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 THE DEMEANOUR OF ENGLAND. 197 nance to the enemy, General Canrobert was well chap. TV circumstanced ; for, although he, no less than ' Lord Raglan, lay in danger of the grievous ^*(^n°^of*'* calamity that might result from a Russian go°^'°o^u. attack, he had strength enough, nevertheless, thremfm to become at almost any moment, if so he should choose, a powerful aggressor ; and accord- ingly, by the vigour of his siege preparations — preparations carried on in true earnest — he of course could do a great deal towards masking the weakness of the whole Allied army. But to our people no such resource was open, for they Lord Rag had not at that time the means of causing their operations against Sebastopol to appear in a high degree formidable ; and what virtually defended their lines was a thing unreal and shadowy, acting mainly on the imaginations of men — was, if so one may speak, the dread spectre of that victorious army which had met the Czar's strength on Mount Inkerman. To keep a foe under this awe, it was essential of course that what remained of our army should seem to have an air of tranquillity, as though engaged day by day in the tedious work of a siege, without suffering under heavier cares ; and it so happened that the qualities a general need have in order to produce this effect were almost matchlessly united in Lord Raglan ; for being by nature both calm and sanguine, and having — almost to a foible — the habit of detecting a humourous element in the bearing of men over- wrought by anxiety, he was blessed on the whole with a freedom from despondency so instinctive,