the feudal landlords. Since most of the people in the autocratic state are "likened to draft animals", humiliated, then the constantly insulted person, "drawn by the feeling of his safety, is forced to reflect the insult" ("Chudovo").
The cruelty and greed of the "bloodsucker" landowner, whose deeds are described in the chapter "Vyshny Volochok", arouses the anger of the traveler, who calls on the people to respond to violence with violence.
Everything that a traveler sees on his way: road meetings, observations of the life of different classes, makes him deeply sympathize with the oppressed people and fills him with a feeling of irreconcilable hostility to the oppressors, the awareness of the need for a revolutionary struggle for the liberation of the people, the struggle of the people themselves. Revolution arises as an inevitable result of oppression.
An open call for an uprising is also heard in the chapter "Gorodnya", which contains a dramatic story about recruiting, about the illegal sale of people to recruits just because their landowner "needed money for a new carriage."
Radishchev believes that the time will come when new people will emerge from the people and freedom will come not from above - "from the great exiles", but from below - "from the very gravity of enslavement", but he understands that "the time has not ripened yet." Historicism of thinking prompted him that the revolution in Russia would take place, but this would take time. Russian reality, the peculiarities of the Russian national character - the guarantee of the inevitability of the revolution.
The experience of the Pugachev uprising also convinces Radishcheva of the people's ability to indignation. However, the revolutionary writer understands that the spontaneous nature of the uprising cannot lead to radical changes in Russian reality, to the victory of the people. In this respect, the chapter "Khotilov" is complex and controversial, in which Radishchev assesses the Pugachev uprising and proposes a possible project for future transformations through reforms.
The basis of "Voyage" is a call to revolution, but Radishchev knew that victory was possible only after decades, and therefore it is quite possible for him to find a solution to the most painful issue - the liberation of the peasants in other ways, one of which is a project as an attempt to alleviate the fate of the people, at least for the nearest future. time.
In parallel with work on "Put. From St. Petersburg to Moscow "Radishchev writes a revolutionary-publicist article" Conversation about the Son of the Fatherland "(1789), published in the Masonic magazine" Talking Citizen ", and at one time there were even doubts that the author of" Conversation "was Radishchev , despite the direct testimony of one of the publishers of "BG" Tuchkov, as well as the fact that the style of "Beseda" corresponds to Radishchev's letter.
Discussing who can be awarded the title of the true son of the fatherland, Radishchev puts forward the main condition: he can only be a "free being." Hence, he denies this title to a serf-dependent peasant, refuses with great pity. But how angry his denunciation of the oppressors sounds, those landowners-serfs, tormentors and oppressors who are accustomed to regard themselves as sons of the fatherland. In the article we have a whole series of satirical portraits of evil, insignificant, frivolous landowners. But who is worthy to be the true son of the fatherland? And Radishchev replies that he can be a man full of honor, nobility, capable of sacrificing everything for the good of the people, and if necessary, if he knows that his death will bring strength and glory to the Fatherland, he is not afraid to sacrifice his life. This is one of the strongest political speeches of Radishchev.
Retelling:
Man, man is needed to bear the name of the son of the Fatherland! - But where is he? where is this one adorned worthily by this majestic name? Serfs are likened to a horse, condemned to carry a cart for life, and who have no hope of freeing themselves from their yoke, receiving equal rewards with a horse, and enduring equal blows; not about those who do not see the end of their yoke, except death, where their labors and their torments will end, although it sometimes happens that cruel sadness, embracing their spirit with reflection, kindles the faint light of their mind, and makes them curse their disastrous state and search.
Or a zazhraty landowner looks more like a monster in his decoration than a man, and his loose life, marked by the stench from his mouth and his whole body, is suffocated by a whole pharmacy of fragrant spraying, in a word, he is a fashionable man, completely fulfilling all the rules of the dandy big light of science ; - he eats, sleeps, wallows in drunkenness and covetousness, in spite of his exhausted strength; changes clothes, talks about all sorts of nonsense, shouts, runs from place to place, in short, he is a dandy. - Isn't this the son of the Fatherland?
