POPULAR RAGE AGAINST THE CATHOLICS; RIOTS IN LONDON, ETC.
It has been seen that during the session of the year 1778, that an act was passed for relieving the Roman Catholics from some of the heavier penalties inflicted upon them in the preceding century. This measure did not extend to Scotland, but as the Papists in that country were more oppressed than those in England, and as they had claims upon government and the legislature of the United Kingdom, by their loyalty, &c., it was contemplated by ministers that they should be admitted into the benefits of the Repealing Act. The people of Scotland, however, were not so liberal in sentiment on this subject as the people of England. A cry that Popery was about to be re-established was heard throughout the country; and the Presbyterian preachers made their pulpits ring with warnings and comminations. Associations were formed in various parts of the kingdom to oppose the contemplated concessions, and the votes and resolutions of these associations being published in the newspapers, they gave rise to the spirit of persecution. In the month of January, 1779, copies of the following letter were dropped in every part of the city of Edinburgh:—“Men and brethren, whoever shall find this letter will take it as a warning to meet at Leith Wynd, on Wednesday next, in the evening, to pull down that pillar of Popery lately erected there. Signed, A Protestant. P. S. Please to read this carefully, keep it clean and drop it somewhere else. For king and country. Unity.” In a great city, whatever mischief may be set on foot, there will always be found too many volunteers to put it into effect. Thus it was at Edinburgh. This summons was obeyed, and the pillar of Popery, which was the habitation of a Catholic priest with a chapel attached to it, was demolished. Similar scenes occurred in Blackfriars Wynd in Edinburgh, and even the magistrates of that city partook in a great measure of the mob-feeling. They failed to throw the shield of protection around those who were persecuted; and although they finally allayed the popular commotion, by telling the people that the bill for repealing the penal statutes against Papists in Scotland was thrown aside, yet the spirit of persecution was so rampant among them, that the objects of their hatred were obliged to conceal themselves from their view. A similar spirit was displayed at Glasgow, where the mob destroyed the property of a Mr. Bagnal, who was suspected of Popery, and drove him and his family from their houses. The popular violence in all parts of Scotland, indeed, was of such a nature as to compel ministers to forego their intention of bringing forth a bill for the relief of the Roman Catholics of that country, until at least it should have somewhat subsided. But this success of the Scotch associations and mobs, unfortunately led to a similar display of the spirit of persecution in England.
It was thought by some who were adverse to the measure passed in 1778, that by efforts equally vigorous on this side of the Tweed as on the other, its total repeal might be procured. Accordingly, a Protestant Association was formed, which, like the associations for economical reforms, had its ramifications, its committees, and its correspondents in all parts of England. The president of this association was Lord George Gordon, brother of the Duke of Gordon, who had effectually aided and abetted the riots in Scotland. Of all men in the world Lord George Gordon was the most unfit to preside over a Protestant Association. He was a member of parliament it is true, but he was chiefly remarkable there for his eccentric habits, slovenly dress, and by a progressive insanity, which on some occasions partook of the nature of oratorical inspiration. He was, however, known to be firm in his hatred towards the Papists, and adverse to any relief being afforded to them. Thus, in May, 1779, when Burke presented his petition in favour of toleration, he moved that it should be thrown over the table! At the same time, he declared, that every man in Scotland, except a few Papists, was ripe for insurrection, and would die rather than submit. After he was made head of the Protestant Association his violence seems to have increased. Thus, in the beginning of the present session, he declared that the king was a Papist; and on one occasion he said that he would present a petition long enough to reach from the speaker’s chair to the centre window at Whitehall, out of which Charles I. had walked to his execution! The grand aim of the Protestant Association was, indeed, to get up a monster petition, in order to procure the repeal of the late concessions to the Roman Catholics, This was the creature of Lord George Gordon’s own brain. Having presented several anti-Catholic petitions from the county of Kent, he made it his business to get up a similar petition from the good citizens of London, which he considered might have the effect of overawing ministers; and procuring the repeal of the obnoxious act. Aided by the heads of the Protestant Association, he canvassed the capital and the neighbourhood; and by his exertions he quickly obtained 120,000 signatures to his petition. These signatures were chiefly the handwriting or marks of men of the lower orders of society, and who were as far from being Protestants as they were from being Papists. And this may also be asserted of many members of the Protestant Association. Some well-meaning people may have enrolled their names as members, but it is certain that for the most part they were men regardless of the profession of religion. Moreover, it is clear that the principles of the Protestant Association were rather of a political than