The sun., 1900-12-09

loeions Withdrawn from Britain than the
comparatively efficient Roman system
~ defence collapsed. md tho slow, very
slow conducst Of Britain by 1cutonlo emil
grants from beyond tho sca hcRan In
tho ninth century We IND tho dcscendan's
~ those 1cuionlc omigfants IN possession
Of NJ icast two-thitd, Of tho island They
wcro unable to protect Themselves, how
over. against maritime assaults hy thcir
scandinavian kinsmcn. and hut for AIfRrD
tho Great. the whole of England would
have become n dependency of Norway
before the close Of the ninth century, IA
II wa4. throughout the tenth century
northeastern England remained n prac-
tcally Independent princpality, aud. nfter
the beginning u the eleventh century.
three DANISH soycreRn- wore the English
crown Every one Of those sovcrolgns
derived lns power from the command of
the sea. and from the ease with which he
could place armed mon I'm Britain,
We come 10 tho mpmrntou- year iOCs.
and We begin 10y pointing out that all wa
have to do il o. prove by history that u
great army can bc landed in England:
whether the army. once landed. can 10
beaten II Quc.ti for the British War
Offlce already conscious Of its weakness.
20 discuss. In the year lo88 although
England was supposed to have n better
navy than il had possessed since AIPRED's
day. two great armies were successfully
landed. IL /, true that HAROLD of England
beat HAROLD FAIRHAIR Of Norway In the
memorable Battle Of stamford Bridge.
but It waS pyrrhc victory. for so weak
ened was the English host. that it presently
stccumbel at Senac to the French and
Flemish levics assembled under the banner
of WILLIAM the Norman. who had found
it easy g convey a body Of sixty thousand
men across the Straits OF Dover. But.
say those who. like BYRON. are ignorant OF
their national history. England has never
been successfully invaded since that day.
During the reign " WILLIAM RUrCs,
the second Norman King, the aihcrents of
his elder brother found it easy to cross
the Channel and stir up trouble in the new
won realm; anl. in the reign Of STEPHEN, ,
his predecessors daughter. the Impress
MAUD, repeatedly invaded England at the !
head Of an imposing force: naY. her last F,
invasion may be called successful for it |
resulted in the compromise by which HENRY, !
the son of the Empress. was acknowledged |
successor to the British Crown In the reign |
Of JOHN landing was made without much |
difficulty by largo French force under |
LOUIS, heir apparent to the throne Of |
France. who. perhaps. might have made !
second French conquest Of England. had not |
ba I int md baj
the English Barons made up their minds /
that. on the whole they preferred a native
tyrant to one born over seas. Near the
close of the fourteenth century England
was successfully invaded by an exile,
NFNRY of Lancaster, although all the ma
chinery Of government was in the pos
session of appointeeS of RICHARD III. Over
and over again. during the long and
tumultuous reign of HENRY VI. did Yorkists
or Lancastrians effect triumphant landings
on England's inviolate shores. In the
reign OF ELIZABETH. although the Armada
was beaten Off the Spaniards succeeded
IN landing a considerable force in the South
OF Ireland Even CROMWELL, with his
marvellous control Of land and sea, could
not prevent CHARLES H. from reaching
Scotland at the heal OF small frenCh |
force, from being crowned as sovereign,
and from penetrating into England as far
as Worcester. Did not WILLIAM the Dutch
man in 1888 succeed in landing his Holland
ers on a remote point OF the English coast,
although the British navy and army were
under the command Of men appointed
by JAMES H.? Did England's undlsputed
control Of the English Channel and the
North Sea In l745 prevent CHARLES EDWARD.
the Young Pretender. from landing In
Scotland. from oonquerng that country
and from advancing into England as far as
the town of Derby?
The simple truth is that. II history
has transmitted any lesson to posterty,
the lesson il that England Is, Of all Islands.
the least inviolate. and that, If her war
feet, could be diverted or held In
check for twenty-four hours. an invasion
by a French or German army would have
better chances Of success to-day than VII
LIAM the Norman had when he found the
bows of HARoLD's veterans opposed 70
him at Senlac.