Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 8.djvu/165

THE APRIL BOMBARDMENT. 133 CHAPTER VI. THE APRIL BOMBARDMENT. I. In determining (against the counsel of Niel) to chap. undertake the bombardment now planned for the . — 9th of April, General Canrobert's object appar- ently was to meet the requirement insisting that 'something ought to be done,' and besides, to indulge a wild hope that, though not followed up by assault, the mere artillery effort might produce some stupendous result ; but — if keep- ing the Emperor's counsel — he could not, of course, turn his troops — the splendid legions of France — into thousands of fellow - conspirators entrusted — by a whisper — with knowledge of Louis Napoleon's secret; and accordingly, al- though preordained by the inexorable stress of the ' Mission,' to be always striking in vain, we shall not the less see them acting as people busied in earnest, and disclosing a strength in rude contrast with the hollowness of their commander's design. General Canrobert and General Niel knew Expect* tions their own concealed purpose too well to be cap- formed