of a religious nature; or, at all events, it is certain that politics mingled themselves in the question. There is no doubt, however, that Lord George Gordon himself was a dangerous fanatic; the more so, because his station in life gave him influence among the rude and ignorant multitude. This was his character before he became president of the Protestant Association, and it became still more evident as his popularity increased. His inflammatory harangues were printed, published, and scattered far and wide; and the people were told by him, that if they were not content to run all hazards with him, they must look out for another leader. After he had succeeded in getting up his monster-petition he put them, indeed, to the test. In presenting it to the house of commons, he said he expected to be backed by a host of good Christians; and that he would not present it at all unless he was attended by at least 20,000 men. Having made this declaration, Lord George appointed St. George’s Fields as the place of meeting, and pointed out the lines of march they were to pursue, in order to concentrate in front of the houses of parliament. Their distinctive badge was to be a blue cockade, and their cry, “No Popery!” The day appointed for them to meet was on the 2nd of June, on which day Lord George had previously informed the house that he meant to present a petition, and to come down to the house with all those who had signed it. Such a stouthearted champion could not be left in the field alone; so accordingly on the day appointed some 60,000 petitioners and associaters met according to his directions. They were divided into four companies, one of them being entirely composed of Scotchmen; and after a stirring harangue from Lord George, the several columns struck off by different roads for Westminster. As they proceeded along they were joined by all the knaves and cut-purses of London; and when they assembled before the houses of parliament, and raised the long and loud cry of “No Popery!” the members of the fraternity of thieves picked every pocket into which they could insinuate their hands, and did all they could to create a riot, which would turn to their own advantage. Every avenue to the houses of parliament was blocked up, and as the peers and members of the house of commons arrived, they were compelled to join the cry of “No Popery!” or to submit to insult and ill treatment. Some of the bishops had their gowns torn off their backs, or were otherwise ill-treated; various temporal peers were treated with the greatest indignity; while those members of the commons who were known to have voted for the relief of the Papists, had to take their seats this day minus their outer garments. All this time there was a deafening and incessant roar of “Repeal the Bill!” “No Popery!” “Lord George Gordon!” When Lord George had been in the house some time the mob became more bold. On a sudden they began to thunder at the doors to break them open. Some members threatened Lord George with instant death if the sanctity of the house should be violated by the mob he had collected; and it is said that Mr. Henry Herbert followed him closely with that determination, and that General Murray, a relation to the mad lord, held his sword ready to pass it through him on the first irruption of the mob. None, however, made their appearance; and when something like order was restored, Lord George moved for bringing up and immediately considering the petition. This was seconded by Alderman Bull, and the first proposition was granted as a matter of course, but the second was met by an amendment to put off the consideration for four days. This gave rise to a discussion, during which Lord George went out several times into the lobby and harangued the multitude, encouraging them to persevere, inasmuch as terror would be sure to induce the king and his ministers to grant the prayer of their petition. On his return into the house, after one of these harangues, Colonel Holroyd took hold of his lordship, saying, that hitherto he had imputed his conduct to madness, but that he found there was more malice than madness in it; and that if he proceeded to the lobby again, he would immediately move for his commitment to Newgate. At the same time Holroyd called upon him to remove the blue cockade from his hat. Lord George timidly obeyed the order, and did not venture to go down into the lobby again; contenting himself with addressing the mob from the gallery stairs; denouncing in his harangues from thence the more Popishly inclined members of the house. Their yells and menaces continued, but undeterred by them the house adopted the amendment, six members only voting with Lord George. By this time Mr. Addington, an active Middlesex magistrate, arrived in Palace-yard, with a party of horse and foot guards, and induced the multitude to disperse. But mischief was afloat. In the course of his harangues in the lobby, Lord George had suggested that there was no remedy for them till they had pulled down all the Popish chapels. This was remembered; and as the multitude returned to their homes, the chapel of the Bavarian minister, in Warwick-street, Golden-square; and the chapel of the Sardinian ambassador, in Duke-street, Lincoln’s-inn-fields, were burnt to the ground. The military were ordered out and some rioters were apprehended, while the rest went home to rest. The next day, Saturday, passed off quietly; but a discussion. took place in the lords, in which some sentiments were uttered by the Duke of Richmond and the Earl of Shelburne, on the subject of the concessions made to the Roman Catholics by a Protestant government, which were well calculated to rekindle the fanatic