Besides the notices on the gates of the Fleet and the King"s Bench,many similar announcements were left, before one o"clock at noon,at the houses of private individuals; and further, the mobproclaimed their intention of seizing on the Bank, the Mint, theArsenal at Woolwich, and the Royal Palaces. The notices wereseldom delivered by more than one man, who, if it were at a shop,went in, and laid it, with a bloody threat perhaps, upon thecounter; or if it were at a private house, knocked at the door, andthrust it in the servant"s hand. Notwithstanding the presence ofthe military in every quarter of the town, and the great force inthe Park, these messengers did their errands with impunity allthrough the day. So did two boys who went down Holborn alone,armed with bars taken from the railings of Lord Mansfield"s house,and demanded money for the rioters. So did a tall man on horsebackwho made a collection for the same purpose in Fleet Street, and refused to take anything but gold.
A rumour had now got into circulation, too, which diffused agreater dread all through London, even than these publiclyannounced intentions of the rioters, though all men knew that ifthey were successfully effected, there must ensue a nationalbankruptcy and general ruin. It was said that they meant to throwthe gates of Bedlam open, and let all the madmen loose. Thissuggested such dreadful images to the people"s minds, and wasindeed an act so fraught with new and unimaginable horrors in thecontemplation, that it beset them more than any loss or cruelty ofwhich they could foresee the worst, and drove many sane men nearlymad themselves.
So the day passed on: the prisoners moving their goods; peoplerunning to and fro in the streets, carrying away their property;groups standing in silence round the ruins; all business suspended;and the soldiers disposed as has been already mentioned, remainingquite inactive. So the day passed on, and dreaded night drew nearagain.
At last, at seven o"clock in the evening, the Privy Council issueda solemn proclamation that it was now necessary to employ the military, and that the officers had most direct and effectualorders, by an immediate exertion of their utmost force, to repressthe disturbances; and warning all good subjects of the King to keepthemselves, their servants, and apprentices, within doors thatnight. There was then delivered out to every soldier on duty,thirty-six rounds of powder and ball; the drums beat; and the wholeforce was under arms at sunset.
The City authorities, stimulated by these vigorous measures, held aCommon Council; passed a vote thanking the military associationswho had tendered their aid to the civil authorities; accepted it;and placed them under the direction of the two sheriffs. At theQueen"s palace, a double guard, the yeomen on duty, the groom-porters, and all other attendants, were stationed in the passagesand on the staircases at seven o"clock, with strict instructions tobe watchful on their posts all night; and all the doors werelocked. The gentlemen of the Temple, and the other Inns, mountedguard within their gates, and strengthened them with the greatstones of the pavement, which they took up for the purpose. InLincoln"s Inn, they gave up the hall and commons to theNorthumberland Militia, under the command of Lord Algernon Percy;in some few of the city wards, the burgesses turned out, andwithout making a very fierce show, looked brave enough. Some hundreds of stout gentlemen threw themselves, armed to the teeth,into the halls of the different companies, double-locked and boltedall the gates, and dared the rioters (among themselves) to come onat their peril. These arrangements being all made simultaneously,or nearly so, were completed by the time it got dark; and then thestreets were comparatively clear, and were guarded at all the greatcorners and chief avenues by the troops: while parties of theofficers rode up and down in all directions, ordering chancestragglers home, and admonishing the residents to keep within theirhouses, and, if any firing ensued, not to approach the windows.
More chains were drawn across such of the thoroughfares as were ofa nature to favour the approach of a great crowd, and at each ofthese points a considerable force was stationed. All theseprecautions having been taken, and it being now quite dark, thosein command awaited the result in some anxiety: and not without ahope that such vigilant demonstrations might of themselvesdishearten the populace, and prevent any new outrages.
But in this reckoning they were cruelly mistaken, for in half anhour, or less, as though the setting in of night had been theirpreconcerted signal, the rioters having previously, in smallparties, prevented the lighting of the street lamps, rose like agreat sea; and that in so many places at once, and with such inconceivable fury, that those who had the direction of the troopsknew not, at first, where to turn or what to do. One afteranother, new fires blazed up in every quarter of the town, asthough it were the intention of the insurgents to wrap the city ina circle of flames, which, contracting by degrees, should burn thewhole to ashes; the crowd swarmed and roared in every street; andnone but rioters and soldiers being out of doors, it seemed to thelatter as if all London were arrayed against them, and they stoodalone against the town.
In two hours, six-and-thirty fires were raging--six-and-thirtygreat conflagrations: among them the Borough Clink in TooleyStreet, the King"s Bench, the Fleet, and the New Bridewell. Inalmost every street, there was a battle; and in every quarter themuskets of the troops were heard above the shouts and tumult of themob. The firing began in the Poultry, where the chain was drawnacross the road, where nearly a score of people were killed on thefirst discharge. Their bodies having been hastily carried into StMildred"s Church by the soldiers, the latter fired again, andfollowing fast upon the crowd, who began to give way when they sawthe execution that was done, formed across Cheapside, and chargedthem at the point of the bayonet.