Slowly Marshal Niel raised his eyes, so full of genius, to the emperor. He hesitated for a moment, then he spoke in a calm, firm tone:--
"I must beg our honoured doyen's forgiveness if I, so much younger than himself, am of a different opinion."
The marshals all looked at the speaker with astonishment. Drouyn de Lhuys, with joyful expectation, hung on his lips. The emperor raised his head and looked at him in the greatest suspense.
"Sire," he added, his features growing animated, "I do not consider a commission needful, because without an examination my opinion is formed."
"And your opinion is?" asked Napoleon.
"My opinion is that your majesty is not in a position to fight."
Drouyn de Lhuys looked at Niel with horror. The emperor showed no emotion, only he cast down his eyes and bent his head a little to one side, as was his custom when he listened with unusual attention.
"Sire," proceeded Kiel, "if one who wears the marshal's baton of France, in such an assemblage, before his monarch, expresses such an opinion as my own, it is his duty to give the reasons upon which it is founded. Allow me to do this on their principal points. I am ready hereafter to lay my reasons before your majesty in a special memorial. Firstly," he continued, "a war against Prussia and Germany--for I believe in this case Germany would stand beside Prussia--needs the whole and entire force of the French nation. At the present moment this is not at our command. The expedition to Mexico draws away both men and money which we could not spare, and I should not wish that, following the example of Austria, we engaged upon two wars at once, when opposed to a foe whose dangerous strength we must, above all things, duly estimate if we hope for success. Secondly," he added, "according to my opinion, no examination is necessary to convince us that we must oppose to the Prussian needle-gun a weapon at least as good, if not superior. I venture to doubt whether, as they now affirm in Austria, it was entirely the needle-gun that Prussia must thank for her great and astonishing success. I doubt it; nevertheless, apart from the undoubted efficacy of this weapon, it is absolutely necessary for the morale and self-confidence of our soldiers, to give them a needle-gun of an equally good or superior kind, especially now that the newspapers and common rumour have surrounded this gun with the nimbus of a magic weapon. I should hold it to be extremely dangerous to lead the army, as it is at present equipped, against Prussian regiments. A new weapon, sire, necessitates new tactics. I will only allude to the completely altered functions of cavalry in war, and the new problem of artillery,--on which your majesty's views will be clearer than my own," he added, bowing to the emperor. "Then," he proceeded, "without any commission, it is perfectly clear that the strongholds on our frontier have neither the fortifications, the provisions, nor the ammunition needful to make them really effective in war. This is no reflection upon the military administration," he said, turning to Count Randon; "it is a fact whose full explanation is found in the circumstance that the state of politics during the last few years has directed our military attention to other points. Finally," he said in a convincing tone, "there is one point to consider, which I believe to be the most important of all. We have opposed to us in Prussia a nation whose military organization causes every man up to a great age to be a soldier. In case of need Prussia can, after a lost battle, after the annihilation even of an army upon the field, produce another army in an effective condition, with all the discipline and all the requisites of well-trained soldiers. I will not speak of the influence such an excessive expenditure of strength must have on home affairs--on the welfare of the country, but in a military point of view its success is immense. We have but our regular army, and were it broken, defeated--in the quiet contemplation of affairs it is the duty even of a French mouth to pronounce this hard word--we have nothing--except perhaps, undisciplined masses with a good courage, who would be sacrificed without result. I will not maintain that it would be advisable, or, indeed, with our national peculiarities, that it would be possible to imitate the Prussian system, nevertheless we must create something which will be a true national reserve. I wish to express that we must have, to back up our regular army, material sufficiently trained to form another army in case of need, if we would avoid entering on the war with unequal forces. I will shortly recapitulate my opinion. We must, in the first place, be completely freed from Mexico, that we may be able to concentrate the whole power of France upon one point. We must then supply the whole army with an excellent breach-loader; we must modify our drill to our new weapon; our fortresses must be in perfect readiness for war. Finally, we must create a mobile and efficient national reserve. I consider all these preparations indispensable before commencing so grave and decisive a war."
Deep silence reigned for a moment throughout the apartment.
The emperor fixed his eyes upon Marshal Forey, the youngest in the assembly.