But this being the country where the state criminals of Muscovy, as I observed before, are all banished; this city was full of noblemen, princes, gentlemen, colonels, and, in short, all degrees of the nobility, gentry, soldiery, and courtiers of Muscovy.  Here were the famous prince Galilfken, or Galoffken, and his son; the old general Robostisky, and several other persons of note, and some ladies.

By means of my Scots merchant, whom, nevertheless, I parted with here, I made an acquaintance with several of these gentlemen, and some of them of the first rank; and from these, in the long winter nights, in which I staid here, I received several agreeable visits.  It was talking one night with a certain prince, one of the banished ministers of state belonging to the czar of Muscovy, that my talk of my particular case began.  He had been telling me abundance of fine things, of the greatness, the magnificence, and dominions, and the absolute power of the emperor of the Russians.  I interrupted him, and told him, I was a greater and more powerful prince than ever the czar of Muscovy was, though my dominions were not so large, or my people so many.  The Russian grandee looked a little surprised, and fixing his eyes steadily upon me, began to wonder what I meant.

I told him his wonder would cease when I had explained myself.  First, I told him, I had the absolute disposal of the lives and fortunes of all my subjects:  that notwithstanding my absolute power, I had not one person disaffected to my government or to my person, in all my dominions.  He shook his head at that, and said, there, indeed, I outdid the czar of Muscovy.  I told him, that all the lands in my kingdom were my own, and all my subjects were not only my tenants, but tenants at will; that they would all fight for me to the last drop; and that never tyrant, for such I acknowledged myself to be, was ever so universally beloved, and yet so horribly feared, by his subjects.

After amusing them with these riddles in government for awhile, I opened the case, and told them the story at large of my living in the island, and how I managed both myself and the people there that were under me, just as I have since minuted it down.  They were exceedingly taken with the story, and especially the prince, who told me with a sigh, that the true greatness of life was to be master of ourselves; that he would not have changed such a state of life as mine, to have been czar of Muscovy, and that he found more felicity in the retirement he seemed to be banished to there, than ever he found in the highest authority he enjoyed in the court of his master the czar:  that the height of human wisdom was to bring our tempers down to our circumstances, and to make a calm within, under the weight of the greatest storm, without.  When he came first hither, he said, he used to tear the hair from his head, and the clothes from his back, as others had done before him; but a little time and