disturbance of the public tranquillity: and of all mistakes, those which arife from a confcientious attachment to religious principles, deserve the most affiduous endeavours to be used in correcting and confuting. The outrages which were committed in Edinburgh and Glasgow, early in the year 1779, on the houses and property of the Roman Catholics, in confequence of the popular refentments having been excited against them, by a variety of inflammatory pamphlets, which had been induftriously circulated, would never have happened, if any portion of zeal had operated to the producing, and spreading widely, of well-written tracts, to disprove the affertions which had been so roundly and falfely made. But the weapons of reafon are less frequently reforted to, for the purpose of fuppreffing a popular infatuation, than thofe forcible weapons with which the ftate is armed, and the progreffion of difcontent is feldom attended to, until the confequences of its maturity are felt.

From Scotland, this fpirit of bitter enmity against the Catholics paffed into England, and caufed a fociety to be formed under the title of "The Proteftant Affociation," which was composed of well-meaning but uninformed people, whofe fears were excited, because they confidered the principles of popery as increafing to an alarming pitch in this country, and that the defign of the legiflature was to patronife that religion. The averfion which British Protestants discover to Roman Catholics, is uncommonly inveterate; it seems almoft to have furvived their religious principles. The Dutch, although they revolted from Spain, because they were cruelly perfecuted as Proteftants, yet were so far from bearing an implacable enmity to the Ro manifts, that they allowed a general toleration; and the Roman Catholics to this day, are confpicuous in those ftates, both for the-largenefs of their numbers and the peaceableness

Cc 2

peaceableness of their demeanor. The Swifs Cantons
know no diffentions, because fome are of the Romish per-
fuafion and others Calviniftical Proteftants. But the at-
tempts which have been made in England, fince the Re-
formation was introduced into it, to render the religion
of the Church of Rome the national religion, and to exter-
minate or deprefs the reformed church, had eftablished an
hereditary antipathy which is not yet extinct, infomuch that
the peaceable conduct of this body of men for eighty or
ninety years, has not been fufficient to expiate the mif-
deeds of a former race. It therefore became the indif
penfible duty of every man of influence to oppofe to this
popular prejudice the force of truth; but whilft a general.
fupineness prevailed concerning the principles and conduct
of this fociety, it increafed in numbers and in zeal, under,
the influence of a prefident, whofe violent and daring
fpirit qualified him for creating and leading a faction.
This young nobleman is defcended from one of the
most ancient and honourable families in Scotland, fo
that he might lay claim to popularity as a birth-
right, whilft a peculiar caft of character, which marked
his whole deportment, drew the public attention; his
fingularies paffed for marks of genius, and his drefs and
appearance, which feemed to have been copied from the
age of puritanism, imprefled the fuperficial multitude with
a notion of the fanctity of his manners; although under
this difguife, his private life was not confpicuous for a
correfponding aufterity. Through the influence of this
reformer, a petition to the House of Commons was drawn

* Mr. Wilkės very aptly applied to this zealot, a trait of the character given of Fleetwood Shepherd, in a Latin epitaph :-" Nulla meretrix difplicuit præter Babylonicam." See the Epitaph in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1778.

up,

up, in the name of the fociety, praying the repeal of the act for the relief of Roman Catholics, which was figned by vast numbers; to attend the delivery of which, all true Proteftants were invited by hand-bills and advertisements in the news-papers, to affemble in St. George's Fields, and to diftinguish them felves by wearing blue cockades in their hats; their champion, who was a member of the House, having declared that he would not deliver their petition, unless he was attended by twenty thousand men, and a number not fhort of that were actually got together. Although it was not the intention of government to grant the prayer of the petition, yet it either did not apprehend, or did not choose to provide againft, any confequences which might arife from the affembling of fuch a concourse of people. The behaviour of Lord George Gordon, the popular leader of this multitude, which now befet the House of Commons, and occupied every avenue to its entrance, tended greatly to exafperate and inflame his followers. Many of the Lords received perfonal affronts and injuries in their way to the House of Peers, and in the evening, the Romifh chapels belonging to the Sardinian and Bavarian Ambaffadors, were demolished and fet on fire, although no proper objects of their refentment, because the obnoxious act of parliament no ways affected them. The mounds of law and order being thus broken down, the dwellinghouses of the Roman Catholics in different parts of the town were dismantled, the furniture piled up in the fireet and burnt, whilft the dwellings were fet on fire. The civil power was unable to prevent thefe outrages, and the few military which could be drawn out, acting under the command of the magiftrates, were not effectually employed to fupprefs them. A wealthy and luxurious metropolis must harbour a number of defperate wretches, who are only awed by the fcourge of the law which is held over them:

fuch would not fail to avail themselves of the fufpenfion of legal authority, to commit the most atrocious crimes. Thefe being now collected, levelled their attacks against the places which they had moft reafon to dread, and the different jails were forced open, the prisoners set at liberty, and every thing confumed which was fufceptible of the action of fire. The dwelling-houfes of feveral Juftices of Peace fuffered the fame fate, and as all authority and control was borne down, no limits could be fet to the devaftations which might follow. The deftruction of the Bank of England was openly threatened, and the fate of the empire feemed to depend upon the torches of a ruthlefs banditti. At length, however, that vengeance which had fo long lingered, overtook them: large bodies of troops had arrived, and on the night of the 7th of June, the dreadful expedient of military execution was reforted to, as the only means of faving the capital from deftruction. The horrors of that night are not to be defcribed: between four and five hundred perfons were killed or wounded; and though notices were delivered at every houfe, cautioning the inhabitants not to quit their dwellings, yet many innocent and refpectable people fuffered from random ullets in paffing the streets.

Soon after the fuppreffion of thefe tumults, Lord George Gordon was taken into cuftody, examined before several lords of the privy council, and committed to the Tower

This ftate of anarchy fufpended the fitting of parliament until the 19th of June, and the next day refolutions were agreed to, which tended to explain the nature of the

*He was tried in the court of King's-Bench, Westminster-hall, on the 5th of February, 1781, on an indictment for High Treason, in levying war against the King, and found by the Jury, not guilty.

a&

act of parliament, the attempt to procure the repeal of which had eventually caused so much terror to the people, and brought the whole kingdom into fuch imminent peril. It is much to be lamented, that no fuch method for removing the apprehenfions of the well-meaning, but illinformed, had been taken fooner. An end was put to the feffion on the 8th day of July.

A general torpor fucceeded this violent concuffion: the nation was no longer infpired with the defire of obtaining redress of the grievances which it faw and felt. In confequence of the tumults in London, the whole kingdom was put under the difcretion of a military force; the power of the crown therefore gained such an ascendency, that the spirit of liberty gradually melted away, infomuch that the county affociations were fome time after defcribed, by a member of the House of Commons*, as no better than a rope of fand. Every thing feemed tending to what Mr. Hume calls the easiest death, the true Euthanafia of the British conftitution, absolute monarchy,

The supplies for the service of the year 1780 amounted to 21,196,496lt. The number of feamen employed was

Building, rebuilding, and repairing of fhips 697,903

Towards discharging the navy-debt

eighty-

1,500,000