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Manchester arose next day in a state of great ferment. No one exactly knew what was about to occur, but everybody felt something was at hand.
The proclamation made overnight by the bellman, and the studiously guarded answers given by that discreet functionary to the questions put to him, had caused considerable anxiety. No news had been received from Preston -- except the secret express sent to the heads of the Jacobite party -- but a notion prevailed that the prince would make his appearance in the course of the day.