Page:The Siege of London - Posteritas - 1885.djvu/51

 Channel could be cut. But of that there seemed little hope, for it was placed beyond the region of doubt that the British fleet was shamefully weak, and pitilessly inadequate to cope with the power of the enemy. Over the whole face of the country there was a feeling of bitter and dangerous exasperation against those who for years had been frittering away England's power. The navy, which should have made invasion impossible, had failed utterly, owing to its weakness, and now the soil of England was actually to be trampled by an invader's foot. No wonder that the first effect of this on the minds of, the populace was the production of an awful panic. Women went raving mad, and men, beside themselves with despair, slaughtered their children lest they should fall into the hands of the French. Crowds of men and women, excited into fury, rushed about the town, creating havoc and destruction wherever they went. It is to the credit of the British people, however, whose heroism and valour had won for them a great name, that they were not long infected with this panic. It was succeeded by a universal determination that, though their hour of doom had struck, it should find them like lions at bay. They would die by their tens of thousands, but their land should be sodden with the blood of their foe. And if the worst came to the worst, he should find nothing but blazing towns wherever he went, and from John o'Groats to the Land's End the country should be the funeral pyre of its wretched inhabitants. Every one knew that each town must depend upon its own resources. It was hopeless to expect succour, and impossible to send succour. If the French were enabled to land a sufficient number of men, they would probably overrun the country, but the capital would be the main object aimed at. A fierce and determined opposition would no doubt be offered, but it could only result in useless slaughter, and suffering, for where could help come from? If the French, having command of their lines right to the French coast, continued to pour in troops, then, indeed, England was doomed; but if, by some supreme effort, the navy could cut the lines, the invaders would be caught like rats in a trap, and the people would rise by their millions, and drive them into the sea.