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9
Continuation from the brown paper Sheet
at 11.
Soroka being the last Moldavian town, there consequently
end the Moldavian posts. As it was through<lb?> Poland that I was thenceforward to travel, I thought
the Polish town the best shot for enquiries concerning
the means of travelling. Not to leave my baggage
unguarded or guarded by strangers, I thought it a
gained when I had prevailed on honest
Ludwig to engage the Moldavian postillions to
cross the river to Chekanofka. I had no sooner
crossed it, than I was stopt by a Polish Centinel
unarmed, who declared that the Colonel's orders forbad
my advancing any farther. Passports were
produced, but in vain, and all explanation refused:
I desired to be introduced to this Colonel:
this too was impracticable. In the course of the altercation,
understanding I spoke little or no German,
"what business then" says he can he have<a/dd> to travel? A
dispatched <add> officially and every ,
and I soon found myself at the Colonel's quarters.
he there informed me that according to orders a quarantine as against
travellers from Moldavia was there in force: but
that as he all circumstances consider'd apprehended
no danger, he would not send me to the
quarantine house, but <add. station me at large in </add> produce better lodgings,
from whence if I would wait with patience, he
hoped int he course of two or three days to have
it in his power to dismiss me. The conversation
was carried on sometimes through the medium
of Ludwig, who comprehends French but
very imperfectly, sometimes immediately in Latin.
He had got the length of several sentences, and still
I heard nothing of myself, but a great deal concerning
I know not what 3d person, under the
title of Magnificus. whatever pride your Son
might have conceived at finding himself to be
the personage dignified by so high-sounding a
title would have been much lower'd by a question
that was soon put to him, " Magnificus
since he had himself to be a Merchant was not a Drawing Master, or a Player? The
firm and possibly rather disdainful tone with
which I thought it advisable to answer these
and other such questions in the negative,
on him as an evidence of truth, he betook
himself to his apologies, begging I would
not take amiss what he said, observing that
questions of that nature were necessary preliminaries,
and concluding that being now perfectly
satisfied that I was, what my passport purported
me to be, and English Gentleman, he
could not think of assigning me any other quarters
than his own house. His momentary suspicions
to the contrary had been founded he
said on something that had been dropped by
my servant whom he understood to have said
that
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Identifier: | JB/540/242/001"JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 540. |
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1786-01-16 |
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540 |
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242 |
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001 |
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Correspondence |
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Samuel Bentham |
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