Excerpt from The History of the United States of America, Vol. 2: With a Continuation, Including the Presidencies of Pierce and Buchanan Georgetown, in the district of Columbia, gave shelter to the fugitive editor of The Federal Republican; and there he continued to print, and thence to issue his newspaper; until, partly for the purpose of effecting (if possible) its re-establishment in Baltimore, but principally that he might more em phatically protest against that violent infringement of his liberty - both personal and political - he obtained the use of a house as a place of publication there; but still printing the journal at Georgetown. Having ascertained that the constituted guardians of order, and protectors of the liberties of the citizens, either because they were overawed by the mob, or because they shared their madness, would not defend him, Hanson con verted his house into a fortress, and prepared for a siege in the same manner as we have seen the holders of many a blockhouse in the forest wilderness of the remote West preparing, when the scouts had discovered that there were Indians near. He was assisted by Generals Henry Lee and Lingan, the former not an undistinguished person in the country, for he had been governor of Virginia; and of unimpeachable patriotism, for he had fought bravely against the British in the revolutionary war. Lingan had fought in the same war; and Lee has for us the additional recommendation of having been a close friend of Washington.\ They, with others, joined Hanson, resolved to defend his house to the last, if it should be assaulted; and we can only regret that, since such was their temper, and such the circumstances of peril they were placed in, the house was not surrounded by a sufficient stockade, as well as occupied by gallant men. It was the 27th of July, and in the evening the mob appeared before the office of Hanson's paper, and, as it seems, without parley, commenced an attack upon it with stones. Disregarding a warning from the garrison to depart, the besiegers continued, until they had forced open the door, when they were fired upon, and one of their number fell dead, many others being badly wounded, of whom one died afterwards. Beaten back thus, the mob sent for a cannon and meanwhile, the city authorities, with undoubted civic bravery and despatch, besides those less venerable qualities before alluded to, had sent out a troop of the mounted militia, to make a show, at least, of acting in the name of the law. The commander of this rather questionable force did, by his persuasive oratory, prevail upon the rioters not to use their gun; but instead of dispersing them, they exhorted the beleaguered editor and his little band to surrender themselves, and be conducted to the prison, as a place of refuge and safety. They, receiving the assurance of the chief magistrate of the city that they should be protected, and being, moreover, both wearied and wounded by the assault, unwisely yielded to the summons. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.