Norwich bulletin., 1921-05-11
ODD INCIDENTS IN AMERICAN
 HISTORY
TRIAL
BOSTON
FOLLOWING
 MASSACRE.

The Boston massacre, practically the first bloodshed that led to the Revolu- tionary war. occurred on March 5, TITO. Regiments of British troops had been sent to Boston to enforce the Townshend acts, and few of their number. in an- swer to the taunts and jeers of the peo- pie, fired on the latter, several of whom were killed.
 The victims of this massacre were buried on March s. The hearses met upon the spot in front of the custom house where the tragedy occurred and thence the procession, in platoons six deep, marched to the Middle burial ground, wherein the bodies were deposited. The bells of Boston and adjacent towns tolled a solemn knen and a cry of vengeance burst over the land.
 Captain Preston and the eight soldiers who did the firing. after lapse of several months. were placed on trial before Judge Lynde for murder. Captain Preston's trial commenced on the 24th day of October and lasted until the 3Oth. The trial of the soldiers commenced on the 27th of No- vember and ended on the 9th of Decem- Der.
 John Adams. an eminent lawyer, one of the leaders in the attempt to procure the removal of the troops, and greatly es- eemed by the people for his patriotism, was solicited to undertake their defense. It was a severe ordeal for his indepen- dence of spirit yet he did not hesitate. At the risk of losing the favor and esteem of the people, he appeared as the advocate | of the accused. having for his colleague | Josiah Quincy, another leading patriot
 whose eloquent voice had often been heard at assemblies of the Sons of Liberty. Robert Treat Paine, afterward one of l the signers' of the Declaration of Indepen- dence, conducted the prosecution. in the
 absence of the attorney general A Bos- 1 ton jury was emganeled and, after fail
 trial, Captain Preston and six of the sol | diers were adjudged not SUIity. SC
 searching was the examination of witness i es by MT. Quincy that MT. Adams wa! obliged to ask him to desist for he wa! eliciting from them facts that were no only irrelevant to the case in hand bu
 dishonorable to the town.
 Two of the soldiers, Montgomery ant Xillroy, who were known to have fireC their muskets, were found guilty of man
 slaughter only. They were branded il
 the hand in open court and discharged
 This trial when all the circumstances ar considered, exhibits one of the most beau
 tiful of the many pictures of justice an
 mercy that characterized the Revolution and Sll6nceu forever the sander ot tn
 British ministry that American juror might not be trusted.
 The affair of the Boston massacre wa
 over in 20 minutes A warrant was i'm mediately issued for the arrest of Pres ton and the soldiers. Preston at ono surrendered himself, and with his me was committed to jail. In his own ac
 count of the affair he averred that he di
 not give any order to fire. but that he di l his best to induce the mob to disperse an l interfered to prevent a repetition of tn firing after the first discharge.
 It was brought out at the trial tha with the crowd shouting Fire! Fire the exasperated soldiers may have imae n ned that they heard in the din the con n mand that all doubtless would have we : comed. but it was due to the self-contr t of Preston and the discipline of u e troops, as well as to the fact that so sma 6 a number was engaged, that the figl
 was not more bloody than it was When Josiah Quincy accepted the inv j. tation to defend the soldiers his fath l. remonstrated against his doing so ar