uture occasion. "But, besides the letter of the lord-mayor
elect to the Duke of Wellington," remarked Sir Robert, "information had
been received that an attack was to be made on his house in the course
of the night, when the police were at a distance, under the pretence of
calling for lights to illuminate. Any such attack must be accompanied by
riot; and the attempt to suppress such riot by force, when the streets
were filled with women and children, must be accompanied by consequences
which all of us must lament. That, however, is only one of the causes
which I have for believing in the possibility of such an attempt at riot
taking place. Every one is aware that there exists in the public mind
considerable excitement against those authorities which have been
appointed, under the sanction of the house, to maintain the public
peace--I allude of course to the body which is known by the name of the
new police." In the course of Saturday and Sunday the most industrious
attempts were made in various quarters to inflame the public mind
against the new police. Thousands of printed handbills were circulated
for the purpose of inciting the people against that portion of the
civil force which is entrusted with the preservation of the public
tranquillity. These were not written papers drawn up by illiterate
persons, and casually dropped in the streets, but printed handbills,
not ill adapted to the mischievous purposes which they were intended
to answer. After reading some of these missives, Sir Robert
continued:--"Now, after hearing the inflammatory language of the bills,
I call upon the house to consider how great the likelihood is that,
after the police had returned to their ordinary duties in their
respective portions of the town, a desperate attack would have been made
upon them. If it were made, it would of course be resisted by the civil
force; if the civil force were insufficient to repel it, military aid
would be called in; and then on that night of general festivity and
rejoicing, in the midst of crowds of unsuspecting men, women, and
children, there might be resistance, and if resistance bloodshed,
occasioned by the necessity of supporting civil authorities." In reply,
Mr. Brougham observed that, so far as the statement made did not proceed
on the unpopularity of the Duke of Wellington, it amounted simply to
this--that it was a bad thing to have a large assembly on the 9th of
November; and for this reason, that though nine