"I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills."
[ [122] 341. The little isle referred to is Ile de Peilz, an islet on which a century ago were planted three elms.
[ [123] 392. With a sigh. It is not unheard of for men long imprisoned to lose all desire for freedom, and even to return to their place of confinement after being set free.
Mazeppa [(Page 58)]
The following extract from Voltaire's History of Charles XII was prefixed to the first edition of Mazeppa as the "Advertisement":—
"The man who then filled this position [Hetman of Ukraine] was a Polish gentleman, named Mazeppa, who had been born in the Palatinate of Podolia. He had been brought up as a page to John Casimir, at whose court he had taken on some of the color of learning. An intrigue which he had in his youth with the wife of a Polish gentleman having been discovered, the husband had him bound, all naked, upon a wild horse, and in this condition let go. The horse, which was from the country of Ukraine, returned and brought there Mazeppa, half-dead with weariness and hunger. Some peasants helped him: he remained a long time among them and distinguished himself in several expeditions against the Tartars. The superiority of his wisdom brought him great consideration among the Cossacks. His reputation increased day by day, until the Czar was obliged to make him Prince of Ukraine."
The real life of Mazeppa was as follows: Ivan Stepánovitch Mazeppa was born in 1645, of Cossack origin and of the lesser nobility of Volhynia. When fifteen years old, he became the page to John Casimir V of Poland, and, while holding this office, learned Latin and much about statesmanship. Later, however, being banished on account of a quarrel, he returned home to his mother in Volhynia. While here, to pass the time, he fell in love with the wife of a neighbor, Lord Falbouski. This lord, or pane, discovering his wife and her lover, caused Mazeppa to be stripped and bound to his own horse. The horse, enraged by lashes and pistol shots and then let loose, ran immediately to Mazeppa's own courtyard.
Mazeppa, later, after holding various secretaryships, was made hetman, or prince, over all of Ukraine, and for nearly twenty years he was the ally of Peter the Great. Afterwards, however, he offered his services to Stanislaus of Poland, and finally to Charles XII of Sweden. "Pultowa's Day," July 8, 1709, when Charles was defeated by the Russians and put to flight, was the last of Mazeppa's power. He fled with Charles across the river Borysthenes and received protection from the Turks. He died a year later at Varnitza on the Dneister, just in time to escape being delivered over to Peter.
[ [124] 1. Pultowa. [See Introductory Note.]