about five o'clock
In this they seldom succeeded : for the person so urged was usually compelled to tear himself from them by superior strength . `` The pedlars and basket-women , and such as had tables and standings erected in the streets , commenced removing them with all possible haste . The shopkeepers , and other inhabitants of the town , put up their shutters , in order to secure their windows from being shattered . Strangers , who were compelled to stop in town that night , took shelter in the inns and other houses of entertainment where they lodged : so that about five o'clock the street was completely clear , and free for action . `` Hitherto there was not a stroke -- the scene became even more silent and gloomy , although the moral darkness of their ill-suppressed passions was strongly contrasted with the splendor of the sun , that poured down a tide of golden light upon the multitude . This contrast between the natural brightness of the evening , and the internal gloom of their hearts , as the beams of the sun rested upon the ever-moving crowd , would , to any man who knew the impetus with which the spirit of religious hatred was soon to rage among them , produce novel and singular sensations . For , after all Toby , there is a mysterious connection between natural and moral things , which often invest both nature and sentiment with a feeling that certainly would not come home to our hearts if such a connection did not exist .