In England,there was scarcely an amount of order and protection to justify much national boasting. Daring burglaries by armed men,and highway robberies,took place in the capital itself every night;families were publicly cautioned not to go out of town without removing their furniture to upholsterers'warehouses for security;the highwayman in the dark was a City tradesman in the light,and,being recognised and challenged by his fellow-tradesman whom he stopped in his character of'the Captain,'gallantly shot him through the head and rode away;the mail was waylaid by seven robbers,and the guard shot three dead,and then got shot dead himself by the other four,'in consequence of the failure of his ammunition':after which the mail was robbed in peace;that magnificent potentate,the Lord Mayor of London,was made to stand and deliver on Turnham Green,by one highwayman,who despoiled the illustrious creature in sight of all his retinue;prisoners in London gaols fought battles with their turnkeys,and the majesty of the law fired blunderbusses in among them,loaded with rounds of shot and ball;thieves snipped off diamond crosses from the necks of noble lords at Court drawing-rooms;musketeers went into St.Giles's,to-->>
