FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF MOSCOW.--UNDULATIONS OF THE GROUND.--IRREGULARITY
OF THE BUILDINGS, AND THE CAUSE THEREOF.--NAPOLEON'S CAMPAIGN IN
RUSSIA.--DISASTER AND RETREAT.--THE BURNING OF MOSCOW.--THE KREMLIN: ITS
CHURCHES, TREASURES, AND HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS.--ANECDOTES OF RUSSIAN
LIFE.--THE CHURCH OF ST. BASIL.
From the railway-station the party went to a hotel which had been
recommended as centrally situated and fairly well kept, but Frank and
Fred said they should be cautious about praising it for fear that those
who came after them might be disappointed. The hotels of Moscow are
hardly equal to those of St. Petersburg. As the latter is the capital of
the Empire, it naturally has a greater demand for hostelries of the
highest class than does the more venerable but less fashionable city.
The first thing that impressed the youths was the undulating character
of the ground on which Moscow is built, in pleasing contrast to the dead
level of St. Petersburg. The streets are rarely straight for any great
distance, and were it not for the inequalities one would not be able to
see very far ahead of him at any time. But every few minutes a pretty
view is afforded from the crest of one ridge to another; the depressions
between the ridges are filled with buildings scattered somewhat
irregularly, and there is a goodly number of shade-trees in the yards
and gardens or lining the streets.
[Illustration: STREET SCENE IN MOSCOW.]
St. Petersburg has an air of great regularity both in the arrangement of
its streets and the uniformity of the buildings. Moscow forms a marked
contrast to the younger capital, as there is little attempt at
uniformity and regularity. You see the hut of a peasant side by side
with the palace of a nobleman; a stable rises close against a church,
and there is a carpenter's shop, with its half-dozen workmen, abutting
close against an immense factory where hundreds of hands are employed.
Moscow is a city of contrasts; princes and beggars almost jostle each
other in the streets; the houses of rich and poor are in juxtaposition,
and it is only a few short steps from the palace of the Kremlin, with
its treasures of gold and jewels, to the abodes of most abject poverty.
Frank and Fred were quick to observe this peculiarity of the ancient
capital of the Czars, and at the first opportunity they questioned the
Doctor concerning it.
"What is the cause of so many contrasts here which we did not see in St.
Petersburg?" one of them inquired.
"That is the question I asked on my first visit," Doctor Bronson
replied. "I was told that it was due to the burning of Moscow in 1812,
at the time of its capture by Napoleon."
"How much of the city was burned?" Fred asked.
"The greater part of it was destroyed," was the reply, "but there were
many buildings of stone and brick that escaped. Most of the churches
were saved, as the Russians were reluctant to commit the sacrilege of
burning edifices which had been consecrated to religious worship. Such
of the churches as were consumed in the conflagration were set on fire
by neighboring buildings rather than by the hands of the Russians."
"Then it was the Russians that burned Moscow, and not the French," said
Fred. "I have read somewhere that it is all a falsehood that the
Russians consigned their city to the flames."
"From all I can learn, both by reading and conversation," answered the
Doctor, "I do not think there is any doubt of the truth of the
generally accepted story. Napoleon arrived here on the 15th of
September, and intended to spend the winter in Moscow to prepare for a
spring campaign against St. Petersburg. His advance under Murat came in
one day earlier. As soon as Napoleon arrived he took up his quarters in
the Kremlin, while his troops were mostly encamped on the hills which
overlook the city on the west.
[Illustration: BIVOUACKING IN THE SNOW.]
"On the night of the 16th the governor, Count Rostoptchin, ordered the
city to be set on fire--at least such is the general belief, though the
official order has never been produced. The fire broke out in many
places at the same time; the French soldiers tried to suppress it, but
found it impossible to do so. Nearly twelve thousand houses were burned,
besides palaces and churches. The inhabitants fled to the country in all
directions, and there was no stock of provisions for the support of the
French army.
"Napoleon found that he must evacuate the city and return to France. On
the 19th of October he looked his last on Moscow from the Sparrow Hills
on the west, and began his long and disastrous retreat. The winter came
early, and was unusually severe. Hardly had he left the city before the
ground was deep with snow, and from that time onward he was harassed by
Cossacks, while his men perished of hunger and cold. Do you know how
many men were lost in the Russian campaign of 1812?"
