The cunning Talleyrand wrote to N. P. Rumyantsev: "You combine French courtesy with English depth and the dexterity of an Italian with the firmness of a Russian." This is not just flattery - the count really combined many virtues and talents. Moreover, he showed them not only in the diplomatic field.
Rod Rumyantsev
The Rumyantsev family did not belong to the noble family, close to the throne from time immemorial. The grandfather of our hero, Alexander Rumyantsev, was just the son of a seedy Kostroma nobleman. However, he was lucky, standing on the clock in the palace, to attract the attention of Peter I. The quick young man won the favor of the autocrat and subsequently very deftly carried out his instructions - including a very delicate one. For example, he participated in the return of a fugitive from abroad. Appreciating Rumyantsev, Peter related him to the old boyar family of the Matveevs, insisting that Count Andrei Artamonovich Matveev give his daughter Marya to Rumyantsev.
From this marriage, a field marshal, one of the "Catherine's eagles", was born. Having married Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Golitsyna, he became the father of three sons - Mikhail (1751-1811), Nikolai (1754-1826) and Sergei (1755-1838). All three remained single, and the Rumyantsev family died out in this generation. However, you can continue in history in many ways - and not only matrimonial, which we will try to show on the example of Nikolai Petrovich Rumyantsev.
Envoy Extraordinary
The middle son of P. A. Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky was born in Moscow, where he spent his first years, receiving home education under the guidance of his mother. His father, distracted from family concerns by military campaigns and state affairs, he saw little in childhood and adolescence.
Nineteen years old, Nikolai Rumyantsev was presented to the court - and presented in a completely triumphant atmosphere. Just now, thanks to Rumyantsev's victories, the Kyuchuk-Kainarji peace treaty was concluded (and it was on that day, July 10, 1775, that the empress ordered the field marshal to be called "Transdanubian" - "to glorify his dangerous crossing of the Danube"). Naturally, the sons of the hero of such a celebration were received by the Empress in a very special way. Nikolai was granted the chamber junker, and soon, in 1776, he already received his first diplomatic assignment: he went to Vienna with a notice of the entry of Tsarevich Paul into a new marriage.
This was followed by the promotion of Nikolai Petrovich to actual chamberlains and his appointment as "Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Frankfurt am Main." He remained in this post for fifteen years, fulfilling the delicate commissions of the empress (thus, through him, the marriage of Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich with Princess Louise of Baden was arranged) and growing in ranks.
Nikolai Rumyantsev Minister of Foreign Affairs
Under Paul I, Rumyantsev headed the Department of Water Communications, and it was under him that the construction of the Mariinsky water system began, connecting the Volga basin with the Baltic Sea, which was necessary to supply St. Petersburg with bread.
Alexander I again called Rumyantsev into the sphere of international relations - now as Minister of Foreign Affairs:
“As a minister, Rumyantsov accompanied the Sovereign to Erfurt, and from there was sent to Paris for negotiations with Napoleon, who in 1809 invited the count to mediate for the reconciliation of Austria with France. During his stay in Paris, Mr. Rumyantsov especially enjoyed the favor of Emperor Napoleon, who, once speaking of his extensive knowledge, added that he had not yet seen any Russian with such profound knowledge of history and diplomacy. The glorious treaty concluded in 1810 in Friedrichsgam, which established Finland forever for Russia, gave him the title of State Chancellor ”(biographical sketch of A. D. Ivanovsky).
Hit
It must be said that Count Rumyantsev not only "particularly enjoyed the favor" of Napoleon, but also had an inexplicable power of attorney for him, which stretched very far and gave evil tongues a reason to gossip about secret negotiations that he allegedly conducted with the French emperor. Already having news of the entry of the Napoleonic army into the Russian borders, Rumyantsev did not want to believe them and became convinced of their truth only after receiving confirmation from Alexander I himself. This confirmation cost him his health: the count suffered an apoplexy.
Thus, since 1812, Rumyantsev found himself aloof from active state activity. Although his health improved to some extent, as a result of the stroke he almost lost his hearing. After repeated petitions, he finally received the expected resignation and was able, having left for his beloved Gomel, to complete the construction and collect antiquities. Or, as V. O. Klyuchevsky figuratively expressed about the beginning of this period in the life of Count V. O. Klyuchevsky, “from the whirlpool of acute international relations of the Napoleonic era, he took refuge in the abode of archeology and paleography.”
"Rumyantsev circle"
Having taken refuge in the named "cloister", N.P. Rumyantsev did an exceptionally lot for her. As a collector of domestic (mainly) antiquities, as a rallying around him like-minded people and colleagues, he knew no equal. The community of prospectors that formed under him (it is known as the Rumyantsev Circle, although it was not formalized by charter, list of participants, etc.) did an extremely important job, collecting and publishing - and thereby introducing into scientific circulation, laying, in essence, , the foundation of modern historical science is a multitude of documents. At his own expense, the count organized "expeditions" to the monasteries, extracting from the local book depositories (sometimes very disorderly) real treasures of ancient Russian literature.
Rumyantsev's most constant associates were A.F. Malinovsky, K. F. Kalaidovich, P. M. Stroev, D.N. Bantysh-Kamensky. But to one degree or another, other figures of the era also joined the Rumyantsev circle. In particular, Rumyantsev's correspondence with Metropolitan Evgeny (Bolkhovitinov), who was not alien to historical studies, was quite lively.
Rumyantsev initially thought of his collecting (this is, of course, a very incomplete definition) activity as aimed at the benefit of society, for the benefit of enlightenment. And in this regard, he thought and acted in the context of his time.
The Rumyantsev Museum formed the basis of the Russian State Library
Here it is necessary to emphasize once again that Rumyantsev's sacrifice was not limited to money alone. Not at all. He donated his museum to Russia for at least ten years of his life, spent in tireless work, animated by a sincere desire to serve the national science. At the same time, in his “born” circle, the count was often known as an eccentric - precisely because of his “archaeological predilections”. “To many of Count Nikolai Petrovich’s contemporaries,” writes A. D. Ivanovsky, “it seemed strange that the State Chancellor, a dignitary so close to the Sovereign, such a wealthy nobleman, valued scraps of papers that were barely easily disassembled, collected scraps of parchment bindings and various charter sheets, on which were words that few people understand.
But it was these very sheets and scraps that immortalized the name of Rumyantsev, and who among his contemporaries, high-ranking boyars, would have thought that from scraps of ancient manuscripts he would make a majestic building that would enlighten national history and make an indestructible monument to his name.
The Rumyantsev Museum, whose collection formed the basis of the Russian State Library, is undoubtedly the main fruit of the count's labors. Having bequeathed his library (28,000 volumes, of which 104 copies of incunabula, editions of Elseviers, many Russian early printed and handwritten books) and collections "for the common good", Nikolai Petrovich really "immortalized". And also - and this, standing in front of such a majestic deed of Rumyantsev, is rarely and little spoken about - he equipped the expeditions of Kruzenshtern and Kotzebue at his own expense. And now the Siagrus Rumyantsev palm tree grows in South America, and the Rumyantsev Sailboat butterfly lives in the Philippines, Sumatra and Java.
The count died on January 3, 1826 in his St. Petersburg house, bequeathed by him, along with all the above wealth, to society.
Russian count, statesman, collector and philanthropist. Head and financier of the Rumyantsev Circle, which united Russian historians and archaeologists.
Nikolai Rumyantsev received a good education at home and in 1774 went to Europe to continue his education. He visited: Paris, Geneva, Berlin, Rome, Venice and, returning in 1779 to Russia, where, at the request of his father, he devoted himself to state activities ...
At the start of the War of 1812, N.P. Rumyantsev He was paralyzed and almost completely deaf. Considering it impossible to continue to engage in state affairs, in 1814 he resigned and took up his favorite pastime - collecting ancient manuscripts, coins, medals, etc. He was not married and left no offspring.
“Among book lovers and publishers, a very special place is occupied by Nikolai Petrovich Rumyantsev, who was not only a bibliophile, but a great patriot-educator. Gr. N.P. Rumyantsev, son of the famous military leader Field Marshal gr. P.A. Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky, was one of the most remarkable people of the 1st half of the last century. A prominent statesman, in the past one of the "young friends" of the young Alexander I, member of the Unspoken Committee, Minister of Commerce, and later - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chairman of the State Council, from his youth he was fond of national history. Later, already occupying high government posts, he continued to devote all his free time to his beloved work. Realizing that "only by the united forces of many can Russian history be advanced," Rumyantsev rallied like-minded scientists around him. As one of his friends wrote about him, “not loving scattering (i.e. entertainment - Note by I.L. Vikentiev), leaving only to the court, he devoted his leisure time to serious reading and liked to gather at the table a small but select society of educated people. Historians, archeographers, linguists P.M. Stroev, K.F. Kalaidovich, A.X. Vostokov, navigator and geographer I.F. Kruzenshtern, bibliographer Anastasevich, historian Academician F.I. Krug, Metropolitan of Novgorod Evgeny (Bolkhovitinov), historiographer of the Russian fleet Berkh, orientalist Yartsev. Gradually, scientific ties are expanding, Rumyantsev attracts German, Polish, and French researchers to the work of the circle. The purpose of the activities of Rumyantsev and his friends is to find and publish monuments of the history of ancient Russia. The search for manuscript sources was carried out both in Russia and abroad. On behalf of Rumyantsev, Stroev examined many monastic libraries and archives in 1817-18; Based on the materials of his research, "Sofia Vremennik" was published. The historian Krug collected for Rumyantsev information about unknown Byzantine writings about Russia in the archives of England, Italy and Spain, Koeppen - in the German archives, where he made a copy of the contract between Prince Smolensky and Riga in 1229. Rumyantsev transferred this valuable document to the archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The materials collected by Koeppen were included in the publication "Collection of Slavic monuments located outside of Russia." At the expense of Rumyantsev, “Ancient Russian Poems Collected by Kirshe Danilov” (1818), “Monuments of Russian Literature of the 12th Century” were also published. (M., 1821), “Belarusian archive of ancient letters” (M., 1824), “Laws led. book. John III and his grandson Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich" (1819). In 1811, Rumyantsev, being chairman of the State Council, established the Commission for the Printing of State Letters and Treaties to publish documents on Russia's domestic and foreign policy. Rumyantsev generously subsidized the publication of the Collection of State Letters and Treaties, undertaken by the Academy of Sciences. Publishing scientific activity of N.P. Rumyantseva was unique in her way, but gradually the publishing business is gaining a certain popularity and is used by some landowners even for economic purposes. So, there is information that the famous temporary worker of the Alexander time, gr. Arakcheev had a printing house on his estate.
Yakovkina N.I., History of Russian culture. First half of the 19th century, St. Petersburg, Lan, 1998, p. 78-79.
In 1831, based on personal collections N.P. Rumyantsev the Rumyantsev Museum was created (since 1862 it has been located in Moscow).
“Also one of the best private libraries in Russia was the library of gr. N.P. Rumyantsev. Outstanding dignitary of the era Alexander I, being fond of national history, for many years he collected scientific works on philosophy, history, art, searched for and studied ancient Russian and Slavic chronicles, collected medals and ancient coins. Housed in the Rumyantsev mansion, on the corner of the former Galernaya and Angliskaya embankments, this library consisted of 28 512 volumes of the rarest editions, among which were incunabula (the first books printed before 1500 in a set invented by I. Gutenberg), and books printed by Iv. Fedorov. The pride of the owner was also a unique collection of manuscripts in the amount of 810 units. ridge The historical department of the library contained 1200 volumes. In addition to scientific literature, the library also had a significant collection of geographical maps and various drawings, since its owner, having various interests, was also fond of geographical sciences, and even in 1813, at his own expense, organized a round-the-world expedition under the command of Lieutenant Kotzebue. In the Rumyantsev mansion, in addition to the library, collections of coins and medals (1,500 copies) and 13,000 samples of various types of minerals were collected. During the life of N.P. Rumyantsev, his collection was widely used by familiar scientists and writers. As his biographer noted, the count "gave the means to do the necessary research, lending materials from his library" ... How many famous writers and scientists used his books ... not to mention Grigorovich, Krug, Lerberg, who were in frequent contact with him - and Metropolitan Eugene, Senkovsky, Kunitsyn and many others. But Rumyantsev provided extensive assistance to Russian science not only during his lifetime. According to his will, a rich library, a collection of coins, paintings, minerals located in a mansion on the English Embankment were transferred to St. Petersburg and were to become a city museum. The brother of Nikolai Pavlovich, who took care of the opening of the museum, successfully completed them by 1828. Once a week, the museum was fully open to the public, on other days visitors could read and make extracts in the library in summer from 10 am to 8 pm, in winter - from 10 am to 3 pm. In 1831, the Rumyantsev Museum and Library were transferred to the Ministry of Education. Over time, the building of the mansion began to deteriorate, and the ministry did not allocate funds to maintain it. Finally, the director of the Public Library M.A. Korf, who managed the museum, agreed to his transfer to Moscow, hoping that the money from the sale of the house would be transferred to him. Despite the protests of a young employee of the Public Library V.V. Stasova, who even addressed the led. book. Konstantin Nikolaevich, in the winter of 1860, the Rumyantsev Museum was transferred to Moscow, where the book collection served as the basis for the city, then the largest Russian library (later named after Lenin), and the paintings and the collection of coins were later transferred to the Moscow Museum of Fine Arts, which was being formed.
Yakovkina N.I., History of Russian culture. First half of the 19th century, St. Petersburg, Lan, 1998, p. 89-90.
He was not just fond of collecting, but, judging by his spiritual evolution, he came to this occupation, having developed a certain view of the place of culture in society and the state. On the pediment of his museum, an inscription was made in bronze letters: "From State Chancellor Count Rumyantsev to Good Enlightenment", and above the bust in Latin - "non solum armis"(not just weapons). We are talking about Nikolai Petrovich Rumyantsev.
He was born in 1754, received an excellent education at home, then, at the request of Empress Catherine II, he studied abroad. At the age of 19 he was granted the chamber junker of the Imperial Court, then appointed envoy to Frankfurt am Main, where he stayed for about 15 years. In August 1801, Rumyantsev was appointed a member of the State Council, and then received the post of director of the Department of Water Communications, which he managed until April 1809. With the establishment of ministries in 1802, Rumyantsev was simultaneously appointed Minister of Commerce and remained in this position until the abolition of the Ministry in June 1811 and the transfer of affairs to the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Finance.
Rumyantsev paid attention to the development of the export of Russian goods, trade along the Transcaucasian coast. Under him, the beginning of the production of sugar from sugar beets was laid: the first plant was built in the Tula province. On February 24, 1808, by decree of Alexander I, Rumyantsev was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, leaving behind him the post of Minister of Commerce.
According to his political views, Nikolai Petrovich was known as an adherent of the alliance between Russia and France. Back in 1805, after the battle of Austerlitz, he spoke out against a break with France, strongly advising "save Russia's forces for its own immediate goals". Adhering to the line of maintaining relations with France, Rumyantsev foresaw, however, that sooner or later France and its allies would declare war on Russia.
For the first time as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the international arena, Rumyantsev made himself known in the Russian-French negotiations on the division of the Turkish Empire, in which he introduced some of his own views on the tasks of Russian foreign policy in the Middle East. It is no coincidence that many contemporaries believed that he wanted to fulfill the precepts of his father, Field Marshal Rumyantsev, in the East. The insistence of Nikolai Petrovich in defending the plan to transfer the straits and Constantinople to Russia, the French ambassador in St. Petersburg, Caulaincourt, explained that he holds in his hands not only the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs, but also of Commerce, and the latter position prompts him to take great care of Russian trade on the Black Sea. sea, which cannot be considered secured without Russian control over the straits. The Petersburg negotiations ended in failure, since the Russian government, not without reason, saw in the French proposals only Napoleon's desire to facilitate the conquests in the west of Europe by diverting the forces of England and Russia to the East.
In the autumn of 1808, Rumyantsev accompanied Alexander I to Erfurt for a meeting with Napoleon, where he negotiated with French Foreign Minister Champagny. The result of the meeting of the two emperors was a secret convention signed by the ministers on October 12 and ratified by the monarchs on the same day. It was concluded for a period of 10 years and confirmed the renewal of the alliance concluded by France and Russia in Tilsit.
In October 1808, Rumyantsev left for Paris with the authority of Alexander I to conclude a peace treaty with England, which, however, refused to negotiate. After the Swedish king Gustav IV rejected the demands to break with England and join the continental blockade, Russian troops, according to the terms of the Tilsit Treaty, entered Finland. On March 28, the Russian government announced the annexation of Finland and took a number of measures that put it in a special position, and a month later, Rumyantsev sent an appeal to the inhabitants of Finland, which explained that the Finnish nobility and officers would not suffer any losses due to the annexation of Finland to Russia, that this joining will give merchants and artisans the opportunity to increase their income. Rumors about the enslavement of the peasants were refuted.
