He therefore at once turned to with
alacrity.
That he would have a hard time of it for a bit he felt sure; for
although in Jacques he had evidently found a friend, he saw by the
scowling glances of several of the men as he passed near them that the
national feeling told heavily against him. Nor was it surprising that
it should be so. The animosity between the two nations had lasted so
long that it had extended to individuals. Englishmen despised as well
as disliked Frenchmen. They were ready to admit that they might be
brave, but considered them as altogether wanting in personal strength.
The popular belief was that they were half-starved, and existed
chiefly upon frogs and hot water with a few bits of bread and scraps
of vegetables in it which they called soup, and that upon the sea
especially they were almost contemptible. Certainly the long
succession of naval victories that our fleets had won afforded some
justification for our sailors' opinion of the enemy. But in fights
between detached vessels the French showed many times that in point of
courage they were in no way inferior to our own men; and indeed our
victories were mainly due to two causes. In the first place, the
superior physique and stamina of our men, the result partly of race
and partly of feeding; they were consequently able to work their guns
faster and longer than could their adversaries.
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