E-text prepared by Tim Lindell, Graeme Mackreth,
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
()
from page images generously made available by
Internet Archive
(https://archive.org)

THE RAID OF DOVER.

THE

RAID OF DOVER:

A Romance of the Reign of Woman:

A.D. 1940.

BY

The Author of "A Time of Terror," "The Devil'sPeepshow," &c.

"If that Old England fall
Which Nelson left so great——"

Lord Tennyson.

London: KING, SELL, & OLDING, Limited,

27, Chancery Lane, W.C.

portsmouth: HOLBROOK & SON, Limited.

1910.

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

While this Forecast in Fiction has been running as a Serial,the writer has realised that in some respects it may be open tomisconstruction. Patriotism, not pessimism, is its real keynote.

"This England never did, nor never shall,
Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror,
But when it first did help to wound itself."

That is the crux. England is being wounded by Englishmen; and theevents imagined in this story are only a concrete example of thepossibilities foreshadowed by Mr. Balfour (Jan. 24th, 1910) in thefollowing words:—

"If the pressure of public opinion is not effected, then I tell youwith all solemnity that there are difficulties and perils before thiscountry which neither we nor our fathers nor our grand-fathers nor ourgreat-grand-fathers have ever yet had to face, and that before manyyears are out there will be a Nemesis for this manifest and scandalousfolly in saving money just at the wrong time, in refusing to carry outa plain duty."

The history of the rise and fall of nations is only the story of Causeand Effect. Given concomitant causes (1)—the unchecked blight ofSocialism, (2) the Revolt of Woman on "democratic lines," (3) weakenedMaritime Power—and the Effect is only too likely to be that Englandwill "lie at the proud foot of a conqueror." Let it be hoped thatthe British people will remove the causes and prevent the otherwiseprobable result.

It must not be supposed that the writer identifies himself with theviews expressed by any of his characters on the subject of Woman orVotes for Women. On the contrary, he thinks that women have beentreated with small tact and much harshness. But we already haveabundant evidence of the dangerous result of giving the franchiseto hundreds of thousands of uneducated men; and i