Sentence:  “Two or three months more went by ; the <WSD>public</WSD> were eagerly awaiting the arrival of this semi-exotic claimant to an English peerage, and sensations, surpassing those of the Tichbourne case, were looked forward to with palpitating interest. ...” 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The people in general, regardless of membership of any particular group.