Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/107

 KORNILOFF OVERRULKD. Tittovs the griff of the oflicers to wlioiii the appeal CHA P. was addressed : 'How to decide on such a cruel ' ' measure? To bar the port, and shut ourselves ^^"auing. ' of our inability to fight at sea ? Is it not lanta- ' mount to our abdicating the very name of sca- ' men, so dear to the men of the Black Sea fleet ? ' By the love we have borne to our profession, by ' our unanimous co-operation in the iKjble efforts ' of our ever-memorable chiefs, we have brought ' our ships to a high state of perfection in manoeu- ' vring, in gunnery, and general management ; ' creation — when the fleet has groAvn strong and ' formidable — we are to sacrifice these fine ships, ' and sink them with our own hands in the waves ' of their native port! .Such a proceeding is next ' to suicide. The question is not to offer upon the altar of our country our wealth, our material ' interests. No ; the sacrifice is of a higlier kind. ' We are to crush with a merciless hand every- ' thing upon which W'e have concentrated our ' moral eftbrts, in which we liave been accustomed ' to see our calling and our future.' Korniloff expressed his dissent from the counter- Komiiofrs order to proposal, but perceiving that the majority of the the members officers present approved it, and still holding to council ; his own opinion, he dismissed the council, and with these words: 'Prepare for i)utting to sea. ' one has to do.' But he spoke, the narrator says. with a heavy heart, for he had little hope that the
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