HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



105 



at ten o'clock in the forenoon, he 

 went to sir Francis's house, attend- 

 ed with twenty or thirty police 

 officers, and a detachment of ca- 

 valry and infantry, to escort the 

 carriage which he had in waiting, 

 to convey sir Francis to the Tower. 

 The Serjeant, attended by some 

 police officers, forced an entrance 

 into sir Francis Burdett's house 

 down by the area, and through 

 the kitchen door. Having left a 

 party of the foot guards in the 

 hall, he went up, with the police 

 officers, into a room, where sir 

 Francis was with his family, and 

 Mr. Roger O'Connor, brother to 

 the noted Mr. Arthur O'Connor. 

 Sir Francis was employed, at that 

 moment, in making his son read 

 and translate Magna Charta. 



Mr. Colman told sir Francis, 

 that, however painful it was to 

 him to proceed in such a way, he 

 had such a force, that it would be 

 quite in vain to make resistance : 

 that he was his prisoner, and must 

 immediately come intothe carriage 

 that was prepared for him. Sir 

 Francis repeated the objections he 

 had before made against the war- 

 rant, and declared that he would 

 not yield to any thing less than ac- 

 tual force. As the constables were 

 advancing, by order of the Ser- 

 jeant, to seize him, his brother, 

 and Mr. O'Connor laid hold each 

 of them on one of his arms, and 

 conducted him to the carriage, 

 into which they followed him ; 

 but Mr. O'Connor was obliged, by 

 a number of people who had 

 quickly assembled, to come out 

 again. A messenger was left with 

 sir Francis in the carriage. The 

 Serjeant attended on horseback, 

 and dehvered him to the deputy 

 lieutenant of the Tower. The 



escort proceeded rapidly to the 

 Tower, by the northern skirts of 

 the town, without encountering 

 any material opposition. 



The mob, that had assembled 

 near sir Francis's house, in Picca- 

 dilly, and in the adjoining streets, 

 on Friday evening, obliged every 

 one that passed to take off his hat 

 and cry, ♦' Burdett for ever !" — 

 They broke the windows of a 

 number of houses : among which 

 were those of lord Chatham, the 

 duke of Montrose, Mr. Yorke, 

 lord Westmoreland, Mr. Welles- 

 ley Pole, lord Dartmouth, sir 

 John Anstruther, and Mr. Perce- 

 val. On Saturday, between twelve 

 and one o'clock, the populace as- 

 sembled in such great numbers, 

 and grew so tumultuous, that a 

 company of the foot, and another of 

 the horse-guards, were sent to dis- 

 perse them, and the riot act was 

 read by Mr. Read, a police magis- 

 trate.Somecompaniesof volunteers 

 alsopresented themselves, in readi- 

 ness to support the civil authority. 

 Towards the close of the day, the 

 mob, which had dispersed, begaa 

 to rally. The detachment of troops 

 was reinforced, and the cavalry 

 had orders not to permit more 

 than two persons to converse to- 

 gether. "There was some firing, 

 without ball, for clearing Picca- 

 dilly. Some pistols, charged with 

 ball, were fired on both sides, by 

 which divers persons, both of the 

 soldieryand populace,werewound- 

 ed, though only slightly. But, on 

 the return of the escort from the 

 Tower, the contest was more san- 

 guinary. 



At the time when the Serjeant 

 at Arms carried off sir Francis 

 Burdett from his house, the num- 

 ber of people assembled in Picca* 



