[26] seeks to whelm the adventurous bark beneath its mountain waves—so did the mob, enraged by a series of disappointments, rush like a whirlwind upon the frail vehicle in which I sat, and endeavor to drag me out of it. Escape seemed a physical impossibility. They clung to the wheels—dashed open the doors—seized hold of the horses—and tried to upset the carriage.1 They were, however, vigorously repulsed by the police—a constable sprang in by my side—the doors were closed—and the driver, lustily using his whip upon the bodies of his horses and the heads of the rioters, happily made an opening through the crowd, and drove at a tremendous speed for Leverett Street. But many of the rioters followed even with superior swiftness, and repeatedly attempted to arrest the progress of the horses.2 To reach the jail by a direct course
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1 An anonymous reminiscent in the Boston Commonwealth of Oct. 23, 1880, a boy-witness, says: ‘The foremost threw a rope—probably the same that had done duty before in the affair—over the coach-body, with the evident intent of overturning the vehicle. For a moment or less it seemed as though they would succeed, for, by pulling on the line outwardly, they lifted the coach from its perpendicular so that it tilted on its off-wheels. I expected to see it go over; but the owner lashed his horses, and their momentum was too great for those holding the rope.’ Col. J. W. Sever testifies: ‘We found the constables in the act of putting Mr. Garrison in a carriage, and the crowd rapidly increasing, and endeavoring to prevent it; some trying to overturn the carriage, large numbers hanging on to the wheels and calling out to “Cut the traces! cut the reins!” An individual drew his knife and made an attempt to do this, when he was seized by myself and thrust aside. The driver effectually applied his whip, and with difficulty succeeded in breaking away, when he drove rapidly up Court Street to the jail, followed by the mob’ ( “ Garrison Mob,” p. 45). So E. N. Moore, as already so often quoted.
2 James N. Buffum, of Lynn, was sitting in his buggy on Court Street as the struggling carriage approached. The horses drew off to the side nearest the buggy, ‘and, in doing so, the hubs of the two vehicles came so close together as to brush off the rioters from one side. This relief enabled the horses to get a headway, and they went off at a gallop’ (Woman's Journal, Oct. 26, 1878, p. 340).
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