On  Thursday,  the  twenty-seventh  of  March,  the  case  of  the
Lord  Mayor  came  on  for  a  final  hearing. Fiercely  resenting
the  condemnation  of  one  of  their  magistrates,  and  arguing
therefrom  the  measure  which  would  be  dealt  out  to  the  other,
the  citizens  of  London  attended  Crosby  to  the  place  of  judge-
ment with  the  air  of  men  who,  if  the  day  went  against  their
champion,  were  sternly  resolved  to  know  the  reason  why. A


1770-7I. CHARLES  JAMES  FOX. 369

committee  of  four  Aldermen  and  eight  Common  Councillors,
who  had  been  unanimously  appointed  in  a  full  Court  to  assist
him  with  their  countenance  and  advice,  and  pay  his  charges
out  of  the  municipal  funds,  attended  him  as  his  immediate
body-guard. Then  came  a  long  procession  of  merchants  and
bankers,  shopkeepers  and  brokers  :  while  before,  behind,  and
all  around  surged  the  population  of  the  great  capital ;  glad,  as
always,  to  make  a  holiday  when  their  betters  set  them  the
example  ;  and  exulting  in  the  anticipation  of  such  doings  as
had  not  been  witnessed  since  the  day  when, — by  a  combina-
tion of  circumstances  and  associations,  the  like  of  which  can
never  recur, — the  author  of  the  North  Briton  attained  the  age
of  forty-five. There  was,  indeed,  every  prospect  of  a  glorious
riot. The  Guards,  both  horse  and  foot,  were  ready  to  turn
out  under  arms  at  a  minute's  notice  ;  but  there  was  not  stand-
ing room  for  a  single  red-coat  within  three  hundred  yards  of
St. Margaret's  Church,  except  what  he  could  make  for  himself
with  the  butt  of  his  musket,  or  the  hoofs  of  his  charger. The
civil  guardians  of  the  peace,  of  every  degree,  had  been  posted
betimes  upon  the  ground  ;  but  there  were  almost  more  justices
at  hand  to  read  the  Act  than  officers  to  enforce  it. The
constables  were  speedily  disarmed  ;  and,  when  Lord  North
drove  up,  he  was  saluted  by  having  one  of  their  staves  thrust
in  his  face  through  the  carriage  window. After  breaking  the
glasses,  the  rabble  proceeded  to  demolish  the  vehicle. They
got  the  Prime  Minister  out ;  they  tore  his  hat  into  a  hundred
pieces  ;  and  there  was  a  moment  when  the  bystanders  ap-
prehended with  horror  that  the  scene,  which  a  century  be-
fore had  been  enacted  under  the  archway  at  the  Hague,
would  be  repeated  in  Parliament  Street. 