Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/206

 180 BATTLE OF THE ALMA. CHAP. alDle to take a great part in the action, this ' backwardness of one of their finest divisions was almost ruinous ; and it is natural enougli that a divisional general, whose rank gave him shelter from the ordeal of a fair military investigation, should for that very reason be made to suffer the more bitterly from the stings which men robbed of their freedom are accustomed to plant with the tongue. Pmice Eesembling the first French Emperor in out- ward looks, Prince Napoleon was also very like his uncle, not apparently in his main objects, but in the character of his intellect ; for he had that rare and exceeding clearness of view wldch man is able to command when he can separate things essential from things of circumstance, and keep the two sets of thoughts so clean asunder as to- be able to go to the solution of his main problem with a mind unclouded by details — unclouded by even those details which it is vital for him to master and provide for, though he refuses to let them mix with the elements from which lie fetches out his conclusion. And although one cannot help knowing that the most cruel of all the imputations which can be brought against a soldier has long been kept fastened upon Prince Napoleou, I may say that the knowledge of his peculiar career which I have hitherto chanced to gain is far from being such as to warrant a denial of his personal courage. Tilt; ini.siiap.s Bcfovc the delinquency of the 3d French Divi- hiin. sion on the day of the Alma is accepted as one