Alexander expired on November 19 (December 1), in the arms of Empress Elizabeth. His last hours were clouded by revelations of a plot to assassinate him. As if to recant his reactionary measures of the last few years, he said: "They may say what they like of me, but I have lived and will die republican"--a curious boast which is justified only by the earlier years of Alexander's reign. In the beginning of his rule the Czar reversed the despotic tendencies of his predecessors. Free travel was permitted; foreign books and papers were allowed to enter; the better classes of the community were exempted from corporal punishments; the emancipation of serfs was begun, and the collegiate organization of the administration was supplanted by ministries modelled after those of the chief European countries. As early as 1802 Alexander could boast of a Cabinet as good as that of any constitutional monarch. Another far-reaching reform was the reorganization of Russian public education, and the encouragement given to the publication of Bibles. A temporary relaxation of the censorship resulted in the foundation of societies of literature and of such journals as the "Russian Messenger," "The Northern Mercury," and the "Democrat." Writers like Pushkin and Gogol brought forth their earliest works. Koltsov discovered a new source of poetry in the popular songs. Lermontov sang the wild beauty of the Caucasus, and Ozerov wrote his classical drama "Dmitri Donskoi," which recalled the struggles of Russia against the Tartars. Modern romantic tendencies were advanced by Joukovsky's translation of Schiller's and Byron's poems. Ginka composed the scores for his earlier operas. [Sidenote: Changes for the worse] [Sidenote: Araktcheyev] [Sidenote: The Russian succession] [Sidenote: Conflicting proclamations] [Sidenote: Nicholas, Czar of Russia] [Sidenote: Moscow mutiny] [Sidenote: Miloradovitch shot] [Sidenote: End of revolt]