Page:The Antiquities of Hastings and the Battlefield.pdf/102

refresh his men, but hoping next day to crush the small invading force. That he so deemed it, is shewn by his weakening his own force by many thousands during his stay in London , in order to man the vast fleet which had been lying idle in the Thames, when it was so sorely needed in the channel. But the first upward glance he cast on Telham heights must have shewn him that he had been bitterly deceived . The pennons waving on the opposing ridge, the glittering armour, and the long array of spears told him that many thousand men , at least as valiant as his own, and better armed, and fresh, occupied every coign of vantage ; and if he ventured the attack , a thousand horse-- the elite of Europe -- were ready to be launched upon the flanks of his wearied infantry. Further advance, therefore, was impossible ; nay more, it was perilous for him to linger on that plateau. How many thousands more were hidden behind those hills he could not know , all of whom might be hurled against him . Judging from after the event, his wisest plan would have been at once to have listened to his brother Gurth's advice,and have fallen back towards London , wasting the country as he passed , and gathering up the forces in his rear. But England's royal standard now floated defiantly before the Norman host,and if Harold retired before the foe without striking one blow for freedom , he would lose all the prestige of his northern victory, and his voluntary retreat might be more dispiriting and disastrous than a forced one from being over-matched in stubborn fight. His resolution was quickly taken to defend the ground on which he -