The Florida agriculturist., 1889-05-08

daily in strength. The opposition papers
had been loud and reckless in their de-
nunciations of the slowness and made
quacy of the naval preparations, and
loaded the government with the entire
responsibility, not only Of the damage
which had already been done to the forts,
the ships, and the prestige of Great
Britain, but also for the threatened
danger of sudden descent Of the syndi-
Gates fleet upon some unprotected point
upon the coast. This fleet should never
have been allowed to approach within q
thousand miles of England. 1t should
have been sunk in mid-ocean, if its sink
ing had involved the loss Of dozen men,
Of-war.
In America very strong feeling of dis
satisfaction showed itself. From the first
the syndicate contract had not been popu-
lar, but the quick, effective and business
like action of that body of men, and the
marked success up to this time of their
inventions and their operations, had
caused a great reaction in their favor.
They had, so far, successfully defended
the American coast, and when they had
increased the number of their vessels,
they would have been relied upon to con-
tinue that defense. Even if British
armada had set out to cross the Atlantic,
its movements must have been slow and
cumbrous and the swift and sudden
strokes with which the syndicate waged
war could have been given by night and
by day over thousands of miles Of ocean.
Whether or not these strokes would
have been quick enough or hard enough
to turn back an armada might be ques-
ton, but there could be no question of
the suicidal policy of sending seven ships
and two cannon to conquer England. It
seemed as if the success of the syndicate
had SO puffed up its members with pride
and confidence in their powers that they
had come to believe that they had only
to show themselves to conquer, whatever
might be the conditions of the contest.
The destruction of the syndicate's fleet
would now be a heavy blow to the
United States. 1t would produce an utter
want of confidence in the councils and
judgments of the syndicate, which could
not be counteracted by the strongest
faith in the efficiency of their engines Of
war, and it was feared that it might be-
come necessary, even at this critical
iuncture, to annul the contract with the
syndicate, and to depend upon the
American navy for the defense of the
American coast.
Even among the men on board the syn
dicate's fleet there were signs of doubt
and apprehensions Of evil. 1t had all
been very well SO far. but fighting one
ship at . time was very different thing
from steaming into the midst of hun
dred ships. On board the repeller there
was now an additional reason for fears
and misgivings. The unlucky character
of the vessel when it had been the Talla-
poosa was known, and not few of the
men imagined that it must now be time
for some new disaster to this i'll starred
craft. and if her evil genius had desired
fresh disaster for her, it was certainly
sending her into good place to look
for it,
But the syndicate neither doubted nor
hesitated, nor paid any attention to the
doubts and condemnations which they
heard from every quarter Four days
after the news of the destruction of the
Craglevin had been telegraphed from
Canada to London, the syndicate's fleet
entered the English channel. Owing to
the power and speed of the crabs, Repel-
ler No. II had made passage of the At
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