Or the one who stretches out his arms to seize the wealth and possessions of his whole Fatherland, and if it were possible, the whole of the world, and who with composure is ready to take from his most unfortunate compatriots and the last crumbs that support their sad and languid life, rob, plunder their dust grains property; who delights in joy if the opportunity for a new acquisition is opened to him;
Discourse on honor.
It has already been proven that a true man and a son of the Fatherland are one and the same; therefore it will be a sure distinguishing feature of him, if he thus Ambitious.
those who pursue glory and praise, not only do not gain them for themselves from others, but even more lose. A true man is a true executor of all his laws, which are provided for bliss; he sacredly obeys them.
He (the son of the fatherland) would rather agree to perish and disappear than to set an example of ill-will to others, and thereby take away the children from the Fatherland, who could be an adornment and support for it; he is afraid to infect the juices of the welfare of his fellow citizens; he is aflame with the most tender love for the integrity and tranquility of his compatriots; nothing so much longs to mature as mutual love between them; he kindles this beneficial flame in all hearts; - is not afraid of the difficulties that he encounters with this noble deed of his; overcomes all obstacles, does not tirelessly watch over the preservation of honesty, gives good advice and instructions, helps the unfortunate, relieves the dangers of delusion and vices, and if he is sure that his death will bring strength and glory to the Fatherland, then he is not afraid to sacrifice his life; if it is needed for the Fatherland, then it preserves it for the utmost observance of natural and domestic laws; as far as possible, he turns away everything that can stain purity, and weaken the good intentions of these, as if destroying the bliss and perfection of his Compatriots. In a word, he well-behaved! Here is another sure sign of the son of the Fatherland! The third and, as it seems, the last distinctive sign of the son of the Fatherland, when he noble... Noble is the one who made himself famous for his wise and philanthropic qualities and deeds; who shines in Society with reason and Virtue, and being inflamed with truly wise love, all his strength and efforts to this only aspires, so that, obeying the laws and their guardians, holding the authorities, both himself and everything that he has, not read differently,
There are names in Russian literature with which the concepts of true, deep patriotism, citizenship, a high sense of duty, honor, truth are associated. These names include the name of Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev. He is a man of high moral character and deep convictions.
You want to know: who am I? what am I? where am i going? -
I am the same as I was, and I will be all my life:
Not cattle, not a tree, not a slave, but a man! -
so Radishchev said about himself in 1790 on the way to the Ilimsky prison, where he was sent after replacing the death penalty with exile to Siberia. For what? For the creation of the book "Travel from St. Petersburg to Moscow". It will then become a common occurrence in Russia when writers, poets, "troublemakers" of the tranquility, "underminers" of the foundations of the autocratic system will serve their exile in the Caucasus and Vyatka, Siberia and Astrakhan. In the meantime, Radishchev, the first Russian revolutionary, is going to the Ilimsky prison. The first is always more difficult, especially if you are alone. What love for the Motherland, faith in the people one had to possess, what kind of personality one had to be in order to oppose the powerful autocracy! Born into a noble family, having received a good education, having a literary talent, Radishchev could have made an excellent career, live comfortably and calmly. But as a person living in the interests of the Fatherland, as a true patriot, he fiercely, angrily and convincingly denounced serfdom.
After reading "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow", "enlightened", known in Europe for her correspondence and personal meetings with French enlighteners, the autocrat Catherine II concluded and wrote: "The rebel is worse than Pugachev." Rebel? Worse than Pugachev? But the rebel Pugachev opposed the autocracy with a weapon in his hands, and Radishchev only wrote the book "The Weight of Gold" (D. Poorny), which he printed in his own printing house in 1790. Radishchev's word, his book in the history of the development of the revolutionary movement in
Russia played a huge role. What kind of book is this, the story of which is “... an amazing story, almost reminiscent of the story of a living being”? (N.P.Smirnov-Sokolsky). The innocuous title - "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow" - a usual description of the trip for that time; there were many of them. But let's open the book. And on the very first page: "I looked around me - my soul became wounded by the suffering of humanity." Already this phrase is alarming, makes you think. It is unlikely that just an idle, amusing, curious traveler would become concerned with the "suffering of humanity". And so the post stations went one after another: Sofia, Tosna, Lyubani, Spasskaya Polest, Mednoe ... Gorodnya ... Pawns ...