In March 1809, the emperor and Rumyantsev attended the opening of the Finnish Diet in Borgo, where they discussed the creation of the armed forces of Finland, taxes, the monetary system, and the appointment of members to the Government Council. On March 29, the oath of estates took place and the letter of Alexander I was announced on the preservation of the ancient institutions and religion of the inhabitants of Finland.
In August 1809, Rumyantsev negotiated with the Swedish commissioner Steding, which resulted in the Friedrichsgam peace treaty signed on September 17, which ended the Russian-Swedish war of 1808-1809. According to the treaty, all of Finland, including the Aland Islands, went to Russia. Assessing the participation of Rumyantsev in the negotiations with Sweden, Alexander I wrote: "It was impossible to negotiate with great talent and wisdom. Russia owes you gratitude."
For the successful conclusion of the Friedrichsham Treaty, Rumyantsev received the title of State Chancellor - the highest rank in the civil hierarchy of the Russian Empire. In 1810, Nikolai Petrovich became the first chairman of the newly reorganized State Council, the country's highest legislative institution.
Remaining at the same time the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Nikolai Petrovich Rumyantsev in April 1812 accompanied Alexander I to Vilna, where the emperor went to inspect the troops gathered on the western borders. On the way back to Petersburg, the chancellor fell seriously ill, which delayed his return to the capital. However, he was able to successfully complete negotiations with the Spanish representative on the conclusion of an alliance treaty between Russia and Spain. The treaty signed on July 20 proclaimed friendship and alliance between Russia and Spain. The parties announced their intention to wage war against France and provide assistance to each other.
This was the last foreign policy action in which Rumyantsev participated, since later, until August 1814, when the emperor granted Nikolai Petrovich's resignation, he remained at the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry only nominally. The title of State Chancellor was reserved for Rumyantsev for life.
Having accepted Rumyantsev's resignation, Emperor Alexander I sent him a letter in which he noted: “By my attention to your merits, which you know, you can judge how sad it is for me to satisfy your desire. that will allow it."
Having finished his public career, Nikolai Petrovich, who by that time still retained a lot of strength and energy, according to Klyuchevsky, "from the whirlpool of acute international relations of the Napoleonic era, he took refuge in the abode of archeology and paleography", "became an ardent admirer of the national Russian antiquity and a tireless collector of its monuments."
Interest in history, Rumyantsev appeared in his youth. In 1790, he invited Catherine II to start publishing treatises and treaties concluded by Russia with other states, expressing his readiness to assume all the costs of publishing. But at that time his proposal was not supported, and only when Rumyantsev became the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, he received permission from Alexander I in 1811 to establish a Special Commission for printing state letters and treaties at the Moscow Archives of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs.
With the personal participation and financial support of Nikolai Petrovich, "Ancient Russian poems collected by Kirshey Danilov and re-published, with the addition of 35 hitherto unknown songs and fairy tales, and notes for melody" and "The Laws of Grand Duke John Vasilyevich and the Sudebnik of the Tsar and Grand Duke" were published John Vasilyevich with additional decrees and handwriting samples" Rumyantsev spent about 300 thousand rubles on various publications and scientific enterprises.
Since 1802, N.P. Rumyantsev lived in St. Petersburg in his house on the English Embankment, where he occupied the main floor of the house, and in other halls and rooms were kept manuscripts, medals, coins and an extensive library. Dying, he instructed his brother Sergei Petrovich Rumyantsev to provide "for the common good" the entire collection of his collections.
According to the desire of the chancellor, his ashes were transferred to the family estate in Gomel, where Rumyantsev lived after his retirement, and interred in the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul. A black marble plinth was erected over his grave, on which a half-length bronze bust of the chancellor stood next to the bronze figure of the Angel of Peace with a palm branch in his hand. The following words were carved on the pedestal: "He rewarded God - Bogovi, Caesar's - Caesar, Fatherland - love and sacrifice."
In 1826, the collections and the library were transferred by S.P. Rumyantsev to the Ministry of Public Education. In 1861, the collections were transferred to Moscow and served as the basis for "Moscow Public Museum and Rumyantsev Museum", created as a result of the merger of the Rumyantsev collection with the collections of the Moscow Public Museum. In 1921 the library was separated into an independent institution. The people call it that - Rumyantsevskaya.
Rumyantsev's diplomatic activities aroused ambiguous opinion among his contemporaries. However, his service to Russian historical science and the cause of education in Russia earned the chancellor unanimous gratitude. As Malinovsky, director of the Moscow Archives of the Collegium and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, later wrote, Rumyantsev "left the hustle and bustle of the affairs of the world and turned to science, showing how you can serve the Fatherland even in retirement". And Klyuchevsky noted: "The cult of reason, in which Rumyantsev was brought up, turned into a reverence for someone else's mind, learning and talent."
On April 14 (3), 1754, Nikolai Rumyantsev, statesman, philanthropist, founder of the Rumyantsev Museum, was born.
Private bussiness
Nikolai Petrovich Rumyantsev (1754 - 1826) was the son of the famous military leader Pyotr Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky. He was born in St. Petersburg, was educated at home and at the age of nine he was enlisted in the military. In 1772 he became chamber junker at the court of Catherine II. A year later, at the request of the Empress, he was sent to study in Europe. Nikolai Rumyantsev studied at Leiden University, visited Paris, Geneva, Berlin, Rome, Venice. Upon his return, he continued court service, in 1779 he received the rank of chamberlain.
For 15 years he was Russian Ambassador to the Seimas of the Holy Roman Empire in Frankfurt am Main. Upon his return to Russia in 1795, he was appointed to the Special Commission for changing the course of the copper coin, then became director of the State Loan Bank.
Rumyantsev expected another career takeoff when Alexander I ascended the throne. Then he became a member of the Indispensable Council - an advisory body under the emperor, who in the first year of his reign could even protest imperial decrees. In the future, Alexander appointed Nikolai Rumyantsev to the posts of Minister of Commerce, Director of the Department of Water Communications, then Minister of Foreign Affairs (1808).
Heading the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rumyantsev was a consistent supporter of an alliance with Napoleonic France.
In 1810, Rumyantsev became chairman of the State Council and the Committee of Ministers. After Napoleon's attack on Russia in 1812, he suffered a stroke. In early 1813 he retired.
What is famous
Although Nikolai Rumyantsev held high government posts, the activities to which he devoted his leisure time brought him the greatest fame, and completely indulged in it after his retirement. He became famous for his collection of books, manuscripts, coins, ethnographic exhibits, which became the basis of the Rumyantsev Museum. A circle of historians and archeographers formed around Nikolai Rumyantsev, consisting of Pavel Stroev, Konstantin Kalaidovich, Evfimy Bolkhovitinov, Nikolai Bantysh-Kamensky and others, who searched for and published written sources on the history of Russia. This activity was also carried out by Rumyantsev organized in 1811 by the “Commission for Printing State Letters and Treaties”. Among the historical monuments discovered by members of the circle are Svyatoslav's Izbornik of 1073, the Sudebnik of Ivan III, the works of Cyril of Turov and many others.
What you need to know
Nikolai Rumyantsev bequeathed his entire rich collection of books, maps, manuscripts, ethnographic and numismatic collections "to present for the common good." In 1826, all the collections and the library were transferred by the brother of Nikolai Rumyantsev to the Ministry of Public Education.
In 1828, the Rumyantsev Museum was officially established, which is located in the mansion of Count Rumyantsev on the English Embankment. However, during the first 30 years of its existence, the museum fell into decay and in 1861 was transferred to Moscow. There, the library and museum collections are located in the Pashkov House. It was merged with the Moscow Public Museum, and as a result, three main sections of painting, engraving and ethnography (“Dashkov Museum”) emerged, which included collections of Russian travelers. The Rumyantsev Library, which was part of the museum, was proclaimed public in 1863. In 1924, a library named after Lenin was created in the museum building, which inherited his book collection. Paintings and drawings were transferred to the State Museum of Fine Arts and the Tretyakov Gallery, and ethnographic collections - to the Museum of the Peoples of the USSR (now the Russian Ethnographic Museum).
Direct speech
“The soul of this movement was a man whose name shines with one of the brightest points in the dim past of our enlightenment. That was Count N. P. Rumyantsev. The son of Catherine's hero, Minister of Commerce and later State Chancellor of Alexander I after the Peace of Tilsit, conductor of the policy of the French Union, an educated Russian nobleman, brought up in the spirit of enlightening cosmopolitan ideas of the 18th century, Count N. P. Rumyantsev, in his later life, became an ardent admirer of national Russian antiquity and a tireless collector of its monuments, for which in 1817 he was elected an honorary member of the Society of Russian History and Antiquities. He was not the only one who fell into such a peculiar and intricate knot of conditions: Russian enlightenment at that time proceeded in general by cross paths. From the whirlpool of acute international relations of the Napoleonic era, he took refuge in the abode of archeology and paleography. In the Moscow archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs subordinate to him, he supported and strengthened the scientific activity introduced there by the historiographer Miller. Here he gathered around him a circle of people whose forces he knew how to unite and direct towards one goal. They were the administrators and employees of the archive. All these are big names in the annals of Russian historiography, and they all appear in the lists of the Society for Russian History and Antiquities. The closest connection was established between the Society and the archive. The archive served them as a gold mine, which they dug out, the Society - a deliberative office. Rumyantsev supported them, equipped them for scientific expeditions, spent hundreds of thousands on scientific enterprises and publications, charged them with that passion, which he himself called "greed for domestic antiquities." We will not understand the then Russian amateur archaeologist, i.e., we will not understand the majority of the then members of our Society, we will not enter into their mood, if we do not analyze the various threads from which the love of the then educated Russian person for national history and antiquities was woven. Count N. P. Rumyantsev belonged to a curious type of lovers of domestic antiquities, who appeared under Catherine II, who acted under Alexander I, and at the same time he tirelessly collected and assembled a collection of manuscripts, which constitutes the best part of the manuscript treasures of the Rumyantsev Museum, in which he himself saw his present wealth: "I only then seem ..." Add to this his respectful attitude towards his employees, who were subordinate to him in the service. The cult of reason in which he was brought up turned into a reverence for someone else's mind, learning and talent.
10 facts about Nikolai Rumyantsev
- On the coat of arms of the Rumyantsevs was the motto Non solum armis "Not only weapons."
- Having visited Paris in his youth, Nikolai Rumyantsev met Voltaire there.
- On behalf of Catherine II, Rumyantsev participated in the secret search for brides for her grandchildren, Grand Dukes Alexander and Constantine.
- Legend ascribes to Nikolai Rumyantsev an affair with Empress Maria Feodorovna, wife of Paul I.
- Rumyantsev took an active part in organizing the first Russian circumnavigation on the ships "Neva" and "Nadezhda", and also fully financed the circumnavigation of the brig "Rurik" under the command of Otto Kotzebue. Returning in 1818, the brig "Rurik" stood on the Neva opposite the house of Rumyantsev.
- Butterfly species named after Nikolai Rumyantsev Papilio rumanzovia and palm trees Syagrus romanzoffiana discovered during the expedition of Otto Kotzebue.
- Also, the name of Rumyantsev was given to one of the atolls in the Tuamotu archipelago (the modern name of Tikei).
- Nikolai Rumyantsev was buried in Gomel, in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. A bronze copy of the marble sculpture "The World" by Antonio Canova, which was kept in the Rumyantsev mansion in St. Petersburg, was installed on his grave. During the Great Patriotic War, the tombstone was lost.
- Rumyantsev's library had 104 incunabula - printed books published before January 1, 1501. Also there were the Prague edition of the Bible by Francysk Skorina, books by Alda Manutsy and Elsevier publishing houses, a large number of Russian early printed editions, the first edition of The Tale of Igor's Campaign, the first two editions of the Encyclopedia by Diderot and D "Alembert.
- In the Rumyantsev mansion, at 44 Angliskaya Embankment, there is now a branch of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg.
Materials about Nikolai Rumyantsev
- chancellor, second son of Field Marshal Count P. A. Rumyantsev and his wife, Countess Ekaterina Mikhailovna, nee Princess Golitsyna; was born on April 3, 1754, and spent the first years of his life under the direct supervision of his mother, who took care of his upbringing and education. According to the custom of that time, Count N. P. Rumyantsev was brought up at home, although his mother, realizing the unsatisfactoriness of home education, intended to send her sons abroad or to send them to a special boarding school founded in St. Petersburg, under the leadership of G. N. Teplov, Count Razumovsky for his sons. Without obtaining permission from her husband, the countess hired a retired artillery lieutenant colonel (his name did not reach us) to teach her sons to teach them arithmetic, and then a major of the Prussian service, by birth Swiss, probably Meyer, "in tolerable condition." Later, the German Zwiler appeared, teaching Count Nikolai not only German and Latin, but also history, geography, arithmetic and mathematics, and it turned out that Count Nikolai showed great abilities in mathematics. Some Lyons also gave him lessons, but for a short time. Later, the Frenchman Monod lived in the house, who, parting with his students in 1765, wrote to their father that both younger sons, that is, Counts Nikolai and Sergei Petrovich, are very diligent and try to acquire knowledge, love classes, can serve in as an example to all 15-year-old boys and in time will be the subject of great joy to parents; "These plants, writes Monod, promise rich fruits if they are cultivated by a skillful and experienced hand in the sciences." Countess EM Rumyantseva, taking care not to miss anything, according to her meaning, strengths and opportunities, in the education of her children, later, when her sons became adults, she tried to teach them horseback riding, dancing, fencing, and then took care of being assigned to the service of Count Nikolai, which, according to the orders of that time, was recorded from an early age in the life guards. Horse regiment. At the request of his mother and on the advice of Count Bruce, in 1768 he was transferred to the Life Guards. The Semyonovsky regiment was actually listed as an orderly under Bruce, but lived at home and on January 1, 1769 was granted, using seniority, to ensign, for the service of his father. Soon Rumyantsev was appointed adjutant of the regiment - of course, at the suggestion of his relative, c. Bruce, and then, on August 1, 1772, by the Highest Decree, he was granted a chamber junker with the production of a fixed salary (1000 rubles a year). The count lived in St. Petersburg, with his mother, who was soon appointed chief chamberlain at the court of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, who then entered into his first marriage with the Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt. This appointment, as well as the respect and disposition enjoyed by Empress Catherine not only Field Marshal Rumyantsev himself, but also his mother, State Lady Countess Maria Andreevna, as well as his wife, as well as their family ties, gave the young Count Nikolai Petrovich the opportunity not only to attend the high society of the capital, but also to become quickly known to Catherine II, who, recognizing him, soon honored him with permission to attend her famous meetings in the Hermitage, in which only the most elected and most famous and close to the Empress persons participated. Of the young people, only the Rumyantsev brothers were allowed to attend these meetings. Here Count Nikolai met the famous scientist and publicist-writer Baron Melchior Grimm, who, as you know, was in great favor with Catherine II; not long before that he arrived in Petersburg together with the Crown Prince of Darmstadt, whose upbringing he supervised. Count N. P. Rumyantsev, who had a desire to visit foreign lands and supplement his education at one of the German universities, about which, especially about Leiden, he knew a lot from his cousin, Prince Alexander Borisovich Kurakin, was very pleased to learn that Baron Grimm agrees to lead him and his brother on a trip abroad, and went, at the end of 1773, to Moldavia, to his father, who commanded our army, to ask for his consent to the proposed trip and to obtain the necessary funds for that. Having received what he wanted without much difficulty, Count Nikolai Petrovich asked Her Majesty's permission for his trip, as a result of which, on April 14, 1774, a decree was issued on his dismissal to foreign lands, without deduction of salary during his entire stay there. The term of dismissal was not defined in the decree: the Empress advised the Grimm accompanying him to travel calmly and return slowly.
