Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 2.djvu/304

 274 ORDERS AND PREPARATIONS CHAP. It is knowiij however, that Lord Eaglaii ac- • cepted the Great Duke's precept without much qualification ; and when lie a})plied it to the de- spatch which had come to him from the Secretary of State, he saw, as he believed, where the path of duty lay; for now, in all its potency, the strange sleep which had come upon the Cabinet on the 28th of June began to tell upon events. But for this, or some like physical cause, it could hardly have chanced that fifteen men, all gifted with keen intellect, and all alike charged with a grave, nay, an almost solemn duty, would have knowingly assented to the draft of a long and momentous despatch, without seeking to wedge into it some of those qualifying words which usually correct the imprudence and derange the grammatical structure of writings framed in Council. A few qualifying words of this sort would have enabled Lord Eaglan to act upon his own opinion. But the tranquil mood of the Cabinet on the evening of the 28th of June had prevented the mutilation of the despatch ; and it retained so perfectly all that bold single- ness of purpose which characterised the mind of the framer, that it virtually directed the Eng- ' the country and form a judgment of its strength, I have to ' mention to you that I am not a draughtsman.' It happened that, just six days before — namely, on the 30th of August — Sir Arthur had addressed to the same Secretary of State his customary professions of obedience : — ' I shall do whatever the ' Government may wish ; ' but he never thought of suffering himself to be hindered from penning an angry refusal on the 5th of September merely because he had used a submissive phrase on the 30th of August.