and which is Miss
Piff, and which is Mrs. Sniff. But you won't get a chance to see Sniff,
because he disappeared that night. Whether he perished, tore to pieces,
I cannot say; but his corkscrew alone remains to bear witness to the
servility of his disposition.

THE BURNING OF NEWGATE

From 'Barnaby Rudge'

During the whole of this day, every regiment in or near the metropolis
was on duty in one or other part of the town; and the regulars and
militia, in obedience to the orders which were sent to every barrack and
station within twenty-four hours' journey, began to pour in by all the
roads. But the disturbances had attained to such a formidable height,
and the rioters had grown with impunity to be so audacious, that the
sight of this great force, continually augmented by new arrivals,
instead of operating as a check, stimulated them to outrages of greater
hardihood than any they had yet committed; and helped to kindle a flame
in London the like of which had never been beheld, even in its ancient
and rebellious times.

All yesterday, and on this day likewise, the commander-in-chief
endeavored to arouse the magistrates to a sense of their duty, and in
particular the Lord Mayor, who was the faintest-hearted and most timid
of them all. With this object, large bodies of the soldiery were several
times dispatched to the Mansion House to await his orders: but as he
could by no threats or persuasions be induced to give any, and as the
men remained in the open street,--fruitlessly for any good purpose, and
thrivingly for a very bad one,--these laudable attempts did harm rather
than good. For the crowd, becoming speedily acquainted with the Lord
Mayor's temper, did not fail to take advantage of it by boasting that
even the civil authorities were opposed to the Papists, and could not
find it in their hearts to molest those who were guilty of no other
offense. These vaunts they took care to make within the hearing of the
soldiers: and they, being naturally loath to quarrel with the people,
received their advances kindly enough; answering, when they were asked
if they desired to fire upon their countrymen, "No, they would be damned
if they did;" and showing much honest simplicity and good-nature. The
feeling that the military were No Popery men, and were ripe for
disobeying orders and joining the mob, soon became very prevalent in
consequence. Rumors of their disaffection, and of their leaning towards
the popular cause,