name of Mr. Burke had especial prominence. It is curious to picture
the imbecile fanatic standing upon the steps leading to the Strangers'
Gallery and invoking the fury of the fanatic and the lawless against
the greatest public man of his age.

For a while Lord George Gordon was suffered to rant unimpeded. At last
Colonel Holroyd, seizing hold of him, threatened to move for his
immediate committal to Newgate, while Colonel Gordon, with a blunter
and yet more efficacious eloquence, declared that if any of the rioters
attempted to force his way past the door of the House, he, Colonel
Gordon, would run his sword through {200} the body, not of the invader,
but of Lord George Gordon. As Colonel Gordon was a kinsman of Lord
George's, it may be that Lord George knew sufficient of his temper to
believe his word and was sufficiently sane to accept his warning. At
least there came a pause in his inflammatory phrases, and shortly
afterward the news of the arrival of a party of Horse and Foot Guards
did what no persuasions or entreaties could effect. It cleared the
Lobby and the approaches to the House. Under conditions of what might
be called comparative quiet the division on Lord George Gordon's
proposal for the immediate reception of the petition was taken, and
only found six supporters against a majority of one hundred and
ninety-two.

[Sidenote: 1780--Spread of the Gordon Riots]

But mischief was afoot and began to work. The mob that had been
dispersed from Westminster broke up into different parties and
proceeded to expend its fury in the destruction of buildings. The
hustling of peers, the bonneting of bishops, the insulting of members
of Parliament, all made rare sport; but the demolition of Catholic
places of worship promised a better, and suggested exquisite
possibilities of further depredation. The Catholic chapels in Duke
Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, and in Warwick Street, Golden Square--the
one belonging to the Sardinian, the other to the Bavarian
Minister--were attacked, plundered, set fire to, and almost entirely
destroyed. The military were sent for; they arrived too late to
prevent the arson, but thirteen of the malefactors were seized and
committed to Newgate, and for the night the mob was dispersed. It was
not a bad day's work for the rioters. Parliament had been insulted,
the Government and the very Throne menaced. In two parts of the town
Catholic buildings, under the protection of foreign and