"laws should be composed by a few impartial people, reasonable, familiar, hardworking and devoted to state affairs ". Comparing laws in the various forms of government, Shcherbatov pointed out the advantage of the monarchy, which, having its solid established laws could provide for its citizens' security for their lives, property and tranquility. Ideas about the state system received development in Shcherbatov's utopian work "A Journey to the Land of Ophyr". His main idea was that laws should be based on moral principles and the citizens of the state should honour first virtue, then law, and after that – the king and the authorities. Their lives are dependent, in the first place, on their natural freedom, and after that to their civil responsibilities, which do not try to limit the freedom save only to impose certain duties in relation to the society. In this sense, he believed that people should honour and obey the laws; relationships inside society lie on humane principles and respect for each other and for the monarch, wherein a framework may be created for social balance and political peace within the boundaries of the country. In that work, Shcherbatov developed his system for the prosperity and well-being of society, the basis of which lay in the idea that honor and respect for the monarch should not be rooted in any form of egoistic servility or hope of receiving a reward. He also supported the idea of a structure within society that is divided into several hierarchical classes, according to which the life of every citizen is regulated. At the top of the pyramid is the king, who should not be seen as almighty but as "the first among equals". Then come the landlords and merchants. The lowest is the class of peasants. Although they were not free, the legislation of the utopian state would require that their masters treat them humanely, provide for their needs, respect their work and refrain from harsh punishment. Nowadays Scherbatov's ideas still attract the attention of Russian and foreign researchers of Russian conservatism movement and are fervently discussed in numerous books and articles. Bibliography S.M. Solovaev, "Archives" vol.2, 1872 Miakotin, "The Court Publicist during the reign of Ekatherine"- Russian cultural history, 1898 N.D.Chechulin, "Russian Social Novels, XVIII century", 1892 Shcherbatov, M M, and A Lentin (trans). "On the Corruption of Morals in Russia", 1969. 1733 births 1790 deaths Writers from Moscow Rurikids