Page:Julian Niemcewicz - Notes of my Captivity in Russia.djvu/225

reign.—Character of Paul I.—Kosciuszko takes leave of him.—Departure for America.—Postscript.

Thus passed days, months, and years; their monotony and awful silence being interrupted only by reports of artillery fired every day, one for waking-time, another for retiring to rest, besides general salutes on the birthdays of the members of the imperial family, and every time when the Empress went out or returned to her palace. Makarow, who had frequently before come to inquire after my health, had not appeared for the last four months,—being engaged in conferences with the Persians, whom the Court of Russia was stirring up against their Shah. We seemed to be entirely forgotten, when, on the 17th November 1796, my servant, when attending me at dinner, told me that something extraordinary must have happened, as he had noticed an appearance of mystery, and a continual whispering among the soldiers, and that he had even heard some unconnected sentences, such as: “At last there is no longer any mistake, and the truth has ap-