Having left the fatherland at the end of April 1774, Count Nikolai, together with his brother, Baron Grimm and three servants, set off by land, the only way to travel at that time, in their carriages on variable horses, to Warsaw, and then drove to Karlsbad, where Grimm, along with Count Nikolai, drank water, although Count Nikolai himself was completely healthy. After that, having visited Leipzig, Gotha, the banks of the Rhine and Holland, he arrived in Leiden, where for about a year he listened to lectures at the University of this city, which was famous at that time, about which he had various necessary information from the aforementioned Prince A. B. Kurakin, his cousin. At the end of September 1775, Count Nikolai and his brother went to Paris for a short time, so that together with Grimm, who left them alone in Leiden, to make a joint trip to Italy. On the way from Paris, they stopped in Geneva, visited the already aged Voltaire here, and then went to Genoa, Milan, Florence, Rome and Naples, from where they went back to Venice and Vienna. Having learned in Venice about the death of Grand Duchess Natalya Alekseevna and that Field Marshal Rumyantsev was accompanying Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich on his trip to Berlin to get acquainted with the Princess of Wirtemberg destined for his wife, the travelers hurried to go to Berlin to see their parent. But the latter, for some reason, recognized this as undesirable and inconvenient for himself, and through Prince Kurakin ordered his sons not to come to Berlin during his stay there; they, of course, obeyed this order and near Berlin, in a small village, they waited for their father to leave this city in order to enter the capital of the great king themselves. Having spent a short time in Berlin, Count Nikolai returned on September 6, 1776, to St. Petersburg, having not seen either France or England, due to the lack of funds necessary for this, rather meagerly allocated for the trip by his parent. In the same year, on September 30, he was sent to Vienna with an announcement of the completed second marriage of Pavel Petrovich with the princess of Wirtemberg. Upon returning to St. Petersburg, Count Nikolai began to send court service again, which, however, weighed on him: he wanted to get a place as a representative of our state in Dresden, but this did not take place; asked, then, but also without success, to appoint him to the Crimea, was ready to go to military service as a brigadier (having no idea about military affairs) or go to Vienna for two years to his uncle, Prince D. M. Golitsyn, to get acquainted with the service on the diplomatic side. But in fact, he did not find it possible for himself to enter the civil service, considering it inconvenient for himself, and asked his father to facilitate his appointment as a diplomatic officer in London or Dresden; he did not want to accept any other appointment. Despite the petition of his father, the appointment of Count Nikolai was delayed, and in the meantime, his mother, Countess E. M. Rumyantseva, retired from the Court to the village, and his position in St. Petersburg began to burden him even more. and before Prince Potemkin; however, these petitions were not successful, but on May 5, 1779, Count N.P. Rumyantsev, together with his brother Sergius, was granted the Chamberlain of Her Majesty's Court, and Prince Yusupov was appointed envoy to Dresden. Count N.P. Rumyantsev, nevertheless, continued to ask his father to intercede for his appointment, and in the meantime, while performing court service at the Court of the Grand Duke, he gradually gained more and more favor not only of the latter, but also of his young wife. The death of his dearly beloved mother, which followed in August 1779, greatly saddened the count and forced him for some time to start putting in order the property left after her, which she had given into the ownership of her sons, three brothers, and he bought the small house of Count Yaguzhinsky in Petersburg, and then, as before, spent his time with Their Highnesses and, with their permission, asked his father to provide him with a place at some foreign court. We also mention that Count Nikolai was already reading Russian history at that time or, as he put it, "set out to study it" and asked his father to bring him some books necessary for this. After four years of harassment, with the considerable assistance of Count A. A. Bezborodko, in 1781, Empress Catherine II, respecting the service and request of Field Marshal Rumyantsev, appointed his son as her Plenipotentiary Minister for the Electoral District of the Lower Rhine and for many other sovereign princes of the nearest districts; he was to have his residence in Frankfurt am Main and at least once a year visit the petty princes recommended to him; he was obliged to monitor the observance of the German constitution, that is, to protect equally both the rights of the Fürsts and the power of the emperor in his capital. Taking advantage of the fact that the Foreign College began to draw up instructions for him to carry out his official duties in the sphere of the newly established diplomatic post, Count Rumyantsev went to his father in Little Russia to thank him for his successful petition for him and, having stayed with him for some time, returned to Petersburg and only on February 8, 1782 went to Frankfurt via Berlin, as the Prussian King Frederick II, through his ambassador Hertz, expressed a desire to see him in his capital. Empress Catherine II wished that Rumyantsev also visited Emperor Joseph II in Vienna.
Having left Petersburg in February 1782, Rumyantsev arrived in Berlin on March 1, was graciously received by Frederick II, but their conversation was generally short and cold; His minister Herzberg spoke to him about Austria's lust for power. Then, having arrived in Dresden, the count, due to his indisposition, stayed here for six days and was in Vienna on March 30 (April 10), had a long conversation with Joseph II on a walk in the Augarten about the Zweibrücken case, then dined with him in Laxenburg and received an order from the Emperor to come to him again, which the count, of course, did and had an explanation on the same matter. After a rather long illness, having left Vienna, the count drove to Augsburg, intending to introduce himself to the elector, but he did not succeed due to the sudden illness of the latter's sister, and he went to Munich, where he was very well received by the elector of Bavaria, and then again went to Augsburg, where he spent several days, enjoying the hospitality of the elector. Here he learned about the death of the field marshal of the Upper Rhine district, Prince Georg of Darmstadt, about the establishment in Bavaria of the Priory of the Order of Malta, about the efforts of France to increase the income of the Duke of Zweibrücken, etc. his premises and the extremely insignificant office assigned to him. He soon received news that the Heir to the Russian Throne and his wife, traveling through Europe under the name of Count and Countess of the North, should soon arrive in Frankfurt. This prompted Rumyantsev to go out to meet them in Luttich and accompany them on a trip through Spa to Aachen and Frankfurt and be with Their Highnesses during their stay in this city, and then accompany Their Highnesses through Darmstadt to Montbéliard, and then also to the Stuttgart court.
Upon his return to Frankfurt, Rumyantsev proceeded to accredit himself to various sovereign princes, spiritual and secular, who were part of his diplomatic district [He received letters of credit to three spiritual electors (Mainz, Cologne, Trier) and the Bishop of Bamberg and to five imperial districts southwestern, i.e.: Upper Rhine, Lower Rhine, Swabian, Franconian and Westphalian, and also special credentials to the sovereign princes: Anspach, Baden, Württemberg, Hesse (for Darmstadt and Kassel) and Zweibrücken.], visiting primarily the Elector of Mainz , as the most significant and influential, and then Cologne, the elderly Maximilian Friedrich von Koenigsen-Rotenfels. This accreditation dragged on for quite a long time, causing many trips and no small waste of time, because with the means of communication of that time, each accreditation took many days; this, however, gave Rumyantsev the opportunity to get acquainted with the various fürsts of that time, about which he reported to St. Petersburg in an unsightly way. If not all without exception, then the vast majority of them imitated the Versailles court in their way of life, not having enough money for this, indulged in various pleasures, needed money, constantly thought about how to get it, were tied to the extreme to trifles and rituals, long accepted, they were constantly fussing about something, turning politics into gossip and replacing thought and arguments, according to Rumyantsev, with tales and gossip. He found that he should not interfere in a bunch of internal ties and strife in Germany, but only watch the Emperor, try to earn the respect of all the princes and generally treat them more strictly so that they do not imagine that they are fawning over them. Respecting the honor and dignity of Russia, Rumyantsev behaved arrogantly and sometimes quarreled with foreign envoys over trifles of court etiquette, wanting to get the better of them. He followed the interests of Russia so diligently that he was hated by all the friends of Prussia, and Frederick II himself called him devil,furious and could not speak of him indifferently. It is impossible not to notice that Rumyantsev himself very soon did not like this whole German environment in which his diplomatic activity was supposed to proceed. Already in 1783, he wrote to Count Bezborodko, as well as to his father, that he felt “how involuntary my temporary excommunication from the fatherland is, that you will probably deliver me one of those two places that I should occupy more decently than the one in which I am now; that my post is unimportant, has a not very extensive field for zeal for the service of Her Majesty, in which, however, I am forced to apply the greatest labor. If a person with a certain ability for business stays here for a long time, then he will destroy this ability in himself, "etc. .. But this desire of the count to receive another appointment was not realized for a very long time, and he had no choice but to inform the Empress and her weak assistant Osterman, in great detail, not only about all the minor events that took place in Germany at that time, while in Frankfurt time, but also about various persons and princes, their ministers and people who have the least influence in the German Empire. It is impossible not to be surprised at how much Count N. P. Rumyantsev wrote, if we take into account that he did not even have a decent secretary, and not only wrote drafts of his papers himself, but also very often rewrote them cleanly. In terms of their content, that is, in terms of the greater or lesser importance of the information reported, the reports of Count Rumyantsev were not of particularly deep interest, because they related to subjects that did not have special significance or interest for Russia. Germany at that time was occupied with the question of the mouths of the Scheldt River, or the so-called Dutch Question. According to the Peace of Westphalia, an independent Dutch Republic stood out from the Netherlands, which belonged to Spain, and the rest of the Netherlands (now Belgium) remained in the Peace of Utrecht in 1713 in the possession of the House of Habsburg, under the name of the Austrian Netherlands, and the Dutch retained the right to dispose of the mouths of the Scheldt River, according to which carried out all the trade of the Netherlands. This trade was killed by various measures of the Dutch, because they did not let other people's ships into the mouth of the Scheldt. In addition, the Habsburgs were obliged to forever own this country (i.e., the Austrian Netherlands) and not cede anything from it to any Prince not of their kind. Holland, on the other hand, received the right to maintain its garrisons in several Dutch fortresses and received a certain amount of money from the Habsburgs (i.e. Austria) for this, since the Netherlands served as a defense for Holland against the French (the so-called "barrier-tract"). Austria has long tried to get rid of this payment of money to the Dutch. Joseph II in 1781 ordered the demolition of the fortresses occupied by the Dutch, who, not having the strength to resist Austria, had to do this. Joseph II in 1783 started a dispute with them about some lands and expelled their garrisons from several disputed forts, including from Mastricht. In addition, he also took away a large part of the lands that lay in Austria from the bishopric of Passau. Then he came up with the idea of exchanging his Austrian Netherlands for Bavaria, entering into a voluntary agreement about this with the Elector of Bavaria, Karl-Theodor, and with his heir, Karl, Duke of Zweibrücken. In 1784, the Austrian envoy in Munich, Count Lerbach, presented to the aforementioned Karl-Theodor a plan for this exchange, according to which Karl-Theodor ceded Bavaria to Joseph, with the exception of Luxembourg and Namur; Joseph II pledged to give him the Netherlands, pay another half a million guilders and deliver him the title of King of Burgundy. The exchange was to be guaranteed by Russia and France. This whole exchange was completely illegal. It has been said above that Austria had no right to cede the Netherlands to anyone; According to the Treaty of Teschen in 1779, Joseph II renounced all claims to Bavaria, and in addition, Karl-Theodor of Bavaria also did not have the right to cede Bavaria to anyone under the Treaty of Pavia in 1329, on the basis of which all the lands of the Bavarian house were considered common property of the house and when one line died out, they united in the hands of another; the elector's dignity passed now to one line, then to another, depending on where the representative is older. On the observance of this agreement, representatives of different lines of the Wittelsbach house concluded a secret condition among themselves quite recently, shortly before the death of Maximilian Joseph in 1778. Nevertheless, Emperor Joseph II, by his intention, caused unrest in Germany and a struggle between princely diplomats and courtiers, with the main field of struggle being the cities of Munich and Zweibrücken. King Frederick and (Prussian) promised Charles to send a general to organize the Bavarian troops and to manage, according to Rumyantsev, not only the troops, but also the special of the future elector. The French provided him with money. Rumyantsev, who had an order not to allow the exchange of lands, almost did not leave Zweibrücken, followed every step of the duke, interfered in his household affairs and reported everything to Petersburg, receiving orders not to miss anything that could establish or increase the connection of the Fürsts with the Russian Empire, without showing any interest in them. After long and repeated explanations between Rumyantsev and the Duke of Zweibrücken for three weeks (described by him on 30 large sheets in reports to Catherine II), the land exchange case was terminated. In early 1785, Joseph recognized that the exchange had become impossible, at least for the present, and his minister Kaunitz testified to the gratitude of his court to Catherine II both for her good intentions and for her execution. The case with Holland about the river Scheldt and the fortresses also soon ended. Although Joseph II sent an ultimatum to Holland about the discovery of the Scheldt, ordered troops to be gathered to Belgium and recalled his envoy, France's participation in Holland forced him to be satisfied only with a reward for military expenses and the abolition of the so-called barrier treatise. The Scheldt remained, as before, in the complete power of the Dutch, who did not let other people's ships through at the mouth of this river. These two failures of Joseph II, lowering his moral influence in Germany, elevated the national importance of Prussia, which took the side of both Holland and Zweibrücken. Its king Frederick II spoke back in 1784 with his plan Union of Princes, i.e., arrangements in the German Empire from fürsts, both secular and spiritual, a kind of association, in the likeness of the once former Schmalkaldic League, in order to get allies for themselves. Obviously, this Union of Princes in favor of Prussia was preparing against Austria and Russia. A detailed presentation of the development and implementation of this plan in practice is not included in the biography of Count N. P. Rumyantsev, especially since the instructions given to him do not mention anything about this Union. He personally found that in the Union there was not only not a single secular elector, but not even a single furst of the first category, but only one furst of the second category and several princes of the lowest category; they all enjoy the honors of supreme power, without even a shadow of the power that characterizes it. In a word, they had neither sufficient troops nor money to maintain them. This league, Rumyantsev wrote, did not come true with the first efforts about it; it is powerless and will serve only to the triumph of the imperial houses, if only Bavaria, Württemberg and Kassel are on their side. However, Frederick II himself did not place great hopes on the league, accepting that it could put up no more than 27,000 troops. Rumyantsev, trying to counteract this alliance, paid special attention to these three named states, as well as some others. So, he went to the Dukes of Zweibrücken, where he met with the Prussian agent Stein, who became so famous in 1813, with the aim of preventing him from joining the league; but he did not succeed: Stein knew how to persuade Karl and Maximilian to the side of the league, they signed an agreement on the league and gave a subscription for themselves and their descendants never to agree to the exchange of the Bavarian-Palatinate hereditary lands. Likewise, the elector of Mainz, Friedrich Karl Joseph, on the convictions of Stein and Boehmer, on October 18, 1785, also signed an alliance treaty, despite the efforts of Rumyantsev and Troutsmandorff, the envoy of Vienna. The Margrave of Baden followed in the footsteps of the Lord of Mainz. But the Electors of Trier and especially of Cologne, having received Rumyantsev very graciously, abandoned the Union of Princes. Of the bishops who were also visited by Rumyantsev, all refused to join the league, with the exception of the Bishop of Osnabrück. Among the secular fursts, Rumyantsev had little success. In Karlsruhe, the Margrave of Baden took up the league; likewise, after hesitation and various allurements and threats on the part of Prussian agents, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, as well as many other less important Fürsts, joined the league, because, as Rumyantsev noted, in Germany the weak always follow the strong. Against the union of princes were the Dukes of Oldenburg, Wirtemberg and the Elector of Bavaria; they were not even sent invitations from Prussia to proceed to the Union, realizing in advance the futility. Thus, a little over a year before the death of the great king, which followed on August 6, 1786, the Union of Princes was concluded. His successor to the throne and nephew Friedrich-Wilhelm was a zealous supporter of this Union and, according to N. P. Rumyantsev, “gave it a new increment. The young king and especially his minister tried to strengthen the Union of Princes and extract from it the general benefit. Soon even the coadjutor of the Archbishop of Mainz and both dukes, Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Strelitz, joined the Union or league. Thus, despite the efforts of Rumyantsev, according to instructions from St. Petersburg, the so-called Union of Princes took place in favor of Prussia, which, however, did not last long. Discord began to appear between the allies, each of them tried to pursue his own selfish goals, the princes envied each other and watched one another suspiciously. Saxony and Hanover constituted a secret opposition against the successes of Prussia in Germany; Baden strove to form a private union, etc. Soon various pamphlets appeared against the Union of Princes (including the well-known Johann Müller), and already in 1792 the Union of Princes, as it were, no longer existed, but Prussia and Austria made an alliance among themselves to fight the French Revolution of 1789. At this time, the choice of the coadjutor of Mainz was to be made. This was a particularly important position, since the Elector of Mainz himself held the first place in Germany; he led the imperial elections, presided over the college of electors at the imperial diet, anointed the elected emperor to the kingdom, appointed the imperial vice-chancellor to the imperial Court Council, ruled the entire Imperial Diet, etc. Therefore, the choice of his assistant, who had to replace him over time, was given great importance; in Germany they were very intrigued about this election. In addition, both Prussia and Austria intrigued in favor of the choice of candidates put up by them, among which was Dahlberg, at that time the viceroy of the Archbishop of Mainz in Erfurt and one of the most enlightened and prominent persons in Germany at that time. "He is reputed to be remarkably wise," Rumyantsev informed, in great respect throughout the local Empire, he has immense knowledge in higher sciences, "etc. The Austrian chancellor, Prince Kaunitz, promised that the emperor would deliver a place to the coadjutor Dahlberg, who was also promised the assistance of Catherine II, through Rumyantsev. Prussia, on the other hand, tried to deceive a certain Dingheim and deflect the sympathy of the Canons of Mainz from Dahlberg. After no small intrigues and troubles of all kinds, the Elector of Mainz himself agreed to Dahlberg's choice, after which he was elected on June 5, 1787, Coadjutor of Mainz, much to his own amazement.
