The _mot_ was deeply true.[237] From these oriental schemes the young Czar was, for the time, drawn aside towards the nobler path of social reform.

The saving influence on this occasion was exerted by his old tutor, Laharpe.

The ex-Director of Switzerland readily persuaded the Czar that Russia sorely needed political and social reform.

His influence was powerfully aided by a brilliant group of young men, the Vorontzoffs, the Strogonoffs, Novossiltzoff, and Czartoryski, whose admiration for western ideas and institutions, especially those of Britain, helped to impel Alexander on the path of progress.

Thus, when Napoleon was plying the Czar with notes respecting Turkey, that young ruler was commencing to bestow system on his administration, privileges on the serfs, and the feeble beginnings of education on the people.
While immersed in these beneficent designs, Alexander heard with deep chagrin of the annexation of Piedmont and Parma, and that Napoleon refused to the King of Sardinia any larger territory than the Siennese.