Daily Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1854-1855, 1854-10-18


worry ;ntarestinr account of his travels ~
Rnssin. much 81 Which have been published
~ letter writes. he stated ! fact which
I has never yet been published, c1t wn'cn
startlingly coatEsdicts she receives nsssoss-
cal relation Of one Of the most extfao'u,ns-
~ events that itevsr foil to the lot o. ms
tory TO seoosd.s For this reason tue Judge
SAID lie felt delicacy in making the asscr-
ZION that The CITY OF Moscow WAS NEVER
BURNED.
He ssid that previously to his arrival at
Moscow, he had several Disputes with his
guide as to the burning Of the city, the guide
declaring il never occurred, and seeming to
be nettted at Mr.. Douglass persistency IN
his opinion, but, onexamiuing the IRE marks
around the city, and the city itself. ne be-
.oame satisfied that the guide was correct.
Moscow IL the most gorgeous city in the
world. It is the old capital, and, owing to
/ its antiquity, splendor, and aristocratlcai as
sociations, it continues to be the favorite
residence Of the mobility. St. Petersburg,
though next to Moscow the 6nest city in
Europe. they regard = new, upstart city,
hardly rendered respectable even BY it, be-
| in9 the placs Of residence OF the Emperor.
| 0oscow, with its ok hundred hrst class
churches, with their three thousand gold
covered cupnlas, cleaning with Z brilliant,
golden, wayy light. presents at sunrise =
splendid spectacle. Many Of these church,
es:exhibit several diifercnts tyles Of architec.
ture, evidently constructed It various pc
RODS in the worlds history marking a. well
the flight Of time as changes Of dynasties
For instance, in some of the churches you
will find portion Of the structure seeming
to be thousand years old, while the remain
der Of the building appears to be Of later
date and different and newer styles Of archi-
lecture. Thus, one was fret pagan tenn
pie at later date il was altered for q
Christian church, by building two wings,
and forming thus the shape OF the CROSS
When the Mohammedans overran the coun-
try, they allowed the cross surrounding the
building to remain, but they oyertopped it
with great crescent, to show that the cres-
cent was triumphant over the cross. After
wards the invaders were driven out, and
then the Russians allowed the crescent to
remain, butran up tower above the ores
cent, and surmounted it by cross, to show
that the cross was triumphant over the cres-
cent. Again Moscow was taken by the
Mahommedans, and they allowed the cross
to remain, but surmounted it as before, with
huge crescent, to show that the crescent
was triumphant over the cross, They were
driven out, another tower was erected above
the crescent, and another cross planted high
over all, to show that the cross was tri-
umphant over the crescent, and 20 that
church remains to this day. 1t is impossi-
BILE to initiate all these styles Of structure,
and besides it bears the evident marks Of
age. Buildings were thus commenced by
one nation in its peculiar style Of architec-
ture, and finished by another in different
sty le, not having been able If they had wish
ed to carry out the original design.
The Kremlin is space Of several hundred
acres, in the heart Of the city, in the shape
Of a fAt-irsn. and is enclosed by wall six
ty feet high. Within this enclosure is the
most magnificent palace in Europe, recent
~ built, but constructed over an ancient
palace, which remains, thus enclosed, whole
and perfect, with all its windows, etc.
Near the Kremlin. surrounded by wall,
is Chinese town, appearing to be several
hundred years old, occupied by descendants
Of the original settlers.
| The circumstances which gave rise TO the
error concerning the burning Of the city OF
Moscow, were these. 1t is city Of 45O,-
600 inhabitants, in circular form, occupy
ing large space six miles across. There
the winters are six months long, ard the
custom was and still is, to lay up supplies
OF provisions and wood to last six months
of severely coldweather. To prevent these
gigantic supplies from numbering the heart
Of the city, row Of wood houses was con-
structed to circle completely round the city,
and outside of these was a row of granaries
and in these were deposited the whole Of
the supplies. Napoleon had entered the
city with his army, and was himself occu-
pying the Palace Of the Kremliu, when 3ne
night, by order Of the Russian Governor,
every wood house, and every granary sim
ultsneously burst into blaze. All efforts
to extinguish il were in vain, and Napoleon
found himself obliged to march his army out
through the fire. Retiring to an eminence
he saw the whole city enveloped in sheets
OF flames, and clouds of smoke, and appa.
rently all on fire. And 30 far as he was
concerned it might as we'll have been, for
though houses enough were left to supply
every soldier with room, yet, without pro-
visions or fuel, and q Russian army to cut of
supplies, he and his army could not subsist
there. During this fire some houses were
probably burned, but the city was not. In
the kremlin powder magazine blew up
cracking the Church Of Ivan more than
hundred feet up, but setting nothing on
Mr.. Douglas saw the fire marks around
the city, where wood houses and granaries
TOR winter supplies now stand as Of old, but
there appear no marks Of the conflarration
within the city. On the contrary, il bears
the unmistakable evidences Of age.
A RELIABLE SHEET.-The Wisconsin
Pinery Of the 3D. inst, says: