Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/108

 82 BATTLE OF THE ALMA. CHAP. I. Grounds tending to cause, or to justify, the resolve. Height, and wliilst Prince Napoleon's Division was still low down in the valley, the advance of the English forces against the Causeway and the Kourgan6 Hill would ruin the symmetry of the plan which the French had contrived ; and if Bosquet should be obliged to retreat at a time when the English were hotly engaged in an attack upon the enemy's heights, the whole array of the Allies would be brought into perih But the timely incurring of dangers is proper to the busi- ness of war ; and though the enemy had hitherto been torpid and indulgent, the cause of the Allies had fallen into such a plight, that a remedy which involved heavy risks might nevertheless be the right one. And, so far as concerned liis under- standing with the French, Lord IJaglan was freed from all care ; for he had been already assured that Marshal St Arnaud anxiously desired him to advance ; and one aide-de-camp, as we have seen, had told him plainly that nothing less than a diversion by the English forces would prevent General Bosquet from retreating. A man may weigh reasons against reasons, but sometimes, after all, it is the power of the imagina- tion, or else some manly passion, which comes to strike the balance and lead him on to action. The motive of which Lord Baglan felt the most conscious was the simple and natural longing to cease from being passive. He could no longer endure to see our soldiery lying down without resistance under the enemy's fire.* • This is the motive for accelerating the advance of the