"
Astonished at this address, Cyril ran to the door, opened it, and
jumped in, and the Duke shouted to the postillions to go on.
"What do you think, sir?--what do you think?" roared the Duke. "Those
treacherous scoundrels, the Dutch, have appeared with a great Fleet
of seventy men-of-war, besides fire-ships, off Sheerness, this
morning at daybreak, and have taken the place, and Chatham lies open
to them. We have been bamboozled and tricked. While the villains were
pretending they were all for peace, they have been secretly fitting
out, and there they are at Sheerness. A mounted messenger brought in
the news, but ten minutes ago."
"Have they taken Sheerness, sir?"
"Yes; there were but six guns mounted on the fort, and no
preparations made. The ships that were there did nothing. The rascals
are in mutiny--and small wonder, when they can get no pay; the money
voted for them being wasted by the Court. It is enough to drive one
wild with vexation, and, had I my will, there are a dozen men, whose
names are the foremost in the country, whom I would hang up with my
own hands. The wind is from the east, and if they go straight up the
Medway they may be there this afternoon, and have the whole of our
ships at their mercy. It is enough to make Blake turn in his grave
that such an indignity should be offered us, though it be but the
outcome of treachery on the part of the Dutch, and of gross
negligence on ours. But if they give us a day or two to prepare, we
will, at least, give them something to do before they can carry out
their design, and, if one could but rely on the sailors, we might
even beat them off; but it is doubtful whether the knaves will fight.
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