€4,2 The Life of William Iluiton, of Birmingham. 



awnke to ItincIIe new fires. On Satur- 

 «(ay the 17ih tliey bent their course to 

 Wharstock, a single house, inhabited by 

 JUr. Cox, and licensed for public wor- 



ship, which, after emptying the cellar, 

 they burnt. 



Penedating one mile farther, they ar- 

 rived at Kingswood meeting-house, which 

 they laid in a'^hes. This solitary place 

 had fallen by the hand of violence in the 

 beginning of George the First, for which 

 a person of the name of Dollax was ex- 

 ecuted, and from him it acquired the 

 name of Si. Dollax, which it still hears. 

 He was thi first person who suffered after 

 passing the Riot Act. 



Three hundred yards beyond, they ar- 

 rived at the parsonage-house, \\hicb un- 

 derwent the same fate. 



Perhaps they found the parish of King's 

 Norton too barren to support a mob in 

 affluence ; for they returned towards 

 Cirmingham, which, though dreadfully 

 sacked, yet was better furnished with 

 money, strong liquors, and various other 

 property. King's Norton is an extensive 

 manor belonging to the king, wiiose name 

 they were advancing upon the walJs, 

 whose honour they were augmenting by 

 burning three places of worship in his 

 manor, and by destroying nine houses, 

 the property of his peaceable tenants. 



The Wcdnesbuiy culliers now assem- 

 bled in a body, and marched into Birm- 

 ingham, to join their brethren under 

 church and king : but, finding no mob in 

 the town, they durst not venture upon an 

 Attack, but retreated in disappointment. 

 As they could not, however, return uith 

 « safe conscience without mischief, they 

 attacked Mr. Male's house, at Belle Vue, 

 «ix miles from the town; but he, with 

 that spirit which ought to have animated 

 MS, beat them ofF. 



I could not refrain from going to take 

 a view of my house at Bennett's Hill, 

 above three miles distant from Castle 

 Bromvvich. Upon W.i5hwood Heath I 

 met four waggons, loaded with Lady 

 Carhampton's furniture, attended by a 

 body of rioters, with their usual aims, as 

 protectors. I passed through the midst 

 of them, was known, and insulted, but 

 kept a sullen silence. The stupid dunces 

 vociferated, "No popeiy! Down with 

 - the Pope !" forgetting that presbyterians 

 were never remaikable for favouring the 

 religion of that potentate. In this in- 

 stance, however, they were ignorantly 

 right; for I consider myself a true friend 

 to tlie Roman Catholics, and to every 

 peaceable profession, but not to the spi- 

 ritual power of any ; for thisj instead of 



liumanizing the mind, and drawing the 

 affections of one man towards another, 

 has bound the world in fetters, and set at 

 variance those who were friends. 



1 saw the ruins yet burning of that 

 once happy spot, which had, for manv 

 years, been my calm retreat ; the scene 

 of contemplation, of domestic felicity ; 

 the source of health and contentment. 

 Here I had consulted the dead, and at- 

 tempted to amuse the living. Here I 

 had exchanged the world for my little 

 family. 



Perhaps fifty people were enjoying 

 themselves upon those ruins where I had 

 possessed an exclusive right, but I was 

 now viewed as an intruder. The preju- 

 diced vulgar, who never inquire intu 

 causes and effects, or the true state of 

 things, fix the idea of criminality upon 

 the man who is borne down by tiia 

 crowd, and every foot is elevated to kick 

 him. My premises, laid open by fero- 

 cious authority, were free to every tres- 

 passer, and I was the only personwhu 

 did not rejoice in the ruins. It was not 

 possible to retreat from that favourite 

 place without a gloom upon the mind, 

 which was the result of ill-treatment, by 

 power without right. This excited a 

 contempt of the world. 



Keturning to Castle Bromwich, the 

 same rioters were at the door of the inn, 

 and I durst not enter. Thus the man, 

 who, for misconduct, merited the halter, 

 could face the world ; and I, who had 

 not otTended, was obliged to skulk behind 

 hedges. Night came on. The inlia- 

 bitants of the village surrounded me, and 

 seemed alarmed. They told me it was 

 dangerous to stay among them, and ad- 

 vised me^or wi/ oicn safety to retreat to 

 Stoiinal. Thus 1 found it as difficult to 

 procure an asylum for myself, as, two 

 days before, I had done for my goods. I 

 was avoided as a pestilence; the wave* 

 of sorrow n.lled over me, and beat me 

 down with iriultiplied force; every on» 

 came heavier than the last. My children 

 were distressed. My wife, through long 

 affliction, ready to quit my own arms for 

 those of death; and I myself reduced 

 to the sad necessity of humbly begging 

 a draught of water at a cottage! What 

 a reverse of situation ! How thin the 

 barriers between affluence and poverty \ 

 By the smiles of the inhabitants of Bir- 

 niingliam I acquired a fortune; by an 

 astonishing defect in our police I lost it. 

 In the morning of the 15ih 1 was a rich 

 man; in the evening I was ruined. At 

 ten at nijiht, on the 17th, I might have 

 be$n found leaning on a mile-Uone upon 

 Suttoa 



