I was silenced indeed, at once, and found that they were in a prison, every jot as secure as if they had been locked up in the castle of Moscow; however, it came into my thoughts, that I might certainly be made an instrument to procure the escape of this excellent person, and that it was very easy for me to carry him away, there being no guard over him in the country; and as I was not going to Moscow, but to Archangel, and that I went in the nature of a caravan, by which I was not obliged to lie in the stationary towns in the desert, but could encamp every night where I would, might easily pass uninterrupted to Archangel, where I could immediately secure him on board an English or Dutch ship, and carry him off safe along with me; and as to his subsistence, and other particulars, that should be my care, till he should better supply himself.

He heard me very attentively, and looked earnestly on me all the while I spoke; nay, I could see in his very face, that what I said put his spirits into an exceeding ferment; his colour frequently changed, his eyes looked red, and his heart fluttered, that it might be even perceived in his countenance; nor could he immediately answer me when I had done, and, as it were, expected what he would say to it; and after he had paused a little, he embraced me, and said, “How unhappy are we! unguided creatures as we are, that even our greatest acts of friendship are made snares to us, and we are made tempters of one another!  My dear friend,” said he, “your offer is so sincere, has such kindness in it, is so disinterested in itself, and is so calculated for my advantage, that I must have very little knowledge of the world, if I did not both wonder at it, and acknowledge the obligation I have upon me to you for it:  but did you believe I was sincere in what I have so often said to you of my contempt of the world?  Did you believe I spoke my very soul to you, and that I had really maintained that degree of felicity here, that had placed me above all that the world could give me, or do for me?  Did you believe I was sincere, when I told you I would not go back, if I was recalled even to be all that once I was in the court, and with the favour of the czar my master?  Did you believe me, my friend, to be an honest man, or did you think me to be a boasting hypocrite?” Here he stopped, as if he would hear what I would say; but, indeed, I soon after perceived, that he stopped because his spirits were in motion:  his heart was full of struggles, and he could not go on.  I was, I confess, astonished at the thing, as well as at the man, and I used some arguments with him to urge him to set himself free; that he ought to look upon this as a door opened by Heaven for his deliverance, and a summons by Providence, who has the care and good disposition of all events, to do himself good, and to render himself useful in the world.