Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/174

 HS BATTLE OF THE ALMA. CHAP, ill I'act iVom the warlike aniier which was lieav- 1 . . '. ing the general mass. I am, liowever, inclined to believe that Prince Gortschakofr is mistaken in his statement ; * and that the impulse he gave to the Vladimir battalions was one given some min- utes later, and after the movement now spoken of. Be this as it may, it is certain enough that — either alone, or jointly with Prince Gortscha- koff — Kvetzinski led on the colunni. These troops of the 16th Division had been touched with the warlike lire which a patriot priesthood can draw from Gospels, Epistles, and Psalms. With the baggage of the Division there was carried an image of the blessed Sergius; and when these troops were ordered to the south, the Archbishop of Moscow had taken care to whet them for the strife. 'Children of the Czar' — so ran the Primate's blessing — ' Children of the Czar ' our father, and Paissia our mother, my warrior ' brethren ! The Czar, your country, the Christian ' faith, call you to brave deeds, and the prayers ' uf the Church and country are with }uu. . . . ' Should it be the will of God that you too face ' the foe, forget not that you are doing battle for ' the most pious Czar, for our beloved country, ' for holy Church, against infidels, against per- ' secutors of the Christian faith — pei'sccutors of ' men united to us by ties of I'cligion and of blood ' — insulters of those who bow before the Holy kofT's .statements with the known facts.
 * Places, sanctified by the birth, passion, and as-
 * 1 fouiid thi-s bhJief upon a comparison of Prince Gortscha-