*As a M. of P., I cannot be exposed to any danger, as the H. of C.
has ajourned to Monday sen'night; as an individual, I do not conceive
myself to be obnoxious. I am not apt, without duty or of necessity,
to thrust myself into a Mob: and our part of the town is as quiet as
a Country Village. So much for personal safety; but I cannot give
the same assurances of public tranquillity; forty thousand Puritans,
such as they might be in the time of Cromwell, have started out of
their graves; the tumult has been dreadful; and even the remedy of
military force and martial law is unpleasant. But Government with
15,000 Regulars in town, and every Gentleman (but one) on their side,
must extinguish the flame. The execution of last night was severe;
perhaps it must be repeated to-night: Yet upon the whole the tumult
subsides. Col. H. was all last night in Holbourn among the flames,
with the Northumberland Militia, and performed very bold and able
service.[456] I write again in a post or two.*
I am, Dear Madam,
Ever Yours,
E. G.
[456] On Wednesday night, June 7, the riot was quelled by
military force. The Northumberland Militia, which reached London
on June 7 by a forced march of twenty-five miles, were led by
Colonel Holroyd into the thick of the riot at High Holborn, to
prevent the mob advancing westward, and to protect, if possible,
Mr. Langdale's distillery. By Thursday morning the tumult was
entirely suppressed. "To Colonel Holroyd, since deservedly
raised to the British peerage as Lord Sheffield, the Country was
eminently indebted for repelling the fury of the Mob at the Bank"
(Wraxall's _Historical Memoirs_, 3rd edit., vol. i. p. 351).
394.
_To his Stepmother._
June 10th, 1780.