The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-08-30

OC- u loL9-NapO4eOn DeeAu M loaoAAs
rTpGH above a graceful bend In the
Moskova River, rises the most re-
nowned Of the seven hills OF the
grim or Hill of Salvation the pilgrims
were wont to bow in awe and cross tnen-
selves while they saluted Holy MotneI
Moscow" There, too, the poor wretcnes
condemned to a Siberian exile were priv
fleged to pause and feast their sad eyes
before taking up their chains for me long
Vulgarly the height IL called Sparrow
Hill and its cafes now are the resort OF
the tea bibbers OF the city; Close by
where the samovars are enthroneo to-
day, Napoleon stood on sunny after
noon in September, 1872, and, looking
across the wide fields Of the convent in
the river bed. gazed upon the ivory
white walls and gayly painted roofs
upon the forest Of spires, towers, pima
cles and minarets, upon the countless
domes of gold and green and blue that
form the unique and dazzling panorama
of Moscow. 1T is time! It is time! he
sighed as his eyes rested on the city OF
many and wonderful colors, where the
sunbeans turned to shimmering gold the
lacy chains falling like wells over the
eight-pointed Russian crosses which
sprang from their crescents as If to sym
bolize the triumph Of the Christian over
He had paid a terrible price for that
sight from Sparrow Hill, but then II was
one that never before had been oeheld
by conqueror out Of the west. Did not
the tears freeze on the youthful cheeks Ks
was denied the joy of looking upon those
clustered towers Of the Kremlinf
A Mute City.
With Moscow at his feet. all the CAPT
tails of the European continent had
knelt and kissed the sword OF Napoleon
Since, as q long-haired, unknown boy, he
had cowed wanton Paris with his Whit
Of grapeshot seventeen years before. he
had bound in garland OF victories about
ence, Rome, Genoa, Parma, Berne, Lts-
bon, Warsaw, Munich, Stuttgart, Carts
SS9he; CasSels Hamburg AmsteEd am t and
of Vienna. The Brandenbprg Gate had
opened wide for his triumphal entry into
Berlin. Naughty Madrid had trembied
and fallen beneath his glance from the
heights Of Chamartin- Moscow had cost
him dear. but it was the rarest capital
Before possessing himself Of his falr
captive, of this Oriental beauty that he
had spent 10000 lives to win, he wished
to crafty his dramatic sense and thrill
the world by making an imposing spec
tacle of her abject surrender and OF his
own magnanimity. For no conQnerors
the cities that had worn them would ees-
while he waited for his vanguard TO
arrange fitting ceremonial Of the De
lay as II in q dangerous afternoon slunl-
Der on the banks Of the Moskova. No
rlllrTlur rose from De0lnO neT ~dlAS~ W.
a wreath Of smoke hoated above her
The report crept up the hill that Mos
COW was deserted and that even It's KEYS
- sank TO whisper as 1t reached the
outer CIRCLE Of the group about Napo-
peat II to HIM, ne refused to believe #
and dispatched members Of his stan into
the mute city to search out the mem
bers OF me NOBILITY IN their hldlnS
In their Spanish pride the people of
Madrid had hid from him, but they had
r06 an A City Of $4,000 depopulated?.
The sacred city of the empire aban-
doned7 All those great palaces deserted7
The sita[s g.. Of ,, those %S churches I'M
AS the amazing situation slowly
dawned upon him he passed into merry
on and pulling on his gloves or rolling
his handkerchief into ball, the only
sound that escaped his tightly pressed
iips was an occasional cough. His face
vuised, and his Whole body quiyered.
And having always warned his suite to
oficers stood dumb and motionIess in the
background. When finally convinced OF
the truth, he still persisted in his desire
for a ceremony. and declining to enter
the night in the odorous squalor of an
abandoned house by one Of the gates.
The Flight of the People.
Moscow was, indeed, almost a solitude.
AS the Russian army, under Gen. kutus-
of. retreated from Borodtno the morning
after the frightful battle, Moscow had
clamored in vain for military protec-
ton. The blatant governor boosted of
great balloon which had been built and
which would hurl destruction upon the
enemy, while he idly talked of complet-
ing the work of determination by sending
forth 10000 citizens behind the miracu-
lous Iberian image of the Mother OF God.
When Kutusof called a council OF war,
IT voted TO stand or fall for the salvation
OF the sacred town. But he ignored the
decision and, with tears in his eyes,
marched through Moscow, leaving 1t de-
fenseless. He would not risk another
battle with Napoleon even TO save the
Holy City. The clustering governor new
ertheless continued to preach resistance.
He called upon the inhabitants to arm
themselves with hatchets and pitchforks,
for the French were not heavier than
sheaf of wheat" And to prove II he
psraded the smallest men found among
the prisoners brought in from Borodino.
The inhabitants rose, however, only TO
crowd the gates in a flight on the heels
of the retreating army. In the instnc-
tive repugnance of a primitive patriot
ism, they scorned to stay and breathe an
atmosphere polluted by the presence OF
an alien conqueror. For the Russians
development. huge family rather than
q nation. They are not the subjects but
the children Of their Little Father the
Gar. He is at once their spiritual and
their temporal ruler and their nation
ality is equally their religion
Rising from their affairs and turning
; their backs on their homes and their
churches, bearing aloft their revered
ikons and singing plaintive songs the
people passed out Of the gates in long
professions. The great mobiles forsook
their splendid palaces and spacious parks
and drove away in their brilliant four
and six horse equipages their thousands
of serfs running after them. The rich
merchants left their warehouses and
shops filled with unguarded wealth. and
Joined in the exodus. The rest OF the
population rushed into the country; with
no thought of where they should find
Hood or shelter. It was enough for them
that they had seen in the heavens d fiery
sword as a warning for them to leave.
The governor was left behind to waste
his appeals on the desert air Of the
empty streets. He rallied at the retreat
ing Kutusof as q "one-eyed old woman"