his musket; and the word "Fire!" being given by Preston, he stepped a little on one side, and shot Attucks, who at the time was quietly leaning on a long stick. The people immediately began to move off. "Don't fire!" said Langford, the watchman, to Kilroi, looking him full in the face; but yet he did so, and Samuel Gray, who was standing next Langford, with his hands in his bosom, fell lifeless. The rest fired slowly and in succession on the people, who were dispersing. One aimed deliberately at a boy, who was running in a zigzag line for safety. Montgomery then pushed at Palmes to stab him; on which, the latter knocked his gun out of his hand, and levelling a blow at him. hit Preston. Three persons were killed, among them Attucks the mulatto; eight were wounded, two of them mortally. Of all the eleven, not more than one had had any share in the disturbance. 1770. March. So infuriated were the soldiers that, when the men returned to take up the dead, they prepared to fire again, but were checked by Preston, while the twenty-ninth regiment appeared under arms in King Street. "This is our time," cried soldiers of the fourteenth; and dogs were never seen more greedy for their prey. The bells rung in all the churches; the town drums beat. "To arms! to arms!" was the cry. All the sons of Boston came forth, nearly distracted by the sight of the dead bodies, and of the blood, which ran plentifully in the street, and was imprinted in all directions by foot-tracks on the snow. "Our hearts," says Warren, "beat to arms, almost resolved by one stroke to avenge the death of our slaughtered brethren;" but they stood self-possessed, demanding justice according to the law. "Did you not know that you should not have fired without the order of a civil magistrate?" asked Hutchinson, on meeting Preston. "I did it," answered Preston, "to save my men." The people would not be pacified or retire till the regiment was confined to the guard-room and the barracks; and Hutchinson himself gave assurances that instant inquiries should be made by the county magistrates. One hundred persons remained to keep watch on the examina tion, which lasted till three hours after midnight. A warrant was issued against Preston, who surrendered himself to the sheriff; and the soldiers of his party were delivered up and committed to prison. The next morning, the selectmen of the town and the justices of the county spoke with Hutchinson at the council chamber. "The inhabitants," said the former, "will presently meet, and cannot be appeased while the troops are among them." Quincy, of Braintree, on behalf of the justices, pointed out the danger of "the most terrible consequences." "I have no power to remove the troops," said Hutchinson, "nor to direct where they shall be placed;" but Dalrymple and Carr, the commanding officers, attended, on his invitation,.in council, and the subject was "largely discussed." At eleven, the town-meeting was opened in Faneuil Hall with prayer by Cooper; then Samuel Adams and fourteen others, among them Hancock and Molineux, were chosen to proceed to the council chamber, where in the name of the town they delivered this message: "The inhabitants and soldiery can no longer live together in safety; nothing can restore peace and prevent further carnage but the immediate removal of the troops." 1770. Hutchinson desired to parley with them. "The people," they answered, "not only in this town, but in all the neighboring towns, are determined that the troops shall be removed." “An attack on the king's troops," March. replied Hutchinson, "would be high treason, and every man concerned would forfeit his life and estate." The committee, unmoved, recalled his attention to their peremptory demand, and withdrew. My readers will remember that the instructions from the king, which placed the army above the civil power in America, contained a clause that, where there was no officer of the rank of brigadier, the governor of the colony or province might give the word. Dalrymple accordingly offered to obey the lieutenant-governor, who, on his part, neither dared to bid the troops remain nor order their withdrawal. So the opinion which had been expressed by Bernard during 1770. March. the last summer, and at the time had been approved by Dalrymple, was called to mind as the rule for the occasion. The lieutenant-governor acquainted the town's committee that the twenty-ninth regiment, which was particularly concerned in the late differences, should without delay be placed at the castle, and the fourteenth only be retained in town under efficient restraint. Saying this, he adjourned the council to the afternoon. As Faneuil Hall could not hold the throng from the surrounding country, the town had adjourned to the Old South meeting-house. The street between the state house and that church was filled with people. "Make way for the committee!" was the shout of the multitude, as Adams came out from the council chamber, and baring his head, which was already becoming gray, moved through