[Illustration: BATTLE BETWEEN FRENCH AND RUSSIANS.]
"Yes," said Fred; "I have just been reading the history of the
campaign.
"According to the narrative of the Count de Segur," the youth continued,
"the army with which Napoleon invaded Russia comprised four hundred and
twenty thousand men. Very nearly half of these were French; the other
half consisted of Poles, Italians, Austrians, Bavarians, Saxons, and
other troops allied with the French. One hundred and eighty-seven
thousand horses were employed for the cavalry, artillery, and baggage.
There were eighty thousand cavalry and the artillery numbered one
thousand three hundred and sixty-two pieces. There were great numbers of
carts and wagons drawn by oxen, and immense herds of cattle driven along
for supplying beef.
"Three hundred thousand Russians gathered on the banks of the Niemen
River to oppose the French advance, but the river was crossed without
opposition. There was a battle at Smolensk, and another at Borodino,
both of them being won by the French. At the battle of Borodino the loss
on both sides amounted to eighty thousand killed and wounded. After that
the Russians made no serious resistance. Napoleon entered Moscow without
difficulty, and established his headquarters in the Kremlin, as you have
said. On the battle-field of Borodino is a monument with this
inscription:
"'NAPOLEON ENTERED MOSCOW 1812; ALEXANDER ENTERED PARIS 1814.'"
"So much for the advance," the Doctor remarked; "now tell us about the
retreat."
[Illustration: NAPOLEON RETREATING FROM MOSCOW.]
"It was one of the most terrible retreats ever known in history. Out of
all the Grand Army of nearly half a million men that crossed the Niemen
in June, 1812, a little more than twelve thousand recrossed it in the
following winter! It was estimated that one hundred and twenty thousand
were killed in the various battles with the Russians, one hundred and
thirty thousand died of disease, cold, and hunger, and not far from two
hundred thousand were captured, or voluntarily left the army and
remained with the Russians. Many of the latter died within the next few
years, and others settled in the country and never reached their homes
again. On the line of the march of the Grand Army their descendants may
be found to-day living in the villages where their fathers died, and
thoroughly Russian in their language and habits. The Russians are said
to have treated their prisoners kindly, and doubtless they had orders
from the Government to do so."
Frank asked if the French army made any attempt to reach St. Petersburg.
[Illustration: ALEXANDER I.]
"As before stated, it was Napoleon's intention," the Doctor answered,
"to spend the winter in Moscow, and move upon St. Petersburg in the
spring. But the burning of Moscow made it impossible for him to remain,
and thus his plans were spoiled. Russia refused to make terms of peace
with him, and some of his messages to the Emperor Alexander I. were not
even answered. The Russians doubtless knew that cold and hunger would
compel a retreat, and they could rely upon the winter and the Cossacks
to make it disastrous.
"Russia had concluded a treaty of peace with Turkey, which would release
a large army to fight against the French. She had also made a treaty
with the King of Sweden, by which the troops of the latter would join
the Russian army early in the spring, as soon as the weather and the
roads would permit them to march. It was certain that Napoleon would be
overwhelmed if he remained, and the only alternative was the retreat.
"The army that came to Moscow was about one hundred thousand strong; all
the rest of the available forces of the Grand Army were left to garrison
places on the road to the Niemen and to collect provisions. One hundred
and sixty thousand men crossed the bridge at Smolensk in the march to
Moscow; twenty thousand were killed on the road, and forty thousand were
left to guard the magazines, hospitals, and stores at some four or five
places. The terrible waste of war can be no better illustrated than in
the story of Napoleon's campaign to Moscow. At Kovno, in Lithuania, is a
monument with the inscription:
"'NAPOLEON MARCHED THROUGH HERE WITH 700,000 MEN; HE MARCHED BACK WITH
70,000.
