Page:Julian Niemcewicz - Notes of my Captivity in Russia.djvu/69

Rh thousand of the refuse of his army to conduct us by a long and circuituous route towards the heart of Russia. Precise instructions, full of the most minute severity and caution, were given him regarding his conduct towards us. We passed through the territory of Chelm, the Palatinates of Volhynia, Podolia, and all the Polish Ukrania. Our march with Chruszczew as far as Zaslaw, took us only four weeks; during that time, I had leisure to study the character, morals, and manners of our conductors and their satellites, of which I shall give here a short sketch, to show what this nation is, whose military successes make such a noise, and whose character and manners are so little known.

The sovereign in Russia governs with an unlimited despotism. The ancient families, the nobility in a body, with all their rights, privileges and pretensions, which everywhere else are of considerable weight, do not restrain here the supreme will of the autocrat.