Chapter "Lyuban": "The time is hot. Celebration. And the peasant plows with great diligence "-" In a week, sir, six days, and we go to the corvee six times a week. Not only holidays, and our night. Do not be lazy, our brother, he will not die of hunger. " But they were dying! And hundreds, thousands! Because not a single law could (did not want to!) Protect the serf from the tyranny of the landowner. A deeply thinking and strongly feeling human personality, the bearer of a bold progressive thought, Radishchev exclaims: "Fear, hard-hearted landowner, on the foreheads of each of your peasants I see your condemnation!" But evil is not in man. (“A person is born neither good nor evil!”) This means that the existing socio-political system needs to be changed. And this is already a call to riot. Here it is - a rebel! And then chapter by chapter Radishchev proves that autocratic power is cruel and inhuman. “Greedy beasts, insatiable drinkers, what are we leaving to the peasant? what we cannot take away is air. Yes, one air. "
But the patience of the people is not unlimited, not eternal. "I noticed," writes Radishchev in the chapter "Zaitsovo", "from numerous examples that the Russian people are very patient and endure to the very extreme, but when they put an end to their patience, nothing can hold them back ..."
I can already hear the voice of nature ...
(Ode to Liberty)
"The gloomy firmament shook, and freedom shone ... (chapter" Tver "),
Here it is, the pathos of freedom, love of freedom, faith in democracy and democracy.
“Not all those born in the Fatherland are worthy of the majestic
the name of the son of the Fatherland (patriot) ", - argued Radishchev in" Conversation that there is a son of the Fatherland. " - "The son of the Fatherland is not afraid of the difficulties he meets with his noble deed, overcomes all obstacles ... sparing nothing for the good of the Fatherland." The writer himself was a true son of the Fatherland, a patriot. Performing a noble feat for the good of the Fatherland, he did not spare life itself, until the end of his days retaining a proud consciousness - Man (and this word has the deepest meaning).
Radishchev "saw through a whole century." In the "Historical Song" which ends with a "prophetic word", the writer says that the "later descendants" of the glorious people
All obstacles, all strongholds
They will crush with a strong hand.
Not everyone born in the Fatherland deserves the majestic title of the son of the Fatherland (patriot). - Those who are under the yoke of slavery are not worthy to adorn themselves with this name. - Hold on, sensitive heart, do not pronounce your judgment on such sayings, while you stand at Prague. - Enter and see! - Who does not know that the name of the son of the Fatherland belongs to a person, and not to an animal or cattle, or another dumb animal? It is known that man is a free being, since he is endowed with intelligence, reason and free will; that his freedom consists in choosing the best, that he cognizes the best and chooses through reason, comprehends with the help of the mind and always strives for the beautiful, majestic, high. - All these things he finds in a single adherence to natural and frank laws, otherwise called divine, derived from divine and natural civil, or communal. - But in whom are these abilities, these human feelings muffled, can one adorn himself with the majestic name of the son of the Fatherland? “He’s not human, but what? he is lower than cattle; for the cattle also follow their own laws and have not yet noticed a distance from them. But this does not concern the discussion of those most unfortunate people, whom treachery or violence has deprived of this majestic advantage of man, who have been made through such that without coercion and fear they do not produce anything from such feelings, which are likened to draft animals, they do not do above a certain work, from which they cannot free themselves; koi are likened to a horse, condemned to carry a cart for life, and who have no hope of freeing themselves from their yoke, receiving equal rewards with a horse and enduring equal blows; not about those who do not see the end of their yoke, except death, where their labors and their torments will end, although it sometimes happens that cruel sorrow, declaring their spirit a reflection, kindles the faint light of their mind and makes them curse their disastrous state and seek this end; not about those here who do not feel anything other than their humiliation, who crawl and move in their mortal sleep (lethargy), who resemble a person in only one form, otherwise burdened with the weight of their fetters, deprived of all benefits, excluded from the entire heritage of people , oppressed, humiliated, despicable; none other than dead bodies, buried one beside the other; work necessary for a person from fear; they want nothing but death, and by whom the least desire is ordered, and the most insignificant undertakings are executed; they are only allowed to grow, then die; about whom it is not asked, what have they done worthy of humanity? what commendable deeds, traces of their past life, have you left? What good, what benefit did this great number of hands bring to the State? - This is not a word about these; they are not members of the State, they are not