and posts,
being, in many cases, razed to the ground; in some trusts not a single
gate was left standing. In Pembrokeshire, and in one of the divisions of
Cardiganshire, the destruction was carried on in the same wholesale
manner. The trustees, at first, re-erected the gates which had been
broken down, but they were again as speedily demolished by the rioters;
again they were rebuilt, and again they were levelled with the ground.
The trustees were, at length, compelled to desist, and the roads were
left free of toll. None of these counties, except Glamorgan, possessed a
paid constabulary, or any other force which could be of avail in checking
the proceedings of the rioters; and the magistrates finding all local
efforts unavailing, were obliged to appeal to Government for protection
and support.

One of the boldest steps ventured on by the insurgents, whose confidence
was, of course, much increased by their uninterrupted success, was an
entry, which was made, at midday, into the town of Caermarthen, by a
large body of persons on the 10th of June. About noon, the rioters began
to march into the town, through the Water Street gate, which they had
destroyed some time before. They were headed by a band. The leading
body consisted of some thousands on foot, many of whom were Chartists and
rabble of the town; a large number of women was among the crowd, and men
bearing inflammatory placards. They were followed by a man in disguise,
representing Rebecca; some bearing brooms with which to sweep the
foundations of the tollhouse and the workhouse, and the rear was brought
up by about 300 farmers on horseback. They paraded the town, passing the
Hall and hooting the magistrates, and proceeded to the workhouse, which
they attacked. They climbed over the high wall with which the building
was surrounded, and then burst open the lodge gates and the porter's
door; the horsemen rode into the yard, and surrounded the premises; and
the rioters on foot soon forced an entrance into the building, and
commenced their work of destruction. While the rioters were in the act
of pulling down the inner doors and partitions of the Board Room, and
other parts of the premises, and pitching the beds out of windows, the
governor was ringing the alarm bell; and, in the midst of the tumult,
came the military.

Representations of the excited state of the neighbourhood had been sent
to the Home Office, and a troop of the 4th Light Dragoons had bee