Felix Holt, Vol. 2

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Excerpt from Felix Holt, Vol. 2: Theophrastus SuchBut the Rector's voice was ringing and pene trating, and when he appeared on the narrow balcony and read the formula, commanding all men to go to their homes or about their lawful business, there was a strong transient effect. Every one within hearing listened, and for a few moments after the final words, God save the King! The comparative silence continued. Then the people began to move, the buzz rose again, and grew, and grew, till it turned to shouts and roaring as before. The movement was that Of a ¿ood hemmed in, it carried nobody away. Whether the crowd would Obey the order to disperse themselves within an hour, was a doubt that approached nearer to a negative certainty.Presently Mr. Crow, who held himself a tac tician, took a well-intentioned step, which went far to fulfil his own prophecy. He had arrived with the magistrates by a back way at the Seven Stars, and here again the Riot Act was read from a window, with much the same result as before. The Rector had returned by the same way to the Marquis, as the headquarters most suited for administration, but Mr. Crow re mained at the other extremity of King Street, where some awe-striking presence was certainly needed. Seeing that the time was passing, and all effect from the voice Of law had disappeared, he showed himself at an upper window, and ad dressed the crowd, telling them that the soldiers had been sent for, and that if they did not dis perse they would have cavalry upon them instead of constables.Mr. Crow, like some other high constables more celebrated in history, enjoyed a bad repu tation, that is to say, he enjoyed many things which caused his reputation to be bad, and he was anything but popular in Treby. It is prob able that a pleasant message would have lost something from his lips, and what he actually said was so unpleasant that, instead of persuad ing the crowd, it appeared to enrage them. Some one, snatching a raw potato from a sack in the greengrocer's shop behind him, threw it at the constable, and hit him on the mouth. Straightway raw potatoes and turnips were ¿y ing by twenties at the windows of the Seven Stars, and the panes were smashed. Felix, who was half -way up the street, heard the voices turn ing to a savage roar, and saw a rush towards the hardware shop, which furnished more effective weapons and missiles than turnips and potatoes. Then a cry ran along that the Tories had sent for the soldiers, and if those among the mob who called themselves Tories as willingly as anything else were disposed to take whatever called itself the Tory side, they only helped the main result Of reckless disorder.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.