their ranks, inspiring confidence. To the people who crowded even the gallery and aisles of the spacious meeting-house, he made his report, and pronounced the answer insufficient. On ordinary occasions he seemed like ordinary men; but, in moments of crisis, he rose naturally and unaffectedly to the highest dignity, and spoke as if the hopes of humanity hung on his words. The town, after deliberation, raised a new and smaller committee, composed of Samuel Adams, Hancock, Molineux, William Phillips, Warren, Henshaw, and Pemberton, to bear their final message. They found the lieutenant-governor surrounded by the council and by the highest officers of the British army and navy on the station. Hutchinson had done all he could to get Samuel Adams shipped to England as a traitor; at this most important moment in their lives, the patriot and the courtier stood face to face. "It is the unanimous opinion of the meeting," said Samuel Adams to him, in the name of all, "that the reply made to the vote of the inhabitants in the morning is unsatisfactory; nothing less will satisfy than a total and immediate removal of all the troops." "The troops are not subject to my authority," repeated Hutchinson; "I have no power to remove them." Stretching forth his arm, which slightly shook as if "his frame trembled at the "at 1770. March. energy of his soul," in tones not loud, but clear and distinctly audible, Adams rejoined: "If you have power to remove one regiment, you have power to remove both. It is at your peril if you do not. The meeting is composed of three thousand people. They are become very impatient. A thousand men are already arrived from the neighborhood, and the country is in general motion. Night is approaching; an immediate answer is expected." As he spoke, he gazed intently on his irresolute adversary. "Then," said Adams, who not long afterwards described the scene, the appearance of the determined citizens, peremptorily demanding the redress of grievances, I observed his knees to tremble; I saw his face grow pale; and I enjoyed the sight." As the committee left the council chamber, Hutchinson's memory was going back in his reverie to the days of the Revolution of 1688. He saw, in his mind, Andros seized and imprisoned, and the people instituting a new government; he reflected that the citizens of Boston and the country about it were become four times as numerous as in those days, and their "spirit full as high.” He fancied them insurgent, and himself their captive; and he turned to the council for advice. "It is not such people as formerly pulled down your house, who conduct the present measures," said Tyler; "but they are people of the best characters among us, men of estates, and men of religion. It is impossible for the troops to remain in town; there will be ten thousand men to effect their removal, be the consequence what it may." Russell, of Charlestown, and Dexter, of Dedham, a man of superior ability, confirmed what was said. They spoke truly men were ready to come from the hills of Worcester county and from the vale of the Connecticut. The council unanimously advised sending the troops to the castle forthwith. "It is impossible for me," said Dalrymple again and again, weakening the force of what he said by frequently repeating it, "to go any further lengths in this matter. The information given of the intended rebellion is a sufficient reason against the removal of his majesty's forces." "You have asked the advice of the council," said Gray to the lieutenant-governor; "they have given it unanimously; you are bound to conform to it." "If mischief should come, by means of your not joining with us," pursued Irving, "the whole blame must fall upon you; but if you join with us, and the commanding officer after that should refuse to remove the troops, the blame will then be at his door." Hutchinson finally agreed with the council, and Dalrymple assured him of his obedience. The town's committee, being informed of this decision, left the state March. house to make their welcome report to the meeting. 1770. The inhabitants listened with the highest satisfaction; but, ever vigilant, they provided measures for keeping up a strong military watch of their own, until the regiments should leave the town. It was a humiliation to the officers and soldiers to witness the public funeral of the victims of the fifth of March; but they complained most of the watch set over them. The colonel of the town militia had, however, taken good legal advice, and showed the old province law under which he acted; and the justices of the peace in their turns attended every night during its continuance. The British officers gnashed their teeth at the contempt into which they had been brought. The troops came to overawe the people, and maintain the laws; and they were sent as law-breakers to a prison rather than to a garrison. "There," said Edmund Burke, "was an end of the spirited way we took, when the question was whether Great Britain should or should not govern America." |