d troops that were still in his
camp, and told them that, since they were afraid to accompany his
army, or unwilling to do so, they might return. He wanted none in his
service who had not the courage and the fortitude to go on wherever he
might lead. He would not have the faint-hearted and the timid in his
army. They would only be a burden to load down and impede the courage
and energy of the rest. So saying, he gave orders for them to return,
and with the rest of the army, whose resolution and ardor were
redoubled by this occurrence, he moved on through the passes of the
mountains.

This act of Hannibal, in permitting his discontented soldiers to
return, had all the effect of a deed of generosity in its influence
upon the minds of the soldiers who went on. We must not, however,
imagine that it was prompted by a spirit of generosity at all. It was
policy. A seeming generosity was, in this case, exactly what was
wanted to answer his ends. Hannibal was mercilessly cruel in all
cases where he imagined that severity was demanded. It requires great
sagacity sometimes in a commander to know when he must punish, and
when it is wisest to overlook and forgive. Hannibal, like Alexander
and Napoleon, possessed this sagacity in a very high degree; and it
was, doubtless, the exercise of that principle alone which prompted
his action on this occasion.

Thus Hannibal passed the Pyrenees. The next difficulty that he
anticipated was in crossing the River Rhone.

CHAPTER IV.

THE PASSAGE OF THE RHONE.

B.C. 217

Difficulties anticipated.--Reconnoitering party.--Some tribes
reduced.--Alarm of the Gauls.--The Alps.--Difficulty of their
passage.--Hannibal's message to the Gauls.--Success of his
policy.--Cornelius Scipio.--He embarks his army.--Both armies on
the Rhone.--Exploring party.--Feelings of the Gauls in respect
to Hannibal.--The Gauls beyond the river oppose Hannibal's
passage.--Preparations for crossing the river.--Boat
building.--Rafts.--The enemy look on in silence.--Difficulties of
crossing a river.--Hannibal's tactics.--His stratagem.--Detachment
under Hanno.--Success of Hanno.--The signal.--Passage of the
river.--Scene of confusion.--Attack of Hanno.--Flight of the
Gauls.--Transportation of the elephants.--Manner of doing it.--A
new plan.--Huge rafts.--The elephants got safely over.--The
reconnoitering parties.--The detachments meet.--A battle ensues.

Hannibal, after he had passed the Pyrenees, did not ant