Soon after this choice, Count N. P. Rumyantsev, who had long wanted to visit St. Petersburg, finally received permission in 1789 to arrive in the fatherland. He was graciously received by Her Majesty and tried to free himself from further stay in Frankfurt, pointing out the poor state of his health and his long stay in one place, in Frankfurt. He was ready, in the absence of free embassy and ministerial places, to accept a temporary appointment as a member of the Foreign College, until the opening of the first vacancy. But this did not materialize, and meanwhile the sudden death on February 26, 1790 of Emperor Joseph II forced him to go back to Frankfurt as soon as possible and take part in the upcoming election and coronation of the new Emperor. A lengthy rescript Imp. Catherine instructed Count N. P. Rumyantsev to be present at all the celebrations that take place on this occasion, to notify her of everything that happens and express almost certainty that the choice of the electors, at least the majority, will fall on the person of the king of Hungary and Bohemia, - my ally, (i.e., the brother of the deceased Joseph II Leopold), than the German Empire will acquire a just and peaceful emperor. Indeed, Leopold II was elected and crowned on September 28 (October 9), 1790. Rumyantsev was present at all the celebrations that took place on this occasion and he himself received in a special room, having spent on this representation a lot of his own money, given to him for this subject by his father. Leopold II, as is known, was short-lived Emperor: he died at the end of February 1792, after which Rumyantsev had to be present again in Frankfurt at various celebrations and festivities that took place during the electoral diet to select a new Emperor - Franz II on June 24 (July 5th) and then his coronation (or weddings, as reported by Rumyantsev) on July 14, 1792. All this was again associated with considerable expenses for N. P. Rumyantsev, who at that time was engaged in a completely different business, as imposed below. Rumyantsev was promoted, on January 1, 1791, to the Privy Councilor.
The events taking place around this time in France soon attracted Rumyantsev to new activities. As you know, after the revolution that took place in Paris in 1789 and the capture of the Bastille on June 14, the brothers of King Louis XVI, somehow the Duke of Provence (the future King Louis XVIII), the Duke d "Artois (the future Charles X), Prince Conde and many other persons who were at court, as well as very many noblemen, who enjoyed various advantages of the old order, left France on June 17 and, after wandering around various places in Europe, gathered, under the name of emigrants, near Koblenz itself, in a castle that belonged to a relative of the French royal family Seeing the salvation of the French monarchy in the use of armed force, the emigrants made every effort to restore Europe against revolutionary France in order to save the crown of France, which its king was unable to defend. asked various states (Sweden, Prussia, Austria and Russia), as well as various German electors, to come to their aid. Due to various measures taken in France, the number of emigrants who left their fatherland and gathered at Koblenz and mainly at Worms, where they, under the command of the Prince of Condé, made up a whole military detachment, significantly increased. Due to the proximity of these places from Frankfurt and in view of the written communications of princes and other emigrants with Empress Catherine II, N.P. Rumyantsev was instructed to be, as it were, an intermediary between Her Majesty and the princes in Koblenz. This caused his repeated trips to Koblenz, where he was received with great honor and respect, arranged various ovations (as, for example, Marshal Broglie, at the head of 800 emigrant nobles in full dress, gave him a speech of thanks in 1791), they always accepted very affectionately, so that Rumyantsev, in addition to his personal sympathy for the cause of the emigrants, found pleasure in spending time in such excellent company. He was a zealous intercessor for the emigrants before the Empress, although he knew very well that the Empress would not take an active part in their cause and, without sending her troops to the banks of the Rhine, would limit herself only to financial assistance.
Rumyantsev reported to St. Petersburg very often and in great detail about everything that happened in Koblenz and related to the case of emigrants; he often in the most flowery phrases, moreover, in French, conveyed to the Empress their gratitude to the Empress for the money delivered to them, for her favorable disposition to them, very often petitioned for the assignment of many of the emigrants to the service of Her Majesty, represented in vivid colors their plight in in terms of money, etc. As is known, in 1792, France, after a well-known meeting in Pilnitz on August 26, 1791, between the Austrian Emperor and the King of Prussia and a declaration issued by them on August 27, announced to them, on April 20, 1792 ., a war that soon arose in various places along the borders of France, with the Prince of Conde with 35,000 Frenchmen went as part of the Austrian army under the command of Prince Hohenlohe, and the other princes - in the Prussian army, under the command of the Duke of Brunswick, with the aim of quickly entering France. It should be noted that the lack of unity in the aspirations and actions of the French who fought the revolution, and the lack of material means, could not bring the desired success to the undertaking - to restore the old monarchy in France. King Louis XVI and his wife, who were imprisoned, did not want to resort to military force and the intervention of foreign troops for their release and installation on the throne of France. As is known, through Bretel, who was devoted to them, they sent a certain Marquis Bombell to the Empress Catherine in 1792 with an assignment to convince the Empress convene a congress to discuss ways and restore order in France of the former kingdom. The Empress, who did not like Bretel since 1762, received Bombell dryly and with arrogance, answered evasively to his proposal, which was not slow to inform Count. N. P. Rumyantsev, who, in turn, hastened to notify the princes, counts of Provence and d "Artois, who wanted to return to France at the head of the troops and overthrow revolutionary rule by force of arms, bring triumph to the royalists and seize the throne of France. They both became very angry with Louis XVI. The royalist party at that time represented at foreign courts "a scandal and even a laughingstock, which is often worse than a scandal", according to Langeron in his notes. At each court there were two representatives of France: one from the king and queen, and the other from the princes and brothers of the king; these representatives depended on different cabinets, at the head of the first was Bretel, at the head of the other - Kalon, and both, resorting to various means, were hostile to each other and to the republicans.Empress Catherine II and her representative, Count N. P. Rumyantsev took the side of the princes, but limited themselves exclusively to financial assistance, not taking part in the war of Austria and Prussia with revolutionary France, although, according to Lanzheron, she intended, together with King Gustav III of Sweden and under his command, under an agreement on October 19, 1791, to land in Normandy a detachment of troops of 24,000 Russians and 12,000 Swedes, which in general had to be disposed of by a talented, brave and an enterprising general, the Marquis Bullier. The sudden assassination of Gustav III on March 16, 1792, at a masquerade in Stockholm, completely upset this enterprise; Catherine II took up the second partition of Poland, where her troops were sent. The war of Austria and Prussia with France, as you know, dragged on for a long time and with varying success. N. P. Rumyantsev, at the very beginning of the war, begged Empress Catherine II, on June 24, 1792, to allow him to follow the princes and the valiant French nobility and serve Her Majesty while being with the princes. This was allowed to him, and he managed to join the princes on the 1st (12th) of October, at a time when they, with the army of the Duke of Brunswick, were retreating from the borders of France after an unsuccessful campaign and, in great confusion and disorder, entered Luxembourg and settled down for winter quarters. From Luxembourg, Rumyantsev reported on October 8 (19) and October 23 (November 2) about the Duke d "Artois and his meeting with the King of Prussia, about the plight of the French emigrants, and then informed Her Majesty on the 17th (28th) December, that the brothers of Louis XVI, fulfilling the will of the King of Prussia, settled in m. Gamm, in Westphalia, belonging to Prussia; the King of Prussia himself remains in Frankfurt for quite a long time, and that he, Rumyantsev, will be with him as Minister of Her Majesty. Already in Frankfurt, Rumyantsev received the most merciful rescript on the award to him, on November 24, 1792, of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky. In Paris, during this war, an amazing event took place: the execution in January 1793 of Louis XVI (and then, later, of his wife, Marie Antoinette), after which a young son, Louis XVII, was recognized by the royalists at that time as the king of France, moreover, in view of his infancy, the elder brother of the deceased king, the Duke of Provence (the future King Louis XVIII) was declared regent of France; brother, the Duke d "Artois, was made the chief commander of the French military force (lieutenant-général du Royaume). The consequence of this was, among other things, the termination by Russia of all political relations with revolutionary France by decree of February 8, 1793, the termination all trade relations between Russia and France by decree of April 8 and the eviction from the Empire of all the French who did not want to take an oath of allegiance to royal power.At the same time, Russia recognized the regency in the person of the Duke of Provence, and the Count N. P. Rumyantsev, according to his desire, in 1793. From that time on, he constantly stayed with the regent and his brother, while the affairs of the Frankfurt mission were managed for him by a certain Vukasovich, who from time to time informed him about what was happening in Germany. circumstances were very unfavorable for the aspirations of the royalists, and the situation of the emigrants became more and more deplorable. oh generosity of some reigning persons, quickly disappeared, with those frivolous expenses that they allowed themselves for representation, for maintaining splendor and luxury at court, a large court staff, among which some ladies who enjoyed the special disposition of the Dukes of Provence, d " Artois, Conde, and others. Soon these dukes were forced to resort to various loans, which became more and more difficult to conclude, since the military actions taken in their favor by Austria and Prussia were not accompanied by success. The troops of revolutionary France themselves approached the banks of the Rhine and Main, and its government began to demand more and more insistently the removal of emigrants from the small German states adjacent to France and the prevention of the formation of separate detachments of emigrants who were clearly hostile to France. In addition, the population of these small states began to be burdened by the presence in their midst of emigrants who did not have any means and lived, as it were, at his expense. Orders from various German governments soon followed to remove emigrants from their territory, especially after the trip of Count d "Artois to Petersburg, undertaken in March 1793, was not successful; he was received with various honors, but coldly, although he himself was in delighted with the Empress, who presented him with a golden sword with a large solitaire upon departure, but was dissatisfied with his arrival. Catherine II resolutely rejected his requests to take the side of the royal throne in France in an active way and send her army to France. She limited herself to providing d "Artois with a small relative amount at 200,000 rubles. Soon followed by an order from Austria and Prussia to disband the detachment of Prince Conde, as an independent part of the army, and to remove emigrants from the states bordering France, as well as the Netherlands. Then the counts of Provence and d "Artois themselves, seeing that their hopes were not being realized, left their residence - Koblenz. The first, after long negotiations, moved to Spain in the form of a private person; Count d" Artois moved with his eldest son to England, and later - to Mitava. Rumyantsev, on August 1 (12), 1794, from Gamma in Westphalia reported to the Empress that "by such a deed and the absence of my mission at the Royal Highnesses, the limit was set," and that he was returning to fulfill his duties in his position in Frankfurt -Meine, as ordered by Her Majesty. The affairs in Frankfurt from 1793 to 1795 did not represent anything remarkable; all attention was turned to the military actions of Prussia and Austria with France [Prussia soon concluded peace with revolutionary France in Basel - in 1796, on March 5th; Austria, however, continued the war longer and only after the battle of Marengo on June 14, 1800, did it conclude peace with France in Luneville.]. Rumyantsev followed the order of Catherine II - "did not show that in St. Petersburg they attached any importance to the Union of Princes or feared any very significant consequences from it." He had to act with caution and make representations and instructions to the German princes in such a form that, being convinced of their correctness, they themselves lagged behind the unfair judgments that arose in them. Taking advantage of the lull in his mission, Count Rumyantsev asked for his dismissal to St. Petersburg in 1795, which was followed at the same time by the Highest permission, and the management of the affairs of the mission was entrusted to the chargé d'affaires under Rumyantsev. owls. Ivan Vukasovich, who managed affairs, after Count Rumyantsev no longer returned to his post, until 1797, when, in February, Baron Ivan Karlovich Stackelberg was appointed to the post of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary.
Having spent more than 11 years in Frankfurt am Main, Count N.P. Rumyantsev, in addition to his direct diplomatic duties, also performed other assignments assigned to him by the Empress. So, he was more than once instructed to seek out and send to Russia foreigners who possessed various kinds of technical knowledge. In fulfillment of this, he recommended a certain de Fallois, a pupil of Belidore, former chief of engineers in the army of Henry of Prussia; Beist, who managed the salt works in Sardinia, and then in Saxony; Silbershlak - known in terms of hydraulics and hydrostatics; Feldheim - in terms of mechanics and especially in mining science; Kancrinius, also known for his knowledge of the salt part, etc. Some of these persons were accepted into the service of Her Majesty.
The count also collected information about the school in Stuttgart, in which the children of some Russian nobles were brought up.
At the end of 1790, a particularly important assignment was entrusted to Rumyantsev, proving the degree of confidence in him of Empress Catherine II: he was instructed among the German princely houses to find the most appropriate bride for the future heir to the throne, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, and the Empress wrote very extensive letters to Rumyantsev more than once , to which he responded with lengthy messages. Most of these letters were already printed in the work of Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich: "Empress Elisaveta Alekseevna, Wife of Emperor Alexander I".
Rumyantsev, in this assignment, which was especially difficult for him, was instructed, as you know, to pay attention to one of the daughters of Crown Prince Karl-Ludwig, Margrave of Baden, Louise-August, 11 years old and Frederic-Dorotea, 9 years old, which he did, and after a long correspondence both of them, on October 31, 1792, arrived in St. Petersburg, and on September 28, 1793, the marriage of the eldest Princess Louise with the beloved grandson of Empress Catherine II took place.
In the same way, Rumyantsev, on behalf of the Empress, looked for a bride and her second grandson, Grand Duke Constantan Pavlovich, went on her orders to the courts of the princes of Nassau-Weilburg, Nassau-Usingen and Prince Coburg, where he paid special attention to Princess Julia; in his report on May 24 (June 4), 1795, he wrote that everyone was so eager to be the wife of Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich that he vouched for the successful execution of this assignment; but the Grand Duke can only marry one of the princesses, and he fears for himself that those not chosen by him will stone him ("Je m" attends à être lapidé par toutes celles qu "il n" aura pas pris "...
At the end of 1795, Count N.P. Rumyantsev arrived again in St. Petersburg, but with the intention of not returning to Frankfurt; he hoped, through his aunt, Anna Nikitichna Naryshkina, who loved him very much, and with the assistance of Prince P. A. Zubov, to be appointed a member of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs, but this did not materialize, and Count Rumyantsev was first appointed to a special Commission to discuss the question of changing the course of our copper coin, and then, on April 11, 1796, took the place of Count P. V. Zavadovsky in the State Loan Bank; at the same time, he was appointed senator for the 1st Department of the Senate. With the establishment of a special Committee to find funds for the speedy repayment of state debts and to find new funds to meet state needs, Count Rumyantsev was appointed a member of this Committee on May 8, 1796, together with Prince P. A. Zubov, Count A. A Bezborodko, Count A. H. Samoilov and others. The Great Empress soon passed away. Her successor, Emperor Pavel, as well as his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna, were very fond of Count N. P. Rumyantsev and both were in correspondence with him; the new Emperor did not hesitate already on November 16, 1796 to invite him to chamberlain, and then, on November 22 of the same year, to chief chamberlain, and four days later, on November 26, he promoted him to actual privy councilors . Soon, Count N.P. Rumyantsev lost his father, Field Marshal Count P.A. Rumyantsev, who died in Tashan (near Kyiv), and after him became the owner of a very significant fortune. According to the position he occupied, he was obliged to constantly be at the Court and enjoyed the favor of the Monarch and his Spouse. On the day of the Emperor's coronation, March 9, 1797, he was awarded a very valuable snuffbox with a portrait of His Majesty. With the establishment of a special Auxiliary Bank for the nobility, on December 18, 1797, Count N. P. Rumyantsev was appointed one of its Directors.
At the Imperial Court, as is known, court intrigues soon arose because of the influence on the Emperor, who at one time was under the beneficial influence of his wife and especially her maid of honor - E. I. Nelidova; both of them were very disposed towards the Rumyantsev brothers. Soon, however, the opposing party managed to remove Nelidov, in 1798, after which the Kurakin brothers fell into disgrace, and then their cousin, Chief Chamberlain Count Rumyantsev, on September 6, 1798, was dismissed from service and received an order go to foreign lands; Yves was appointed in his place. An. Tizenhausen.
Count N.P. Rumyantsev was thus forced to leave St. Petersburg, and only upon accession to the throne of Alexander I received permission to return to Russia, then, on August 17, 1801, he was appointed to be present in the Council, and on the 27th of the same months - and in the I Department of the Senate (see Arch. Senate, book No. 241, dated 1801, pp. 215 and 296). A little earlier, on August 21, 1801, thanks to the patronage of the Dowager Empress, he was appointed Director of Water Communications, in place of Kushelev, who performed this duty under Paul I. At the coronation of Emperor Alexander, on September 15 of the same year, he was granted a snuff box with diamonds worth 8,500 rubles.
