twenty-two o'clock
Up to yesterday evening our anxiety with regard to the Eastern crisis continued ; and when twenty-one o'clock struck there were not more than forty persons in London -- the English delegates , that is to say -- who knew positively that the danger was over . Between that moment and half-an-hour later the Government took a few discreet steps : a select number of persons were informed ; the police were called out , with half-a-dozen regiments , to preserve order ; Paul 's House was cleared ; the railroad companies were warned ; and at the half hour precisely the announcement was made by means of the electric placards in every quarter of London , as well as in all large provincial towns . We have not space now to adequately describe the admirable manner in which the public authorities did their duty ; it is enough to say that not more than seventy fatalities took place in the whole of London ; nor is it our business to criticise the action of the Government , in choosing this mode of making the announcement . `` By twenty-two o'clock Paul 's House was filled in every corner , the Old Choir was reserved for members of Parliament and public officials , the quarter-dome galleries were filled with ladies , and to the rest of the floor the public was freely admitted . The volor-police also inform us now that for about the distance of one mile in every direction round this centre every thoroughfare was blocked with pedestrians , and , two hours later , as we all know , practically all the main streets of the whole of London were in the same condition . `` It was an excellent choice by which Mr. OLIVER BRAND was selected as the first speaker . His arm was still in bandages ; and the appeal of his figure as well as his passionate words struck the first explicit note of the evening .