Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 9.djvu/313

 ON THE LIFE OF LOKD RAGLAN. 283 visers. when able to meet them, by saying : ' Lord cha p. ' Raglan and I are agreed.' 1_ Having learnt on good grounds to infer that Circum- Lord Raglan could not have brought himself to tending to „,,.,. show that press forward his obiect, unless having before him LordRagiar. - 1 J ° in this mat- a prospect so good as to warrant the venture ; and ter had be- . . ° fore him a considering that the halo of personal ascendancy, fair prospect . . . . of success. which distinguished him in the eyes of Pelissier from all other then living men, could scarce fail to give him great weight when undertaking per- suasion ; whilst remembering too, on the other hand, that, if forced to speak or act cogently, he at all events had the command of a powerful lever, with, besides, all the knowledge and qualities enabling him to use it with skill, one may rightly believe that already he had won the assent of Pelissier to the change of plan he desired, and besides that the spell of his presence, if continuing to be felt in the camp of the Allied armies, would have fully ensured due persistence in the happily altered design. On the other hand, we can see — see at least But not (in bis i)liic6^ with the light of the Past — that none other than a Q y °t" ei - Lord Raglan himself could or would have the power to go on with the measure on which he had ventured ; * and accordingly, the hope that our troops would be either relieved altogether from their wrongly allotted task of attacking the Great Redan, or else find themselves enabled to attack it under fitting conditions, depended on the life of one man.
 * Proved by experience, see post, p. 291 et seg.