Count Rumyantsev was not slow to distribute the management of water communications between 4 members of the Department and, in view of the lack of domestic technicians at that time, asked for the Highest permission to send abroad - to England and France - several persons to study the production of hydraulic and other works. He attended to the completion of the work begun by his predecessors, and proceeded to the execution of new structures, such as the channels of the Berezinsky, Velevsky, Ivanovsky, Mariinsky and Oginsky, Svirsky, Syassky, Severo-Ekaterininsky and Tikhvinsky, and at the same time began clearing the fairways of many rivers for improving navigation on them, such as: along the rivers Bug, Volkhov, Western Dvina, Don, the Moscow River, Sura, Upa, etc. He took measures to cut and arrange tow lines necessary for traction of ships, and to draw up rules passage of ships through the canals. Under him, in 1805, the water supply system in Moscow from Mytishchi came under the jurisdiction of the Department, and in St. Petersburg - the Ligovsky Canal, which supplied water to the Tauride Garden; under him, the Obvodny Canal was also arranged. Later, in 1807, the Highest Order followed to improve the system of the Vyshnevolotsk waters and the Volga River, as well as to correct three waterways connecting St. Petersburg with the Caspian Sea. Count Rumyantsev managed the water communications of the Empire until 1809, when the administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs entrusted to him, in addition to the Ministry of Commerce, prompted him to ask for release from the management of water communications. On April 18, 1809, he was released from this office and awarded a very flattering rescript; at the same time, Prince Georg of Oldenburg, the chief head of the province of Novgorod, Tver and Yaroslavl, was appointed his successor.
Prior to this, with the establishment of the Ministries in 1802, Count N.P. Rumyantsev was appointed Minister of Commerce and exercised this duty until the abolition of the Ministry of Commerce on June 25, 1811 and the transfer and its affairs to the Department of Foreign Trade, which was part of the Ministry Finance. The time of 1802-1811 did not seem favorable for trade; Russia in this short period of time fought twice with France, almost all the time - with Turkey and, in addition, with Sweden and England. Therefore, one could hardly expect a significant development of our trade at this time. Nevertheless, at that time, orders were issued on this part that deserved attention, such as, for example, the following: in 1806, Count Rumyantsev collected information about trade (i.e., about the import and export of goods in the Empire) for 1802-1805 in the form of synoptic tables, which the Emperor ordered to be made known to all loyal subjects, so that everyone could contribute to the public good. This information clearly indicated that the balance of trade was declining not in our favor, and Count Rumyantsev took great care to correct it.
Back in 1802, he asked for the highest permission to publish from 1803 under his supervision "St. Petersburg Commercial Vedomosti", which were printed in the printing house of the Commerce Collegium. Although the newspaper did not pay off, it was published until 1811. In addition, under Count Rumyantsev, from 1802 to 1807, "Types of State Foreign Trade of Russia" were published. In St. Petersburg, the School of Naval Architecture was opened. Under Rumyantsev, in 1804, the construction of a new building of the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange, which is the decoration of the capital even today (it was completed in 1809), was started, as well as the construction of new barns in Riga for a hemp warehouse (in 1804 ). Rumyantsev, on the basis of a special rescript of March 18, 1802, had special supervision over the development of trade in Odessa and the Southern Territory of Russia and carried on an extensive and very curious correspondence with the famous Duke de Richelieu, appointed by Emperor Alexander I, on January 27, 1802 G., the mayor of the city of Odessa, and in the 11 years of his administration, he did a lot for the city entrusted to him. Richelieu made an effort to attract trade to Odessa and other ports of the Black Sea and to send goods in transit from Odessa to Moldavia, Wallachia, Austria and Prussia; he took care of the arrangement of port facilities, the pier, the embankment, customs and quarantine buildings in Odessa, as well as the establishment of the Commercial Court, the exchange and accounting offices of the Bank, etc. In addition, he founded the Commercial Gymnasium and the noble Institute, which was transformed over time into the Lyceum , named after him "Rishelevsky". For the city of Odessa, Richelieu laid out a city garden, built a cathedral and a theater. Simultaneously with Odessa Duke, as Duke de Richelieu was called for short, drew attention to the entire vast south of Russia from the Dniester to the Kuban. He settled colonies of foreigners, facilitated the transition to settled life and agriculture for the Nogai nomads, settled the remnants of the Cossacks in the Kuban, establishing the Kuban army from them, founded the Nikitsky Garden in the Crimea and Crimean winemaking, writing vines from France, developed sheep breeding, acquiring experienced shepherds and breeding sheep , etc. In addition, he took care of the development of education in the southern provinces, established the Institute for the Children of the Nobles, several shelter schools. In such unceasing concerns about the region entrusted to him, Richelieu was in active correspondence with N. P. Rumyantsev, from whom, as Minister of Commerce, he was directly dependent in relation to commerce and industry in general. The count was an ardent supporter of the enlightened views of Richelieu regarding the measures he proposed for the development of trade and industry of the region entrusted to him, and an zealous representative before His Majesty of various measures proposed by Richelieu. According to Rumyantsev's ideas, the Imperial decrees took place, allowing most of the above assumptions of the Duke de Richelieu and the release of the funds necessary for this. In addition, according to Rumyantsev’s reports, duties were reduced on all goods brought to Odessa and taken out of this port, etc. The curious correspondence of the Duke de Richelieu with Count N.P. editions. In 1803, Rumyantsev asked for permission to establish the Arkhangelsk Trading Company for the production of fish and animal industries in the White Sea. In addition, he greatly patronized the previously founded Russian-American Company, which had vast lands on the northeast coast of America, where there was also a port or harbor that bore his name.
Rumyantsev took care of the development of the export of our goods, the promotion of trade along the Transcaucasian coast, the spread of sheep breeding in general in the south of the Empire - to deliver good wool to our cloth factories, which made various cloths necessary for the uniforms of our army and navy, as well as an increase in the number of aforementioned factories in different parts of the Empire. It is impossible not to mention that under Count Rumyantsev, the beginning of the production of sugar from sugar beets in our Empire was laid, which subsequently received a very significant development; the first factory was set up by the landowner Blankenhagen in the Tula province, and he was given an allowance of about 50,000 rubles. The number of persons belonging to the merchant class increased significantly under Rumyantsev by granting, according to his reports, the rights to engage in trade to persons who had not previously enjoyed such rights. So, in 1802, persons of the nobility were allowed to carry out wholesale foreign trade, and in 1804 they were also allowed to be members of merchant associations and enroll in the 1st and 2nd guilds; to encourage the merchants to engage in trade continuously, from generation to generation, the so-called Velvet book; persons who traded wholesale throughout the state or abroad were given the title high-ranking merchant. It was allowed to enroll in the merchant class to all persons and at any time, except for the burghers and villagers. It is allowed to register in the guild to foreigners who have taken permanent citizenship of Russia. All peasants are allowed to trade in their own name, according to the testimonies of four families, and the trade in bread and household products, characteristic of peasant life, remained free for the peasants. The very transition of peasants to the merchant class was also allowed in those cases when the peasant did not practice arable farming, acquired in the city and the land he leaves is not left in vain.
Count Rumyantsev was, in his own words, an adherent of free trade and an enemy of various privileges given at different times to various foreign companies, to the detriment of the direct interest of our fatherland. Concerned about a balance of trade favorable to us, he took measures to increase our exports and to possibly reduce the import of foreign goods, which caused him dislike and even some kind of malice on the part of the adherents of unlimited, free trade and our trade union with England. His former friend, Count Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov, who dared to express even in writing, "that the most stupid customs officer in Constantinople is less than Count N. P. Rumyantsev, is ignorant of the general principles of state trade" should be included among such persons.
As Minister of Commerce, Count N. P. Rumyantsev was a Member of the State Council from the day it was established in 1801, took an active part in the discussion of cases that reached the consideration of the Council, and often expressed dissenting opinions, many of which were later published. During the transformation of the State Council in 1810, Count N. P. Rumyantsev was appointed first Chairman of this, - for those cases when His Majesty is not presiding over the Council. When in 1812, on April 1, Count Rumyantsev was ordered to be with the Emperor on special assignments, Field Marshal Count N. I. Saltykov was appointed to the post of Chairman of the State Council, from the time of the departure of the Sovereign from the capital. In addition, Rumyantsev also took part in special Commissions or Committees that were established under the State Council to consider especially important cases and emerging issues, such as, for example, in 1810 - for the final consideration of the formation of the Ministries, for the consideration of the project for the establishment of the Senate, notes by N. S. Mordvinov about recruitment, many cases about the dismissal of peasants into free cultivators, etc.
Soon Count Rumyantsev received another appointment.
It is known that the peace concluded in Tilsit in 1807 completely changed the relations that had previously existed between Russia and France; the friendly relations that arose between them made it impossible for Baron Budberg, a notorious enemy of Napoleon, to retain his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Napoleon sought to replace him with another person and, in addition, expressed the desire that a solemn embassy be sent to Paris from Russia. Emperor Alexander I originally intended to send Count N. P. Rumyantsev to Paris, but, returning from Tilsit to the capital, he found him so haggard, sick and unable to follow Napoleon everywhere that he did not dare to appoint him to Paris, to the great regret of himself Rumyantsev, and preferred to appoint Count P. A. Tolstoy there. Count Rumyantsev, by decree of the Senate of February 12, 1808, was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, with the resignation of the Minister of Commerce and with all other posts assigned to him. Rumyantsev did not agree to accept this post for a long time, but yielded to the Sovereign's persuasion, according to Steding, and also because he was captivated by the prospect of glory presented to him by including his name among those who would be honored to be mentioned in such a great century prepared by Napoleon: Count Rumyantsev at that time he had great confidence in Napoleon and his promises and tried to do everything he liked, as it must be concluded from the words of Savary, Napoleon's envoy to the Russian court.
The appointment of Rumyantsev could not but arouse displeasure on the part of people, however, not very numerous at that time, who wanted war with Napoleon and did not approve of such obsequiousness to him on the part of our government. The designated persons spoke of Count N. P. Rumyantsev very unfavorably. So, Grech in his Notes calls him an incapable talker; Prince A. A. Prozorovsky believed that, of course, it was impossible to buy Count Rumyantsev, but that he was nothing more than a complete fool (animal à manger du foin). H. H. Novosiltsev wrote that this a madman who is being fooled, etc. Bunina believed that Count Rumyantsev, according to his abilities, could manage the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Republic of San Marino, that he sneaky flatterer, his soul was always devoted to Napoleon, etc. Without dwelling further on such unfounded reviews about Count N. P. Rumyantsev, we only note that, much earlier than his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs, he was known as not wanting war with France, an adherent of an alliance with France, and back in 1804, during the execution of the Duke of Enghien, and then in 1805, after the battle of Austerlitz, spoke out against break with France, strongly advising save Russia's forces for her own immediate goals, what, in his opinion, at that time were questions Polish and Turkish. He found it necessary to achieve the fulfillment of the promises given by Napoleon in Tilsit - namely, to annex Moldavia and Wallachia to our Empire in order to firmly establish itself on the Danube; by this he incurred the hatred of Metternich, who saw in this intention the desire to embrace Austria with the Slavs from the north and south. With regard to Poland, he did not even allow the thought of its restoration, which inspired hope among the Poles by the establishment of the Duchy of Warsaw in 1807; he told Caulaincourt bluntly: "We will sell our last shirts, and we will not agree to the restoration of Poland." He shared the idea of Emperor Alexander I that Galicia, taken by France from Austria, should be divided between Russia and the Duchy of Warsaw. Adhering to the alliance with Napoleon, Count Rumyantsev foresaw that sooner or later France and her allies would declare war on Russia, and that this war could and even inevitably should decide the fate of Russia, and wrote about this to Barclay de Tolly on March 30, 1810 When he was appointed to the post of Minister in 1807, he himself and his Emperor were, of course, very far from the idea of a war with Napoleon. The following year, 1808, the well-known meeting of both monarchs took place in Erfurt, to which Count Rumyantsev accompanied Alexander I, and conducted diplomatic negotiations with Champagny, appointed to replace Talleyrand. Together with Champagny, he developed projects for resolving various issues that were finally resolved jointly by both Emperors. At this meeting (from September 15 (27) to October 2 (14), 1808), in which, under the influence of secret conversations with Talleyrand, Alexander I's disappointment in his ally arose, Napoleon allowed Alexander I to conquer Finland for himself, and also to annex the Danubian principalities to Russia, if she could force such a concession to the Port. - Both Emperors agreed to turn to England with a proposal of peace with France and sent a corresponding dispatch to London, the answer to which Champagny and Count Rumyantsev were to expect in Paris. Therefore, the latter, in the month of October 1808, went to Paris, with the authority of the Emperor Alexander to conclude the desired peace with England. He introduced himself more than once to Napoleon, who soon went to Spain, where there was a stubborn war with the entire population of this country, often visited the court of the Empress, visited high French society, examined all the sights of the city, etc., but he achieved the desired, main goal of the trip failed: England refused to enter into peace negotiations. At the same time, Napoleon was occupied with the impending war with Austria, which Emperor Alexander I tried with all his might to prevent, obliged, according to a secret convention concluded on September 30 (October 12) in Erfurt, in the event that Austria declared war on Napoleon, to act together with France. Upon his return from Spain, Napoleon showered Count Rumyantsev with favors and gifts; during this stay in Paris and before his departure on February 3 (15), 1809 from Paris, handed him a letter to Emperor Alexander dated February 2 (14), in which he expressed that " none,except for Count Rumyantsev,by his talents and utter caution, was not inclined to carry out everything that we (i.e., Emperor Alexander and he) had planned for the good of the world ... He will convey to you in words our whole conversation about Austria. "- Leaving Paris, Count Rumyantsev, without stopping in Karlsruhe , nor to Weimar, quickly approached Koenigsberg (where at that time the King of Prussia had a residence, deprived by Napoleon of most of his possessions after the pogrom at Jena and Auerstedt) and received in Marienwerder, on February 17 (March 1), 1809, a letter from the Emperor Alexander, who, assuming that the count was still near Paris, ordered him to stop and wait on the spot for Napoleon's orders regarding the views expressed by the Sovereign about the actions of the Vienna court.Alexander I, disapproving of those, found it necessary to make Austria, in order to receive a positive answer whether she intends to go to war with France, a decisive but noble presentation, without making any threats to her, but by the force of irresistible arguments proving to her that Austria's own interest induces her to be in inseparable alliance with both Emperors and adhere to the system adopted in Erfurt. Alexander I added that, in his opinion, one Count Rumyantsev can be invested with the necessary confidence for the forthcoming negotiations on this with Austria. Count Rumyantsev told Napoleon the contents of this letter and added that he would gladly await his orders, but, being no longer near Paris and not on the road to Vienna, but almost at the border of his fatherland, he would await Napoleon's orders with his master to achieve a peaceful alliance with Austria, with full readiness to go to Vienna, if it is deemed necessary. Then Count Rumyantsev visited the King of Prussia in Konigsberg, dined with him, had a long conversation with him, which he preferred to convey to His Majesty in words, and, having received the Order of the Black Eagle with diamonds from the king, went on. He arrived in St. Petersburg on March 15, 1809, and was very graciously received by Emperor Alexander I, who at that time was engaged in a war with Sweden, which was already in its second year. After the well-known crossing of our troops across the ice of the Gulf of Bothnia in 1809, danger threatened the capital of the Swedish king Gustavus Adolf IV and forced him to desire peace. Therefore, along with military preparations, they began to prepare for diplomatic negotiations, and even when Count Rumyantsev was in Paris, Emperor Alexander on February 16, 1809 instructed D. Alopeus (our former ambassador in Stockholm) to enter into negotiations with the new Swedish Foreign Minister Lagerbjelke about peace on predetermined conditions, among which the most important was the complete cession of Russia to the rest of Finland, the acceptance of the Gulf of Bothnia and the Torneo River by the borders of both states, etc. With these conditions, Alopeus went to Abo, but soon learned that in Stockholm 2 On March 13, 1809, King Gustav IV was removed from the throne with all his offspring, and that the Swedish crown passed to his uncle Charles XIII (Duke of Südermanland), who had no children. This latter sent his adjutant to St. Petersburg with a notice of his accession to the throne and of Sweden's desire to conclude peace with Russia. As a result, Alopeus was instructed to go to Stockholm and find out to the Swedes on what conditions Russia agreed to negotiate. At the same almost While the Emperor, intending to attend the opening of the Finnish Diet in Borgo on March 16, went there on the 13th, accompanied by Prince A.N. Golitsyn, MM Speransky, Tolstoy, and also Count N.P. the convocation of such a Diet is appropriate and necessary. Having opened the Diet, His Majesty and the persons accompanying him left for Helsingfors on the 17th, and then arrived in St. Petersburg. Meanwhile, Alopeus, having stayed in Stockholm for four days, also returned to St. Petersburg. Soon, under the leadership of the Chancellor, negotiations on peace were to open in Friedrichsham on July 19, 1809, with Count Rumyantsev and the aforementioned Alopeus being representatives from Russia, and Steding, who was Swedish ambassador in St. Petersburg under Catherine II , and Colonel Schildsbrant. The negotiations dragged on for quite some time. Steding, due to illness and other reasons, did not arrive until August 2nd, and the meetings of Congress did not begin until August 4th. Then Steding raised innumerable difficulties about the borders, about the Åland Islands, about the debts of Sweden, etc. But Kamensky's successful actions in Sweden under Sevar and Ratan made Steding more compliant. Count Rumyantsev, in order to end this matter as soon as possible, asked for permission from the Sovereign to take the border not of the Torneo River, but of the Kem River, a little to the east, sacrificing the iron mines between Torneo and Kalix. “Is it worth persistently chasing such miserable wealth,” wrote Count Rumyantsev, risking slowing down the conclusion of peace. The emperor agreed to this, but on the condition that this be done at the very last extreme, and, moreover, that instead of the Kemi River, the Torneo River be accepted as the border. Meanwhile Steding fell ill with a fever; the king of Sweden certainly wanted to keep the Aland Islands for himself and to take the Kem River as a border in the north. The endless debate began again. Seeing their futility, Count Rumyantsev pretended to consider the negotiations, due to the disagreement of Sweden, terminated and expressed regret that the Friedrichsham Conference did not lead to the establishment of peace. Steding, due to whose illness this meeting took place in his apartment, asked to be given time to think and, moreover, to wait for the return of his adjutant from Stockholm with additional orders. Count Rumyantsev agreed to this and wrote to His Majesty that he did not see any objections from the Swedes even on the issue of the northern border. The sovereign was very pleased with Count Rumyantsev and wrote to him on August 29 that “it was impossible to negotiate with great talent and wisdom. Russia owes you gratitude. "After that, the drafting of the peace treaty itself began, which was signed on September 5, 1809 (I P.S.Z., No. 23883) and according to which Sweden forever ceded to Russia the provinces conquered by weapons: Kimmenegrodskaya , Niland, Tavastgus, Abov and Björneborg with the islands of Aland, Savolak and Karel, Vazov, Uleaborg and part of western Botnia up to the Torneo River.For the successful achievement of such peaceful conditions, Count Rumyantsev was elevated to the rank of State Chancellor on September 7, 1809.