"And now," he continued, "I think you understand why Moscow presents so
many irregularities in its architecture. In the spring of 1813 the
people began to build again, and everything was done in a hurry. Those
who could afford the time and money necessary to build good houses were
the few rather than the many. Most of the Russians had been impoverished
in the war, and could only afford the cheapest of dwellings, while those
who had not lost everything were desirous of obtaining shelter as soon
as possible. The custom of that day has continued in a certain measure
to the present, as you can see by looking around you."
For a knowledge of what our friends saw in Moscow we will refer as
heretofore to the journals kept by the youths, together with extracts
from their letters to friends at home.
"The first thing we wanted to see," said Fred, in his journal, "was the
Kremlin, or ancient fortress of Moscow, on the bank of the river Moskva,
from which the city is named. We saw many other things on the way there,
but had no interest in them, and will leave their description to a
later page. We were all eyes, ears, and thoughts for the Kremlin, and
nothing else.
[Illustration: VIEW IN THE KREMLIN.]
"Nobody can tell positively what the word 'kremlin' comes from, but it
certainly means fortress or space enclosed with strong walls. The walls
of the Kremlin of Moscow are about one mile and a half in circuit, and
from fifty to sixty feet high; they are entered by five gates, of which
the principal is the _spaski_, or 'Redeemer.' This gate was built in
1491, and over it there is a picture of the Redeemer of Smolensk. Our
guide told us we must remove our hats as we passed through this
gate-way, out of respect for the ways of the people. Formerly a failure
to do so was severely punished, but now there is no compulsion about it.
Not even the Emperor is exempt from the custom, and you may be sure we
did not attract attention by our neglect.
[Illustration: A PRISONER ORDERED TO EXECUTION.]
"It was in front of this gate that executions formerly took place, and
the victims offered their last prayers to the Redeemer of Smolensk.
Happily there are now no signs of these executions, and everything has
an air of peace and happiness. The gate of next importance is the
_Nikolsky_, or Nicholas Gate, which is ornamented and made sacred in the
eyes of orthodox Russians by the picture of St. Nicholas of Mojaisk. The
gate was partly destroyed by order of Napoleon; a large quantity of
gunpowder was placed under it and fired, but the explosion only split
the tower in the middle and up to the frame of the picture. The glass
over the picture and the lamp burning in front of it were not harmed. As
the occurrence was considered in the light of a miracle, an inscription
describing it was placed there by Alexander I.
"Another gate, called the _Troitska_, or Trinity, is memorable as the
one by which the French entered and left the Kremlin in 1812. Several
times it has been the passage-way of conquering armies. Besides the
French in the nineteenth century, it admitted the Poles in the
seventeenth, the Tartars in the sixteenth (1551), and the Lithuanians in
the fourteenth centuries. Only a small part of the Kremlin was destroyed
in the great fire of 1812; it was held by Napoleon's troops when the
fire broke out, and when the invaders retired their attempts to blow up
the walls and ignite the buildings did not succeed.
"After looking at the exterior of the walk and admiring the picturesque
situation of the Kremlin, we passed through the gate, and went at once
to the tower of Ivan Veliki (John the Great). We had been advised to see
this tower first of all, as it was the best point from which to obtain a
general view of the city.
[Illustration: THE KREMLIN OF MOSCOW.]
"There is some doubt as to the antiquity of the tower, but it is
generally believed to date from the year 1600, and to have been built by
Boris Godounoff. It is in five stories, of which the upper is in the
form of a cylinder, while the others are octagonal in shape. The top is
two hundred and seventy feet from the ground, and is reached by a
winding stairway.
"The guide called our attention to the bells in the tower; there are no
less than thirty-four of them, and some are very large. In the second
story hangs a bell known as the 'Assumption,' which weighs sixty-four
tons; it is therefore four times as heavy as the great bell of Rouen,
five times that of Erfurt, and eight times as heavy as the Great Tom of
Oxford, the largest bell in England! The oldest of the other bells bears
the date 1550; the vechie bell of Novgorod the Great once hung in this
tower, but nobody knows where it is at present. The effect of the
ringing of these bells at Easter is said to be very fine, as they are of
different tones, and so arranged that they make no discord. In the
upper story are two silver bells, whose tones are said to be very sweet.
