meetings, saw many people, had printed along with the imperial proclamation
a bulletin worded after my own fashion, and the next morning the people of
Moscow on rising learned of the coming of the sovereign. The nobility felt
flattered on account of the confidence which the emperor placed in them,
and became inspired with a noble zeal, the merchants were ready to give
money, only the common people apparently remained indifferent, because they
did not believe it possible that the enemy could enter Moscow." The
longbeards repeated incessantly:

"Napoleon cannot conquer us, he would have to exterminate us all."

But the streets became crowded with people, the stores were closed, every
one went first to the churches to pray for the Tzar, and from there to the
gate of Dragomilof to salute the imperial procession upon its arrival. The
enthusiasm ran so high that the idea was conceived to unhitch the horses
from his coach and carry him in his carriage. This, as Rostopchine tells
us, was the intention not only of the common people but of many
distinguished ones also, even of such as wore decorations. The emperor, to
avoid such exaggerated manifestations, was obliged to arrange for his entry
during the night. On the next morning when the Tzar, according to the old
custom, showed himself to his people on the red stairs, the hurrahs, the
shouts of the multitude drowned the sounds of the bells of the forty times
forty churches which were ringing in the city. At every step, thousands of
hands tried to touch the limbs of the sovereign or the flap of his uniform
which they kissed and wet with their tears.

"I learned during the night," writes Rostopchine, "and it was confirmed in
the morning, that there were some persons who had united to ask the emperor
how many troops we had, how many the enemy, and what were the means of
defense. This would have been a bold and, under the present circumstances,