They required humouring, and their march discipline was very elastic. But in battle the "thinking bayonets" resolutely obeyed orders, even though it were to attack a Marye's Hill, or a "Bloody Angle," for they had undertaken their task and would carry it through unflinchingly.
Napoleon began to suspect his father-in-law, and still more the Austrian chancellor, Metternich; but instead of humouring them, he resolved to stand firm.
He did not allow himself to be made the king's tool; nor on the other hand did he attempt to protect the Church by humouring the king in ordinary matters.