human, when they are nothing more than machines driven by the Tormentor, dead corpses, heavy cattle! - Man, man is needed to bear the name of the son of the Fatherland! - But where is he? where is this one adorned worthily by this majestic name? - Is it not in the arms of bliss and covetousness? - Not enveloped in a flame of pride, love of command, violence? - Is it not buried in profanity, envy, malice, enmity and discord with everyone, even those who feel the same with him, and strive for the same thing? - or is it not mired in the mud of laziness, gluttony and drunkenness? - A heifer that flies around from noon (for he then begins his day) the whole city, all the streets, all houses, for the senseless empty speech, for the seduction of chastity, for the infection of good manners, for the capture of simplicity and sincerity, who made his head a flour shop, eyebrows a receptacle of soot, cheeks with boxes of white and red lead, or better to say a picturesque palette, the skin of his body with an elongated drum-like skin looks more like a monster in its decoration than a man, and his dissolute life, marked by a stench from his lips and his whole body, is happening, suffocated by a whole pharmacy of fragrant sprays - in a word, he is a fashionable man, completely fulfilling all the rules of the dandy big world of science; - he eats, sleeps, wallows in drunkenness and covetousness, despite his exhausted strength; changes clothes, talks about all sorts of nonsense, shouts, runs from place to place, in short, he is a dandy. - Isn't this the son of the Fatherland? - or the one who raises his gaze in a majestic manner to the firmament of heaven, tramples with his feet all who are before him, torment his neighbors with violence, persecution, oppression, imprisonment, deprivation of title, property, torment, seduction, deception and murder itself, in a word, by all means known to him alone, tearing apart those who dare to utter the words: humanity, freedom, peace, honesty, holiness, property and others like that? - streams of tears, rivers of blood do not only not touch, but delight his soul. - He should not exist who dares to oppose his speeches, opinions, deeds and intentions! Is this the son of the Fatherland? - Or the one who stretches out his arms to seize the wealth and possessions of his whole Fatherland, and if it were possible, the whole world, and who with coolness is ready to take away from his most unfortunate compatriots and the last crumbs that support their sad and languid life, rob, plunder their motes of property; who delights in joy if the opportunity for a new acquisition is opened to him; let it be paid with rivers of blood of his brothers, let it deprive the last refuge and food of people like him, let them die of hunger, cold, heat; let them mourn, let their children mortify in despair, let them dare their lives for a thousand deaths; All these things will not shake his heart; all this means nothing to him; - he multiplies his property, and that's enough. - So, isn't this the name of the son of the Fatherland? - Or is it not the one sitting at a table filled with the works of all four elements, whom several people taken away from serving the Fatherland donate to the delight of taste and belly, so that, when satiated, he could be transferred to bed, and there he would calmly engage in the consumption of other works, which will he take it into his head while sleep takes away the power to move his jaws? So, of course, this one, or any of the above four? (for the fifth addition is also rarely found separately). The mixture of these four is visible everywhere, but the son of the Fatherland is not yet visible, if he is not among them! - The voice of reason, the voice of laws inscribed in nature and the heart of people, does not agree to call the calculated people the sons of the Fatherland! The very ones who truly are such are the essence, will pronounce judgment (not on themselves, for they do not find themselves that way); but on their own kind and sentenced to exclude such from the number of the sons of the Fatherland; because there is no man, no matter how vicious and blinded by himself, so that he does not feel at all the righteousness and beauty of things and deeds<...>
There is no person who does not feel sorrow, seeing himself humiliated, reviled, enslaved by violence, deprived of all means and ways to enjoy peace and pleasure, and not finding his consolation anywhere. - Does this not prove that he loves Honor, without which he is like without a soul. It is not necessary here to explain that this is a true honor; for the false, instead of deliverance, conquers all of the above, and will never calm the human heart. - Everyone has an innate sense of true honor; but it illuminates the deeds and thoughts of a person as he approaches it, following the lamp of reason, which guides him through the mist of passions, vices and warnings to its quiet, that is, honor, light. - There is not a single mortal who is slightly rejected by nature, who would not have that spring embedded in the heart of every person, directing him to love Honor. Everyone wants to be better respected than reviled, everyone strives for further improvement, celebrity and glory: no matter how hard the caress of Alexander the Great, Aristotle, tries to prove the opposite