Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 2.djvu/211

 PKECEDING THE INVASION. 181 structed, precise, and rather, perhaps, fatiguing chap, in his tendency to probe deep every question, '_ strove hard to anticipate the eventualities lilcely to occasion difficulty in the relations of the two armies, and to force a clear understanding before- hand as to the way in which each question should be dealt with. This he endeavoured to do by putting it to St Arnaud in a categorical way* to say what solution he proposed for each of the imagined problems ; but St Arnaud, it then ap- peared, was hardly more fond than Lord Eaglan was of hypothetical questions, for after a little while, his endurance of Vaillant's interrogatories came to an end ; and he answered impatiently, and in a general way, that when the conjunctuies arose, they would be met, as best they might, by the concerted action of the Generals. The period of the great French Eevolution has gathered so much of the mellowness of age from later events, that it seems like a disturbance of chronology to be bringing into the joint council of France and England, in the year 1854, a brother of the first Napoleon. Yet Prince Jerome was one of the speakers, and he spoke with sound judgment upon the great problem of how France and England should act together in arms. He spoke, as might be expected, with less sagacity when the subject of ' The Turks ' floated up into notice. The whole French people, and many labours ; the English verb active ' to pose ' ^vould describe the eilect upon the patient.
 * The Frencli verb ' poser ' would describe Marslial Vaillant's