Leo Tolstoy: War and Peace

BOOK NINE: 1812 9. CHAPTER IX (continued)

That arousing of the people by their sovereign and his call to them to defend their country- the very incitement which was the chief cause of Russia's triumph in so far as it was produced by the Tsar's personal presence in Moscow- was suggested to the Emperor, and accepted by him, as a pretext for quitting the army.