"We stopped a while at each of the stories to look at the bells and
enjoy the view, and thus reached the top without much fatigue. But if we
had been so weary as to be unable to stand, we should have been amply
repaid for our fatigue. The view is certainly one of the finest we ever
had from a height overlooking any city in Europe, with the possible
exceptions of Paris and Constantinople.
"Moscow, with its undulating and irregular streets, with the Moskva
winding through it in the shape of the letter S, with its four hundred
churches and an immense variety of towers and domes and minarets, with
the variations of palace and hovel already mentioned, and with the great
buildings of the Kremlin forming the foreground of the scene, lay before
and below us. It was Moscow (the Holy), the city of the Czars and
beloved of every patriotic Russian; the city which has existed through
Tartar, Polish, and French invasions; has risen from the ashes again and
again; has been ravaged by famine, the plague, and the sword of the
invader, but surviving all her calamities, welcomes the stranger within
her walls, whose circuit is more than twenty miles. From the top of this
tower we looked down upon seven centuries of historical associations.
"Listen to a fragment of the history of Moscow: It was plundered by the
Tartars under Tamerlane, and many of its inhabitants were killed; again
it fell into Tartar hands, and again was pillaged, and its inhabitants
murdered. Twice under the Tartars (1536 and 1572) it was set on fire,
and on both occasions many thousands of people perished by fire or
sword. The Poles burned a large part of the city in 1611, and in 1771
the plague carried off half the population. Is it any wonder that the
Russians love their ancient capital, after all that it has suffered and
survived?
[Illustration: THE GREAT BELL UNDERGROUND.]
"We lingered for an hour or more in the tower, and then descended. Our
next object of interest was the '_Czar Kolokol_,' or Great Bell, which
stands at the foot of the Ivan Veliki Tower, and near the place where
for a long time it lay buried in the earth. It is literally the great
bell not only of Moscow but of the world.
"It has a strange history. It is said to have been cast originally in
the time of Boris Godounoff, and a traveller in 1611 mentions a bell in
Russia which required twenty-four men to swing the clapper. During a
fire it fell to the ground and was broken; in 1654 it was recast, and
weighed at that time 288,000 pounds. Twenty years later it was suspended
from a wooden beam at the foot of the tower; the beam gave way during a
fire in 1706, and the bell was again broken. The Empress Anne ordered it
recast in 1733, but it only lasted four years. The falling of some
rafters in 1737 broke the bell as we now see it, and it lay on the
ground just ninety-nine years, or until 1836, when it was raised and
placed in its present position by the Emperor Nicholas.
"And how large do you think it is?
"It is thought to weigh 444,000 pounds, or 220 tons; it is nineteen feet
three inches in height, and sixty feet nine inches in circumference, or
twenty feet three inches in diameter. Just stop and measure these
figures with your eye in a barn or a large room of a house, and then
realize what this great bell is.
[Illustration: VISITING THE GREAT BELL.]
"Look at the picture of the bell, and see the piece that is broken out
of it. This piece is six feet high, and both of us walked through the
place left by its removal without any difficulty. There is an
inscription on the bell which gives its history, and it presents also
several sacred figures and the portraits of the Czar Alexis and the
Empress Anne.
[Illustration: EMPRESS ANNE.]
"From the Great Bell we went to the Nicholas Palace, which occupies the
site of the one destroyed by the French at the time of their retreat,
and then to the _Bolshoi Dvorets_, or Great Palace.
"The state apartments are numerous and gorgeous; their number is
absolutely bewildering, and so is the array of furniture, paintings,
statuary, and other valuables that are gathered there. In the Emperor's
cabinet there are pictures representing the battles of Borodino and
Smolensk, and also of the French entering and leaving Moscow. There are
halls dedicated to St. George, St. Alexander Nevski, and St. Andrew,
all of them hung with battle-flags, and the last--the Hall of St.
Andrew--containing the Emperor's throne. In some of the halls are
paintings representing scenes in the history of Poland. They were
brought from Warsaw, where they once hung in the Royal castle.
"They showed us the 'Red Staircase,' which is used by the Emperor on
state occasions, and was the spot where in former times the Czar allowed
the people to see him. Napoleon and his marshals ascended these steps
when they took possession of the Kremlin, and it was from the top of the
staircase that John the Terrible saw the comet which caused him to
tremble with fear.
