conflict was going on at the Bank, between the soldiery and the rioters, we determined, if possible, to reach that spot. We accordingly proceeded through St. Paul's Church-yard towards it, and had advanced without impediment to the Poultry, within about sixty paces of the Mansion House, when our progress was stopped by a sentinel, who acquainted us that the mob had been repulsed in their attempt upon the Bank; but that we could penetrate no further in that direction, as his orders were peremptory, not to suffer the passage of any person. Cheapside, silent and empty, unlike the streets that we had visited, presented neither the appearance of tumult, nor of confusion; though to the east, west and south, all was disorder. This contrast formed not the least striking circumstance of the moment. Prevented thus from approaching any nearer to the Bank, finding the day begin to break, satiated in some measure with the scenes which we had witnessed, and wearied by so long a peregrination, which, from our first alighting near Bloomsbury Square, had all been performed on foot; we resolved to return to the west end of the town. On Ludgate Hill, we were fortunate enough to meet with a hackney-coach, which conveyed us safely back, about four o'clock in the morning.' For their share in the Gordon riots, fifty-nine persons were capitally convicted, of whom twenty were executed, and the rest were transported for life.] * Wraxall's Hist. Memoirs, vol. i. p. 334. " THE REV. DR. WARNER TO GEORGE SELWYN. DEAR SIR, to Barnard's Inn-what remains of it— I WISH much to know the events of this night you and your friend distressful one indeed. : to me it has been a very The staircase, in which my chambers are, is not yet burnt down, but it could not be much worse for me if it were. However, I fear there are many scores of poor creatures in this town, who have this night suffered much more than I have, and with less ability to bear it. Will you give me leave to lodge the shattered remains of my little goods in Cleveland Court for a time? There can be no living here, even if the fire stops immediately, for the whole place is a wreck; but there will be time enough to think of this. But there is a circumstance which distresses me more than anything: I have lost my maid, who was a very worthy creature, and I am sure would never have deserted me in such a situation by her own will; and what can have become of her, is horrible to think! I fervently hope that you and yours are free from every distress. 5 o'clock. The fire they say is stopped, but what a rueful scene has it left behind! Sunt lachrymæ rerum, indeed; the sentence that struck me upon picking up a page of Lord Mansfield's Virgil yesterday, in Bloomsbury Square. Sortes Virgiliana! 6 o'clock. The fire I believe is really stopped, though only at the next door to me. But no maid appears! When I shall overcome the horror of the night and its consequences, I cannot guess. But I know, if you can send me word that things go well with you, that they will be less bad with me. To George Selwyn, Esq., Chesterfield Street, May Fair. [By the "Sortes Virgiliana," referred to in this letter, Dr. Warner means the well-known conceit of opening the leaves of a Virgil, and from the lines on which the eye first falls, gleaning a fanciful prognostication of future events. The conceit is probably one of great antiquity, and in the famous instance of Charles the First and Lord Falkland, proved singularly prophetic of future events. Charles and his faithful servant were one day lounging in the Bodleian Library, at Oxford, when a scarce copy of Virgil was brought for the inspection of the unfortunate monarch. Lord Falkland proposed to him to try his fortune by the Sortes Virgiliana; to which the King assented, and on opening the volume, strangely and ominously enough, his eye fell on the fine imprecation which Dido pours forth against Eneas: At bello audacis populi vexatus et armis, Tradiderit, regno aut optatâ luce fruatur ; Sed cadat ante diem, mediâque inhumatus arenâ. Yet let a race untamed, and haughty foes, Dryden's Transl. Lord Falkland, it is said, observing by the expression of the King's countenance, that he was concerned at the circumstance, and imagining that, should he himself open the book, he might fall on some indifferent passage, which would naturally rob the preceding incident of its importance, instantly proposed to try his own fortune. The lines which he chanced to select were still more applicable to his future fate. It was the beautiful lament of Evander at the untimely death of his son Pallas : Non hæc, O Palla, dederas promissa parenti: Haud ignarus eram, quantum nova gloria in armis, Dura rudimenta. Eneid, lib. 11, v. 152. DOWAGER COUNTESS OF CARLISLE. O Pallas! thou hast failed thy plighted word, 337 Dryden's Transl.] ISABELLA, DOWAGER COUNTESS OF CARLISLE, TO GEORGE SELWYN. Coligny, 13 July. SIR, I BEGGED Lady Julia to tell you that I meant very soon to trouble you with a letter, and was sorry and ashamed to think how much longer than usual I had been in acknowledging yours. For this neglect, having lived very much alone, I cannot allege want of time, but want of power, as well as want of materials. The weather for some time has been hot to such an excess, and of so dispiriting a nature, that I have not been able to write, read, or even think, as I used to do. Finding the heat last year, though very great, yet not disagreeable, I could never have imagined its influence could have been so different in this climate, and I very heartily repent having quitted VOL. IV. Y |