124 these Danes should “preferably not be old, so that they can learn the language. When it became clear that it was the Danes who had reorganized their administration according to Swedish models during the seventeenth century, and not vice versa, plans for a Danish-inspired system of colleges were abandoned. Nor does it seem that laguzhinskii had very great success in fulfilling his assignment; there was only one Dane among the many foreigners who subsequently joined the staffs of the Russian colleges. In December 1715, Peter also issued an ukaz to A. V. Veselovskii, the Russian resident at Vienna, to the effect that he should look for office staff, and above all scriveners, who had “been in the Emperor’s service, fromBohemia, Silesia, or Moravia, [and] who know Slavic (po-slovenski), there should be one person from each of the Emperor’s colleges (except for the spiritual college), and they should be good men and able to establish here those duties (which they had in the colleges where they were).” The final passage of this ukaz bears witness to the enthusiasm with which the tsar undertook the task of finding foreign expertise for the establishment of administrative colleges in Russia; he instructed Veselovskii to “strive hard in this, since it is very necessary for us. we have no indication of the extent of Veselovskii’s success in finding office staff for the Russian colleges. It was no easy task to find qualified men in Europe who were willing to enter the service of the Russian tsar. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries—a period marked by expandinggovernmental administration in most European states—everyone was in the market for able administrators. For this reason, it was natural that those who were attractive to the Russians preferred to remain in their native countries rather than to tread upon the unknown path of a career in the distant and largely unknown Russian empire. One of the greatest problems must have been the discouraging fact that these men would be expected to work in the Russian language. When Weyde was given his assignment to invite foreigners into Russian service, he pointed out to the tsar that it was necessary to promise each potential recruit the services of an interpreter. In Heinrich Pick, Peter finally found the person to whom he could entrust the task of hiring foreign personnel for the colleges. Pick informs lA (no. 27), 45—46; sec also Golikov (1788—1789), V, 93. TsGADA, f. 248 dclo 654 1. 96v. 2A (no. 32), 47. The tsar also ordered that Russians should be sent abroad to gain the competence necessary to serve in the colleges, as was done in other instances. In January 1716 he issued an ukaz to the Senate stating that young chancellery clerks (pod’iachie) were to be sent to Königsberg to learn German “so that they will be more handy in the college.” ZA (no. 258), 215. 2^4 (no. 255), 213. ” 342 343 In this case, too, however. ” 344 345 1542 84H 344 345
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