"Then they took us to the banqueting-room, where the Emperor dines with
his nobles immediately after the ceremony of coronation, and beyond it
to the _Terem_, which was formerly occupied by the wife and children of
the Czar. It is now filled with articles of historic interest: the seals
of Russian sovereigns, the certificate of the election of Michael, first
of the Romanoffs, to the Russian throne, and several copies of the
Evangelists, on parchment, and said to be five hundred years old.
"Near the Great Palace is the Treasury, which reminded us of The
Hermitage of St. Petersburg, or the more famous Tower of London. It is
filled with all sorts of curious things, many of them of enormous value.
It has been said that the national debt of Russia could be paid from the
sale of the pearls, diamonds, and other precious things in the Treasury
of Moscow. Perhaps this is not strictly true, but certainly they would
go a long way towards doing so.
"What we saw in the Treasury would take too long to tell; and besides,
it would be a catalogue filling many pages of our note-books. Armor and
weapons of all times and forms can be seen here. There are faded and
tattered flags that tell of the glory of Russia; here is the flag
carried by the soldiers of John the Terrible at the capture of Kazan;
the flag under which Yermak conquered Siberia and added it to the
Russian Empire; the flag which a little band of Cossacks carried to the
shores of the Pacific Ocean more than two hundred years ago; and here
are the flags which belonged to the Regiment of _Streltsi_, which
rebelled against Peter the Great.
[Illustration: THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH.]
"Here are thrones and coronation chairs in goodly number. The first is
that of the Empress Elizabeth, and near it are the coronation chairs of
Paul I. and Alexander II. In the centre of the room where these chairs
are standing is the =baldachino=, under which the Emperor and Empress walk
at their coronation, and at the farther end is a stand of colors given
by Alexander I. to his Polish regiment, and afterwards captured at the
storming of Warsaw, in 1831. The royal throne of Poland is in another
room, along with the throne of Kazan, which is studded with pearls,
diamonds, rubies, and turquoises, as are several other thrones. One
throne contains over eight hundred diamonds and twice as many rubies,
and it is by no means the most costly one in the collection. Near the
thrones are the coronation robes worn by several of the emperors and
empresses, and there is also a masquerade dress which belonged to
Catherine the Great.
"We lingered over a glass case containing the decoration of the Order of
the Garter and its diploma, which Queen Elizabeth sent to John the
Terrible.
"Another gift from the good Queen to the cruel Czar was the state
carriage which stands in one of the rooms of the Treasury, along with
several other vehicles, all of the olden time. One is on runners, and
large enough for a whole family; it has a table and benches covered with
green cloth, and was used by the Empress Elizabeth in her journeys
between St. Petersburg and Moscow.
"Enough of curiosities. We grew weary with seeing the relics of the
rulers of Russia, though all were full of interest, and willingly
followed our guide to the churches that stand within the walls of the
Kremlin. The first is the Church of the Assumption, in which the
emperors are crowned, and where the patriarchs formerly officiated. The
church dates from 1475, and occupies the site of another which was
erected one hundred and fifty years earlier. It has been altered and
restored several times, but remains very much in shape and general
appearance as it was four hundred years ago.
"In the church is a shrine of silver in memory of St. Philip, a
patriarch of the Church, who had the temerity to rebuke John the
Terrible for his misdeeds, and was imprisoned and put to death in
consequence. The hand of St. Philip is exposed, and whenever the Emperor
comes here he never fails to kiss the sacred relic.
"There are tombs and shrines in great number, and a large part of the
religious history of Russia belongs to this building. Every Czar of the
Empire, from John the Terrible to Alexander III., has been crowned here,
and the most sacred pictures in the whole country are deposited along
the altar screen.
[Illustration: CORONATION OF ALEXANDER III.]
