dBooks desire

--We
are, INDEMNIFIED."
A riot of an alarming nature followed. The footmen, denied admission
to their own gallery, as they regarded it, assembled in a body of
three hundred, and, armed with offensive weapons, broke into the
theatre, and, taking forcible possession of the stage, wounded some
twenty-five persons who had opposed their entrance. Great confusion
prevailed. The Prince and Princess of Wales and other members of the
Royal Family were in the theatre at the time. Colonel Deveil, justice
of the peace, who was also present, after attempting in vain to read
the Riot Act ("he might as well have read Caesar's 'Commentaries,'"
observed a facetious critic), caused some of the ringleaders to be
arrested, and thirty of them were sent to Newgate. While in prison,
they were supported by the subscriptions of their sympathising
brethren. Meanwhile, anonymous letters were thrown down the areas of
people of fashion, denouncing vengeance against all who attempted to
deprive the footmen of their liberty and property. A further attack
upon the theatre was expected.


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