to himself, arguing that nature itself has already arranged the race of mortals in such a way that one a much larger part of these must certainly be in a slave state, and therefore, not feel that there is Honor? and the other in the dominant, because not many have noble and majestic feelings. - It is not controversial that a much noble part of the mortal race is immersed in the gloom of barbarism, atrocities and slavery; but this in no way proves that man was not born with a feeling that directs him to greatness and to perfect himself, and, consequently, to the love of true glory and Honor. The reason for this is either the kind of life spent, or the circumstances in which to be forced, or lack of experience, or the violence of the enemies of the righteous and lawful exaltation of human nature, subjecting it by force and deceit to blindness and slavery, which the human mind and heart weakening, imposing the grave fetters of contempt and oppression , overwhelming the strength of the spirit of the eternal. - Do not justify yourself here, oppressors, villains of humanity, that these terrible bonds are the essence of an order that requires subordination. Oh, if you penetrated the chain of all nature, as much as you can, and you can a lot, then you would feel other thoughts in yourself; would find that love, and not violence, contains only the beautiful order and subordination in the world. All nature is subject to it, and where it is, there are no terrible disgraces * * that draw tears of compassion from sensitive hearts, and at which the true Friend of humanity shudders. - What would nature represent then, except for a mixture of discordant (chaos), if it were deprived of this spring? Indeed, she would be deprived of the greatest way to both preserve and improve herself. Everywhere and with every person is born this fiery love of gain Honor and praise from others. - This comes from the innate human feeling of their own limitations and dependence. This feeling is only strong that it always prompts people to acquire for themselves those abilities and advantages, through which love is earned both from people and from the highest being, evidenced by the delight of conscience; and having earned the favor and respect of others, a person acts trustworthy in the means of preserving and improving himself. - And if this is so, then who doubts that this strong love for Honor and the desire to acquire the delight of one's conscience with benevolence and praise from others is the greatest and most reliable means, without which human well-being and improvement cannot be? - For what will then be left for a person to overcome the difficulties that are inevitable on the path leading to the attainment of blissful peace, and to refute that cowardly feeling, which inspires awe when looking at his shortcomings? - What is the means to get rid of the fear of falling forever under the terrible burden of these? if you take away, first, a refuge filled with sweet hope to the highest being, not as an avenger, but as the source and beginning of all blessings; and then to those like themselves, with whom nature has united us, for the sake of mutual help, and who internally bow to the readiness to provide it and, with all the muffling of this inner voice, feel that they should not be those blasphemers who hinder the righteous human striving for perfection yourself, who planted in man this feeling to seek refuge? - An innate feeling of dependence, clearly showing us this dualistic means to our salvation and pleasure. - And what, finally, prompts him to join this path? what impels him to unite with these two human bliss by means, and to care to please them? - Truly, nothing but an innate fiery urge to acquire for oneself those abilities and beauty, through which the favor of God and the love of one's brethren, the desire to become worthy of their favor and patronage, is earned. - He who considers human deeds will see that this is one of the main springs of all the greatest works in the world! - and this is the beginning of that urge to love Honor, which was sown in man at the beginning of his creation! This is the reason for the feeling of that delight, which is usually always associated with the heart of a person, how soon it is poured out on this grace of God, which consists in sweet silence and the delight of conscience, and how soon he acquires the love of his own kind, which is usually portrayed by joy when looking at him, by praises, exclamations. - This is the object to which true people strive and where they find their true pleasure! It has already been proven that a true man and a son of the Fatherland are one and the same; consequently, it will be a sure distinguishing feature of him, if he thus Ambitious.
With this, he begins to decorate the majestic name of the son of the Fatherland, the Monarchy. For this he must honor his conscience, love his neighbors; for love is acquired by one love; must fulfill his title in the way that prudence and honesty commands, not caring in the least about reward, honor, exaltation and glory, which is a companion, or even more, a shadow, always following virtue, illuminated by the non-evening sun of righteousness; for those who pursue glory and praise, not only do not gain them for themselves from others, but even more lose.
