Gordon Riots worn inside the bank. From that date until 31 March 1973 the detachment became more functional than ceremonial, doing their duties in service dress with automatic weapons. Maria Edgeworth's 1817 novel "Harrington" contains a vivid evocation of the Gordon Riots, with two characters readers would find unsympathetic taken for Papists and finding refuge in the home of the rich Spanish Jew, the father of the young Jewish woman at the centre of the love story. Charles Dickens' 1841 novel "Barnaby Rudge" depicts the Gordon Riots and features Lord George in a prominent role. John Creasey's 1974 novel "The Masters of
Charles Dickens Words" earlier on 3 April 1852 was considered by the hospital's founders to have been the catalyst for the hospital's success. Dickens, whose philanthropy was well-known, was asked by his friend, the hospital's founder Charles West, to preside over the appeal, and he threw himself into the task, heart and soul. Dickens's public readings secured sufficient funds for an endowment to put the hospital on a sound financial footing—one reading on 9 February 1858 alone raised £3,000. After separating from Catherine, Dickens undertook a series of hugely popular and remunerative reading tours which, together with his journalism, were to absorb