Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 2.djvu/371

 THE LANDING. 341 of his ascendancy were not very wrong in believ- chap. ing that he held a great sway ; for though, being _J L guileless and single-hearted, he always liked to receive his first impulsions from the chief, yet, when once he was thus set moving, his strong will used to burst into action with all its own proper force, and very much, too, in its own direction, Notwithstanding this proneness to action, his manner had all the repose which is thought to be a sign of power. He did not, in general, speak at all until he could speak decisively ; and he was more accustomed than most other Englishmen are to use that degree of precision and completeness of language which makes men content to act on it. Officers hesitating in the pain of suspense used to long to hear the tramp of his coming — used to long to catch sight of his eager, swooping crest (it was always strained for- ward and intent) — his keen, salient, sharp-edged features — his firm, steady eye — for they knew that he was the man who would release them from their doubts. He was gifted by nature with the kind of eloquence that it is good for a soldier to have. His oral directions to those in authority under him were models of impera- tive diction ; but when he spoke of what he had seen, the vivid pictures he drew were marked with a sharpness of outline hardly consistent with a perfect freedom from exaggeration — they want- ed the true English haze. He was too eager for action to be able to stand still weighing phrases;