ing the feet of those executed,
praying, and signing themselves with the sign of the cross. Such
fanaticism is almost unparalleled.

One incident of which I was a witness proves that those hired to carry
out this vast plot acted, evidently, according to instructions given by
higher authorities. A man covered with a sheepskin, old and tattered,
with a miserable capon his head, boldly mounted the steps of the Kremlin.
Under this filthy disguise an elegant costume was concealed; and when a
stricter surveillance was instituted, this bold beggar himself was
suspected, arrested, and carried before the police, where he was
questioned by the officer of the post. As he made some resistance,
thinking this proceeding somewhat arbitrary, the sentinel put his hand
on his breast to force him to enter; and this somewhat abrupt movement
pushing aside the sheepskin which covered him, decorations were seen,
and when his disguise was removed he was recognized as a Russian officer.
He had on his person matches which he had been distributing to the men of
the people, and when questioned admitted that he was specially charged to
keep alive the fire of the Kremlin. Many questions were asked, each
eliciting new confessions, all of which were made in the most indifferent
manner, and he was put in prison, and was, I think, punished as an
incendiary; but of this I am not certain. When any of these wretches
were brought before the Emperor, he shrugged his shoulders, and with
gestures of scorn and anger ordered that they should be removed from his
sight, and the grenadiers sometimes executed justice on them with their
bayonets; but such exasperation can be well understood in soldiers thus
driven by these base and odious measures from a resting-place earned by
the sword.

In Petrovskoi, a pretty residence belonging to one of Alexander's
chamberlains, a man was found concealed in one of the apartments his
Majesty was to occupy; but not being armed he was released, as it was
concluded that fright alone had driven him into this dwelling. The
Emperor arrived during the night at his new residence, and waited there
in intense anxiety till the fire should be extinguished at the Kremlin,
intending to return thither, for the pleasure house of a chamberlain was
no suitable place for his Majesty. Thanks to the active and courageous
actions of a battalion of the guard, the Kremlin was preserved from the
flames, and the Emperor thereupon gave the signal for dep