Thus it may justly be said that the Emancipation was not the work of one man, or one party, or one class, but of the nation as a whole.*
The names most commonly associated with the Emancipation are General Rostoftsef, Lanskoi (Minister of the Interior), Nicholas Milutin, Prince Tchererkassky, G. Samarin, Koshelef. Many others, such as I. A. Solovief, Zhukofski, Domontovitch, Giers--brother of M. Giers, afterwards Minister for Foreign Affairs--are less known, but did valuable work. To all of these, with the exception of the first two, who died before my arrival in Russia, I have to confess my obligations. The late Nicholas Milutin rendered me special service by putting at my disposal not only all the official papers in his possession, but also many documents of a more private kind.
By his early and lamented death Russia lost one of the greatest statesmen she has yet produced.