Star.
London, England, 1816-12-03 00:00:00

*Ors. ?Iv THE ME.TROPOLIg.
• •-•
tie City of London has not for many yea, CS-
bibited such a scene of tumult as that which took
place yesterday.- Tbp first symptom; of riorappead-
,cl a little aftor the execution of the four unfortunate
men at the Old Bliley, when between two and three
hundred of the refuse of the crowd gathered tegether,
and italloned,--o Now for Spa-fields !" ,They went
.'nil in a body towards Smithfield, and increased as
IlTy went along. They were joined by another mob
that came from towards Finsburpsquare, with a cart
:full of men, and carrying two large white flags; with
red letters—" Be not afraid of the Soldiers, for the
Soldiers are our Brothers." They went along Si.
Johinstreet, and arrived in Spa-fields about twelve
o'clock ; the fields at this time had the appearance of
a fair, covered with people, and stalls for the. sale of
fruit, gingerbread. &c. The Loan MAYOR, as on
the former day of meeting arSpa-fields, took every
precaution for the purpose of preset ving the public
peace The Police and other Magistrates were all
at their posts. A great number of extra Constables
were sworn in in all the Police Offices, and the Ma-
eistrates were stationed as follows :—Sir Nathaniel
Conant, Mr. Turton, Mr. Sellon, Mr. Baker. and
Mr. Gifford, in Cold Bath-fields; Mr. Cotterell in
the House of Correction, to receive charges against
any prisoners who might be brought in, it being im-
mediately in the neighbourhood of Spa-fields. Mr.
Itainstord and Mr. Leach sat at Hattotogarden Of-
fice, to take charges and regulate the l'olice. `l'he
Civil Power, both in Wvatmioster and the Cite, mus-
tered in its greatest strength, and the military at their
stations in town, and in the suburbs, were all in rea-
diness-to act at a moment's notice.
While the mob were assembling in Spa-
another as numerous, about 200 of whom had the
appearanie of seamen of the lowest class, armed with
bludgeons, sticks, &c. made its appearance at Snow-
with a man in the van, carrying a tri.coloured
flag, inscribed " Protect the Oppressed ;" In Skin-
ner-street they made a halt opposite the shop of Mr.
Beckwith, a gnu maker ; they demanded the arms
from the shopmen, which were rOused. The mob
said they were determined to have some of them : at
that moment a quantity of embers and dirt was
thrown upon the heads of the mob, which so irritated
them that they forced themselves into the shop to
seize some guns. A pistol was then fired by some
person who was in the shop, which entered tke groin
of a man who was outside the door ; the young man
was coned away, and a general attack was made
upon the windows v. ith the but ends of guns which
they had taken, the frames were demolished in a few
seconds, and the shop rifled of all the arms, guns and
pistols. The mob, with some ammunition winch they
took from another shop, loaded their arms and fired
them. The young man wounded was Mr. Platt of
Cateaton-street : he was casually visiting Mr. Beek-
. with's shop. The assassin was immediately taken
into custody, but almost instantly rescued by the
rest of the banditti, when he had the assurance

to take an elegant case of pistols out of a case
that was on the counter, which he loaded on the
spot, and marched elf in triumph. The mob also
took away about forty fowling pieces, and seve-
ral cases of pistols, besides powder, shot, and
ball. Mr. Platt was carried to St. Bartholomew's
Hospital, and the ball was extracted, which lodged
in the thigh, near the groin, and we ate happy to
learn that there are great hopes of his recovery. The
mob then proceeded up Newgate-street, well armed
with guns and pistols • here they attacked a large
bacon shop, demolished several panes of glass, took
some bacon, butter, and cheese, and wounded a boy
in the face with shot, which they fired out of the
shop. Having passed througit Citeapside, they pro.
ceeded to the Bank, which they surrounded, and fired
several shots.
The Police, who had mustered in great strength,
interfered, and disarmed them of several muskets.
The gates of the Datlic being immediately closed,
they proceeded to the Royal Exchange, which a party
of them entered with their flag-bearer. All the gates,
except one, had been previously closed, and this also
warinstantly shut, separating the party that had en-
tered from the main b.icly without. They had pre:.
viously filed upon a police officer at the back of the
'Change, and the gilts burst. The party locked in
were secured, and conveyed to the Mansion House.
The main body on the outside followed their friends
to the Mansion House, shooting and huzzaing. The
number locked into the Exchange was about 400.
Of these about 100 Were detained. All that could
give a good account of themselves were liberated—
the leader only—Waken, and two others, were kept
in custody.
The party that was taken at the Exchange being
locked up, the remainder dispersed, but assembled
again, and proceeded to the Minories, where they
entered the shop of several gun-smiths, and of others,
in the immediate vicinity of the Tower. A consider-
able number of arms were taken from tl.e shops of
Messrs. Brandon and Co. and Mr. Rae, the latter of
whom, it was stated, had been severely wounded,
in consequence of his refusal to surrender the powder
in his possession. Dining the proceeding, several
discharges of fire-arms took place, but without doing
mischief, supposed for the purpose of trying the
guns, or exciting alarm. This was the limit of their
excursion eastward—On their return to the 'west-
ward, the Horse Guards, which had been sent for by
the Lord Mayor, arrived, and dispersed them.—
, Among other arms they were dragging along, were
two pieces Of brass ordnance, which they deserted,
and a great quantity of small arms were thrown down.
About one o'clock, the report of these outrages
had spread all over the town, and excited univetsal
consternation and alarm. The shops in Cheapside,
Fleet street, and other main streets in the City, were
shut : business was entirely at a stand, and the people
were seen running in every direction, to learn what
was going forward. Regular
,gangs of thieves were
observable with !the mob. Mr. Thwaites, of Wood.
street, was hustled by a gang of villaini at the end
of Fleet Market; he was thrown down, abd robbed
of a silver watch and some silver, together with his
pocket-book, which was fortunately empty. He sus-
4ained much injury in being trampled upon. A
country farmer had one side of his coat cut away by
some thieves, in Newgate-street, its which was his
pocket, containing his book, with 480 in notes. This
happened at the time the mob who ransacked the
ilussmith's slide, were passing. Two fellows of bad
character acre seized with the ping- of the coat by