Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

292BATTLE OF MOSKOWA.

safely confide such a trust. He directed him to wait at Ladoga for further instructions, announcing that he should probably send him an order to repair with the box to the port of Archangel, and afterwards, from thence to England. Several days elapsed without the further news which was most anxiously expected, being received. At last a courier brought the minister official information of the march of our army upon Moscow. Without hesitating a moment, he sent to Ladoga to order the return of his secretary and valuables, and repaired to the presence of the Emperor, whom he addressed with a triumphant air: wC Sire, your majesty is much indebted to Providence ; if you persist in following the plan laid down, Russia is saved : it is an expedition à la Charles XII.!"

"But Moscow ?" responded the Emperor.

•' It must be abandoned, Sire : to fight, would be to give away a chance ; to retreat, after laying waste the country, will be to destroy the enemy without risking any thing. Famine will begin the work of destruction, the winter and the fire will consummate it: let us burn Moscow, and save the world!"

The Emperor Alexander modified this plan in the execution. He insisted on a last effort being made to save his capital.

The courage with which the Russians fought at Moskowa is well known. That battle, which received from their master the name of Borodino, was glorious not only to them,'but to us; for, notwithstanding all their gallant efforts, they could not prevent our entrance into Moscow.

God was willing to furnish the chroniclers of the age — an age the most prosaic that the world has ever