Страница 361 из 896

The dead man disposed of, and the crowd being under the necessity

of providing some other entertainment for itself, another

brighter genius (or perhaps the same) conceived the humour of

impeaching casual passers-by, as Old Bailey spies, and wreaking

vengeance on them. Chase was given to some scores of inoffensive

persons who had never been near the Old Bailey in their lives, in

the realisation of this fancy, and they were roughly hustled and

maltreated. The transition to the sport of window-breaking, and

thence to the plundering of public-houses, was easy and natural.

At last, after several hours, when sundry summer-houses had been

pulled down, and some area-railings had been torn up, to arm the

more belligerent spirits, a rumour got about that the Guards were

coming. Before this rumour, the crowd gradually melted away, and

perhaps the Guards came, and perhaps they never came, and this

was the usual progress of a mob.