LON 
aiifl fdence, where, fo lately, all had been hurry, noife, 
and bufinefs. The arrangement of the military, on this 
day, produced fo good an efl’efl, that there was no riot or 
dilturbance in any part of the town during the night; and 
the next day (Friday) peace and tranquillity were re- 
ltored; the only uneafinefs felt, was, that the metropolis 
was under martial law. To calm the minds of the inha¬ 
bitants on this fubjeft, a hand-bill was circulated in every 
quarter of the town, to inform the public, that the pri- 
foners would not be punilhed by martial law, but by the 
ordinary tribunals. 
A council was held on Friday morning; in confequence 
of which, a warrant was iffued by the fecretary of date 
for apprehending lord George Gordon. He was brought 
to the war-office in the eveuing, where he underwent a 
long examination before feveral of the lords of the privy- 
council, and, at half-pad nine o’clock, was committed 
clofe piifoner to the Tower. The guards that attended 
him were by far the molt numerous that ever efcorted a 
ftate-prifoner. A large party of infantry w : as in the front: 
his lordlhip followed in a coach, in which were two offi¬ 
cers ; behind the coach was general Carpenter’s regiment 
of dragoons ; after which came a colonel’s guard of the 
foot-guards; and, befules thefe, a party of militia marched 
on each fide of the coach. 
Though the ill-judged affembling of the Proteftant Af- 
fociation, by collecting an immenfe concourfe of idle dif- 
folute people, may be confidered as the origin of this 
dreadful in furred ion, it would be unjuft to charge the 
great body of them with the intention of carrying their 
point by fiuch means. On the contrary, as foon as they 
found the evil confequences of their meeting, and the ul’e 
made of their name, a circular letter was lent to every 
member, earneftly requefting him not to wear the blue 
cockade, which had been afl'umed by the mob,and,by every 
means in his power, to prevent tumults, which mull: in¬ 
evitably impede the accomplilhment of their willies. 
The want of method, fo confpicuous in the proceedings 
of the rioters, faved the city, and, we may add, the coun¬ 
try ; for, had they, in the firlt moments of difmay, attacked 
the Bank and public offices, inftead of the chapels, and 
houfes of individuals, national ruin muft have followed ; 
for there can be no doubt that they would have fucceeded, 
when the fupinenefsof the civil power, in the firlt days of 
the riots, is confidered. Though parties of foldiers were 
continually difpatched to the alliftance of the magiftrates, 
thefe were too much intimidated to aCl with effect ; and 
the officers of the military durlt not take the refponfibility 
upon themfelves. This negligence became a 1 'ubjeCt of 
complaint; and the lord-mayor was ordered to attend the 
privy-council, to account for his inactivity ; before whom 
he made no fcruple of acknowledging, that “ the rioters 
were fo violent, and fuch was his temerity , that he thought 
death would be his portion.” His conduCt, on this oc- 
cafion, called forth Mr. Burke’s ironical talents ; who 
pleaded, in his lordlhip’s behalf, in the houfe of commons, 
“ that all men were not made alike : the lord-mayor, he 
fuppofed, was of a timid nature, and without the natural 
courage and capacity that fit fome men to aid a wife and 
decided partin trying lituations ; neither had he made up 
the difadvantages of his natural infirmity and timidity, 
by ftudy and culture. As he never dreamt, in his younger 
days, of filling fo important a llation as that of lord-mayor 
of the city of London, it was probable he had negleCled 
thofe talents that might be requifite, in certain emer¬ 
gencies, to difeharge the duties of it: for thefe reafons, 
he hoped they would have mercy on the poor lord-mayor, 
in confideration of his natural weaknefs, and total want of 
education /” 
Shortly after the fuppreffion of the riots, fpecial com- 
miffions were iffued for trying the rioters, in London and 
the Borough. The total number executed in London 
was eighteen. 
At a court of common-council, held on the 8th of July, 
a motion was made to addrefs his majefty, thanking him 
Vox.. XIII. No. 833. 
