midnight
They passed them on the road , browsing on the stunted grass ; and the driver told them , that the poor beasts had wandered to the village first , but had been driven away , lest they should bring the vengeance of the crowd on any of the inhabitants . Nor was this feeling confined to such small places , where the people were timid , ignorant , and unprotected . When they came near London they met , in the grey light of morning , more than one poor Catholic family who , terrified by the threats and warnings of their neighbours , were quitting the city on foot , and who told them they could hire no cart or horse for the removal of their goods , and had been compelled to leave them behind , at the mercy of the crowd . Near Mile End they passed a house , the master of which , a Catholic gentleman of small means , having hired a waggon to remove his furniture by midnight , had had it all brought down into the street , to wait the vehicle 's arrival , and save time in the packing . But the man with whom he made the bargain , alarmed by the fires that night , and by the sight of the rioters passing his door , had refused to keep it : and the poor gentleman , with his wife and servant and their little children , were sitting trembling among their goods in the open street , dreading the arrival of day and not knowing where to turn or what to do . It was the same , they heard , with the public conveyances . The panic was so great that the mails and stage-coaches were afraid to carry passengers who professed the obnoxious religion .