THE ITTII OF OCTOBEK. 331 Tims Komiloif died. In an earlier page I have chap. spoken of his valiant, devoted nature ; and, in- liis death : deed, he had a soul of such quality that men who .,, .-, . 11-, the lieioic abhor truthless praise niiglit yet dare to call it quality of . . . - , . liis nature ; heroic. There, it would seem, lay the main source of his power ; for although he well proved himself to be an able administrator, very careful for the weal of his people, there is no safe ground for inferring that he had all those varied gifts which go to make a great commander ; and it must always, of course, be remembered that the wisdom and the vigour of his thousand measures for the defence of Sebastopol v/ere owing in no small degree to the guidance of another man's mind. In a sense, it might be agreed that, so far as concerns the fame of the man, there was almost enough of duration in those twenty -six days of illustrious life which Heaven vouchsafed to Korui- loff ; for in part, as we know, the evading army had already come back to its task ; and, short as was the period of the Admiral's dictatorship, he at least had outlived that dark hour when the peril besetting Sebastopol created the need of a hero. I imagine it probable that, if the Admiral had not been slain, his authority, though wielded so nobly, would have been soon curtailed.* It of there having occurred a short lull in the firing — a lull result- ing from a momentary failure of the ammunition lying in im- mediate readiness.
- Notwithstanding what I have said {ante, p. 325, note), 1
still think that the mere fact of superseding Korniloff as Cldef of the military Staff denoted an intention of gi'adually abridging his authority.
