By this Friday night--for it was on Friday in the riot week, thatEmma and Dolly were rescued, by the timely aid of Joe and EdwardChester--the disturbances were entirely quelled, and peace andorder were restored to the affrighted city. True, after what hadhappened, it was impossible for any man to say how long this betterstate of things might last, or how suddenly new outrages, exceedingeven those so lately witnessed, might burst forth and fill itsstreets with ruin and bloodshed; for this reason, those who hadfled from the recent tumults still kept at a distance, and manyfamilies, hitherto unable to procure the means of flight, nowavailed themselves of the calm, and withdrew into the country. Theshops, too, from Tyburn to Whitechapel, were still shut; and verylittle business was transacted in any of the places of greatcommercial resort. But, notwithstanding, and in spite of themelancholy forebodings of that numerous class of society who seewith the greatest clearness into the darkest perspectives, the townremained profoundly quiet. The strong military force disposed inevery advantageous quarter, and stationed at every commandingpoint, held the scattered fragments of the mob in check; the searchafter rioters was prosecuted with unrelenting vigour; and if there were any among them so desperate and reckless as to be inclined,after the terrible scenes they had beheld, to venture forth again,they were so daunted by these resolute measures, that they quicklyshrunk into their hiding-places, and had no thought but for theirsafety.
In a word, the crowd was utterly routed. Upwards of two hundredhad been shot dead in the streets. Two hundred and fifty more werelying, badly wounded, in the hospitals; of whom seventy or eightydied within a short time afterwards. A hundred were already incustody, and more were taken every hour. How many perished in theconflagrations, or by their own excesses, is unknown; but thatnumbers found a terrible grave in the hot ashes of the flames theyhad kindled, or crept into vaults and cellars to drink in secret orto nurse their sores, and never saw the light again, is certain.
When the embers of the fires had been black and cold for manyweeks, the labourers" spades proved this, beyond a doubt.
Seventy-two private houses and four strong jails were destroyed inthe four great days of these riots. The total loss of property, asestimated by the sufferers, was one hundred and fifty-five thousandpounds; at the lowest and least partial estimate of disinterestedpersons, it exceeded one hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds.
For this immense loss, compensation was soon afterwards made out ofthe public purse, in pursuance of a vote of the House of Commons;the sum being levied on the various wards in the city, on thecounty, and the borough of Southwark. Both Lord Mansfield and LordSaville, however, who had been great sufferers, refused to acceptof any compensation whatever.
The House of Commons, sitting on Tuesday with locked and guardeddoors, had passed a resolution to the effect that, as soon as thetumults subsided, it would immediately proceed to consider thepetitions presented from many of his Majesty"s Protestant subjects,and would take the same into its serious consideration. While thisquestion was under debate, Mr Herbert, one of the members present,indignantly rose and called upon the House to observe that LordGeorge Gordon was then sitting under the gallery with the bluecockade, the signal of rebellion, in his hat. He was not onlyobliged, by those who sat near, to take it out; but offering to gointo the street to pacify the mob with the somewhat indefiniteassurance that the House was prepared to give them "thesatisfaction they sought," was actually held down in his seat bythe combined force of several members. In short, the disorder andviolence which reigned triumphant out of doors, penetrated into thesenate, and there, as elsewhere, terror and alarm prevailed, and ordinary forms were for the time forgotten.
On the Thursday, both Houses had adjourned until the followingMonday se"nnight, declaring it impossible to pursue theirdeliberations with the necessary gravity and *******, while theywere surrounded by armed troops. And now that the rioters weredispersed, the citizens were beset with a new fear; for, findingthe public thoroughfares and all their usual places of resortfilled with soldiers entrusted with the free use of fire and sword,they began to lend a greedy ear to the rumours which were afloat ofmartial law being declared, and to dismal stories of prisonershaving been seen hanging on lamp-posts in Cheapside and FleetStreet. These terrors being promptly dispelled by a Proclamationdeclaring that all the rioters in custody would be tried by aspecial commission in due course of law, a fresh alarm wasengendered by its being whispered abroad that French money had beenfound on some of the rioters, and that the disturbances had beenfomented by foreign powers who sought to compass the overthrow andruin of England. This report, which was strengthened by thediffusion of anonymous handbills, but which, if it had anyfoundation at all, probably owed its origin to the circumstance ofsome few coins which were not English money having been swept intothe pockets of the insurgents with other miscellaneous booty, and afterwards discovered on the prisoners or the dead bodies,--causeda great sensation; and men"s minds being in that excited statewhen they are most apt to catch at any shadow of apprehension, wasbruited about with much industry.
