2125 ANNUAL REGISTER, 180a 



small degree, by the avarice and 

 arts of regraters and forestallers. — 

 Mr. Rusby and others were punish- 

 ed for such offences ; but by such 

 prosecutions, the discontents of the 

 people were not sufficiently allayed. 

 InvariouspaTtsofthecountry,many 

 of the inhabitants endeavoured to 

 procure, by intimidation and force, 

 a reduction of the price of corn, 

 and other articles of consumption. 

 Some depredations and outrages 

 ivere committed, btvt the progress 

 of riot was prevented by the ap- 

 pearance of military parties. At 

 Birmingham, the shops of the bakers 

 were on the eighth of September, 

 attacked by the populace, and those 

 who refused to sell bread, at the 

 rate which they prescribed, were 

 insulted and robbed. The chief ob- 

 ject of their rage, the next day, 

 was a steam-mill. The defenders 

 of this, having wounded some of 

 the assailants or spectators, the mill 

 would have probably been destroy- 

 ed, but for the opportune arrival 

 of a party of dragoons. On the 

 evening of the tenth, the soldiers, 

 who paraded the streets, were an- 

 noyed by the mob with stones ; but 

 these mark* of discontent gradually 

 declined. 



On the fifteenth of December, 

 disturbances commenced in London. 

 Inflammatory bills, posted on the 

 Monument, in the night preceding, 

 urged the people to rescue them- 

 selves from famine by their own 

 exertions, and to take vengeance 

 on monopolists and forestallers. In 

 the morning, a mob appeared in 

 Mark- Lane, insulted the dealers in 

 corn, and clamorously demanded an 

 abatement in the price of that ne- 

 cessary article. The chief magis- 

 trate, Mr. aMerman Combe, ad- 

 dressing the most forward of the po- 



pulace, shewed that their turbulence 

 would only aggravate the evil of 

 which they complained. Finding 

 his persuasions fruitless, he ordered 

 theact against riots to be read ; and, 

 without military aid, tranquillity 

 was restored. The riot being re- 

 newed in the evening, the deput)''- 

 marshal and some of the constables 

 received severe blows ; but the vo- 

 lunteers who attended were not or- 

 dered to fire, as the lord-mayor 

 thought that such violence, on such 

 an occasion, as a tumult excited by 

 so severe a pressure, might be deem- 

 ed rash and inhuman. On several 

 succeeding days, riotous assemblies 

 disturbed different parts of the city; 

 but the ready attendance of the 

 volunteers, and the firmness of their 

 countenance, alarmed tlie populace^ 

 and, without the actual use of fire- 

 arms, repressed the commotions. 



From these scenes of internal 

 commotion, \ve proceed to the ef- 

 fects of tlie national energy, directed 

 against the common enemy. A 

 squadron, under the command of sir 

 Edward Pellevv, on the 4thof June, 

 attacked the south-west of the pen- 

 insula of Quiberon, on the coast 

 of Bretagne, silenced the forts, and 

 cleared the shore of the enemy. A 

 party of soldiers then landed and 

 destroyed the forts. An attack was 

 afterwards made on various posts, 

 and six brigs, sloops, and gun-ves- 

 sels, were taken, a corvette burned, 

 and a fort dismantled. — This suc- 

 cess was soon followed by an inter- 

 ception of supplies destined for the 

 use of the French fleet, at Brest. 

 Eight boats were employed in this 

 service, under lieutenant Burke and 

 other officers, who, amidst a severe 

 fire of cannon and musketry, took 

 three armed vessels, wi th eight laden 

 with provisions, and drove others 



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