Moscow was without its inhabitants， and the soldiers were sucked up in her， like water into sand， as they flowed away irresistibly in all directions from the Kremlin， which they had entered first. Cavalry soldiers who had entered a merchant’s house abandoned with all its belongings， and finding stabling for their horses and to spare， yet went on to take the house next door， which seemed to them better. Many took several houses， chalking their names on them， and quarrelled and even fought with other companies for their possession. Soldiers had no sooner succeeded in securing quarters than they ran along the street to look at the town， and on hearing that everything had been abandoned， hurried off where objects of value could be carried off for nothing. The officers followed to check the soldiers， and were involuntarily lured into doing the same. In Carriage Row shops had been abandoned stocked with carriages， and the generals flocked thither to choose coaches and carriages for themselves. The few inhabitants who had stayed on invited the officers into their houses， hoping thereby to secure themselves against being robbed. Wealth there was in abundance： there seemed no end to it. Everywhere all round the parts occupied by the French there were unexplored regions unoccupied beyond， in which the French fancied there were even more riches to be found. And Moscow absorbed them further and further into herself. Just as when water flows over dry land， water and dry land alike disappear and are lost in mud， so when the hungry army entered the wealthy， deserted city， the army and the wealth of the city both perished； and fires and marauding bands sprang up where they had been.
The French ascribed the burning of Moscow au patriotisme féroce de Rastoptchine； the Russians to the savagery of the French. In reality， explanations of the fire of Moscow， in the sense of the conflagration being brought home to the door of any one person or group of persons， there have never been， and never could be. Moscow was burned because she was placed in conditions in which any town built of wood was bound to be burned， quite apart from the question whether there were or were not one hundred and thirty inefficient fire-engines in the town. Moscow was sure to be burned， because her inhabitants had gone away， as inevitably as a heap of straw is sure to be burned where sparks are scattered on it for several days in succession. A town of wooden houses， in which when the police and the inhabitants owning the houses are in possession of it， fires are of daily occurrence， cannot escape being burned when its inhabitants are gone and it is filled with soldiers smoking pipes， making fires in Senate-house Square of the Senate-house chairs， and cooking themselves meals twice a day. In times of peace， whenever troops are quartered on villages in any district， the number of fires in the district at once increases. How greatly must the likelihood of fires be increased in an abandoned town， built of wood， and occupied by foreign soldiers！ Le patriotisme féroce de Rastoptchine and the savagery of the French do not come into the question. Moscow was burned through the pipes， the kitchen stoves， and camp-fires， through the recklessness of the enemy’s soldiers， who lived in the houses without the care of householders. Even if there were cases of incendiarism （which is very doubtful， because no one had any reason for incendiarism， and in any case such a crime is a troublesome and dangerous one）， there is no need to accept incendiarism as the cause， for the conflagration would have been inevitable anyway without it.
Soothing as it was to the vanity of the French to throw the blame on the ferocity of Rastoptchin， and to that of the Russians to throw the blame on the miscreant Bonaparte， or later on to place the heroic torch in the hand of its patriot peasantry， we cannot disguise from ourselves that there could be no such direct cause of the fire， since Moscow was as certain to be burned as any village， factory， or house forsaken by its owners， and used as a temporary shelter and cooking-place by strangers. Moscow was burned by her inhabitants， it is true； but not by the inhabitants who had lingered on， but by the inhabitants who had abandoned her. Moscow did not， like Berlin， Vienna， and other towns， escape harm while in the occupation of the enemy， simply because her inhabitants did not receive the French with the keys， and the bread and salt of welcome， but abandoned her.
