city, takes a sharp bend close
to their base, and then runs back again towards the southern end of it.
The view was indeed superb. Below them, on the plain across the river,
was the Donskoy Convent, with its red walls and lofty towers, several
other convents being scattered about here and there. To the right, on
the wooded and sloping banks of the Moscowa, were the Emperor's villa
and many other handsome buildings; and before them the Holy City itself,
its numberless golden and silver domes glittering brightly in the
sunshine, like a mighty pile of precious jewels from the far-famed mines
of Gokonda. On the left, on a wide-extended down, were seen the white
tents of fifty thousand of the choicest troops of Russia, assembled to
do honour to the Emperor at his coronation, or to signify to the people
the power by which he rules.

"I should very much like to go and look through that camp," exclaimed
Fred; "I want to see if all they say about the Russian troops is true."

"We will make a point of going there to-morrow," replied Cousin Giles.
"I have no doubt the visit will be an interesting one; but, for my part,
I do not expect to be so interested as I am at present. The whole of
Russia cannot, perhaps, afford a sight more beautiful than the one
before us. Here it was that Napoleon, after marching across Europe,
first beheld the superb city which he hoped in a few hours to make his
own--the bourn he so eagerly sought--the prize of all his toils! How
grievously, yet how righteously, was he disappointed! As he, swelling
with pride and elated with triumph, was gazing at the city from the
west, the Russian army, having already devoted their beloved capital to
destruction, were marching out on the opposite side. In a short time
the city in which he trusted to find shelter for his troops during the
winter burst forth into flames, and a very few days saw him defeated and
a fugitive, and his magnificent army a prey to the rigours of the
climate and the remorseless Cossacks. History cannot afford a more
dreadful picture than the retreat of the French from Moscow, or a
clearer example of the retributive justice of Heaven. Not many years
afterwards the Russians, as allies of the English, paid a visit, as
conquerors, to Paris. The French, united with the English, were lately
on the point of returning the compliment, by looking in on Saint
Petersburg. Heaven grant that neither of them may ever come to London
in any guise bu