A true man is a true executor of all his laws, which are appointed for bliss; he sacredly obeys them. - Noble and alien empty sanctity and hypocrisy modesty accompanies all his feelings, words and deeds. He submits with reverence to all that order, improvement and general salvation require; there is no low state for him in serving the Fatherland; in serving him, he knows that he is promoting the healthful treatment, so to speak, of the blood of the state body. - He would rather agree to perish and disappear than to set an example of ill-will to others and thereby take away children from the Fatherland, who could be an adornment and a support thereof; he is afraid to infect the juices of the welfare of his fellow citizens; he is aflame with the most tender love for the integrity and tranquility of his compatriots; nothing longs to mature as much as mutual love between them; he kindles this beneficial flame in all hearts; he is not afraid of the difficulties he meets with this noble deed of his; overcomes all obstacles, tirelessly watches over the preservation of honesty, gives good advice and instructions, helps the unfortunate, relieves the dangers of delusion and vices, and if he is sure that his death will bring strength and glory to the Fatherland, then he is not afraid to sacrifice his life; if it is needed for the Fatherland, then it preserves it for the utmost observance of natural and domestic laws; as far as possible, he averts everything that can tarnish the purity and weaken the good intentions of these, as if destroying the bliss and perfection of his compatriots. In a word, he well-behaved! Here is another sure sign of the son of the Fatherland! The third and, as it seems, the last distinguishing mark of the son of the Fatherland, when he noble. Noble is the one who made himself famous for his wise and philanthropic qualities and deeds; who shines in society with reason and virtue and, being inflamed with truly wise love, all his strength and efforts to this only aspires, so that, obeying the laws and their guardians, the powers that be, both of himself and all that he has, do not to venerate it otherwise than as belonging to the Fatherland, to use it in the same way as the pledge of the goodwill of his compatriots and his sovereign entrusted to him, who is the father of the people, sparing nothing for the good of the Fatherland. He is directly noble, whose heart cannot but tremble with tender joy at the single name of the Fatherland, and who does not feel otherwise, with that memory (which is in him incessantly), as it were, it was said about the most precious of all in the world of his honor. He does not sacrifice the good of the Fatherland to prejudices, which rush, as if brilliant, in his eyes; sacrifices everything for his good; his supreme reward consists in virtue, that is, in that inner harmony of all inclinations and desires, which the wise creator pours into an immaculate heart, and to which in its silence and pleasure nothing in the light can become like. For the true nobility there are virtuous deeds, revived by true honor, which is not found anywhere, as in the continuous beneficence of the human race, but mainly to its compatriots, rewarding everyone according to dignity and according to the prescribed laws of Nature and Public Administration. Decorated with these only qualities, both in enlightened antiquity, and today are honored with true praises. And here is the third distinguishing mark of the son of the Fatherland!
But no matter how brilliant, no matter how glorious, or delightful for every well-meaning heart, these qualities of the son of the Fatherland, and although everyone is akin to have these, they cannot but be unclean, mixed, dark, confused, without proper education and enlightenment by Sciences and Knowledge, without which this best human ability is conveniently, as always it was and is, turns into the most harmful impulses and aspirations and floods entire states with evil righteousness, anxiety, discord and disorder. For then human concepts are dark, confused and completely chimerical. - Why, before anyone wants to have the mentioned qualities of a true person, it is necessary that first of all he accustom his spirit to hard work, diligence, obedience, modesty, intelligent compassion, to the desire to do good to everyone, to the love of the Fatherland, to the desire to imitate great examples in that, so also to love for sciences and arts, as much as the rank sent to the hostel allows; would apply to an exercise in history and philosophy or philosophy; not a school one, for the only converse of words, but in a true one, teaching a person his true duties; and for the purification of taste, I would love to look at the paintings of great artists, music, statues, architecture or architecture.
Very much will be mistaken who will regard this reasoning with that Platonic system of social education, which events will never be seen, when in our eyes a kind of such education, and based on these rules, was introduced by the wise monarchs, and enlightened Europe sees with amazement its successes, going back to the intended goal with gigantic steps!
Radishchev A.N. Full collection op.
M .; L .; 1938 T. I ... S. 213-224.
A.N. Radishchev is a writer, publicist, philosopher. Introduced into Russian literature the idea of a revolutionary transformation of society, the enemy of serfdom. Author of the book "Travel from St. Petersburg to Moscow". The article "Conversation about the Son of the Fatherland" was first published in the monthly magazine "Talking Citizen" (1789, Part III) anonymously for security reasons.
