of fright, or of belief in the riding down, gagging, and pinioning method. His worship said that there had not been rioting so far; it was by no means certain that they might not yet prevail with the people to let the law have way; and that they were not by a long way near the end of their home resources. He then propounded a scheme of action, which, after a short discussion, was substantially adopted.
The municipal body now returned to the neighbourhood of the lodging-house, taking with them this time their crier in his robes and with his wand of office. As the magistrates entered among the crowd, the crier turned suddenly to a respectable tradesman who was watching the proceedings, called upon him in the sovereign's name to aid in upholding the law, and told him that the mayor desired him to take the oath as a special constable, which he would refuse to do at his peril. The tradesman, who was quite on the side of order, took the required oath at once. Another decent man was then sworn in, and then another. Then the crier came upon one of the noisy malcontents, and required him to be sworn. The fellow refused at first; but the mayor reminded him that he did so at his peril – and these appeared to him, as Pistol's rant did to Mrs Quickly, to be very bitter words. Moreover, he had seen more substantial persons than himself comply with similar demands: he was taken aback; he received the book and took the oath.
The effect of these proceedings was very satisfactory. When the noisy rogue suffered himself to be sworn, and the murmur ran about, "You must; you can't refuse; it's jail and £50 penalty," – a great many leading obstructionists, who did not fancy being enlisted as agents of the law, made retreat as quietly as possible, and repaired to their own houses. The swearing, however, went on among the many that remained on the ground, until twenty or thirty special constables had been made. The crowd hardly knew what to make of this move, and stood quiet and somewhat astonished, wondering what would happen next.
What did happen was, that the mayor, who was now listened to more patiently than before, said a few soothing words to the assemblage. He told them that he fancied their dissatisfaction to have arisen from a belief that the authorities were inclined to treat the deceased slightingly because she was an indigent person. This was very far from the fact. They had acted solely from considerations of public safety, and by no means with an intention to respect persons. In proof whereof, he was glad to tell them that the corporation had ordered the hearse (there was but one in the town, and that but rarely in request) to bear the body to the grave; also, that some of the aldermen and council would follow as mourners, so that no mark of respect might be wanting.
As he finished speaking, the plumes of the hearse came into view, as the vehicle was driven up the street. The most refractory of the mob had, as I said, slunk away for fear of being made special constables. There was nobody to lead an opposition; the honest mayor had all his own way; and a cheer even greeted the hearse as it drew up at the door of the lodging-house. The special constables formed two lines from the house door to the hearse, and between them the body was brought out by the workmen who made the coffin, boxed up for its last jour-
