The Project Gutenberg EBook of Saint George for England, by G. A. Henty

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Title: Saint George for England

Author: G. A. Henty

Last Updated: February 25, 2009 [EBook #3429]
Release Date: September, 2002

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SAINT GEORGE FOR ENGLAND ***

Produced by Martin Robb

SAINT GEORGE FOR ENGLAND

By G. A. Henty

PREFACE.

MY DEAR LADS,

You may be told perhaps that there is no good to be obtained from tales
of fighting and bloodshed,--that there is no moral to be drawn from such
histories. Believe it not. War has its lessons as well as Peace. You
will learn from tales like this that determination and enthusiasm
can accomplish marvels, that true courage is generally accompanied by
magnanimity and gentleness, and that if not in itself the very highest
of virtues, it is the parent of almost all the others, since but few
of them can be practised without it. The courage of our forefathers has
created the greatest empire in the world around a small and in itself
insignificant island; if this empire is ever lost, it will be by the
cowardice of their descendants.

At no period of her history did England stand so high in the eyes
of Europe as in the time whose events are recorded in this volume. A
chivalrous king and an even more chivalrous prince had infected the
whole people with their martial spirit, and the result was that their
armies were for a time invincible, and the most astonishing successes
were gained against numbers which would appear overwhelming. The
victories of Cressy and Poitiers may be to some extent accounted for by
superior generalship and discipline on the part of the conquerors; but
this will not account for the great naval victory over the Spanish fleet
off the coast of Sussex, a victory even more surprising and won against
greater odds than was that gained in the same waters centuries later
over the Spanish Armada. The historical facts of the story are all
drawn from Froissart and other contemporary historians, as collated
and compared by Mr. James in his carefully written history. They may
therefore be relied upon as accurate in every imp