ABSTRACT
In the second half of the eighteenth century, as in the first, it was the food riot, or 'grain riot', that remained the quintessential vehicle of popular protest. In December 1688, Sir John Reresby took note, the mob did not 'forbear the very chapels and houses of ambassadors and other public ministers'; the Spanish ambassador, for one, claimed to have lost £100,000 in plate and possessions, including a superb library. In every notable outburst of rioting in the capital either religious or political passions, or both, were in some degree involved. An undertow of economic unrest is often detectable, however, and on some occasions, as in the riots against the employment of cheap Irish labour in 1736, and above all in the disorders of 1768 already alluded to, such unrest could be a powerful force. Late Stuart and Hanoverian Britain offer a variety of outlets for the non-violent emission of popular steam, and in particular of political emotions.
