Page:Julian Niemcewicz - Notes of my Captivity in Russia.djvu/96

68 same time to Titow severer instructions than ever. The latter received orders to send every evening a courier with an exact journal, stating what we were doing, besides a report not only of our health, the road by which we passed, the place where we stopped, but also of our conversations, temper, and perhaps, even gestures. This was a dreadful work for our dear Titow, who scarcely knew how to read; how then could he conceive, compose, and make a fair copy, every day, of a work of such length, and on so difficult a subject? Zmiewski and Karpen, who had studied in Moscow, were called to concoct those sublime compositions. It was in the evening that our learned editors were busy with their work; the houses where we lodged were often so small, that there was only a little closet for General Kosciuszko, and a single room for us all. Lying upon my straw, and pretending to sleep, I heard distinctly all the observations they made on us, with all their debates upon the choice of words and the elegance of style. Though I suffered much, I confess