Page:The Next Naval War - Eardley-Wilmot - 1894.djvu/18

 Ministry of Marine that the different squadrons were ready for sea.

What in the meantime was going on in England? The Prime Minister having been informed of the demand, a Cabinet Council was at once called, and orders were sent for the Commander-in-Chief and Senior Naval Lord of the Admiralty to attend. Though the French note only required that an assurance that steps would be taken within twentyfour hours to remove the English troops in Egypt, it was felt that the situation was very serious. But by the time the Cabinet had assembled it was too late in the day to set the dockyards in motion. Moreover, the incident had occurred at an unfortunate time for us. The Channel fleet had just returned from their winter's sojourn on the coast of Spain; the ships were refitting, while half the officers and crew were on leave. <A week earlier, and the squadron could have proceeded to Gibraltar from Arosa Bay instead of coming home, and thus strengthened our Mediterranean fleet. Doubtless this fact had influenced the date at which the demand had been put forward. However, orders were at once sent to recall officers and men, and to complete the ships for service with all despatch. To each of the Port Admirals a telegram was sent: "Prepare to mobilise the fleet at six o'clock tomorrow morning." Then a portion of the Cabinet proceeded to discuss the answer that should be given to the French Ambassador, while the