DON. 1 17 
for his care and attention to the citizens of London, in 
granting them fuch aid as became neeeffary to fubdue the 
late dangerous riots ; they being too formidable for the 
controul of the civil authority ; which, after long and vio¬ 
lent debates, was carried in the affirmative, by a iinall ma¬ 
jority. By this apparent reluctance, it might feem as if 
the city had not felt grateful towards the government for 
fending military aid in order to reftore peace and quiet 
within the walls of London and its liberties; but, upon 
confideration, we ffiall find that it arofe from the well- 
ordained jealoufy which the corporation always feels at 
feeing a military force, not commanded by themfelves, 
within their precinfis. 
The trial of lord George Gordon for high treafon took 
place in the court of King’s Bench, on the 5th of Febru¬ 
ary, 1781 ; when he was acquitted; and, as a counter¬ 
judgment, Mr. Alderman Kennet (the lord-mayor) was 
found guilty of not ufing all the means in his power to 
quell the rioters in Rope-makers’ Alley, Moorfields, and 
for not reading the riot-aef. The trial took place at 
Guildhall, before lord Mansfield (who had fmarted under 
the hands of the rioters) and a fpecial jury. 
At the end of this year, a petition, addrefs, and remon- 
ftrance, to the king, was voted in common-hall, and the 
ufual deputation appointed to wait upon his majetty to 
know when he would receive it. This produced a letter 
from the lord-chamberlain to the lord-mayor, informing 
him, that his majefty w'ould not receive the remonftrance 
on the throne. In confequence of which, a common-hall 
was held on the ift of February, 178a, in which it was re- 
folved, “That whoever advifed the king to deviate from 
the accuftomed mode of receiving the livery of London fit¬ 
ting on his throne, is an enemy to the rights and privi¬ 
leges of the citizens of this great capital of the Britilh 
empire:” and a committee was appointed for the purpofe 
of obtaining a reltoration of thofe rights. 
A caufe was tried at Hicks’s Hall, in the month of 
March, of confiderable importance to the rights of the 
freemen of the city-companies. The profecution was in- 
ftituted by one of the companies againtl a tradefman, ad¬ 
mitted to his freedom by themfelves, for carrying on his 
trade without having ferved an apprenticefhip to it, con¬ 
trary to the ftatute of queen Elizabeth. On the trial, 
however, it was proved that, although the defendant had 
not ferved a regular apprenticefliip, he had acquired a fuf- 
ficient knowledge of the trade to enable him to exercifc 
it with (kill, which was held to be within the meaning of 
the ftatute; and a verdiCt was given for the defendant. 
A court of aldermen was held on the 8th of October, to 
receive the report of the committee appointed to examine 
the merits of a petition from the company of ffiipwrights, 
praying to be allowed their livery. The report liated that 
the free fhipvvrigbts were an ancient company, they hav¬ 
ing traced the inrolment of an apprentice as far back as 
the reign of Richard II. and that, therefore, it was the 
opinion of the committee, that they ought to have livery ; 
with which opinion the court coincided, and precepts were 
ordered to be iffued accordingly in future. 
About this time the depredations committed in and 
about the metropolis, by footpads and ftreet-robbers, had 
increafed to fuch a height, and were attended with fuch 
peculiar circumftances of atrocity, that fevere meafures 
were found neeeffary to check them. Accordingly, a let¬ 
ter was fent from the fecretary of ffate to the recorder, 
direfting him to report all cafes of robbery, accompanied 
by afts of cruelty, to his majefty, immediately after con¬ 
viction, who had determined to grant no pardon or ref- 
pite to fuch offenders, on any folicitation whatever. 
Great difeontents prevailed among the failors in the 
month of March, 1783, on account of the numbers of 
foreigners who, having been taken into the merchant- 
fervice during the war, and being Hill continued therein, 
prevented the men difeharged from the king’s fervice from 
procuring employment. Being thus deprived of the means 
of obtaining a livelihood, they attacked fome velfels in 
H h the 
