unnoticeable; but when we find ourselves compelled to resist it, we then
discover that to break away from its power is one of the hardest tasks
we can be called upon to perform.


THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE.

A very striking example of prompt and unquestioning obedience is
furnished us in that famous "Charge of the Light Brigade" at Balaclava,
during the Crimean War, of which you have all doubtless heard. A series
of engagements between the Russians on the one side, and the English and
their allies on the other side, took place near this little town, on
October 25, 1854. The Russians were for a time victorious, and at last
threatened the English port of Balaclava itself. The attack was diverted
by a brilliant charge of the Heavy Brigade, led by General Scarlett.
Then, through a misunderstanding of the orders of Lord Raglan, the
commander-in-chief, Lord Cardigan was directed to charge the Russian
artillery at the northern extremity of the Balaclava valley with the
Light Brigade, then under his command.

Lord Cardigan was an exceedingly unpopular officer, and greatly disliked
by all his men, But no sooner was the order given than, with a battery
in front of them, and one on either side, the Light Brigade hewed its
way past these deadly engines of war and routed the enemy's cavalry. Of
the six hundred and seventy horsemen who made the charge, only one
hundred and ninety-eight returned. As an act of war it was madness. In
the opinion of the most competent judges there was no good end to be
gained by it. But as an act of soldierly obedience it was sublime. The
deed has been immortalized by the poet Tennyson in the following verses: