emed expedient to require of
subjects professing a different religion, and a nascent patriotism, the
destruction of property: a levy of five men only out of every five
hundred males was ordered.

But in Russia Proper, where religion, superstition, ignorance,
patriotism, all went hand in hand with the government, not only had the
inhabitants been obliged to retreat with the army, but every thing that
could not be removed had been destroyed. Those who were not destined to
recruit the regulars, joined the militia or the cossacks.

The interior of the empire being then threatened, it was for Moscow to
set an example. That capital, justly denominated by its poets, "_Moscow
with the golden cupolas_," was a vast and motley assemblage of two
hundred and ninety-five churches, and fifteen hundred mansions, with
their gardens and dependencies. These palaces of brick, and their parks,
intermixed with neat houses of wood, and even thatched cottages, were
spread over several square leagues of irregular ground: they were
grouped round a lofty triangular fortress; the vast double inclosure of
which, half a league in circuit, contained, the one, several palaces,
some churches, and rocky and uncultivated spots; the other, a prodigious
bazaar, the town of the merchants and shopkeepers, where was displayed
the collected wealth of the four quarters of the globe.

These edifices, these palaces, nay, the very shops themselves, were all
covered with polished and painted iron: the churches, each surmounted by
a terrace and several steeples, terminating in golden balls, then the
crescent, and lastly the cross, reminded the spectator of the history of
this nation: it was Asia and its religion, at first victorious,
subsequently vanquished, and finally the crescent of Mahomet surmounted
by the cross of Christ.

A single ray of sun-shine caused this splendid city to glisten with a
thousand varied colours. At sight of it the traveller paused, delighted
and astonished. It reminded him of the prodigies with which the oriental
poets had amused his childhood. On entering it, a nearer view served but
to heighten his astonishment: he recognized the nobles by the manners,
the habits, and the different languages of modern Europe; and by the
rich and light elegance of their dress. He beheld, with surprise, the
luxury and the Asiatic form of those of the merchants; the Grecian
costumes of the common people, and their long beards. He was struck by
the same