The mob showed no inclination to blood, except in the case of Jeffreys; and the hatred which that bad man inspired had more affinity with humanity than with cruelty.

[583] Many years later Hugh Speke affirmed that the Irish Night was his work, that he had prompted the rustics who raised London, and that he was the author of the letters which had spread dismay through the country.

His assertion is not intrinsically improbable: but it rests on no evidence except his own word.

He was a man quite capable of committing such a villany, and quite capable also of falsely boasting that he had committed it.

[584] At London William was impatiently expected: for it was not doubted that his vigour and ability would speedily restore order and security.