Part 5 — 59. UNDER GEORGE II. PART V.
Reading edition
59. UNDER GEORGE II. PART V.
Lighters: large boats or barges used in unloading ships.
bleaching-grounds: where cloth was laid out to be bleached or whitened by the wind and sun.
hopbines: the stalks of hop plants.
transportation: conveying convicted criminals abroad. Till 1869 convicts were sent to Australia; now they are kept in convict prisons at home.
classification: dividing and arranging into classes.
embezzle: to steal something entrusted to one's care.
press-gang: a party of sailors under an officer who forcibly took men to serve in the Royal Navy.
anarchy: absence of rule, disorder.
Gordon Riots: in 1780, led by the fanatic Lord George Gordon. The mob raised the cry of 'No Popery' on account of a law then proposing to remove hardships from Roman Catholics. Riot and plunder were the real object of the mob. The disorder had to be suppressed by military force.
Police: organised in 1829 by Sir Robert Peel, after whom the members of the force were called 'bobbies' and 'peelers.'