soldiers, if
it could not entirely put an end to the attacks on the turnpikes,
prevented the disaffected from proceeding to further acts of violence,
and checked the growth of a conspiracy which might, otherwise, have gone
to the full length of open rebellion. From this, and other causes, the
spirit of disturbance in Wales began to decline, about the latter end of
the summer. The most obnoxious of the turnpike gates had been swept
away; and, on some of the trusts, the trustees had announced their
determination not to re-erect those which were most complained of as
oppressive. Some of the more active leaders of the riots were captured,
in an affray with the County police, on the borders of Glamorganshire,
and the terrors of a Special Commission impended over the Principality.

The movement was even dramatised, and on 20 Sep., at the Royal
Amphitheatre, Liverpool, was produced a new play, called: "Rebecca and
her Daughters; or, Paddy the Policeman"; the programme of scenery etc.,
as described on the play bill being: "Vigilance of the civil and military
authorities; 100 pounds reward for the apprehension of Rebecca, and 10
pounds for each of her daughters; False alarm; Invincible courage of the
Yeomanry; Arrival of the London Police in disguise; Paddy Whack
undertakes to capture the delinquents; Admonitions to the Constabulary;
The inspection; Mysterious appearance of Rebecca and her daughters in the
Glen of Llandilo, at midnight; Tried before the Justice of the Peace;
Happy _denouement_."

I can find only one reference to Rebecca in connection with London--and
that refers to a bar in Gower Street, which was taken down some few years
since. It occurs in the _Times_ of 30 Sep.: "During the last two or
three days, considerable excitement has prevailed in the northern suburbs
of the Metropolis, in consequence of rumours obtaining circulation that
threatening notices had been posted about, signed, 'Rebecca,' intimating
that it was the intention of that lady and her daughters to destroy the
various turnpike and other gates, which they were pleased to term 'public
obstructions.' It appears that these rumours were not altogether
unfounded; for, whether intended as a joke, or otherwise, the doings of
the notorious Rebecca and her daughters in Wales, have, in reality, found
persons foolhardy enough to follow their example in London. A few
evenings since, Mr. Hill, the porter and keeper of the gate at the London
University C