THE NEW BATTLE OF DORKING. [To THE EDITOR OF THE
"SPECTATOR."]
Sxn,—At a time when people speak, privately or in public, of a possible battle of Dorking, it is perhaps not out of place to acquaint your readers with the following lines, which I translate from Lamartine's essay on Nelson in his work, " Vie deh Grands Hommes "
:- "Napoleon had for eighteen months accumulated, in all the French and Dutch ports bordering on the Channel, the threats and means of a descent on England. The innumerable flotilla of gunboats, collected round Boulogne, and ready to embark his troops encamped on the French shores, could, on a day of good luck, throw an immense movable bridge over the strait, and pour in a few hours one of those armies as irresistible on land as the English fleets were on the ocean. Whatever might be the patriotism of that island, which had become, through the genius of her children, the most marvellous focus of work, riches, naviga- tion and civilisation of all centuries, if we compare her influence over the universe to her geographical extent, there is no doubt that 200,000 French warriors, animated and led by the genius of the modern conqueror, would have subjugated, at least for a time, Great Britain, destroyed her ports, spiked her guns, burned down her maritime arsenals, and dispersed to the winds the elements of her wealth and liberty. Of course, Eng- land, surprised and enchained on her own territory, would mostly have taken refuge on her numerous ships, would have covered the Channel with her floating citadels, on the track of the French gunboats, would have burned these in the very English harbours, and thus would have shut up the French soldiers in their con- quest. She (England) would have finally obtained from Napoleon a voluntary retreat and for herself a glorious capitulation. But the shame and the calamities of a London invasion world have nevertheless weighed on her fortune and history, and England, having had her capital in the possession of the invader, would have had to pay a very high ransom of blood, iron, and gold— which she should have had to lavish in order to be again her own mistress."
The whole chapter, indeed, might be profitably quoted, not only for the noble ideas it contains, but for the interesting views of the author, whose conclusion points to his belief that the invader, were he to succeed, would lose more in that game than the invaded.—I am, Sir, &c., ALF. H.
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