Social England under the Regency, Vol. 1 (of 2)Ashton, John
History
Social England under the Regency, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Ashton, John
England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century; Regency -- England
On the third and last night of their Saturnalia the outrages
were, perhaps, worse than before. Not only were fire-arms freely
discharged, and fireworks profusely scattered, but _balls of tow,
dipped in turpentine_, were thrown among crowds and into carriages;
horses ran away in affright--carriages were overturned--and many
deplorable accidents ensued in broken limbs and fractured skulls.
Here are a few accidents. In Bow Street, a well-dressed young lady
had her clothes set in a blaze. In the Strand, at one time, three
women were on fire, and one burned through all her clothes, to her
thigh. Likewise in the Strand, a hackney coach, containing two
ladies and two gentlemen, was forced open by the mob, who threw in a
number of fireworks, which, setting fire to the straw at the bottom
of the coach, burned an eye of one of the gentlemen, his coat, and
breeches; one of the ladies had her _pelisse_ burned, and the other
was burned across the breast. In St. Clement's Churchyard, a woman,
of respectable appearance, hearing a blunderbuss suddenly discharged
near her, instantly dropped down, and _expired_.
_Apropos_ of Salamanca, there was a little _jeu d'esprit_ worth
preserving.
"SALAMANCA LOBSTERS.
Though of Soldiers, by some in derision 'tis said,
They are Lobsters, because they are cloathed in red,
Yet the maxim our army admit to be true,
As part of their nature, as well as their hue;
A proof more decisive, the world never saw,
For every man in the Field had '_Eclat_.'"
On the 30th of September, there was a great military function, in
depositing the captured French Eagles in Whitehall Chapel. They were
five in number, two taken at Salamanca, two at Madrid, and one near
Ciudad Rodrigo.
CHAPTER VIII.
Chimney-sweeps -- Climbing boys -- Riot at Bartholomew Fair
-- Duelling -- War with France -- Declaration of war between
England and America -- Excommunication for bearing false witness
-- Early Steam Locomotives -- Margate in 1812 -- Resurrection
men -- Smithfield Cattle Club.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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