"Dean Stanley says of the Imperial coronation in the Church of the
Assumption:
"'The coronation, even at the present time, is not a mere ceremony, but
an historical event and solemn consecration. It is preceded by fasting
and seclusion, and takes place in the most sacred church in Russia, the
Emperor, not as in the corresponding forms of European investiture, a
passive recipient, but himself the principal figure in the whole scene;
himself reciting aloud the confession of the orthodox faith; himself
alone on his knees, amid the assembled multitude, offering up the
prayer of intercession for the Empire; himself placing his crown on his
own head; himself entering through the sacred door of the innermost
sanctuary, and taking from the altar the elements of the bread and the
wine.'
"There are two other cathedrals in the Kremlin, that of the Archangel
Michael and the Cathedral of the Annunciation. The three cathedrals,
with the tower of Ivan Veliki, which has a chapel in its lower story,
form a square, which is frequently called the Grand Square of the
Kremlin. We visited the cathedrals in the order named, and it was quite
appropriate that when we had finished with that of the Assumption, where
the Czars are crowned, we should go to the Michael Cathedral, where,
down to the time of Peter the Great, they were buried. The tombs are
quite plain in appearance, a marked contrast to the elaborate
decorations of the building, whose interior is covered with frescos
which represent scenes in the lives of the Czars, together with their
portraits.
"One of the tombs was covered with a black cloth, and we asked the guide
what it meant.
"'That is the tomb of John the Terrible,' said he, 'and the black cloth
is to show that he assumed the cowl of a monk an hour or so before he
died. He wanted to atone for his many cruelties, and this is the way he
did it.'
"The guide further told us that in ancient times when any one wished to
present a petition to the Czar he came to this church and placed the
paper on one of the tombs. By a long-established custom which had the
force of law, no one but a Czar could remove it. In this way the ruler
could be reached when all other means of approaching him were
unavailable. What a pity the custom does not continue to the present
time!
[Illustration: PETER II.]
"The only emperor buried here is Peter II., son of Alexis and grandson
of Peter the Great. As before stated, the Imperial burial-place has been
at St. Petersburg since that city was founded.
"While the Czars were crowned in the Cathedral of the Assumption and
buried in that of St. Michael, they were baptized and married in that of
the Annunciation, which was the next we visited. Its floor is of jasper
and agate, and it has nine cupolas, heavily covered with gilding. The
cross on the centre cupola is said to be of solid gold--a statement open
to a good deal of doubt, though by no means entirely improbable when we
remember what treasures are stored in the Kremlin. The interior of this
church is covered with frescos, and like the others is adorned with
pictures set in precious stones.
"Mentioning the cupolas of this church reminds us that the cupolas of
the Russian churches vary all the way from one up to thirteen, the
number being nearly always odd. Usually they have five cupolas; the
building is in the form of a Greek cross, and there is a cupola at each
corner and another in the centre, the latter being the largest. The idea
of the five cupolas came from Constantinople, whence the Russian Church
derived its religion. The earliest church at Novgorod had five cupolas,
and was copied from the Church of St. Sophia at Constantinople, which
was converted into a mosque at the time of the Moslem conquest. The
largest number on any of the churches of Moscow is on that of St. Basil,
which has thirteen in all.
[Illustration: BISHOP IN HIS ROBES.]
"There are other small churches and chapels in the Kremlin, but we had
not sufficient time to examine them all. In the sacristy of the Holy
Synod, which stands behind the Cathedral of the Assumption, we saw in
glass cases the robes of the patriarchs of the Church, some of them
dating back more than five hundred years. They are covered with pearls
and all kinds of precious stones; one, which was presented by John the
Terrible to the metropolitan Denys, is said to weigh fifty-four pounds
in consequence of the great number of diamonds, pearls, emeralds,
garnets, and other jewels which are fastened to it.
"The attendant left us quite alone in the room with all these valuables;
the guide said this was the custom, but that we were by no means out of
sight. Through holes in the ceiling watchful eyes were said to be
peering, and any attempt to open the cases and remove the valuables
would result in serious consequences. How much truth there was in his
statement we do not know. We looked at the ceiling, but could not see
any peep-holes, but for all that they may have been there.
"You wonder how it happened that the French did not carry away the
treasures of the Kremlin when they retreated from Moscow. The fact is,
most of the treasures were removed to Nijni Novgorod as the French
advanced, and when they arrived there was not a great deal to plunder.
