Ab imo pectore

The purpose of article is to analize a unique fragment of the manuscript of the hetman's Pylyp Orlyk's "Diary" ("Diariusz") from May-June 1730. The metodological basic is the understanding of handwritten notes in terms of combining matters of public importance and private life. The dominance of private discourse in the fragment analyzed here is obvious. In the tenth year of his exile in Thessaloniki, when Orlyk actually lost hope of escaping from "mourning Babylon", the eldest son came to the father incognito under a disguised name