Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 9.djvu/250

 220 THANKSGIVINGS. chap, faltered, and began to lose heart, some restorative VIII belter than truth was apparently thought to be needed. The garrison was gravely told that it had fought at close quarters with the hosts of the besiegers, and defeated them with our old Eussian friend, ' the too often fabulous bayonet ! ' Thanks- A more legitimate way of restoring heart to the troops was found with the aid of the priests who — made sacred in the eyes of the Russians by their sacred costumes,^) and carrying their time-honoured implements of worship— came out on the morrow of the action to the lines of defence, and there led the chants of Thanksgiving for the 'mercy,' as our Cromwell would call it, vouchsafed on the previous morning, just right With any such pious acknowledgments a little ns'm'to'.'n- fair self-gratulation is always compatible; and gratuiation!' the brave survivors of those who had undergone the dreadful bombardment of the 17th of June, who had toiled through the night in repairing their shattered batteries under vertical fire, who, next day, manning their ramparts, had stood — had stood firm — against five advancing columns, and not less, those who had faced the renewed bombardment which followed without — like some of their comrades— beginning to harbour despair, were able to indulge a just pride, not only in what they had done, but yet more in what they had borne.