The largest among publicists in Russia at the end of the 18th century. was Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev. He went down in the history of Russian educational philosophical thought as a decisive opponent of autocracy and serfdom. Radishchev, having begun his education in Russia, continued it at the University of Leipzig, where he became acquainted with the ideas of Western philosophers. Returning to Russia in 1771, he was actively involved in the ideological struggle, combining it with service in the Senate and literary activity.
In 1790, in his home printing house, Radishchev published a small brochure "Letter to a friend who lives in Tobolsk due to the duty of his title." This letter to an unknown addressee is dated August 8, 1782 and is dedicated to the description of the opening in St. Petersburg of the monument to Peter I by Falcone.
In essence, this work is an account of the celebration, accompanied by statements about the role of monarchs. This essay is a truly journalistic work, it "asks" for the pages of a magazine or newspaper. But the author's thoughts are too bold, so it was impossible to print the letter in the censored press. To publish it, and without a signature, Radishchev was able to only after he started a home printing house.
In "Letter to a Friend" the writer tells about the ceremony in sufficient detail. Then Radishchev describes the monument, explaining the allegorical nature of the image: the stone is the obstacles that Peter I had to overcome; the snake symbolizes the ruler's ill-wishers, etc. The precise and laconic lines of the report are interrupted by the author's reasoning. So, noting the appearance of Catherine II, who arrived by the river at the head of the court flotilla, Radishchev notes that the popular recognition of Peter's merits would be much more sincere if it were not artificially inspired by the appearance of the empress.
Radishchev recognizes the merits of Peter I, agrees that the ruler is worthy of the title "Great". However, the writer saw negative aspects in the reign of Peter: the imperious autocrat enslaved his people, made freedom an unattainable dream. According to Radishchev, Peter could have glorified his rule even more if he had given freedom to the Russian people.
However, Radishchev understands that this is practically impossible: not a single sovereign will sacrifice any of his autocratic rights. As mentioned above, the publicist was able to publish "Letter to a Friend" much later, only eight years later. The History of Russian Journalism has an interesting remark on this matter: “... after the explosion of the French bourgeois revolution, Radishchev made the following note to the concluding lines:“ If this had been written in 1790, the example of Ludwig XVI would have given the writer different thoughts. ” In other words, there is no need to ask the sovereign for mercy - he can and should be deprived of the throne in order to achieve freedom for the people. "
In 1789, in the December issue of the journal "Talking Citizen", he published an article entitled "Conversation about the Son of the Fatherland."
The magazine "Talking Citizen" was published from January to December of this year in St. Petersburg by the "Society of Friends of Verbal Sciences". There are different points of view on the question of the role of Radishchev in this publication. On the one hand, "History of Russian Journalism" edited by Professor A.V. Zapadov. believes that Radishchev was a member of this society, joining it as a senior comrade. “At that time he was working on Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow, the ideas and images of this great book worried him unusually, he was looking for like-minded people, longed to meet with the audience, and the“ friends of verbal sciences ”listened to Radishchev with trepidation and admiration. The languid, long, moralizing articles, with a bias towards religious morality, which filled the pages of the magazine, were suddenly illuminated by the fiery word of Radishchev ... ".
On the other hand, "The History of Russian Journalism" under the leadership of L.P. Gromova. states: "The face of the magazine was still composed of materials of religious and philosophical content ... It is unlikely that Radishchev, ... skeptical, if not negative, regarding the church as a support of political despotism, could approve of such materials, had he been a participant and ideological leader of the publication." And below: "Thus, we do not have any direct evidence of Radishchev's participation in the Talking Citizen, not to mention the facts in favor of recognizing him as the" inspirer of the magazine "."
Nevertheless, "Conversation about the Son of the Fatherland" is an expression of Radishchev's educational ideas. The writer, wishing to preserve the manner of "The Conversing Citizen" by sight, wrote not an article, but a "conversation", adopted the genre of instruction, teaching adopted in this magazine.