fire out of doors. These observations arose out of a motion made by Lord Bathurst, who had been roughly handled by the mob on Friday, for an address praying that his majesty would give immediate orders for prosecuting, in the most effectual manner, the authors, abettors, and instruments of the outrages committed both in the vicinity of the houses of parliament and upon the houses and chapels of the foreign ministers. This motion was agreed to, and the peers returned home in safety to their mansions. Late that night, however, or early on Sunday morning, a mob assembled in Moorfields, where they did much mischief to the Catholics living in that neighbourhood: a Popish chapel and several houses were pulled down. The military were called out, but as the mob knew that they did not dare fire without the command of the civil power, they were by no means disturbed by their presence. They still continued their work of destruction, while thieves and pick-pockets looked about for plunder. Nothing was done on the Monday for preventing mischief, except the issuing of a proclamation by a privy-council, offering a reward of £500 for those persons who had been concerned in destroying the Sardinian and Bavarian chapels; and the mob, grown bold by impunity, continued their devastations. One party stripped the house of Sir George Saville, in Leicester-fields, of its furniture, and made a bonfire of it before the door; another party regaled Lord George Gordon with a bonfire made of materials brought from Catholic chapels and houses in Moorfields, which they burnt before his house in Welbec-street; a third party went to Virginia-lane, Wapping; and a fourth to Nightingale-lane, East Smithfield, where they severally destroyed the Catholic chapels, and committed other outrages. That night London was in the hands of the mob, and fires were seen on every hand; while property to a large amount changed owners. On Tuesday, which was the day appointed for the consideration of the petition, the mob again concentrated before the houses of parliament. Westminster-hall and the avenues to the house were lined with military, horse and foot; but even this precaution was insufficient to protect the members who were bold enough to attend to their parliamentary duty from insult and outrage. Lord Sandwich was dragged from his carriage, which was broken to pieces, and would have been killed if he had not been rescued by a magistrate, at the head of a small party of light-horse. At this time most of the rabble had oaken sticks in their hands, as well as blue cockades in their hats; and some had even banners, on which were inscribed their watchword, “No Popery!” This was also chalked on the carriages of all the lords and members as they went down to the house. An attempt was made to disperse the rioters, and as the crowd gave way, one of the ringleaders called upon them to repair to the magistrate’s house who took the lead in dispersing them, and this was soon pulled down. By this time the members of the commons had taken into consideration the petition which was the forerunner of all these riots. Lord George Gordon, who, dreading the effects of his madness, had issued hand-bills in the name of the Protestant Association, to disavow the riots, was in the house, and some talk occurred about expelling him, and committing him to the Tower. All that was done, however, was to agree to a resolution, “That when the present tumults were subsided, they would take into consideration the petitions from many of his majesty’s Protestant subjects.” This had been no sooner done than dreadful news arrived from the city, and the house adjourned in haste and confusion. The mob had proceeded from St. Martin’s-street, where the house of the magistrate which they had demolished was situate, to Newgate, declaring that they would release their brother rioters. The prison was accordingly fired, and more than three hundred ruffians were liberated, and joined in the work of desolation. The houses of Sir John Fielding and Lord Mansfield were the next objects of their attack; and the furniture, the books, the paintings, the papers, and everything that was valuable therein were destroyed. And here the true character of the mob displayed itself. It is manifest, indeed, that none of the real members of the Association took part in these outrages, but that they were committed by men who cared more for a pot of good ale and a glass of gin than for the Protestant interest. Hence, their first object, when they had entered the houses of Sir John Fielding and Lord Mansfield, was the wine-cellars. They drank till they were raving mad! It was in this state that they were found by a detachment of foot-guards in and opposite the house of Lord Mansfield. The officer who commanded them was requested to enter the house with his men; but he replied, that the justices of the peace had all run away; and that consequently it was impossible for the military to act. The spirit of mischief, therefore, was permitted to work at its pleasure. The new prison at Clerkenwell next shared the fate of Newgate, and all the felons and other prisoners there let loose upon society; their first impulse being to join the mob, to increase the havock, and to plunder, burn, drink, and destroy. During the night many houses were plundered or destroyed; the madness of the mob increasing at every new success, by the liquors which they procured from the cellars. A magistrate was at length found who would act, but it was then too late, as drink had rendered the mob insensible to danger. A recent writer remarks:—“During the time that was lost in seeking for a magistrate who would act, the fury of the mob was increased to such