Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/231

 THE COUNSELS OF TUE ALLIES. 201 he insisted uijou the iinpnuk'uce of regarding it chap. as otherwise than formidable. He spoke of the 1_ sacrifice of life to which the Allies must submit if they were to storm the i)lace at once, without first breaking down the strength of its defences; and he insisted that whilst entangled in such a struggle — nay, even at a later time, whilst push- ing their way in the streets of the town — the Allies would be exposed to grave danger from the enterprise of Prince Mentschikoff's field army. He asked his hearers to imagine that army estab- lishing itself on the plateau, and the Allies be- neath in a hole, so placed, so engaged, so out of the controlling power of their commanders, as to be all but helpless. * He showed the disasters, the ruin which must follow upon such a condition of things. Then, and with the happy skill of an orator, he opportunely reversed the picture. The perils he had indicated need not be faced. In- stead of the ruin he spoke of, there might be a glorious triumph obtained at but a small cost of life. Happily the forethought of the two Home Governments had provided the Allied armies with magnificent siege-trains. By the help of these the Allies could so break down the defences of Sebastopol that their forces would be enabled to enter the place without incurring grave loss, and without even risking that sure dominion of the plateau above, on which their existence de- • In speaking of the iVUies as 'in a hole ' {dans un trov),he meant to indicate the low and straitened position of Sebastopol as compared with the plateau above.