Posteritas

“ First Lords of the Admiralty, who gained their position by wealth and influence, but whose incompetency was glaring, had thrown dust into the eyes of the people, and deluded them into false security, and so the naval power of England had been broken by a wiser State, whose navy had been infinitely better sustained; and the English people displayed in vain a valour and a heroism which form one of the most tragic stories in the annals of the world. ”

“ The decimated British troops having fought devotedly and with magnificent courage, from an early hour without rest or food, were beginning to wear the aspect of men engaged in a perfectly hopeless struggle. They were losing ground from the mere numerical superiority of their enemy. The Highlanders, however, were not to be beaten, and their battalions, shouting to each other in Gaelic, made such a mad onslaught on their foes that the French lines recoiled. ”

“ The history of the world hardly, and the history of England certainly does not afford another example of a powerful Government of a mighty empire blindly and, it may almost be said now, wilfully endangering its diplomatic relations, and ravelling its policy into such intricate knots that even the most profound optimist was bound to admit the strong probability that they would have to be cut with the sword. ”

“ Excitement seemed to have deprived most of those engaged of all power of deciding between the greater advantage of making a stand or of rushing forward in wild attack. The gallantry and dash of the British troops almost rose to the pitch of insane fury, and the enemy was bewildered and confused, as well as daunted by the splendid fighting qualities and magnificent valour of English and Scotch soldiers. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Nay, it may never come; but, still, there is not a single Englishman whose heart beats true but who lives for it, works for it, yearns for it, and prays for it; and little children, lisping at their mothers' knees, are taught to ask the Supreme Ruler to give England deliverance, and to allow her once more to take her stand as a great and strong nation amongst the nations of the earth. ”

“ All through the long hours the work of destruction went on, and the screams of affrighted animals, the agonised cries of dying people, the crash of falling houses, the roar of the flames, and the howling of the fierce wind, made up an appalling spectacle such as the world has rarely witnessed. ”

“ In all parts of the world the Government were making grave blunders. The social fabric of the Indian Empire had been shaken to its foundations by the remarkably short-sighted and sentimental policy of the Governor-General, Lord Ripon, who had been sent out by the Gladstone Cabinet, to replace his predecessor Lord Lytton. The Boers in the Transvaal were laughing British power to scorn, and indulging their proclivities for rapine, fire, and slaughter. The hereditary hatred of France for England was showing itself in an alarming way. Russia was creeping nearer and nearer to the Afghan frontier ”

“ This success of the French arms seems to have filled the people with wild and Quixotic dreams, and they believed, and, in fact, openly proclaimed, that England's power was declining, and that France was destined to take England's place as a colonising nation.
To French minds, imbued with these views, it seemed more than ever vital to French interests that French power should be upheld in Egypt; and her interests in the Suez Canal were made the pretext for demanding in emphatic language that she should be allowed to take part in governing a country where these interests lay. ”

“ Women went mad, and absolutely in their excitement threw themselves into the fierce flames. Men, seized with the ferocious rage of disappointed wild beasts, committed the most unheard-of outrages, and children of tender years were tossed about like balls, and then trampled to death in the gutters. A strong body of troops and Volunteers were sent against the mob; but the people had ransacked the gun-shops, and had by some means procured a nine-pounder howitzer, and they succeeded in beating the troops back. ”

“ The people might and still would struggle desperately for their freedom, but their heroism now could do little more than display to the world how a brave people could die, defiant to its latest breath. ”

“ And all this appalling harvest of death,—this ghastly misery; the tears and blood; the slaughter of gallant soldiers; the moaning of widows, the starvation of orphans, and the dismemberment of a once mighty empire,—was the result of political fallacies guiding the action of utterly incapable statesmen. ”

“ Moans of dying men and cries of the wounded filled the air, and like ravening vultures, the spoilers of the dead, these offenders being principally French, hovered about plying their fearful trade. And next day corpses were found which bore unmistakable signs of murder from the knives of the infamous wretches who followed the invading army, and preyed upon the unhappy people of the country. ”

“ In parts of the field where the artillery fire had been hottest, piles of mutilated remains were seen, half covered with torn and blood-stained uniforms, their rigid up-turned faces still wearing the expressions of ferocity or resignation, and their contorted limbs stiffened into the attitudes imparted to them by feelings of triumph or despair. Others, again, seemed to be appealing in mute agony to God for that mercy which man denied them. ”

“ England's misfortune had been Ireland's opportunity, and she had aided France in every possible way; but when the division of the kingdom took place French ambition overcame French promises. Ireland had hoped for independence; but, in order to keep England in subjection, France declared her intention to make Ireland a French colony, and so Ireland, having tried to sit upon two stools, fell between them never more to rise. ”