According to the author, not everyone can be called the son of the Fatherland. A true patriot must have many moral qualities: honor, good deeds, modesty, devotion, nobility. The writer believes that noble is the one who performs wise and benevolent deeds, is smart and virtuous, and most of all cares about the glory and benefit of the Motherland. These are the qualities of a true son of the fatherland. They need to be developed in oneself with the help of education, studying science, becoming an enlightened person. In addition, it is necessary to learn philosophy and get acquainted with works of art.
In "Conversation about the Son of the Fatherland" Radishchev sets as his task to awaken a sense of civic duty, a sense of patriotism, to bring the reader to an understanding of the tasks set by the growing revolutionary wave in Europe, but does not openly call for revolution.
In July 1789, Radishchev began to publish his most daring work - "A Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow." The first readers saw in Radishchev's book the ideas of the revolutionary transformation of Russia, the idea of the need to overthrow the monarchical power by means of a popular uprising. However, the content of Radishchev's book is not limited to criticism of the autocracy and is generally not limited to socio-political issues. Be that as it may, the starting point of the book is educational. The revolutionary ideas in Radishchev's "Journey ..."
Usually, discussions about the socio-political ideas of Travel ... do not take into account that this is not a treatise, but a work of fiction, in which the author's point of view may not coincide with the hero's point of view. In many ways, the Traveler is a twin of the author, but there are also significant differences. The traveler is extremely quick-tempered, unrestrained, sensitive. and in life Radishchev was a highly restrained person, even secretive. Having conveyed his thoughts and feelings to his hero, endowing him with many features of his own personality, Radishchev, at the same time, separated him from himself with some inconsistencies in his biography and character.
The main theme of "Travel ..." is the theme of law and lawlessness. In "Sofia" the law is violated by everyone: the coachman who illegally demands for vodka, the postal commissioner who does not fulfill his duties. Lawlessness is occupied by the solicitor from the chapter "Tosna", ready to compose a fake genealogy for anyone. The chapter "Lyubani" examines the very concept of law in its relation to human rights. It turns out, on the one hand, the existing laws violate everything, on the other, the laws of the Russian Empire themselves are legalized lawlessness from the point of view of the educational concept of "natural law" and "social contract".
Then Radishchev turns to the problem of the enlightened monarch. According to the theory of "enlightened absolutism", such a monarchy is tantamount to a constitutional, or at least a monarchy limited by laws based on "natural law." In a dream, the Traveler sees just such an enlightened monarch. This is the peculiarity of Radishchev's "Travel ...": he showed not a tyrant on the throne, but such a monarch that all educational literature dreamed of. The stronger the exposure of lawlessness sounds in the second part of the "dream": since something like this can happen under an "enlightened" sovereign, then the very principle of monarchy is not suitable. This is the conclusion of the first compositional part.
In Podberezye, Radishchev disputes the idea of enlightenment as a means of improving life, argues with the Freemasons about the expediency of spiritual and religious enlightenment. In the chapter "Novgorod" he proves that it is impossible to pin hopes on the merchants. In the chapter "Bronnitsy" Radishchev refutes hopes for the "second coming" of Christ. In the chapter "Zaitsovo" Radishchev tells the story of Krestyankin, an honest, disinterested, just man with an inner harmony of mind and heart. And yet Krestyankin is failing. The only thing that an honest official can do is to resign and not participate in lawlessness. The chapter "The Peasants" is entirely devoted to the problem of education, Radishchev proposes a whole system of educating a citizen, but education will not save the country and the people. The chapters "Khotilov", "Vydroposk", "Copper" connected by one character, are devoted to the idea of "reforms from above". The author's conclusion is this: for the "reform from above" to be carried out, social and political conditions are necessary, which do not exist in Russia. Hopes for the power of the printed word are destroyed in Torzhok. Finally, the author concludes: "Freedom ... should be expected ... from the very severity of enslavement." "Tver" is the culminating chapter of the second compositional part, since here Radishchev substantiated the idea of the most real way of transforming reality - a revolutionary one. The inevitability of the people's revolution is the main idea of the ode "Liberty". Having substantiated the need for a revolution, Radishchev had to say how it could be realized. The answer to this question is contained in the chapter "Gorodnya": educated peasants who have realized the severity of bondage — this is the stratum that can combine the revolutionary thought of the progressive nobility with the spontaneous real might of the peasantry.