Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/134

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104 HEROIC ItESISTANCE OF SEBASTOPOL c u A i <^»e sentiment, giving force and steadfastness to _^^_ ilie nation ; "^ hnt there were few, I imagine, who lived more absolutely under the governance of this kind of religious patriotism than did the de- voted Korniloff. Indeed, it Avould seem that a main source of the strength he proved ahle to exert in the hour of trial was his faith in that Divine Power which he humbly believed to be taking part with ' Holy liussia' in her struggle for a cause which seemed to him to be a righteous one. ' May the Lord,' he writes — ' jNIay the Lord bless ' our cause ! To the best of our understanding it ' is a just one.' ' Of course, all depends on God. ' God will not forsake those who are righteous. ' Therefore await the issue calmly and patiently.' So, against all the cares which were worldly, and therefore subject to limits, he ever could bring that strong faith, which — having its source in the Infinite — was not an exhaustible power ; and, as often as the trials he was facing grew heavier and heavier, he only clung so much the more to the aid of Heaven. Thus, although lie was too loyal to suffer himself, even, perhaps, in thought, to cast doubt upon the capacity which directed affairs at Headquarters, it still can be seen that, whenever he strove to look cheerfully upon the prospect of what might be achieved under jNIentschikofl's personal direction, lie was careful to base his structure of hope upon strictly religious grounds.

  • Ante, vol. i. chap. iv. p. 58 of the Cabinet EJition, ami th*

reference there to Dean Stanley's work on the Greek ChiircL.