where intense excitement. The officer and soldiers of the picket
guard were indicted and tried for murder. They were defended, however,
by John Adams and Josiah Quincy, two young lawyers, the most zealous
among the popular leaders: and so clear a case was made in their behalf,
that they were all acquitted except two, who were found guilty of
manslaughter and slightly punished." (History of the United States,
Chap. xxix., pp. 554, 555, 556.)

Dr. Holmes states that "the soldiers were pressed upon, insulted by the
populace, and dared to fire; one of them, who had received a blow, fired
at the aggressors, and a single discharge from six others succeeded.
Three of the inhabitants were killed and five dangerously wounded. The
town was instantly thrown into the greatest commotion. The drums beat to
arms, and thousands of the inhabitants assembled in the adjacent
streets. The next morning Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson summoned a
Council; and while the subject was in discussion, a message was received
from the town, which had convened in full assembly, declaring it to be
their unanimous opinion 'that nothing can rationally be expected to
restore the peace of the town, and prevent blood and carnage, but the
immediate removal of the troops.' On an agreement to this measure, the
commotion subsided. Captain Preston, who commanded the party of
soldiers, was committed with them to jail, and all were afterwards
tried. The captain and six of the men were acquitted. Two were brought
in guilty of manslaughter. The result of the trial reflected great
honour on John Adams and Josiah Quincy, the counsel for the prisoners,
and on the integrity of the jury." (Annals, etc., Vol. II., pp. 166,
167.)

How much more honourable and reliable are these straightforward
statements of those American historians of the times, and the verdict of
even a Boston jury, than the sophistical, elaborate, and reiterated
efforts of Mr. Bancroft, in the 43rd and 44th chapters of his History,
to implicate the soldiers as the provoking and guilty causes of the
collision, and impugning the integrity of the counsel for the
prosecution, the court, and the jury.

In the Diary of J. Adams, Vol. II., p. 229, are the following words:

"Endeavours had been systematically pursued for many months by certain
busy characters to excite quarrels, rencounters, and combats, single or
compound, in the night, between the inhabitants of the lower class and
the soldiers, and at all