Shortly thereafter, Napoleon's war with Austria ended - peace in Schönbrunn on November 2 (14), 1809, according to which, for the assistance rendered to France in this war, Russia received a small Tarnopol region of Galicia. The indecisive actions of the Russian troops in this last war between France and Austria caused a chill in Napoleon's relations with Russia; participation in the continental system, assumed by Alexander under an obligation in Tilsit, harmed Russia's trade and burdened the Sovereign, and the annexation of part of Galicia to the formed Duchy of Warsaw and the lands of the Duchy of Oldenburg to France increased Alexander's irritation against Napoleon, who, in turn, was also irritated by the unsuccessful outcome of negotiations about his marriage with the Emperor's sister, Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna, at the end of December 1809. Both former allies began to think about war between themselves and prepare for it - but the Chancellor did not allow the thought of such a war.
Even before the start of the Patriotic War, Count Rumyantsev managed to realize his long-conceived idea: on May 30, 1811, he asked for the highest permission to establish a special Commission at the Moscow Archive of Foreign Affairs, with the famous N. N. Bantysh-Kamensky at the head, for collection and printing all Russian ancient and new public treatises, conventions and similar acts, following the example of a collection compiled in France by Dumont. Count Rumyantsev assumed all expenses (up to 67,000 rubles) for this edition. By the end of 1811, most of the 1st part of the "Collection of State Letters and Treaties" was prepared for publication, but the onset of the Patriotic War delayed the further work of this Commission [We will report here that the mentioned volume of the "Collection of State Letters and Treaties" was published in 1813. ; the following three parts were published in 1819-1828, but already under the supervision of A. F. Malinovsky, who managed the Archive after the death of N. N. Bantysh-Kamensky. In view of the approach of the French to Moscow, all the affairs of not only this Commission, but the entire Archive were taken to Nizhny Novgorod, and Count Rumyantsev himself, appointed by decree on April 1, 1812, to be with the person of the Sovereign Emperor, had to accompany him to Vilna, where Alexander went to inspect his troops gathered on our western borders. As you know, our armies soon retreated from the borders and continued their retreat as far as Moscow. The Emperor and Count Rumyantsev left Vilna y; the first went to Moscow, and the second to Petersburg. On the way, in Velikie Luki, a stroke of paralysis befell Count Rumyantsev, who had just finished negotiations on an agreement with Spain and its representative Zea-Bermudez on July 8 (20), 1812.
Having recovered from paralysis, which significantly damaged his hearing, Count Rumyantsev arrived in St. Petersburg and took up his official duties when the already famous Patriotic War of 1812 was in full swing. Napoleon with his armies was heading towards our ancient capital, and according to our plan of war, our armies were constantly retreating. This continuous retreat of our troops caused, as you know, displeasure not only in the army, but throughout the country against one of its main commanders - Count Barclay de Tolly; he was replaced by Prince M.I. Kutuzov. The same displeasure extended to Count N. P. Rumyantsev, known to society for his disposition towards Napoleon and France. His enemies made an attempt to remove him; in early August 1812, after the capture of Smolensk by the French, they instructed the English General Wilson, who had come from Constantinople to Petersburg, to hint to the Emperor about the change of Count Rumyantsev. Wilson did this, and Alexander answered him that the army was mistaken about Count Rumyantsev, that the count never advised him to submit to Napoleon and never gave rise to any disagreement or disagreement with him, and that he, the Emperor, "cannot in vain to sacrifice the faithful and a person devoted to him. "Count Rumyantsev thus remained at the head of the entrusted department, but only nominally: most of the papers and affairs went through the hands of Count de Maistre and the young Nesselrode; Count Rumyantsev was removed from personal relations with the Emperor on the diplomatic side, and he was allowed to sign and fasten papers written by other persons.During the second trip, in December 1812, of Emperor Alexander to Vilna, to the army, after the final defeat of Napoleon at the Berezina, which was already on the banks of the Neman, Count Rumyantsev did not accompany the Sovereign - "from respect for his advanced years and sickness"; he remained in the capital, invested with the honorary position of Chairman of the State Council. Count Rumyantsev was one of the few people who did not sympathize with the intention of Emperor Alexander to use the blood of Russian soldiers and the money of the population of Russia, in alliance with other powers, to the liberation of Europe from the yoke of Napoleon. "Not wanting to be known as the State Chancellor om, when he was excommunicated from participating in and conducting state affairs, "Count Rumyantsev decided to completely leave the service, asking for the permission of the Sovereign at an opportunity, which presented itself to him in 1813. It is necessary to recall here that after the peace with the Turks in Bucharest in 1812, their allies, the Persians, nevertheless continued the war with us in Asia Minor, beyond the Caucasus, but soon the hero of the Caucasus, General Kotlyarevsky, on October 19 and 20 In 1812, he inflicted a severe defeat on them at Aslanduz, after which a peace treaty was concluded with the Persians on October 12, 1813 in Gullistan, signed by the Commander-in-Chief at that time in the Caucasus, General N. F. Rtishchev. According to the established clerical order, this treatise was delivered to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for presentation to the Highest View of His Majesty. Count Rumyantsev presented this to the Sovereign in a special letter on April 29, 1813, in which, mentioning that he had served His Majesty for 12 years, and, in the last 6 years, various wars ended successfully in peace treaties with Sweden, Turkey, England and Persia, asked for dismissal from the service, adding: "not the summer and not the disease take me out of it, but the need, that I continue to be known as the State Chancellor when I am excommunicated from participating in and conducting public affairs. "Without receiving any answer from the Emperor, who at that time was engaged in military operations against Napoleon on the Elbe, Count Rumyantsev decided to remind him of his request at the first opportunity, meanwhile, he repeatedly asked Count A. A. Arakcheev, with whom he was in great friendship, to assist in resolving his request.The emperor left such requests of the Chancellor for a long time without consequences, and only in 1814, upon his return from abroad to St. Petersburg, after a series of letters from Count Rumyantsev to Count Arakcheev, and after Count Rumyantsev wrote to His Majesty on February 11, 1814, that he retired from all affairs,entrusted to him, And handed them over, in order, senior after himself t.s. Weidemeyer, finally took place on August 1, 1814, a brief decree to the Senate on the dismissal of Rumyantsev from the affairs entrusted to him, with the preservation of all the salaries he now receives, and a rescript to the count expressing excellent gratitude for the services rendered by him to the fatherland and unshakable respect for to him of His Majesty, and the hope was expressed that the count would not renounce being useful to the fatherland with his knowledge and experience, when his state of health would permit.
After that, Count Rumyantsev, through Count Arakcheev, on August 13, 1814, asked for the grace to bow to His Majesty and read him a memorandum on the surrender, to whom he was ordered, of the work of Obvodny near the capital of the canal, which would take no more than ten minutes. Apparently, Count Rumyantsev did not have a reception with His Majesty; this is not mentioned in the Kamer-Fourier journals after August 13th either.
Rumyantsev soon left for his beloved Gomel and became very busy with it. Let's talk about this new activity of the count in a few words, having mentioned earlier that during the time that Count Rumyantsev was in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a gradual transformation of the central administration of this department began on new principles: a special ministerial office was established, and diplomatic affairs were removed from the jurisdiction of the Collegium, emerging in Asian states; they were entrusted to a special Asiatic Department. In addition, a special Expedition of consular affairs was established, with a chief, approved by the Highest Authority, at the head; this Expedition, in addition to consular affairs in general, was in charge of the affairs of prizes and objects related to trade and navigation.
On the picturesque river bank Sozha, a tributary of the Dnieper, was located, near the town of Gomel, the manor house of Count Rumyantsev with a large garden and a church next to it in the name of St. Peter and Paul, in which the ashes of the owner of the town of Gomel, adjacent to the estate, were later interred. Count N.P. Rumyantsev not only loved, but was also fond of agriculture, followed its development and improvement in other lands and tried to introduce everything that was available and possible in his Gomel. This involved him not only in considerable expenses, but also in a large correspondence with various persons, more or less known at that time, in the field of agriculture. From this correspondence it can be seen that the count received from Lisbon seeds of Portuguese vegetables, from the Kremenets Lyceum - various seeds received from New Holland, including Chinese hemp, from Ustyug - cedar seeds; from the palace garden in Kyiv - walnut trees, from the Nikitsky Garden in the Crimea - various plants, etc. He ordered bulbous seeds and clover seeds from Hamburg, through our resident Struve, who bought and sent him Dutch cows, as well as merinos and sheepdogs for them. The count paid special attention to sheep breeding and ordered sheep and boniters (special learned sheep herders) from Saxony, as well as merinos from Count Nesselrode. The herds of fine-fleeced sheep of the count were known to count Kankrin, who sent the count articles and rules on sheep breeding.
Count Rumyantsev did not pursue income from his estate; he found it indecent for him to speculate and pursue important future profits; he wished to use his noble estates in peace and keep them not only in order, but in excellent order. In addition to obtaining various products of agriculture, he sought to process them at home and for this purpose arranged various factories at his place. In addition to a very good cheese factory, there were distilleries, glass, pottery, spinning factories, which made yarn from flax and hemp and then napkins, tablecloths, etc. There was also a bleaching factory at this plant. For better transportation of his works, Count Rumyantsev established a shipping company along the Sozha and Dnieper rivers (which still exists). In addition, the count took care of the town of Gomel itself: he built a new bridge across the Sozh River, a stone Catholic church, and a Jewish school, so that the Gomel Jewish Society would annually contribute 12,000 rubles for its maintenance. piecemeal; settled in the town of artisans, etc.; he also thought about setting up Lancaster schools to educate the local population. As an amateur interested in agriculture, Count N. P. Rumyantsev was a member of the Imperial Free Economic Society, repeatedly released money at the disposal of the Society for the issuance of prizes to encourage various agricultural improvements, discoveries and writings, delivered various seeds to the Society for their distribution in our fatherland . The Society repeatedly expressed its gratitude to Count Rumyantsev for such gifts and on December 7, 1804 presented him with a special gold medal, with a paper signed by all members of the Society, and then, from 1807, he received all the publications of the Society. It is also impossible not to mention the rather extensive correspondence of Count Rumyantsev with Christian Khristianovich Steven, head of the Nikitsky Garden in the Crimea, concerning exclusively the cultivation in the Garden of various trees and plants useful in the economy, with the aim of distributing them in our country. The Count repeatedly sent various trees and plants to the Garden and later donated his bust to the Garden. But these studies of Count Gomel and almost annual detours of his vast landed estates were for him, as it were, moments of respite from more important and lofty pursuits, to which he completely indulged, moving away from public service, and which brought him the crown of immortality in the annals of Russian historical science. This activity of the count has already been discussed in detail more than once in various studies indicated below, on the basis of which, for the sake of completeness, the biographical sketch of Count N. P. Rumyantsev, let's just say a few words about this activity of his. From a young age, the count had a disposition in national history: back in 1777, he asked his father to deliver church books to him, finding that they were additions to the legends of the chroniclers. Later, as ambassador in Frankfurt am Main, he also collected historical extracts and writings relating to Slavic history and relations between Russia and Germany in the 11th century, and he himself compiled a short essay on Russian history in French. In addition, through the Austrian Minister Stadion, he entered into relations with the famous Dobrovsky on the search for monuments of ancient relations between Russia and Moravia and the Czech Republic. At that time, he already regretted that he could not completely devote himself to the study of Russian history and antiquities, and, wanting to say some benefit to its study, he suggested back in 1790 to Empress Catherine II to start publishing, following the model of Dumont, Russian treatises and treaties with various states, reducing the cost of publishing at their own expense. This idea was not realized at that time, but Count Rumyantsev did not leave it, as already mentioned above, and, being Minister of Foreign Affairs, he asked for permission from Emperor Alexander I to establish a special Commission for this in Moscow, as mentioned above, under the direct supervision of N N. Bantysh-Kamensky and his assistant A.F. Malinovsky, who were not slow to publish the 1st volume, and then the next, at the expense of the count. This publication marked the beginning of a lively correspondence between the count and A.F. Malinovsky, which continued until the end of his life and concerned almost all the scientific publications and research undertaken by the count, as well as the acquisition of manuscripts, medals, coins, remnants of antiquity, etc. But even earlier On this occasion, the Chancellor entered into relations with our well-known hierarch Yevgeny Bolkhovitinov, namely, as early as 1804, when Yevgeny sent him a drawing of the Korsun gates in Novgorod, and then repeatedly told him what searches in libraries and archives it was desirable to make, and also indicated persons who could be entrusted with such works (including the well-known over time A. Kh. Vostokov). Rumyantsev soon had the idea of collecting monuments of Russian history and presented 25,000 rubles to the Imperial Academy of Sciences at different times. for the publication of the manuscript of the chronicler Nestor according to the Koenigsberg or Radzivilov list, as well as its compilation according to three other lists: Ipatiev, Ermolaevsky and Khlebnikov. At the same time (1813) he instructed N. N. Bantysh-Kamensky to find the Kipriyanov Book of Degrees and collate its text, intending to start publishing our ancient manuscripts stored in the Imp. Academy of Sciences. He also wanted to publish ancient heroic tales, ancient poems, etc., and asked A.F. Malinovsky to look for them. For these works, K. F. Kalaidovich and P. M. Stroev were invited by him. Having previously worked at the Synodal Library, Kalaidovich drew the attention of the count to its treasures, who instructed Malinovsky to seek permission from the spiritual authorities to publish a description of the manuscripts of this Library. In 1817, Count Rumyantsev instructed P. M. Stroev to inspect and describe the monastic libraries of the Moscow diocese, starting with the monastery of St. Joseph Volokolamsky, and Stroev received instructions from A.F. Malinovsky for this work, which he completed to the great pleasure of the count, who intended to engage Stroev with the publication of ancient Russian travels, starting with the travel of Afanasy Tveretinov to India, as well as compiling, together with Kalaidovich, an inventory of everything ancient manuscripts kept in the library of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Stroev, on behalf of the count, worked on the publication of the Sophia Time Book, and because of the remuneration for this work, relations between the count and Stroev became somewhat aggravated, but this did not prevent Stroev from suggesting that the count begin compiling dictionaries: historical, geographical, topographical and explanatory for understanding the language of chronicles and others monuments of our ancient literature, which amounted to about 10,000 rubles. The death of Count Rumyantsev, which soon followed, prevented the implementation of this useful publication, which the Count was ready to contribute to. Prior to this, the count entered into correspondence with the young Grigorovich, a priest in Gomel, whom he had known since childhood, the compiler of the historical and chronological "Experience on the Posadniks of Novgorod", who suggested that the count compile reviews of the archives of the Belarusian monasteries and acts of the northwestern region with translations thereof. The count asked for a new permission for this and accepted at his own expense the costs of publishing the first part of the Belarusian archives of ancient charters compiled by Grigorovich. After that, Grigorovich informed the count about the oldest Lithuanian chronicler found in Poland, about old cases lying in the city of Mstislavl, etc.
