ed to them to be the term of it, and the advanced posts of the two
empires were unwilling to renew hostilities. A fresh order arrived, and
the same hesitation prevailed. At length Murat, irritated at this
disobedience, gave his orders in person; and the firing, with which he
seemed to threaten Asia, but which was not destined to cease till we
reached the banks of the Seine, was renewed.

CHAP. VI.

Napoleon did not enter Moscow till after dark. He stopped in one of the
first houses of the Dorogomilow suburb. There he appointed Marshal
Mortimer governor of that capital. "Above all," said he to him, "no
pillage? For this you shall be answerable to me with your life. Defend
Moscow against all, whether friend or foe."

That night was a gloomy one: sinister reports followed one upon the
heels of another. Some Frenchmen, resident in the country, and even a
Russian officer of police, came to denounce the conflagration. He gave
all the particulars of the preparations for it. The Emperor, alarmed by
these accounts, strove in vain to take some rest. He called every
moment, and had the fatal tidings repeated to him. He nevertheless
entrenched himself in his incredulity, till about two in the morning,
when he was informed that the fire had actually broken out.

It was at the exchange, in the centre of the city, in its richest
quarter. He instantly issued orders upon orders. As soon as it was
light, he himself hastened to the spot, and threatened the young guard
and Mortimer. The Marshal pointed out to him some houses covered with
iron; they were closely shut up, still untouched and uninjured without,
and yet a black smoke was already issuing from them. Napoleon pensively
entered the Kremlin.

At the sight of this half Gothic and half modern palace of the Ruriks
and the Romanofs, of their throne still standing, of the cross of the
great Ivan, and of the finest part of the city, which is overlooked by
the Kremlin, and which the flames, as yet confined to the bazaar, seemed
disposed to spare, his former hopes revived. His ambition was flattered
by this conquest. "At length then," he exclaimed, "I am in Moscow, in
the ancient palace of the Czars, in the Kremlin!" He examined every part
of it with pride, curiosity, and gratification.

He required a statement of the resources afforded by the city; and in
this brief moment given to hope, he sent proposals of peace to the
Emperor Alexander. A superior officer of the enemy's h