a pitch by the liquor they had drank, that, when the soldiers at last fired, even the sight of their companions falling dead beside them produced little or no effect.... It was when they were in this state—careless of what befel them, and almost unconscious of what they were doing, that the authorities, hitherto so patient, for the first time determined to use force against them.... The scene here altogether appears to have been terrific in the extreme. The violence and ferocity of the ruffians, armed with sledge-hammers and other instruments of destruction, who burst into the houses—the savage shouts of the surrounding multitude—the wholesale desolation—the row of bonfires blazing in the street, heaped with the contents of the sacked mansion, with splendid furniture, books, pictures, and manuscripts which were irreparable—the drunken wretches staggering or reeling against each other, or rolling on the ground—the peeling of the musketry, followed the next instant by the screams of the wounded and the dying, and the roar of vengeance from ten thousand throats—soon after this, the fires lighted in every room, and finally, the flames rushing upwards from windows and roof in one magnificent conflagration:—all these may well be conceived to have formed a picture, or rather a succession of pictures, which thus exhibited under the dark sky of midnight, would seem hardly of this world.” This has reference to a scene which occurred at the house of Lord Mansfield, where some of the mob were still collected, when a magistrate was found willing to act. But no force was yet sufficient to quell the riot. On the following day the scenes which took place were still more dreadful. The mob were completely triumphant, and all householders who did not hang bits of blue silk out by way of flags, and omitted to chalk the words “No Popery” on the doors and shutters of their houses, were exposed to their vengeance. Some even who were not Papists were this day plundered and ill-treated; all distinctions being set aside by some of the rioters, which is another evidence of the character of the mob. Some fellows marched through the town extorting money from every one they met, whether Papist or Protestant; and one ruffian, mounted on a horse, would take nothing but gold. Other parties were employed in pulling down the prisons, and before night not a prison was left standing, except the Poultry Compter. An attack was made on the Bank of England by others, but here they were repulsed by a strong body of soldiers, who killed many and wounded others. But the great centre of mischief was Holborn. Here a Mr. Langdale was doubly exposed as a Papist and as a great distiller. His premises were fired, and everything was destroyed, except the liquors which were drunk by the rioters; many of whom literally killed themselves with drinking, while others too drunk to move out of the reach of danger perished in the flames which their own hands had kindled. A writer of the period says:—“Powder and ball do not seem to have been so fatal to them as their own inordinate appetites. Numbers, it is said, and at various places, died of inebriation; especially at the distilleries of the unfortunate Mr. Langdale. In the streets men were seen lying upon bulks and stalls and at the doors of empty houses, drunk to a state of insensibility and to a contempt of danger; boys and women were in the same condition, and many of the latter with infants in their arms.” Men, women, and children were at one time seen on their knees drinking ardent spirits, as they flowed down the kennel of the street in Holborn. Thus maddened, who can wonder at the excesses which followed? Thirty-six fires were seen on this night blazing in different quarters of the great metropolis, and nothing but the serenity of the night saved it from destruction. The panic was universal. Persons were seen on every hand removing their goods, as none could tell but that they might be destroyed by the merciless mob; or if a wind should suddenly spring up, by the devouring element. At the same time the dreadful reports of soldiers’ muskets were heard, mingled with the terrific cries of the infuriated and countless rabble. None could sleep in their beds on that night: the streets swarmed with people, and uproar, confusion, and terror reigned on every hand. Some of the citizens, however, possessing more nerve than others, formed themselves into associations and acted with the soldiers. And wherever the troops appeared there was nothing like a determined resistance made by the rabble. Thus, at Blackfriars-bridge, where the mob had set fire to the toll-gates, they were driven away like a scared flock of sheep by the soldiers, and some even threw themselves over the bridge into the Thames, in order to escape from the fire of their muskets. The only place in the morning where the mob was not dispersed was in the neighbourhood of the Fleet-prison, which was still in flames; and when the soldiers charged their muskets right into the crowd they fled in all directions. In the course of Thursday various encounters took place, and some lives were lost; but before night the rabble had melted away, and tranquillity was restored. Men had wondered whence the rabble came, and now they wondered whither they could be gone. The return of killed made to Lord Amherst, commander-in-chief, amounted to two hundred and ten, and of wounded to two hundred and forty-eight, but many had been removed by their friends, so that the exact number could not be ascertained: moreover, it could never be known how many perished from drinking ardent and unrectified spirits, and in the flames, from which inebriety made it impossible for them to escape.