ome of the leaders, and, in the
tumult which was the inevitable consequence of their attempt to force a
way through so dense a crowd, three or four lives were, unfortunately,
lost.

So unusual a catastrophe called out the energies of both parties. The
Radical leaders published manifestoes declaring the people had been
"massacred" by the soldiers by the orders of the government. Meetings
were held to denounce the conduct of the ministers, one being even
promoted by Lord Fitzwilliam, as Lord-lieutenant of Yorkshire, a dignity
of which he was instantly deprived; while, on the other hand, the
grand-juries of Cheshire and Lancashire made reports of the condition of
those counties to the Secretary of State, which showed that a most
alarming spirit prevailed over the greater part of the district. "The
most inflammatory publications had been issued in the principal towns,
at a price which put them within the reach of the poorest classes of
society. The training and military drilling of large bodies of men under
regular leaders had been carried on to a great extent for some time,
chiefly by night; and there was no doubt that an extensive manufacture
of arms was going on." What was a hardly inferior symptom of danger was
a system of intimidation which prevailed to a most serious degree. Many
magistrates had received notices threatening their lives, and
combinations had been formed to withhold custom from publicans and
shopkeepers who had come forward to support the civil power. In many
parts of the two counties the grand-juries declared "that no warrant of
arrest or other legal process could be executed; the payment of taxes
had ceased, and the landlords were threatened with the discontinuance of
their rents."

It was admitted that the spirit of disaffection was local, confined to
three or four counties; but those counties were, next to Middlesex
itself, the most populous and among the most important in the kingdom,
and there was danger lest the feeling, if not checked, might spread. The
crisis seemed so momentous, that some even of the Opposition leaders
volunteered their counsels and aid to the ministers in dealing with it.
And the ministers, after long deliberation, decided on calling
Parliament together in November, and introducing some bills which they
conceived necessary to enable them to restore and preserve tranquillity.
They were six in number; and--perhaps, with some sarcastic reference to
Gardiner's Six Acts in the s