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I don't know (without digging out notes I made as an undergrad) what the rioters were chanting etc (if that's any clue as to what they were fearful of/told to be fearful of anyway!). I imagine the advent of the Inquisition is quite a specific fear though and I'm not sure it really answers what they were getting at.
The issue (beyond mere religious bigotry) was supposedly more a general idea that armed Catholics might, given any opportunity, side with France and Spain, against whom Britain was fighting at the time (to say nothing of rebellious colonials across the Atlantic).
But it's also worth remembering that while the tone of the riots was anti-Catholic, the actions of the mob suggest it was more an expression of grievances related to poverty and social/political inequality; some Catholic chapels were sacked but the actual targets broadly seemed to be the well-to-do, Catholic or not - as well as foreign embassies.
I'd perhaps argue were I writing an essay based on the question (!) that while the mob [i]sounded[/i] as though they were expressing fear of the Inquisition (ie Roman Catholicism), it was actually fear/hatred of Spain (and France) itself.
Anti-catholicism in Britain has always, of course, been more about politics and nationalism than about religious differences, from Henry VIII onwards. (On which topic, read Linda Colley's "Britons: forging the nation").
The main beneficiary of the riots were the Thirteen Colonies, of course, because Britain was trying to persuade Spain to drop its support for the Americans, which after the riots Spain refused to do for fear (so 'twas claimed) of causing even more disorder.
The issue (beyond mere religious bigotry) was supposedly more a general idea that armed Catholics might, given any opportunity, side with France and Spain, against whom Britain was fighting at the time (to say nothing of rebellious colonials across the Atlantic).
But it's also worth remembering that while the tone of the riots was anti-Catholic, the actions of the mob suggest it was more an expression of grievances related to poverty and social/political inequality; some Catholic chapels were sacked but the actual targets broadly seemed to be the well-to-do, Catholic or not - as well as foreign embassies.
I'd perhaps argue were I writing an essay based on the question (!) that while the mob [i]sounded[/i] as though they were expressing fear of the Inquisition (ie Roman Catholicism), it was actually fear/hatred of Spain (and France) itself.
Anti-catholicism in Britain has always, of course, been more about politics and nationalism than about religious differences, from Henry VIII onwards. (On which topic, read Linda Colley's "Britons: forging the nation").
The main beneficiary of the riots were the Thirteen Colonies, of course, because Britain was trying to persuade Spain to drop its support for the Americans, which after the riots Spain refused to do for fear (so 'twas claimed) of causing even more disorder.