"What am I, a poor blind old man, to do longer in the field? I am
fit for nothing. In the end I shall perhaps fare like old Kutusoff,
whom they dragged along with the army. Thus would they drag me when
I am no longer myself." [Footnote: Blucher's words.--Vide Varnhagun,
"Prince Blucher of Wahlstatt," p. 373]
"But," said the physician, "your excellency is not blind; you will
be well in two weeks if you only resolve to comply with my
prescriptions, use the remedies I give you, and punctually obey my
instructions. You intend to go to Brussels, where you will certainly
find celebrated physicians; but they do not know you; they will only
doctor your eyes, not suspecting that the seat of your disease is in
your nerves, and that your eyes are unhealthy because your mind is
suffering. And it will suffer still more when you have deserted your
army, your friends--nay, I may say, your duty. The strange
surroundings, the want of care, the unknown physicians, your anxiety
at being ignorant of what the army is doing--all this will torture
your soul, and aggravate the disease of your eyes."
"It is true, I shall be very lonely in a foreign city," said
Blucher, thoughtfully; "but it is, after all, better than to stay
here as a useless, blind old man. I can never again command an army
or direct a battle."
"If you cannot command an army in person, you can by your words,"
exclaimed Gneisenau; "and if you cannot direct the battle with your
arms, you can do so with your spirit; for that fires our hearts as
long as you are with us, and bids defiance to the adversaries and
hesitating diplomatists.
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