Rabble
.—an assembly of low-bred, vulgar, and riotous people; otherwise the Swinish Multitude, so called by St. Edmund, because they dare to grunt there grievances even at the foot of the throne. The English rabble, when once roused, are very saucy and unmanageable, but they have the remarkable quality of the most passive forbearance, as it is not a little will disturb their slumbers.
Sincere, plain-hearted, hospitable, kind,
Yet like the mustering thunder when provok’d;
The dread of Tyrants, and the sole resource
Of those that under grim oppression groan.