They carried off many things, which were afterwards recaptured by the
Russians during the retreat and restored to their places, but it was not
until the French were completely out of the country that the valuables
and relics which had been carried to Nijni Novgorod were returned.
"The invaders hacked at some of the frames of the holy pictures in the
Church of the Assumption, and the marks of their knives are still
visible. In the Cathedral of the Annunciation the French stabled their
horses, and the other churches were used as barracks by the troops. The
Kremlin was mined in several places, but the explosions did very little
damage. Probably the French officers who had charge of the mining were
in a great hurry and did not attend properly to their work.
"Our guide was a Russian; and after he had told us about the use of the
cathedral as a stable, he led the way to the spot where the cannon
captured from the French in the retreat are exhibited. 'There,' said he,
'are eight hundred and seventy-five cannon which were captured in the
retreat of the Grand Army; three hundred and sixty-five of them--one for
every day in the year--are French, one hundred and eighty-nine are
Austrian, and the rest are from the various troops allied with the
French at that time. Altogether they weigh about three hundred and fifty
tons. A Frenchman proposed that they should be melted down and cast into
a memorial column, but the Russians think they are better just as they
are.'
"We agreed with him that it was very natural a Frenchman should make
such a proposal and the Russians reject it. An amusing thing is that
some of the guns bear the names 'Invincible,' 'Eagle,' 'Conqueror,'
'Triumph,' and the like, quite in mockery of their captive condition.
"Doctor Bronson said he was reminded of an incident that is said to
have happened in an American navy-yard fifteen or twenty years after the
war of 1812, between the United States and Great Britain.
"An Englishman was visiting the navy-yard, and while wandering among the
cannon which lay peacefully in one of the parks, he found one which bore
the British crown, with the stamp 'G. R.' beneath it. The stamp and
crown told very plainly the history of the gun, but the Briton was
doubtful. Turning to a sailor who was standing near, he remarked,
"'It's easy enough to put that stamp on a gun of Yankee make.'
"'How long do you think it would take?'
"'About half an hour.'
"'Well,' replied the sailor, 'we took forty-four of those guns, with the
stamps already on, in just seventeen minutes."[4]
[4] Referring to the battle between the _Constitution_ and _Guerriere_,
August 19, 1812.
"The stranger had no more conundrums to propose.
[Illustration: GREAT GUN AT MOSCOW.]
"There are seven monster cannon in front of one of the arsenals in the
Kremlin that have probably never enjoyed the honor of being fired;
certainly some of them would be likely to burst if filled with an
ordinary charge of powder. The smallest weighs four tons and the largest
forty tons. Some of them are unusually long in proportion to their
diameter, and others are exactly the reverse. The largest was cast in
1586, if we may believe an inscription upon it, at the orders of the
Czar Feodor; but whether it was intended for ornament or use is
difficult to say. It is remarkable as a piece of casting; and the
carriage is nearly as interesting as the gun. We enclose a photograph;
and by comparing the cannon with the figures of the soldiers seated
below the muzzle, you can get an idea of the colossal size of this
piece.
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL AT MOSCOW.]
"As we came out through the 'Holy Gate' of the Kremlin we were in front
of the Church of St. Basil, the one whose architect is said to have been
blinded by order of John the Terrible, to make sure that the structure
should not be duplicated. It stands on the site of an ancient church
where St. Basil was buried, in 1552. It was begun in 1555, and is said
to have occupied twenty years in building.
"There is not anywhere in the world a more fantastic church than this;
none of its towers and domes resemble each other, and they present all
the colors of the rainbow. One of the cupolas is striped like a melon,
while another suggests a pineapple; another is like an onion in shape
and general appearance; another suggests a turban covered with folds;
and still another might readily have been copied from an artichoke. The
stripes are as strange as the forms, and the irreverent could be
forgiven for calling this the Harlequin Church in consequence of its
peculiar architecture.
"Napoleon ordered his engineers to destroy 'The Mosque,' as he called
the Church of St. Basil, but for some unexplained reason the order was
not carried out. In the chapel below the church is the shrine of the
saint, but it presents nothing remarkable; and altogether the building
is more interesting from an external than from an internal view."
[Illustration: NAPOLEON'S RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.]