Page:Julian Niemcewicz - Notes of my Captivity in Russia.djvu/267

Rh Elector of Saxony, which is shown at Dresden, in the apartment called Grüne-Gewölbe, a collection which, in choice and taste, is not, I believe, surpassed by that of any other sovereign.

During my short stay at St. Petersburgh I associated with none but Poles, and only with those whose past conduct and opinions being congenial with mine, rendered their society interesting. The room was, however, filled with a different class of my countrymen, cowards and traitors, who, joining the Russians whilst the nation struggled for independence, plotted, and even fought against their own country. Catherine had already rewarded their treason by gifts, honours and places, but as Paul I, at his accession to the throne, opened a new field for favours, those vile insects rushed first upon it, and scarcely had a few days of the new Emperor's reign elapsed when they had already secured villages and whole towns, to indemnify themselves for the losses they pretended to have sustained by their zeal and attachment to Russia. Our release, the kindness and