Page:Julian Niemcewicz - Notes of my Captivity in Russia.djvu/123

Rh than the monarchy, that is to say, not even two hundred years old. When we stopped at the gate, we were astonished to see a Prussian sergeant come to put the usual questions to us; he wore the pointed cap of a grenadier, well fitting gaiters, a halberd, and in short, the complete accoutrement of a soldier of Frederick II. He belonged to the little troop of the Grand Duke, who was allowed by Catherine, as a compensation for the sceptre she had wrested from him, to torment at his pleasure one hundred of those unfortunate fellows, who were dressed after the Prussian fashion.

At length, about three o'clock in the afternoon, we stopped at an inn at Carskoe Selo, the Versailles of Russia, where during summer, that is during two months, the Empress generally resides. It is there that she lays aside the splendour of her diadem, or rather wishes that the people should think so, and perhaps imagines herself to be but a mere country-woman. While this country-woman, however, with her pasteboard bonnet