Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 3.djvu/293

 BATTLE OF THK ALMA. 267 ness of discipline, nor yet by a contempt of life, chap. that men can assure to themselves the mastery ^' over their foes. jIore or less all these things are needed ; but the truly governing power is that ascendancy of the stronger over the weaker heart which (because of the mystery of its origin) the churchman was willino- to ascril)e to nnirels com- ing down from on high. The turning moment of a fight is a moment of trial for the soul and not for the body; and it is, therefore, that such courage as men are able to gather from being gross in numbers, can be easily outweighed by the warlike virtue of a few. To the stately 'Black AVatch' and the hot 93d, with Campbell leading them on, there was vouchsafed that stronger heart for which the brave pious Muscovites had prayed. Over the souls of the men in the columns there was spread, first the gloom, then the swarm of vain delusions, and at last the sheer horror which might be the work of the Angel of Darkness.* The two lines marched straight on. The three columns shook. They were not yet subdued. They were stubborn ; but every moment the two advancing battalions grew nearer and nearer, and although — dimly masking the scant numbers of the Highlanders — there was still the white curtain of smoke which always rolled on before them, yet, fitfully, and from moment to moment, the signs of them could be traced on the right hand and on the left in a long, shadowy line, and their coming was ceaseless.
 * See the next note.