Page:Julian Niemcewicz - Notes of my Captivity in Russia.djvu/253

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THE RELEASE.
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Petersburgh. There were, amongst others, Ilinski, who, through his new favour with the Emperor, had greatly contributed to our liberation; Severine Potocki; Potocki, Palatine of Belz; Princess Radziwill, and the prince Palatine of Wilna, whose brother had just married a niece of mine; Madame Dzialymska, whose husband lived in exile on the shores of the Arctic Ocean; Prince Stanislaus Poniatowski, nephew to the King, and Ancuta his secretary.—The sight of all these persons caused me most lively emotions. I do not know whether it was the effect of joy, or the sudden transition from the silence of prison to the bustle of society, but I had the appearance of an idiot. I was astonished at the least thing, I sought words, and hardly could find them; a little air on the piano-forte made me weep. It was with the greatest joy, and with tears in my eyes, that I saw the two young Princes, Adam and Constantine Czartoryski, the sons of him who has always given me the greatest proofs of his interest and friendship. These young noblemen, brought up according

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