The mayor went up to London in a fury, and told the king that the Dissenters were all knaves and rebels, and that in the whole corporation the government could not reckon on more than four votes.

[339] At Reading twenty-four Tory aldermen were dismissed.

Twenty-four new aldermen were appointed.

Twenty-three of these immediately declared against the Indulgence, and were dismissed in their turn.

[340] In the course of a few days the borough of Yarmouth was governed by three different sets of magistrates, all equally hostile to the court.