Page:The Siege of London - Posteritas - 1885.djvu/50

 account of their power. The French losses during this memorable battle were tremendously heavy. One of their vessels was sunk, and another effectually disabled and placed hors de combat while several of the others were severely battered. The loss of life, however, on the vessels that escaped was comparatively slight, as it did not exceed five hundred men. All the vessels were most skilfully handled, and their concentrated fire was so fearful that they did tremendous execution. But it is in the highest degree probable that they would never have effected a landing had it not been for the damage to the Pier Battery and the blowing up of the Castle Magazine, which no doubt had been prearranged.

T would be an exceedingly difficult matter to depict in adequately graphic language the effect the news that Dover was in the hands of the enemy had upon the people of England. The landing of a force in the North caused, comparatively speaking, little concern generally, for it was a far cry from Sutherlandshire to London, and long before the saucy foe had travelled far into the country he would be cut to pieces. But even if he succeeded in running the gauntlet of the infuriated Highlanders, the army that was hurrying North to meet him would speedily annihilate him. This was the view that people took, and there was no despondency; on the contrary, a feeling of elation that British steel and British pluck would make the French pay a terrible penalty, as they had done so often on previous occasions when opposed to England's might. This feeling was suddenly changed by the report of the battle at Plymouth and the landing at Dover, where the French, having established a tête du pont would have no difficulty in pouring in an enormous army, unless their lines in the