Reprinted from the New Hampshire Gazette — May 24, 1771

When an Irish mob are at the height, their method of preventing the military acting against them is singular and very political; they secure the sons of several nobility, and placing them in front, march thus wherever they please, always facing the military.  When the guards are sent home they release these their several hostages, and get others when occasion serves.  This happened in Earl Harrington’s and the Duke of Dorset’s administration.

After various accounts of violent mob actions in Belfast, the various articles conclude with this summary: In short, [these riots] seem to all the rational part of the city to be the last resorts of a disappointed dying faction, who having no real grievance to complain of, or any credit or confidence with the public, are now striving to promote riot and confusion in the city…”