His views would be welcome, sir."
"Yes, indeed," said the Prince eagerly.
"For myself, sir," said the Colonel, snuff-box open in hand, for he had
been surprised with the rappee between his fingers, "I am ready to go on.
I came to serve your Royal Highness, and I serve my commander as he
chooses, not as I would choose myself. But when you ask me as to the
military result of going on, I tell you frankly, as becomes a soldier of
experience asked in Council to deliver his opinion, that it is idle to
expect this present force to get to London. As you get nearer London, sir,
the country becomes of a kind which your army could not successfully
operate in. It would be confined to roads lined with hedges and passing
through many defendable towns and villages. Your short, powerful charges
would be out of the question. The English as a whole fight well, no men
better; we can't rationally expect all of them to run off at a Highland
yell, and with the country in their favour and London behind them, a
source of constant fresh supplies to them, we should be wiped out in
detail. Your Royal Highness wishes to go on, and therefore I am willing to
go on, but your Royal Highness cannot capture London with the force at
your disposal.
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