Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 7.djvu/378

 334 THE WINTER TROUBLES. CHAP, rushing into a state of activity. Wliether only ' the humblest of clerks ol)eying his definite orders, or a Napoleon imperator in person undertaking to be master of all things, the public servant does well, and may be opening a path to great victories, when — trusting none but himself — he descends into a world of details — when, for in- stance, he goes and examines the ordained maga- zines, and sees with his own very eyes to the physical presence of things, such as biscuits or cartridges, such as blankets, or boots, or great- coats ; but the private citizens of a nation at war too often confound themselves miserably, and forfeit all breadth of view, if they fasten with critical gaze upon this or that little sample of administrative work. It is with field-glasses, not prying microscopes, that people must watch a campaiyu.