Never had agitators, among whom some of the ministers
themselves were not ashamed to appear, been so unscrupulous in their
endeavors to excite discontent. One cabinet minister wrote inflammatory
articles in the newspapers; another publicly called the legitimate
opposition of the peers "the whisper of a faction." And their exertions
soon bore fearful fruit. In London some of the peers who had been most
prominent in their objections to the bill were hooted and pelted, and
one, Lord Londonderry, was nearly murdered. The King and Queen were
insulted by mobs in the Park, some of the rioters even openly
threatening the Queen with death, because she was believed to be
favorable to the anti-Reformers. In some of the most important
provincial towns the discontent broke out into actual insurrection. At
Bristol a tumultuous mob, whose numbers were swelled by crowds of the
worst ruffians of the metropolis, sought to murder the Recorder, Sir
Charles Wetherall, when he came down to that city to hold the
quarter-sessions; and, when defeated in their attack on him, stormed the
Mansion House, and set it, with the Bishop's Palace and other public
buildings, and scores of private houses, on fire, several of the rioters
themselves, who had got drunk, perishing in the flames. A similar mob
rose in arms at Derby, but did less mischief, as there the magistrates
knew their duty better.
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