two or three constables were sent to lead the
troops with lights, but the rioters then retreated
to the barges, and kept up the pelting from the
decks. Colonel Brereton still refused to allow
his men to fire, nor would he encourage a half-
pay officer, who offered, with twenty-five men,
to board the trows and dislodge the stone-
throwers. The colonel was still of opinion that
the people, if left alone, would soon disperse and
go home, and he promised to patrol the city
during the night.

In the mean time, Captain Gage, with his
troop of the 14th, was less patient under
injuries. Finding about a hundred panes of glass
already broken in the Council House windows,
the trumpeter instantly blew the charge, and
a line of swordsmen swept along High-street,
Broad-street, and Wine-street, scattering the
mob like chaff. Eight persons were left on the
pavement severely wounded. Not another rioter
was to be seen; but in a moment afterwards
the mob surged up through the Pithay back
into the side alleys of Wine-street, and flung
stones and pieces of iron at the soldiers as they
passed. Captain Gage flashed his pistol at one
ringleader. One of his troop then fired, and
the rioter fell dead. The mob never forgave the
14th this.

About two o'clock on the Sunday morning
the streets were tolerably quiet. About eight
o'clock, Colonel Brereton withdrew the pickets
from the Mansion House and the Council
House. The colonel said the troops were tired;
and they were therefore sent to Leigh's Horse
Bazaar. Nine prisoners were taken by the
constables and lodged in the jail. It was
now generally known in the town that Colonel
Brereton had cheered the mob, and shaken
hands with many of the rioters, and it was
generally believed that many of the soldiers would
side with the people. This gave the mob
courage; for if the soldiers had refused to act, the
city was evidently at their mercy. The quieter
citizens were alarmed by stories that showed
the premeditation and organisation of the mob,
some of whom during the fight in and out of
the court yards in Queen-square, had boarded
a Stroud vessel and tried to seize a carboy of
vitriol to throw over the dragoons. Every
moment the confidence of the people grew
greater, the fears of honest men more acute.
No sooner had the troops left Queen-square
than the mob deluged back again and
attacked the Mansion House, broke down all
the barricades nailed up during the night, and
plundered the wine-cellars. The china and
glass were thrown into the square, the wine
distributed and tossed about. Hundreds of
drunken men instantly scattered themselves
through the city, and allured others to the
revel already begun. The mayor, a little,
worthy, but nervous and irresolute man,
escaped over the roofs disguised in a woman's
dress, and instantly hurried to Colonel Brereton
to order out the troops, and to knock
from door to door down College Green and
St. Augustine's Back, to collect the citizens
and their servants, and to call on them in the
king's name to assist the little pale-faced magistrate
who summoned them. The mob fell back
when the soldiers entered the square, and the
constables soon retook the Mansion House; but
many of the rioters now tore up iron rails to
pile in the roadway, or to arm themselves.
Alderman Hilhouse read the Riot Act three
times, and then motioned women and children
from the windows, and respectable spectators
from any places where the fire of the troops
might reach them.

Colonel Brereton replied: "The troops cannot,
and shall not, fire." They were worn out,
and if they fired the mob would be infuriated,
and the city would be given up to slaughter.
He therefore advised that the mob should be
kept in good humour till the next morning,
when reinforcements of troops might be
expected. He also ordered the 14th at once back
to their quarters, as their firing had irritated the
people. The troops were pelted the whole way
back, although they drew their swords and
presented their pistols. Opposite Denmark-street
a dozen powerful fellows were trying to pull a
lagging dragoon off his horse. The man fired,
and shot one of the rascals dead. In St.
Augustine's Back about a dozen of the leading
pelters were wounded. The soldiers charged
several times, rode up the steps of the Grammar
School, and leaped over the railings in College-
green, wounding four or five persons. A party
of reformers then went down the Boar's Head
yard to attack the cavalry stables, but the
sentinel fired a carbine over their heads, and they
dispersed. Colonel Brereton instantly rode round
to the mob, and told them he should reprimand
the officer who had fired, and send the troop
out of the city, upon which the people cheered.
The 14th left the city for Keynsham almost
immediately, and Colonel Brereton told the mob
the fact in the square, to their great delight. The
city was now at the mercy of the Destructives,
and they knew it. They tore down the mayor's
proclamation, and forced the head of the Tory
bill-sticker into his own kettle. The
magistrates were still vainly trying to stem the tide.
They sent letters and messengers to all the
churches and chapels, summoning citizens to
the Guildhall. About a hundred and fifty
gentlemen met at the Council House, and offered
to be on duty all night, but only on condition
of being supported by the troops. To the
horror and alarm of the Tory citizens, one of the
rioters in Queen-square had already clambered on
the fine equestrian statue of William the Third,
and fixing a tricolour cap on a long pole,
shouted: "The Cap of Liberty!" But worse
things than this mere aping of France were
coming.

About one o'clock, a mob assembled in Old
Market-street, urged on, it was supposed, by
some ringleaders recently arrived, and rolled
back towards the town. The cry was: "To the
Bridewell!" In Nelson-street they halted, and
broke open a smith's shop, and carried off
several sledge-hammers and crowbars.