'During his stay in St. Petersburg, his servant, who had thus far continued to wait upon him, with the intention of going on even to the end, went to the Prussian Embassy, and their received such formidable accounts of the risks to which (through ignorance of the Russian language), he might probably be exposed in the place of his master's exile, accompanied with such strong advice that he should retrace his steps homeward, that his resolution to share his master's fortunes was utterly shaken. Ludwig hastened to his master, and told him of all that he had heard, and of the fears aud perplexities by which he was beset. His master frankly told Ludwig that he should be sorry to part with him, but still more sorry if his intention to follow his master into the interior should entangle him in serious difficulties. He urged him, therefore, to act upon the advice which he had received; to go home to his family; and to believe, that, if circumstances should at any future time allow him to resume the duties which, for nearly three years, he had faithfully performed, his master would gladly receive him. This generous and considerate conduct of the Count is exactly what I should have expected from him. Courageous, and stedfast, and even cheerful, in the endurance of his own trials, he would yet have been miserable at the thought of bringing any one else, through his influence, into the same dangers; and, therefore, not grudgingly or reluctantly, but with sincere and hearty goodwill, he dismissed the servant who, he believed, loved him; and furnished him with ample means to return home.
' I have frequently seen the servant since his return, and heard many a fresh tale of sorrow from his lips. The good priest at Massalani, of whom I have before spoken, has been added, among others, to the long list of recent prisoners; but I have not yet heard what sentence has been passed upon him.
' The various houses at which I stayed have, each and all of them, been visited, if not permanently occupied, by Russian troops. At Wereiki especially, where Ludwig passed a few hours one day, thirty Cossacks were found to have taken up their quarters in the room which had been our usual dining-room; and it can be readily understood, that, at their departure, — whensoever that may be, little or nothing will be left behind. Everywhere the work of pillage and oppression goes forward; and, though the formal sentence of confiscation of the Count's estates have not been proclaimed, yet who can estimate the amount of damage that has been, and still is, wilfully and wantonly inflicted upon every species of his property?