Historic Doubts Relative To Napoleon Buonaparte by Richard Whately
page 56 of 60 (93%)
page 56 of 60 (93%)
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declaring that it never occurred, and seeming to be nettled at
Mr. Douglas's persistency in his opinion; but, on examining the fire-marks around the city, and the city itself, he became satisfied that the guide was correct. "The statement goes on to set forth that the antiquity of the architectural cityâparticularly of its 'six hundred first-class churches,' stretching through ante-Napoleonic ages to Pagan times, and showing the handiwork of different nations of Historyâdemonstrates that the city never was burned down (or up)." The Inquirer adds: "The Kremlin is a space of several hundred acres, in the heart of the city, in the shape of a flat iron, and is enclosed, by a wall of sixty feet high. Within this enclosure is the most magnificent palace in Europe, recently built, but constructed over an ancient palace, which remains, thus enclosed, whole and perfect, with all its windows, &c. "Near the Kremlin, surrounded by a wall, is a Chinese town, appearing to be several hundred years old, still occupied by descendants of the original settlers. "The circumstances which gave rise to the errors concerning the burning of Moscow, were these:âIt is a city of four hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, in circular form, occupying a large space, five miles across. There the winters are six months long, and the custom was, and still is, to lay up supplies of |
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