The  Kremlin  did  not  escape.  A  tower  burst  into  flames.  In  vain  the
imperial  guard  sought  to  check  the  fire.  No  fire-engines  were  to  be  found
in  the  town.  Napoleon  hastily  left  the  palace  and  sought  shelter  outside
the  city,  where  for  three  days  the  flames  ran  riot,  feeding  on  ancient  palaces
and  destroying  untold  treasures.  Then  the  wind  sank  and  rain  poured  upon
the  smouldering  embers.  The  great  city  had  become  a  desolate  heap  of
smoking  ruins,  into  which  the  soldiers  daringly  stole  back  in  search  of
valuables  that  might  have  escaped  the  flames.
This  frightful  conflagration  was  not  due  to  the  czar,  but  to  Count
Rostopchin,  the  governor  of  Moscow,  who  was  subsequently  driven  from
Russia  by  the  execrations  of  those  he  had  ruined.  But  it  served  as  a  procla-


92  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL  OF  NAPOLEON'S  EMPIRE

mation   to  Europe   of    the    implacable    resolution    of    the  Muscovites    and
their  determination  to  resist  to  the  bitter  end.
Napoleon,  sadly  troubled  in  soul,  sent  letters  to  Alexander,  suggesting
the  advisability  of  peace.  Alexander  left  his  letters  unanswered.  Until
October  i8th  the  emperor  waited,  hoping  against  hope,  willing  to  grant
almost  any  terms  for  an  opportunity  to  escape  from  ;he  fatal  trap  into  which
his  overweening  ambition  had  led  him.  No  answer  came  from  the  czar.
He  was  inflexible  in  his  determination  not  to  treat -with  these  invaders  of
his  country.  In  deep  dejection  Napoleon  at  length  gave  the  order  to
retreat — too  late,  as  it  was  to  prove,  since  the  terrible  Russian  winter  was
ready  to  descend  upon  them  in  all  its  frightful  strength.
