Page:Julian Niemcewicz - Notes of my Captivity in Russia.djvu/70

42 What is birth in a whole nation composed of upstarts? Who can name ancestors, shew privileges, or have pretensions, in a monarchy which has not yet existed a century? The imperial favour, then, free from every obstacle, falls sometimes upon elevated heads, sometimes upon those that are grovelling in the dust. Virtue, probity are unknown. Courage, however, and military abilities, are much respected in a nation constantly carrying on war. An officer of superior talent is sure to be advanced; thus most of the Russian generals rose from the ranks, and from low condition in life, to the highest grades in the army, and Chruszczew was one of those men.

At least six feet high, and stout in proportion to his height; he had the appearance of an athlete; his features were regular, and in his looks and manners, that kind