for very life. It was the night of the great Bull Ring
riots of 1839.

When I arose the next morning I saw a man on horseback come rapidly to
the house, his features wild with excitement, and his face pale with
terror. His horse was covered with foam, and trembled violently. From
the man's quivering lips I learned, by degrees, an incoherent story,
which accounted for His strange demeanour. He was a servant at the
inn, and had been to Birmingham that morning, early, to fetch from
Mr. Keirle's shop, in Bull Street, a salmon for the coming dinner.
On arriving at the town, he had been stopped at a barrier by some
dragoons, who told him that he could go no further. Upon the poor
fellow telling how urgent was his errand, and what a heavy blow it
would be to society if the dinner at "The Swan" should be short of
fish, he was allowed to pass, but was escorted by a dragoon, with
drawn sword, to the shop. Here having obtained what he sought, he was
duly marched back to the barrier and set at liberty, upon which he
started off in mortal terror, and galloped all the way home, to tell
us with tremulous tongue that Birmingham was all on fire, and that
hundreds of people had been killed by the soldiers.

A small group had gathered round him in the yard to listen to his
incoherent, and, happily, exaggerated story. In a minute or two the
landlady, who had in some remote part of the premises heard a word or
two of the news the man had brought, came rushing out in a state of
frantic terror, prepared evidently for the worst; but when she heard
that James _had_ brought the salmon, her face assumed an air of
satisfaction, and with a pious "Thank God! that's all right," she
turned away; her mind tranquil, contented, and at perfect ease.

After the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832, there was a political
lull in England for a few years. The middle classes, being satisfied
with the success they had achieved for themselves, did not trouble
themselves very much for the extension of the franchise to the working
classes. So long as trade remained good, and wages were easily earned,
the masses remained quiet; but the disastrous panic of 1837 altered
the aspect of affairs. Trade was very much depressed. A series of bad
harvests having occurred, and the Corn Laws not having been repealed,
bread became dear, and so aggravated the sufferings of the people.
Wages fell; manufactories in many places were entirely closed, and
work became scarce. Natural