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city, which would afiora vast resources for their
army, as well as comfortable quarters for the win-
ter, the object of the war would have been com-
pleted. On the 8th of September the battle of
Borodino took place ; victory decided in favour
of the French, and the Russians retreated off the
field, leaving Moscow to its fate. The road being
thus left open, the French entered this city, on
the 14th of the same month'with little opposition.
But a sad reverse of fortune now took place, which
preserved the Russian empire from ruin, and pav-
ed the way to the downfall of the French military
power over Europe. The city was set on fire hy
the Russians, so that the French were compelled
to attempt their retreat, at the moment they
thought themselves securely entrenched for the
winter. Nothing now remained but to offer terms
of peace to the Russians, which were rejected ;
they next proposed an armistice, which was refus-
ed ; and, on the 19th of October following, they
commenced their calamitous retreat from Moscow.
The conflagrations destroyed upwards of three
parts of the town ; and, shocking to relate, more
than 30,000 sick and wounded soldiers, who were
in the hospitals, perished in the flames. The old
city was distributed into 5 divisions, all of which,
not excepting the suburbs, have been rebuilt, with
wider streets and greater uniformity in the pri-
vate dwellings, and the population has nearly
reached its former magnitude. The divisions are
xe2x80x941. The Kremlin, in the central and highest
part of the city, surrounded by high walls of stone
and brick, 2 m. in circumference. The division
contained the ancient palace of the czars, where
Peter the Great was born; also the cathedral
with seven towers, besides other churches, the
patriarchal palace, and the arsenal. The pal-
ace escaped the conflagration of 1812, but was
damaged by the French on their leaving Mos-
cow ; it has since been rebuilt, with improve-
ments. 2. The Khitagorod, much larger than
the Kremlin, contained the university, the print-
ing-house, and many other public buildings, with
all the tradesmen’s shops. 3. The Bielgo-
rod, or White Town, ran round the two preced-
ing divisions, and took its name from a white
wall, by which it was formerly surrounded. 4.
The Semlaingorod environed all the other three
quarters, and was so denominated from a circu-
lar rampart of earth by which it was encompassed.
The last two divisions exhibited a grotesque group
of churches, convents, palaces, brick and wooden
houses, and mean hovels. 5. The Sloboda, or su-
burbs, formed a vast exterior circle round all the
parts already described, and were invested by a
low rampart and ditch. These suburbs contained,
besides bn livings of all kinds, orchards, gardens,
corn-fields, men open pasture, and some small
lakes, whfah gre rise to the Neglina. The Mos-
kwa, ton wjireh the city takes its name, flows
tliroagh it in a xe2x80x94inding channel; but, excepting
in spring, is “Ty nav:gable for rafls. It receives
the Yausa in tie Seinliinogorod. and the Neglina
at the western -xtreinity of the Kremlin ; but the
beds of both these risinlets are nearly dry in sum-
mer. Mdsc-ow exir.rated an astonishing degree
of extent and Tarirty. irregularity and contrast;
some parts had tae appearance of a sequestered
desert; others of a populous town ; some of a
contemptible village; otter* a great capital.
The streets, in general, were very long and
broad ; some of them Bared; others, particularly
in the suburbs, were formed with trunks of trees
or uoarded with pranks like the floor of a house.
66 |
The places of divine worship, including chapels,
amounted to above 1,500: of these 484 were pub-
lic churches, some built of brick, stuccoed
or white-washed, but the greater part were
ot wood, painted red some had domes of copper,
others of tin, gilt or painted green, and many
were roofed with wood. They were richly orna-
mented within; and the pictures of the saints
were decorated with gold*, silver, and precious
stones. Some of their bells were of a stupendous
size; they hung in belfries detached from the
church, were fixed immoveably to the beams, and
rung by a rope tied to the clapper. In the cath-
edral of St. Michael, tne sovereigns of Russia
were formerly interred, their bodies being deposit-
ed in raised sepulchres, in the shape of coffins,
above the pavement. The cathedral of the As-
sumption of the Virgin Mary was the most mag-
nificent in the city, and had long been appropri-
ated to the coronation of the Russian sovereigns.
The foundling hospital, founded by Catherine
II., was an immense pile of building, of a quad-
rangular shape, and capable of containing 8,000
foundlings. Since the fire, the churches and
chapels are less numerous than before, but those
which have been rebuilt occupy the former sites.
Moscow is the centre of the inland commerce of
Russia, particularly connecting the trade between
Europe and Siberia. The principal manufactures
are those of silk, linen, cotton, paper, leather, and
sugar. Moscow suffered severely from the pes-
tilential cholera in 1831. Its present pop. is about
3*' ’i.r>00. The navigation to this city is formed
bv the Moskwa, which flows into the Occa, near
Kolomna, and that river communicates with the
Volga and also by a canal to the Don, which riv-
er communicates with the sea of Asoph. 425 m.
S. E. of Petersburg. Long. 37. 33. E., lat. 53.
46. N.
Moscow, ph. Somerset Co. Me. Pop 405; ph.
Livingston Co. N. Y. near Genesee river, 30 m.
above Rochester ; also a village in Clermont Co.
Ohio.
Moselle, a department of France, including part
of the former province of Lorraine. It takes its
name from a river, which rises in the Vosges, wa-
ters Epinal and Toul, receives the Meurthe be-
low Nancy, and, passing by Metz, Thionville, and
Treves, enters the Rhine at Coblentz. Metz is
the capital.
Mosenia, a town in Persia, in Khusistan, 22
m. S. W. of Suter.
Moskirch, a town of Germany, in the grand
duchy of Baden, where the Austrians sustained a
defeat in’1800. 22 m. N. Stuttgard
Moskoe, an island on the coast of Norway, sep-
arated from the mainland by the Vestfiord. On
its coast is the whirlpoolof Maelstrom, which see.
Mosquito Shore, a tract of country of the east-
ern coast of Honduras. It is well watered by
navigable rivers and lakes ; abounds in fish, game,
and provisions ol aU sorts ; furnishes every neces-
sary for raising cattle and stock ; and is clothed
with woods producing timber for every purpose
at land or sea. Tbe soil is superior to that of the
W. India Islands, the climate more salubrious
and the destructive ravages of hurricanes, and
earthquakes are here unknown. It received
its name from the immense swarms of mos-
chetoes which are the torment of the inhabi-
tants and compel them to pass a great part of
their time in boats upon the rivers. The Mos-
quito Indians of this coast are governed by aris-
tocratic chiefs, and number about 1,500 warriors.
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