The count also knew and was very fond of the young Lerberg, who wrote in German his study to explain ancient Russian history, which was translated, on behalf of the count, by D. I. Yazykov. Lerberg died very soon, and the count bought his library, and met Academician F.I. Krug, on whose advice he began to publish some Byzantine sources of Russian history, such as Leo the Deacon, George Amartol and others. To this end, the Circle, on behalf of Count Rumyantsev, entered into correspondence with the Hellenist Gaza and others regarding the acquisition of unpublished works of Byzantine historians stored in the monasteries of Asia Minor, Spain, and also in the book depositories of England.
Due to the close connection of our national history with the fate of the neighboring Kingdom of Poland, Count N.P. Rumyantsev could not but pay attention to various acts relating to the history of this state and entered into correspondence with some Polish scholars and researchers of that time. So, with prof. Iv. Nick. Count Loboiko corresponded about the publication of an essay about the people who lived in Lithuania and its language, about the publication of the Volyn chronicler and about the papers of the Suprasl Monastery, as well as about various Lithuanian antiquities. The count expressed to him a desire to publish at his own expense the Lithuanian-Samogitsky dictionary. In the same way, the count had relations with Professor Samuel Linde, as well as with the famous Joachim Lelevel, who expressed his readiness to take over, at the request of the count, the supervision of the printing of Danilovich's work on the Lithuanian Statute; Lelewel also learned for the count about the chronicle of the Teutonic knights of Wigandt. Count Rumyantsev received information from a professor at Busse University in Warsaw about the rich collection of Slavic manuscripts in the Basilian monastery in Zhuravitsy, as well as about the ancient manuscript of Czech law of the 14th century found by Ganka, which was previously unknown, and about the contract between Hetman Zolkiewski and the Russian boyars on the election of Vladislav to the throne Moscow. Another Polish scientist - Bandtke - informed the count about historical materials relating to Lithuania, Poland and Russia and stored in hard-to-reach libraries in Vienna.
Count Rumyantsev, realizing the importance for the history of Russia of many writers of the East, entered into relations, through our academician Fren, with the famous Hammer regarding the publication of oriental manuscripts relating to the history, geography and ethnography of Russia, as well as with Kosegarten regarding the publication of Masudi's chronicle. Fren himself, at the request of the count, worked on translating the history of Abulgazi and Belasori, as well as Ibn-Fatslan. In addition, Fren assisted the count in acquiring various manuscripts, as well as coins and medals of oriental origin, determined their value and significance for science, and compiled a detailed catalog for him. Fren also identified the merits of Rumyantsev himself in relation to the literature of the East. Under the influence of Fren, the count gradually became more and more interested in Eastern and Russian numismatics, especially when about 82 Kufic coins were found in 1822 in Gomel itself, which were described by Fren. Count Rumyantsev greatly valued the coin of Spartacus IV, bought in the Crimea, and was also very interested in monuments of Greek and Roman origin, found in southern Russia, mainly in the places where the Genoese colonies existed, in later times. He appealed to the Governor-General of Novorossiysk and Bessarabia, Count Lanzheron, to allocate to him along the seashore a strip of land at the foot of Mount Mithridates and further beyond the Golden Mountain, for 5 versts, with a width of one and a half versts, where ancient Panticapaeum was located, for excavations and for delivering benefits to the fatherland and incremental sciences. Count Lanzheron, without diverting the coastline to Count Rumyantsev, took measures so that no one except the count would touch this land. Under the influence of the same Fren, Count Rumyantsev gradually became interested in both Eastern and Russian numismatics.
Rumyantsev carried on a lively correspondence with Adelung and A. Kh. Vostokov. The first informed him about the chronicle of Wiegandt, about rare editions in Leipzig, about the description of Tibet, about the translator of the geography of Herodotus, the Frenchman Gail (Gail) and wrote to him about Meyerberg's journey and drawings for him, as well as about the sale of various collections; he also drew up a plan for the systematic publication of the legends of foreign writers about Russia; Rumyantsev greatly sympathized with this publication and contributed to its implementation, but fate allowed both of them to publish only two monographs, namely, the travels of Herberstein and Meyerberg. In addition, Adelung was, as it were, an intermediary in the count's relations with Sjogren, Koeppen, Betticher and Vuk Karadzic, as well as the executor of many orders and wishes of the count, mainly of a scientific content. Vostokov, on behalf of the count, conducted extensive correspondence on various rare, mostly Slavic, books and scientific historical issues, and then, heading the department of Russian books and Slavic-Russian manuscripts in the library of the count himself, took care of their replenishment, considered the acquisitions of the count in part Slavic-Russian chronicles and ancient books, compared handwritten books sent to him, and compiled many bibliographic descriptions for the catalog of Slavic-Russian manuscripts of the count's library.
Pyotr Ivanovich Koeppen, publisher of the "Bibliographic Sheets", traveling in Russia and abroad, informed the count about various manuscripts and rare works that he saw in the book depositories of Europe. The count, in turn, wrote to him about his acquisitions and asked his opinion on whether it would not be better to publish the Serbian manuscript of Daniel in Vienna itself, entrusting this to Vuk or Kopitar.
Gradually expanding the range of his scientific research, Count Rumyantsev entered into relations with V.N. Berkh, a well-known collector of materials from the Perm region, and instructed him to look for chronicles and letters in that region, describe inscriptions on stones and cliffs, collect samples of foreign words, heroic songs , legends, fairy tales, as well as coins and manuscripts in the Tatar language, etc. In the same way, the count corresponded with M.F. Berlinsky about various antiquities of the city of Kyiv and its environs, about tombstone inscriptions, ancient sacred books, about the paintings of ancient metropolitans . Through him, the count entered into relations with the prior of the Dominican Order, who possessed a manuscript about the ancient life of the city of Kyiv, and inquired about whether there were ancient documents and handwritten books, especially on parchment, earlier than the 15th century, in the Kiev Catholic monasteries and landlord archives, to Russia, in Latin, Polish and Russian. Since 1817, the Count, Archpriest of the Novgorod Znamensky Cathedral, Skorodumov, communicated with various ancient chronicles and manuscripts in the Novgorod diocese and in the Sophia library, about the chronicler of the Ferapontov Monastery and, moreover, expressed a desire that the archpriest come to an agreement with two of the best seminarians or scribes regarding the correspondence of old manuscripts. In addition, the count wrote to him about finding ancient coins, about buying an old hryvnia of silver and any other antiquities. The correspondence of Count N. P. Rumyantsev on the scientific part was by no means limited to the above-mentioned persons, because, having read in newspapers or learned in some other way about scientific news that interested him, he used to apply in writing for an explanation and delivery of more detailed written letters to him. about this information. On the other hand, the owners of the items that interested him themselves entered into correspondence with him. So, for example, Count Rumyantsev wrote to Bronevsky about the Mongol armor; A. M. Turgenev (Tobolsk governor) - about the purchase of ancient weapons of the Buryats; P. N. Pisani - about Slavic manuscripts on parchment; Butenev - about the sale of the library on Mount Athos in the "Izograph" monastery, about the delivery of the catalog of books from the Sinai monastery; Prince P. A. Golitsyn - about leather money found during the demolition of the old Kremlin wall in Serpukhov; to Prince G. S. Volkonsky in Orenburg - about ancient manuscripts that could be in local churches and among the nobles of this region; Mr. Vasilyevsky in Omsk - about the icon of the Wisdom of God in the St. Sophia Church of this city; Count V. N. Panin - about Slavic or Russian manuscripts, as well as about the description of the travels of the Spaniards until the end of the 16th century, available in the Escurial, etc. d. [In the State. The archive has a number of similar cases in the category XVI red.].
It is impossible not to notice that the count in his correspondence, as well as in general in his treatment of his employees, was distinguished by extraordinary politeness, modesty and simplicity; he treated them as persons completely equal to him, despite the significant difference between them both in social status and in state; he took a great part in them, tried to do everything possible for them and was very careful in financial settlements with them. He liked to determine everything as precisely as possible in advance, entering into obligations with the author or publisher for any publication or work in general, and did not allow the work done for him to remain without remuneration or would be insufficiently appreciated by him. He took a close part in the publications of scientific works carried out at his request and entered into all the details of the publication, carefully looking through not only the text, but also the prefaces, in which he did not allow himself to express any laudable words to himself, and forced to reprint the sheets, if anything something like that happened to them. With such personal participation, the count printed the following editions: 1. "Collection of State Letters and Treaties stored in the Collegium of Foreign Affairs." Three parts, with many images of seals and assaults, Moscow. 1813, 1819 and 1822; 2. "Ancient Russian poems collected by Kirshe Danilov and re-published, with the addition of 35 hitherto unknown songs and fairy tales, and notes for melody", compiled by K. F. Kalaidovich, Moscow. 1818; 3. "Laws of the Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich and the Sudebnik of the Tsar and Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich with additional decrees and handwriting samples, published by K. F. Kalaidovich and P. M. Stroev", Moscow. 1819; 4. "Studies that serve to explain ancient Russian history, composed by Lerberg", St. Petersburg. 1819; 5. "Rustringia, the original homeland of the first Russian Grand Duke Rurik and his brothers. Goldman's historical experience, translated by Snegirev", Moscow. 1819; 6. "History of Leo the Deacon of Kaloy and other writings of Byzantine writers, published for the first time from the manuscripts of the Royal Library of Paris and explained with notes by Karl Benedict Gaze", translated from Greek by D. Popov, St. Petersburg. 1820; 7. "Notes on some peoples and lands of Central Asia, composed by Philip Nazarov, Separate Siberian translator's corps, sent to Kokand in 1813 and 1814", St. Petersburg. 1821; 8. "Monuments of Russian literature of the XII century, published with explanations, variants and samples of K. F. Kalaidovich", Moscow. 1821; 9. "Historical and chronological experience about the posadniks of Novgorod, extracted from the ancient Russian chronicles by Archpriest G. Grigorovich", Moscow. 1821; . Published by P. Stroev", 2 parts, with handwriting, Moscow. 1820 and 1821; 11. "Letters to Alexei Fedorovich Malinovsky about archaeological research in the Ryazan province, with drawings of antiquities found there in 1822", K. F. Kalaidovich , Moscow. 1823; 12. "John Exarch of Bulgaria. A study explaining the history of the Slovenian language and literature of the 9th and 10th centuries, written by K.F. Kalaidovich, with 16 engraved images", Moscow. 1824; 13. "Belarusian Archive of Ancient Letters, Collected by Archpriest G. Grigorovich", part I with images, Moscow, 1824
In addition to these publications, which appeared in the press at the expense of Count N. P. Rumyantsev, the tireless worker of science had the intention of enriching our historical literature with other equally useful publications, as can be seen from his correspondence, but the untimely and unexpected death of the count prevented the implementation of his good deeds. intentions. The count spent up to 300,000 rubles on these various publications and scientific enterprises, and, moreover, irrevocably, since all his publications, despite their indisputable importance and usefulness for our historical science, shared the common fate that comprehends scientific works in our country and to the present, that is, they sold out extremely slowly and did not always pay back the costs of publishing. But this did not bother the count in his worries about the success of domestic science, and until his death he retained a deep attachment to it; on his deathbed, he even asked his brother to finish the edition of Meyerberg's journey through Russia that he had begun.
In addition to publications, the count tried to prepare people for studying Russian history, placing the best students of the theological seminary in the Kiev Theological Academy under the leadership of Yevgeny Bolkhovitinov. In addition, Rumyantsev had long had the idea, for the future complete composition of Russian history, to form a society of scribes, to whom, having gathered together, one person would read all the Russian chronicles, and each of them would enter into his notebook an extract of what belongs to his work. This work was to be carried out under the supervision of a wise expert in Russian history. In addition, for work in the field of Russian history, the count recognized the need to prepare useful figures from excellent students of the Mogilev Seminary, placing them as boarders on his account at the Kiev Theological Academy. He communicated these thoughts of his to Metropolitan Eugene, whom he greatly respected, who, however, did not share these views of the count.
Count N. P. Rumyantsev, not limited to examining our domestic repositories of historical acts and papers, also began to search for and examine monuments of national history located in foreign lands. For this purpose, he sent Mr. Strandman to Italy, and Schultz to Germany, mainly to Koenigsberg, Struve to Hamburg, as well as other persons to Copenhagen, Stockholm, Wolfenbüttel, Lübeck, Bremen, Mecklenburg, Schwerin, etc. to make the most accurate copies of the relevant acts and papers. In England, examination of such manuscripts proceeded with great success, thanks to the assistance of our envoy, Count S. R. Vorontsov, a friend of Rumyantsev and a passionate lover of domestic antiquities. In this way, Count N.P. Rumyantsev received a significant number of lists, very important, that were included in the manuscripts of the Rumyantsev Museum. Strandman also delivered curious lists from the famous libraries of Italy, including letters from the Russian Metropolitan Isidore. From Paris, the Orientalists of Gaza and Saint-Martin informed the Count that they had discovered many important documents in Greek and Oriental languages concerning Russia, both in Paris and in the libraries of Venice, Genoa and Milan. Rumyantsev invited them to publish a number of Byzantine writers at his expense and sent a lot of money to Paris for this. He also took care to replenish his library, not missing opportunities for this, with the help of his permanent correspondents in this regard, such as, for example, Prince Kozlovsky in London, Lizakevich in Denmark, who were with our embassies, the learned bibliographer Treskau in Germany and the librarian Vikhman, who sent the count antiquarian catalogs of various books and publications, as well as detailed descriptions of more or less extensive collections of various books for sale, etc. With the help of the designated persons, Count N. P. Rumyantsev managed to collect a very extensive and valuable library.
Also interested in geography and the question of opening a sea passage in the north from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arctic Ocean and in the south from the Southern Ocean to the Atlantic, Count N. P. Rumyantsev equipped, at his own expense, the ship "Rurik", which made a remarkable voyage under the leadership of Kotzebue. On July 30, 1815, he sailed from Petersburg and, having made a safe passage to Tenerife and Brazil, rounded the stormy Cape Horn and rose to Kamchatka. Having discovered a whole group of islands in the northern latitude of 14 ° 57 "20", one of them called Kotzebue the island of the count Rumyantsev, and then came to the island of St. Lawrence and, returning, due to heavy fogs, to Unalaska and the port of St. Francis, went to the Sandwich Islands and groups of Radak islands, and one of these groups, at 9 ° 28 "9" latitude, called the islands of Count Rumyantsev, and the largest of its islands - the island of Count Arakcheev. Then Kotzebue, through Manilla and the Sunda Strait, reached the island of Madagascar, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and through England arrived safely in St. Petersburg on August 20, 1818 (i.e., three years later), and stood on the river. Neva in front of the chancellor's house, who then published at his own expense a description of this voyage under the title: "Journey to the Southern Ocean from the Bering Strait to explore the northeastern sea passage in 1815, 1816, 1817 and 1818, dependent on the State Chancellor Count H. P . Rumyantseva on the ship Rurik, under the command of the fleet of retired Lieutenant Kotzebue", St. Petersburg. 1821-1823, in three parts.
It is also impossible not to mention that at the same time, at the suggestion of P. M. Stroev, a plan was developed for scientific trips to some provinces, our state, to study monastic libraries and archives, and that Count Rumyantsev himself, despite his advanced age, had an eye disease and deafness, took a personal part in these trips, and made many valuable acquisitions of all kinds. So, at the beginning of May 1822, together with K. F. Kalaidovich, he made a trip, to search for antiquities, to the monasteries of the Moscow province, as well as to Mikulino Gorodishche and to the cities of Rzhev and Staritsa; this detour delivered to him a number of precious manuscripts kept in monasteries. The following year, in 1823, in the summer, he undertook an even more difficult journey, also on horseback, in the vicinity of Pyatigorsk to use, on the advice of doctors, the Caucasian mineral waters. From Pyatigorsk, he went by land to the Crimea and traveled all over the most interesting part of this peninsula. He was very pleased with the trip, he was tired, but, according to him, he was rewarded with impressions and memories and acquired many different coins and medals, mostly ancient ones, about which F. I. Krug wrote. From the Crimea, he traveled to Kyiv, visited Yevgeny Bolkhovitinov and arrived in his beloved Gomel, where Count Arakcheev visited him, having spent several days with him. At the beginning of February 1824, Count Rumyantsev arrived in St. Petersburg and soon began to gather in Moscow in order to travel from there to Nizhny Novgorod. Having bought a lot of medals and coins, he arrived in Gomel, but here he became very weak; besides, his eyesight was extremely disturbed and he could only sign letters and papers prepared by his house secretary, sometimes making only small additions. In 1825, the count stayed in his beloved Gomel for the first half of the year and then went to the fair in Romny, from where he returned to St. Petersburg in June.
Count Rumyantsev was very pleased to learn that Emperor Alexander I, traveling through the Crimea, also visited the Nikitsky Garden, was very pleased with it and ordered a special type of oak for the Garden. Soon after, he was shocked and saddened by the death of the monarch, to whom he was sincerely devoted.
