Reasoning about the Masons' support of the monarchical power in Russia in 1817: source analysis

Abstract

The object of the study is the text of the manuscript, and the subject of the study is its historical and legal characteristics. Research objectives: 1) establishing the reliability of the source and the accuracy of the information contained therein; 2) establishing the year, author, purpose, completeness and meaning of the source. The article introduces into scientific circulation a monument of political and legal culture of the first quarter of the XIX century, promotes the initial publication of the manuscript belonging to the Russian Freemasons of the first quarter of the XIX century. Based on the original source, the study shows what legal and political ideas were actually spread among Russian Freemasons. The reasoning demonstrates the continuity of the state-legal ideas of the domestic political and legal thought of the XVIII and XIX centuries. Within the framework of the study, a manuscript of the first quarter of the XIX century is published for the first time and the attribution of the manuscript is given for the first time: the establishment of the author, year, authenticity and meaning of the work - "Arguments about the support of the monarchical power in Russia by Masons". The reasoning was recorded by S.P. Fonvizin (1783-1860) from the words of the author – Joseph Alekseevich Pozdeev (1742-1820) in 1817. The reasoning is aimed at supporting the estate monarchy among the Masonic brothers in Russia in the first quarter of the XIX century .The reasoning demonstrates a commitment to social peace based on "good morals" and conscientious performance of class duties. The reasoning is rich in elements of the organic theory of the state and natural-legal argumentation.