Chapter 37 - Page 2

resistance of they knew not what, they knew not why;a€"then the mania spread indeed, and the body, still increasing every day, grew forty thousand strong.

So said, at least, in this month of March, 1780, Lord George Gordon, the Associationa€™s president. Whether it was the fact or otherwise, few men knew or cared to ascertain. It had never made any public demonstration; had scarcely ever been heard of, save through him; had never been seen; and was supposed by many to be the mere creature of his disordered brain. He was accustomed to talk largely about numbers of mena€"stimulated, as it was inferred, by certain successful disturbances, arising out of the same subject, which had occurred in Scotland in the previous year; was looked upon as a cracked-brained member of the lower house, who attacked all parties and sided with none, and was very little regarded. It was known that there was discontent abroada€"there always is; he had been accustomed to address the people by placard, speech, and pamphlet, upon other questions; nothing had come, in England, of his past exertions, and nothing was apprehended from his present. Just as he has come upon the reader, he had come, from time to time, upon the public, and been forgotten in a day; as suddenly as he appears in these pages, after a blank of five long years, did he and his proceedings begin to force themselves, about this period, upon the notice of thousands of people, who had mingled in active life during the whole interval, and who, without being deaf or blind to passing events, had scarcely ever thought of him before.

a€˜My lord,a€™ said Gashford in his ear, as he drew the curtains of his bed betimes; a€˜my lord!a€™

a€˜Yesa€"whoa€™s that? What is it?a€™

a€˜The clock has struck nine,a€™ returned the secretary, with meekly folded hands. a€˜You have slept well? I hope you have slept well? If my prayers are heard, you are refreshed indeed.a€™

a€˜To say the truth, I have slept so soundly,a€™ said Lord George, rubbing his eyes and looking round the room, a€˜that I dona€™t remember quitea€"what place is this?a€™

a€˜My lord!a€™ cried Gashford, with a smile.

a€˜Oh!a€™ returned his superior. a€˜Yes. Youa€™re not a Jew then?a€™

a€˜A Jew!a€™ exclaimed the pious secretary, recoiling.

a€˜I dreamed that we were Jews, Gashford. You and Ia€"both of usa€" Jews with long beards.a€™

a€˜Heaven forbid, my lord! We might as well be Papists.a€™

a€˜I suppose we might,a€™ returned the other, very quickly. a€˜Eh? You really