Page:Julian Niemcewicz - Notes of my Captivity in Russia.djvu/199

Rh with vehemence and bitterness; but how could I speak with respect of her, who, with gaiety in her heart, took pleasure in loading my country with all sorts of evil, and finished at last by annihilating it? Could I like, could I flatter her favourites, who were the accomplices, and often the authors of all those atrocities? As a representative of the nation, could I spare the opulent traitors who united themselves openly with the enemies of my country,—nay, was I not even obliged to persecute them with all the indignation which crime inspires? I suffered much, it is true; but I am so strongly persuaded of the uprightness of my conduct, that if the same events were to take place again, I should not act otherwise; not from obstinacy, but because it appears to me the only course worthy of an honest man and a good citizen.

All the Polish prisoners were certainly flattered with the hope of approaching enlargement, either because it was intended to release them after some time, or from some compassion left in the hearts of our guards.