200 TIIK COUNSELS OF THE ALLIES. CHAP, ters ; and the information I liave does not enaLlo ' me to give — not to give even ever so sliglitly — the tenor of the few words in which Lord Ifaghin elicited the opinion of liis Frencli colleague. * Thespeecii But the language used by General Caurobert of Call- 1 1 p TT • robeit. lias not bccn lorgotten. His arguments were ad- duced so uninterruptedly, and were also so well put, that they not only constituted what men call a ' speech/ but a speech of much ability. If the memory of one who was much impressed with the speecli at the time can be safely trusted, it was somewhat to this effect : f First, Canrobert drew the attention of his hearers to the existence of a field army under Prince jNIentschikoff which might seize any tit occasion for assailing the Allies in flank and rear; and although he ac- knowledged that Prince Mentschikoffs strength could not be accurately estimated by the Allies,
- My conjecture is that, both on this occasion and on the one
which offered itself two days before, Lord Kaglan avoided argu- ment, and avoided too any declaration of liis own opinion, but submitted the proposal as one commended to attention by Lyons. — See footnote ante, p. 172. His probable reasons for desiring that on this subject there should be no visible differ- ence of opinion between Canrobert and liimself will be seen post, p. 207, et scq. If my conjecture be sound, it would lielp to account for Canrobert's being able to write the letter he did to Ijurgoyne, given post in the Appendi.x. These conveisatious between Lord llaglan and Canrobert related indeed to war busi- ness, but were essentially diplomatic in their nature ; and, for Lord Kaglan (who with nil his soldierly accomplishments was besides a skilled diplomatist), it would be easy and natural to undertake a task familiar enough to jiractised negotiators — namely, that of endeavouring to obtain a consent without ex» posing himself to the risk of a refusah • Information from an officer present.
