1812, the souvenirs of Count de Toll, the apology of Rostopchine, which we
shall come to in another chapter, the recitals of Domerque, of Wolzogen, of
Segur, but these reminiscences of people in Moscow are the only ones from
persons who actually suffered by the catastrophe, and they are in their way
as valuable as the writings of our two writers, von Scherer and von Borcke.
These plain people know nothing of the days of Erfurt, nothing of the
continental blocus, nothing of the withdrawal of Alexander from the
French Alliance; the bearers of the toulloupes (sheepskin furs) in the
streets of Moscow of the beginning of 1812 knew nothing of the
confederation of the Rhine; all they knew of Bonaparte was that he had
often beaten the Germans, and that on his account they had to pay more for
sugar and coffee. To them the great comet of 1811 was the first
announcement of coming great events. Let us see the reflections which the
comet inspired in the abbess of the Devitchi convent and the nun Antonine,
and this will give us an idea of the mental condition of the latter, one of
the narrators. "One evening," she relates, "we were at service in St.
John's church, when all of a sudden I noticed on the horizon a gerbe of
resplendent flames. I cried out and dropped my lantern. Mother abbess came
to me to learn what had caused my fright, and when she also had seen the
meteor she contemplated a long time. I asked, Matouchka, what star is this?
She answered this is no star, this is a comet. I asked again what is a
comet? I never had heard that word. The mother then explained to me that
this was a sign from heaven which God had sent to foretell great
misfortune. Every evening this comet was seen, and we asked ourselves what
calamity this one might bring us. In the cells of the convent, in the shops
of the city, the news, traveling as the crow flies, was heard that
Bonaparte was leading against Russia an immense army, the like of which the
world had never seen. Only the veterans of the battles of Austerlitz,
Eylau, and Friedland could give some information, some details of the
character of the invader. The direction which Napoleon took on his march