"Use of the Mobb in politics"

"In this country, as you may know there is a tacit rule, observed by all the Nobility and Quality, Tory and Whig alike, forbidding the use of the Mobb in politics."

"I had no idea" said Princess Caroline, "but then I suppose that is what makes a thing tacit." Her English had gotten better during her weeks in London.

"No doubt, when your royal highness shall reign over a peaceful and contended Britain, the rule shall be observed without fail," Daniel continued, "as it has been now for at least a quarter of a century."

"Except for during Parliamentary elections, of course," put in the Duchess of Arcachon-Qwghlm.

"Naturally," Daniel said, "and the odd church-burning or assassination. But I cannot be certain that it shall be obeyed tonight. On both sides of the Whig-Tory division I have lately seen a worrisome want of discretion. Bolingbroke's position, just now, is at once formidable, and fatally precarious. He is like a man who has scaled most of a stone wall with his fingernails and reached the point where he can just peek over the top, and see a safe place to stand -- even as the dangers of losing his grip and falling to the rocks below has never been greater. Now he will flail about and grasp at anything that might enable him to heave himself to safety. Why should he stick at violating this rule concerning the Mobb, just this once?"

Neal Stephenson: The System of the World, p.529