“ The extreme Radicals allied themselves to the Separatists in a policy of obstruction, and that grand dignity and high-souled honour, which erstwhile had distinguished the British Parliament, was sacrificed to blatant, demagogic insolence and hatred. One would have to go very far back in history indeed to find an English Government that was so degraded and harassed by an organised band of unpatriotic men as was Sir Stafford Northcote's Government during this eventful period in England's story. ”

“ These representatives of a once mighty nation would not acknowledge defeat. Conquered they might be, but they knew it not, and throughout the despairing hours and days the famine-stricken population did their best to aid the gallant army in expelling the hated foe. From every quarter of the City hordes of starving men sallied forth to smite and harass the ruthless enemy. ”

“ Trade was in a state of stagnation; amongst the working classes there was an immense amount of distress, and there was no disguising the fact that England was, politically speaking, isolated in Europe, while the friction between her and France was so great, that the most careful diplomacy would be required to prevent the friction giving place to flame. In fact, there was a very strong party indeed in France who clamoured for war with England, and it was obvious that such a war would have been very popular on the French side of the Channel. ”

“ The syren voices of incompetent statesmen had charmed her to her destruction, and now she had nothing to do but to bind up her wounds, and turn wistful and longing eyes to the future, which might some day give her the power to burst her shackles, and shake the earth with a mighty shout of freedom. ”

“ The Highlanders, who had bivouacked near the town, were utterly taken by surprise, but springing to arms, they rushed up the slopes to attack the batteries; but the French infantry, masked by the long ridge on which the artillery stood, rapidly deployed, and passed between the Scotch troops and the town of Assynt, thus surrounding the unfortunate Highlanders. The townspeople, sees this, fell upon the foe in fury, but with no effect, and many of the wretched people fell in the streets, even women being amongst the killed and wounded. ”

“ They therefore fell back upon the bold and extraordinary plan of effecting a landing in the most vulnerable part of the British kingdom. That is, vulnerable to a determined enemy, in spite of the stormy, rock-bound coast. This plan of the French for invading the enemy's country will ever rank as one of the most brilliant strategical feats the world has known. The French commanders were aware that if they could only effect a landing in the extreme north, they could march almost as far south as Edinburgh without meeting with any serious obstacles. ”

“ In addition to this, many hundreds of the townspeople had crowded into the houses on either side, and poured down a rain of bullets on the advancing troops, while from the roofs men hurled the parapet stones over and buckets of blazing petroleum. Raving women, who had seen husbands, sons, sweethearts, and fathers shot down, rushed out armed with knives, pokers, and other weapons, and attacked the French, who were absolutely forming a barricade in the narrow streets by their dead and wounded. ”

“ But soon some relief was felt on this point when the news came that in the North of Ireland men were enrolling themselves by thousands as Volunteers, and were pledged to keep the South in subjection should it show any revolutionary spirit. In the meantime, where were the French? That was a question that was in everybody's mouth. The utmost mystery seemed to prevail, and, whatever information the Government had, the public were kept in the dark as to the movements of the enemy. All the railway companies were engaged in moving troops about. ”

“ But now Egypt was becoming a source of terrible anxiety. The Liberal Government's misrule in that unhappy country had produced the direst effects. Anarchy reigned in the Soudan, and hordes of fanatical Arabs hung upon the fringe of Egypt, and threatened to overrun the country, so that it was necessary to keep a strong British garrison both at Cairo and Alexandria. But the threatening Arabs were not the only danger. It was evident that England was drifting into war with France. There was a strong party in France who insisted upon a joint control in Egypt and the restoration of the Sinking Fund. ”

“ Defeat, they said, was impossible. The country to a man was with Mr. Gladstone, and his policy was thoroughly appreciated. This jubilant tone was maintained for some time, until the elections commenced, and were found to be going against them. But still the party by no means despaired, and did not even dream of defeat. It may, therefore, be imagined with what blank amazement they learned at last that the country had expressed itself indignant, and had returned the Conservatives to power again with the splendid majority of eighty. ”

“ Springing to arms, the Scotch battalions rushed towards the beach, and opened a murderous fire on the boats laden with men. The French at once sent their artillery to commanding positions, and plied the Scotch with a deadly hail of grape-shot, compelling them to seek shelter, and immediately after they were charged by the infantry at the point of the bayonet, and compelled to retreat, leaving a heavy list of wounded and dead behind them. The general of the 1st Division of the enemy was ordered to pursue with his whole strength, and thus commenced the advance of the French into the country. ”

“ Such a man could not pass from the stage he had so long occupied as a central figure without the loud clashing of music, the burning of red fire, and the tumultuous roar of enthusiasm rising from the throats of his multitudinous audience. ”