While in St. Petersburg, the count, as usual, lived in his house - on the English Embankment, near the Nikolaevsky Bridge - bought by him back in 1802 from the English merchant Var. He occupied the entire main floor, and all around, in various halls and other rooms, all his precious manuscripts, medals, coins and an extensive library were kept. In this house he died. Once leaving the office without an escort, Count N. P. Rumyantsev fell from weakness and hurt his left leg; he developed a debilitating fever from which he died. He verbally instructed his brother, Count Sergei Petrovich, who did not leave the patient, to provide for the general benefit the house he occupied and his entire collection of books, manuscripts, medals and coins, and also to complete the publication of Meyerberg's travels through Russia, prepared for printing by Adelung. With these words, the count died on January 3, 1826.
According to his earlier wish, his ashes were taken to Gomel and interred in the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul, on the left side of the main altar. A pedestal of black marble rises above Rumyantsev's grave, on which a half-length bronze bust of the chancellor is erected, and next to it stands a bronze figure of the Angel of Peace, with a palm branch in his hand. On one side of the pedestal, the following words are depicted: "God gave - to God, Caesar's - to Caesar, to the fatherland - with love and sacrifice." The usual inscription indicating who was buried, how many years he died, what titles he had, etc., is not on the monument.
Count N.P. Rumyantsev was not married and left no offspring. All his property, with the exception of the house in which he lived, and a rich book depository with coins and medals, bequeathed in words to the Russian society for good enlightenment, passed to his only brother at that time, Count Sergius Petrovich, who fulfilled exactly his last wishes (see below, in the biography of Count S. P. Rumyantsev).
In addition to this remarkable and precious donation for the benefit of society, the chancellor at various times brought a gift of a lot of money for the public benefit. So, back in 1799, he contributed 50,000 rubles. to the Safe Treasury of the Orphanage, so that the number of pupils of the Military Orphanage would be increased by interest from this amount. In 1812, he turned to the benefit of the mutilated defenders of the Fatherland all the orders and snuffboxes he received from foreign courts at different times, the sale of which brought 75,000 rubles. For the same subject, the count, in addition, donated 3,000 rubles annually. In 1814, upon his dismissal from all official duties, he asked His Majesty's permission to transfer to the capital for the benefit of the disabled all the salaries of the maintenance he had retained upon dismissal. In 1813 and 1825, he contributed 25,000 rubles to the Imperial Academy of Sciences for the publication of Russian chronicles and 4,149 rubles. for printing the Greek dictionary. He built a stone house in Gomel for the Theological School, leaving him, in addition, a capital of 4399 rubles to maintain it; to the Kharkov Spiritual Collegium - gave 2000 rubles. for the distribution of medals annually to the most excellent students in memory of Prince D. M. Golitsyn and to the Kiev Theological Academy 3000 rub. for the issuance of % of premiums for the best essay on the history of antiquities or geography of the Kiev region. He donated 2,000 rubles for the casting of the statue of Empress Catherine II, for staging in the house of the Noble Assembly in Moscow, for the construction of a monument in Yaroslavl to the village. from. Pavel Grigorievich Demidov 1000 rubles, etc.
Count N. P. Rumyantsev was an honorary member of the Imperial Russian Academy (since January 18, 1819), and since 1814 he was a member of the Finnish Economic Society, an honorary member of the Imp. Free Economic Society (since 1802); he was also a member of the Arzamas literary society (see Letters from Karamzin to Dmitriev, p. 93). In addition, he was an honorary member of the Philosophical Society in Philadelphia and a member of the Asiatic Society in Paris (since 1822), an honorary member of Kharkov University (since 1814); an honorary member of the Society of Lovers of History and Russian Antiquities in Moscow (since 1823); a member of the Geographical Society in Paris, established by the famous geographer Malt-Brun (since 1822).
If the official activity of Count Rumyantsev could cause unfavorable reviews for him about her - as indicated in the appropriate places - then his service to Russian historical science and the whole cause of education in our fatherland earned him unanimous reviews of great gratitude for this and was highly appreciated by everyone, more or less familiar with him. So, for example, his contemporary Schlozer wrote that Rumyantsev created for himself "an immortal monument"; he understood the true meaning of science, he attracted people who shared with him the love of science and worked tirelessly for it, like himself. According to A.F. Malinovsky, the count "left the vanity of world affairs and turned to science, showing how one can serve the Fatherland even in retirement." As a man of strict scientific interests, says Kochubinsky, the count in his scientific endeavors walked firmly along a single, clearly conscious path, with the firm goal of deeply studying the past of the Russian land, looking everywhere for material for this study and everywhere calling everyone to work. A contemporary of the poet Pushkin and a person close to him, P. A. Pletnev says: “If only someone’s thinking leaned towards the path of national glory, Count N. P. Rumyantsev, this noble nobleman, did not alienate anyone from his instructive conversation and noble assistance , whether it was a historian, or a navigator, a poet or an antiquary, a geographer or an artist, a grammarian or a lawyer. He turned his house into a temple of public muses, whose very inscription "for good enlightenment" serves as an instructive covenant for us.
The official list about the service of Count N. P. Rumyantsev in the State Archives (case No. 48); General Armorial of the Russian Empire, vols III and IX; Russian Genealogical Book, Prince A. B. Lobanov-Rostovsky, vol. II, p. 188; Letters from Countess E. M. Rumyantseva-Zadunayskaya, ed. Count D. A. Tolstoy; additions to the same letters - in the Imperial Public Library, Manuscript Department (according to the Report of 1888, No. 1); Kamer-Furier magazine (alphabetical index); Complete Collection of Laws: first: vol. XXVI, pp. 768, 860, 867, XXVII, pp. 37, 65, 69, 82, 199, 226, 232, 250, 313, 365, 381, 426, 518, 532, 832, adj. 36; XXVIII, pp. 413, 711, 758, 899, 901, 902, 1106, adj. five; XXIX, pp. 320, 361, 991, 1011, 1173, 1191, 1214, 1221, 1297, 1321; XXX, pp. 50, 61, 111, 184, 278, 744, 875, 893, 913, 951, 993, 1015, 1037, 1115, 1188, 1229, 1231, 1233; XXXII, pp. 240, 390, 607, 875; XXXIV, pp. 945, 947; XXXV, p. 410; XXXVI, p. 401; XL app. 96; Second: І, 552; III, 524, 325, 785; VI, 412; IX, 288; X, 59; XX, 1042; XXI, 551; XXIV2, 311; XXVIII, 526; XXXI2, add. 4; XXXVI, 777; XXXVII, 529; XXXIX, 415; XLIII2, 316; XLIV, 524; Collection Imp. Russian Historical Society, volume III, IV, VIII, XV, XX, XXI, XXIII, XXVIII, XXIX, XXXII, XXXVII, XLII, XLVII, LIII, LVI, LIX-LXII incl., LXIV, LXV, LXVIII, LXXVI, LXXVIII -LXXXI incl. LXXXIV, LXXXV, LXXXIX-XCI, XCV, ХСІХ, СIII-СVIII included, CXI, CXIV, CXVII, CXXII-CXXVI included, CXXVIII; "Readings of the Imperial General. History and Ancient Russia in Moscow", 1880, book. I and IV, 1882, book. I; "Russian Archive" 1864, 1866, 1867, 1869-1873 included, 1875, 1876, 1878, 1880, 1881-1883, 1888, 1891, 1893, 1894, 1896, 1897, 1899, 1901, 1902; "Russian Antiquity", vol. II, IV, X, XI, XX, XXIII, XXVIII, XXIX, XXXII, XXXVII, XXXIX, XLII, XLVII, LIX, LIII, LVI, LXI, LXIV, LXVIII, LXXIX; LXXX, LXXXI, LXXXIII, LXXXV, CV-CVIII, CXIII, CXXIII, CXXV-CXXVIII; Archive State: in Petersburg, res. IX, Nos. 2-109, 121-197; res. XI, No. 116, 272; XV, No. 37-44, 427; XVI, No. 12, XVII, Nos. 28-86 inc., also Campagne de Suède 1809, négociations de paix, car. 83; in Moscow - d. Frankfurt, III, maps. 1-10; "Archive of the Counts Mordvinovs", vol. III, pp. 414-446, vol. IV, pp. 51, 396, 413, 465, 610; V, 418; VI, 668; "Archive of Prince Kurakin", vol. 15; "Archive of Prince Vorontsov", vols. 7 to 10 incl., 13, 15-24 incl., 27, 29, 30, and 32; Archive Min. Imperial Yard in St. Petersburg, inventory 212-646, raz. I, d. No. 289, map. 5343; op. 36-1629, d. 106, 125; op. No. 52-886, house No. 29; op. 214-648, raz. I, d. No. 74, map. 4015; Archive of the Conference Imp. Acad. Nauk, No. 85 (Letters from Rumyantsev to Krug); Archive Min. Ways of Communication, cases of 1797, Nos. 30, 82; 1799, No. 41; 1802, no. 17-49, 55; 1803, no. 70-133; 1806, nos. 35-63, 66-71; 1804, No. 49-67; 1807, no. 96-143; Archive Rights. Senate, prince Vysoch. pov. No. 184, Art. 54; No. 232, art. 358; No. 236, Art. 134; Archive Depart. Manufactory and int. trade 1803, St. 72; 1814, St. 153, 248; 1808, St. 21; Archive of the States. Council, vol. І; State Council, 1801-1901, edition of the State Chancellery, St. Petersburg. 1901; "Ancient and New Russia" 1877, vol. І pp. 5-22, 387 et seq., 1880, vol. І, pp. 18, 289, 361; vol. II, pp. 723-770; vol. III, p. 619; I. Pushkarev, History of the Imperial Guard; Kartsov, History of the L.-Guards. Semyonovsky regiment; A. Ivanovsky, State Chancellor Count N. P. Rumyantsev; List of members of the Imperial Academy of Sciences 1725-1907, compiled by B. L. Modzalevsky, St. Petersburg. 1908, p. 342; Collection of Historical. materials retrieved from the Archive Own. His Imp. Value Offices, vol. VI, pp. 145ff., and vol. XII, pp. 84-214; A. Starchevsky, On the merits of Count Rumyantsev rendered to national history - "Journal. Min. Narodn. Enlightenment." 1846, vol. 49, no. 1-3; 1849, 1850, vol. 65, sec. V, pp. 1-27; "Journey to the Southern Ocean and the Bering Strait to find the northeastern sea passage in 1815, 1816, 1817 and 1818, dependent on the State Chancellor Count N. P. Rumyantsev on the ship" Rurik ", under the command of the fleet, retired lieutenant Kotzebue, St. Petersburg 1821-23, in 3 parts, "Son of the Fatherland" 1830, No. 2, pp. 110-113, V. Ikonnikov, Experience of Russian historiography, vol. I, book 1 and vol. II ; Kochubinsky, Admiral Shishkov and Chancellor Rumyantsev, Odessa; "Correspondence of the Metropolitan of Kiev Evgeny Bolkhovitinov with the state. Chancellor Count Rumyantsev, Voronezh 1868, 3 issues; K. F. Kalaidovich, two biographical sketches of Bezsonov in 1861 and 1862, ed. in Moscow; P. M. Stroev, Life and Works, research by N. P. Barsukov; Correspondence of Archpriest John Grigorovich with Count N. P. Rumyantsev, in the "Readings of the Imperial General History and Ancient Russian", 1864, book. I; Krug's biography, printed in German by Kunik, is placed in "Forschungen in der älteren Geschichte Russlands", 2 Band, S. -Petersburg. 1848; Assistance of the Circle to Chancellor Rumyantsev ... in "Domestic. Notes", vol. 65, V; Shiman, Death of Paul I, p. 8; Schilder, Emperor Paul I; E. S. Shumigorsky, Freylina E. I. Nelidova; Works of Derzhavin, ed. acad. J. K. Grota, vol. VI, pp. 777 et seq.; Verkhovsky, Historical essay on the Ministry of Communications, St. Petersburg. 1898, part I; S. Solovyov, Collected Works, vol. I, Emperor Alexander, pp. 294, 433; Tableaux du commerce de l "Empire de Russie, années 1802-1805, publiés par M. le comte de Roumantzoff et traduits de l" original en forme synoptique par M. Pfeiffer, St.-Petersbourg; P. P. Semenov, The study of historical information about Russian foreign trade and industry from the half of the 17th century to 1858, vol. II; Kaidanov, Systematic catalog of cases of the State Commerce Collegium, St. Petersburg, 1884; Tikhmenev, Historical review of the Russian-American Company and its action up to the present (1860) time; The Razumovsky family, A. Vasilchikov, vol. III, pp. 149, 151, 179; vol. IV, pp. 392-397, 414-430, 441-511; v. 112, 313, 317; Notes, opinions and correspondence of A. S. Shishkov, Berlin. 1870, Vol. I, pp. 105, 125-128, 221; Notes Imp. Catherine II, translated from the original, published by Imp. Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg. 1907, Suvorin edition; "Proceedings of the Free Economic Society" for 1802; A. Khodnev, Historical essay of the Imperial Free Economic Society, St. Petersburg; E. F. Korsh, Experience of the moral characterization of Count N. P. Rumyantsev; Centenary of the Ministry of War, vol. V, book. I, p. 407; History of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of its existence, St. Petersburg. 1912; "Journal of Min. Narodn. Prosv." 1834, vol. I, pp. 27ff. (Speech by P. A. Pletnev at the act of 1833); Collection of State Letters and Treaties, vol. IV, foreword by A. F. Malinovsky; "Notes of the Imperial Odessa Society of History and Antiquities", 1902, v. XXIV, article: "On the search for antiquities in the Novorossiysk Territory"; "Imperial Odessa Society of History and Antiquities", article by M. G. Popruzhenko in the Historical Bulletin of 1914, November, p. 514 et seq.; "Chronicle of the studies of the Archaeographic Commission", vol. IV, pp. 130-164; "Vremennik of the Moscow Society of History", book. V, article by Maksimovich; Letters from Rumyantsev to pr. Zakhary Skorodumov, ed. Prudnikov, St. Petersburg. 1854; Letters from Nicholas Peter. Rumyantsev to his father, field marshal - in Imp. Public Library, in the Manuscript Department (October and December, 1777 and n. 16 Apr., 1780); Bantysh-Kamensky, Review of Russia's foreign relations since 1800, vol. I, p. 86; vol. II, 262; Conquest of Finland. The experience of describing according to unpublished sources, K. Ordina, vol. II; P. N. Milyukov, The main currents of Russian historical thought, St. Petersburg. 1913, ed. 3, pp. 178-221; "Empress Elisaveta Alekseevna, Wife of Emperor Alexander I", Study of Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich, St. Petersburg. 1908, vols. I and II; Ernest Daudet, Histoire de l "émigration, t. I; Les Bourbons et la Russie, and II: Coblenz ou les émigrés et le 18 fructidor. 1789-1793; Comte Steding, Mémoires, traduits par Beck, v. II, p. 336, 457, Catherine II et la Révolution Française, par Charles de Larivière, Paris, 1895; Le duc de Richelieu en Russie et en France 1766-1822, par Léon de Crousar-Crété, Paris, Librairie Finnin Didot, 1897; Mémoires, documents et écrits divers laissés par le prince de Metternich, classés et réunis par A. Klinkowstroem, Paris 1880, 2 vol.
P. Maykov.
(Polovtsov)
Rumyantsev, Count Nikolai Petrovich
(1754-1826) - the eldest son of Count P. A. R.-Zadunaisky. Education, together with his brother, Sergei Petrovich (see), he initially received the most superficial; in 1772-1773 was at the court of Catherine II, and then, together with Baron Grimm, went abroad and listened to lectures at the University of Leiden, then traveled around Italy. In 1799 he was appointed Minister Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the German Diet and zealously tried to increase Russia's influence on German affairs. He devoted his free time to the study of French, German and English literature, political, historical sciences and bibliography. Under Paul I, Count R. was elevated to senator, under Alexander I he was made Minister of Commerce, and in this rank he was very concerned about improving water communications in Russia, about developing industry and trade with Asia. In 1807, Mr.. R. was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, and in 1809, Mr.. elevated to chancellor. Napoleon's entry into Russia shocked Rumyantsev so much that he suffered an apoplexy and lost his hearing forever. At the end of the war with Napoleon, R. sent at his own expense an expedition on the ship "Rurik", under the command of Captain Kotzebue (1815-1818), to find the northeast sea passage. He took part in other similar enterprises (Gagemeister, Korsakovsky, Ustinov, etc.). He did a lot for national history. Not to mention the rich book collection that formed the basis of the R. museum and which R., sparing no expense, made up for a very long time. Around R. grouped and his material support was used by many of his contemporary scientists: Bantysh-Kamensky, Stroev, Kalaidovich, Keppen, Krug, Fren, Vostokov, Grigorovich, Artsybashev, Metropolitan Eugene, Karamzin, and others. A number of publications were printed at his expense. The most important of them is the "Collection of State Letters and Treaties". Professor V. S. Ikonnikov lists 27 such publications.
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