Page:Notes upon Russia (volume 1, 1851).djvu/188

clx religion, and military discipline, I made a second expedition, on which occasion the Imperial ambassador, Count Leonhard von Nugaroli was alike the sharer of my dignity and the companion of my journey. Although, however, I had by command of the Emperor Maximilian gone as ambassador to Denmark, Hungary, and Poland; and after the death of His Majesty, had in the name of my country, travelled through Italy and France, traversing both sea and land, to Spain, on a mission to Your Majesty’s brother, the most powerful and invincible Emperor Charles V; and subsequently, by command of Your Majesty, went as ambassador to the kings of Hungary and Poland, and lastly, in company with Count Nicolas von Salm, to the camp of Solyman, the prince of the Turks; in all which journeyings I had made numerous notes, doubtless worthy of being commemorated in print, both of what I saw and learnt by diligent inquiry: yet I was unwilling to spend such leisure as I could afford myself from public councils, in committing to print any relation of such matters as had been either treated of skilfully and carefully by others, or were already set before the eyes and daily observation of all Europe. The more intimate habits of the Russians, however, which have not been brought before the knowledge of the present age, I have here taken upon myself to bring forward and describe; in doing which, I have mainly relied upon two things, namely, diligence in investigation, and my knowledge of the Sclavonic language; both which have served me largely in the production of a narrative of this nature. While, therefore, several others have, in describing other countries, touched upon Russia; among the more ancient of whom is Nicolas Cusanus, and in our own time, Paulus Jovius (whose name I mention on account of his very great learning and wonderful affection for myself, and of whose elegance and great fidelity of description I speak, on account of the abundant use that he made of an interpreter), Johann Fabri, and Anton Bied, who have left both maps and commentaries; and while some, also, of the authors to whom I refer have not written of Russia specifically, but