Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 8.djvu/257

 TROUBLED COUNSELS. 225 Minister describes him as a man who between chap. viii. the conflicting ideas was ' painfully oscillating.' * L Niel — never forgetting his ' mission ' — stood over The conduct r~* i ■ /mi • » • i mi i an< * baring the Commander- ln-Cmei with a will to denounce ofNiei. every notion that Canrobert might venture to harbour of assaulting Sebastopol, and the Im- perial aide -de - camp thus superintending the general mingled even some scorn with his use of the curb ; for he did not so much as believe that any design of assaulting would last until the cardinal moment for turning resolve into action.! On the 16th, General Niel seems to have been His letter ,., n. , r^, P. ., ofthel6th displeased with (Janrobert tor not acting with of April to „ the Minister more steadfast deference to the precepts of the of war. ' Mission,' and apparently for even allowing the growth of consultations with reasoners who har- boured the thought of assault ; for he thus wrote to the Minister of War : — ' I am going to try to ' turn the minds of the commanders from an at- ' tempt no less dangerous than useless, which I ' hope will be abandoned. ... I did not advise ' engaging in this artillery conflict ; for I had, ' and still hold the conviction that, even if it had ' proved more successful than it has, there still ' would not have been an assault driven into the ' town.' % Incredible, as it would seem, if not proved, this Aide-de camp superintendent estab- + See post, p. 227, his letter to the Emperor of the 17th April 1855. + Rousset, voL ii. p. 145. VOL. VIII. P
 * Rousset, pp. 146, 147.