The Bay State Monthly, Volume 3, No. 6 | Page 9

next year, 1770, that the hostility between towns-people and soldiers led for the first time to the shedding of blood. In February a boy, Christopher Snyder, was shot and killed during a disturbance, and in March occurred the "Boston Massacre." The story has been many times told. Quarrels had grown frequent between the soldiers and the rope-walk hands, the soldiers usually getting the worst of it. On the evening of the 5th, an altercation began just below the Old State House, between the sentinel of the guard and a crowd of townsfolk. An alarm was rung from one of the steeples, and many citizens hurried to the place, most of them thinking that a fire had broken out. A sentry was at the corner of King and Exchange streets, where the Custom House stood, and he was assaulted by the boys with snowballs. Captain Preston with seven or eight men rushed to the scene, loaded their muskets and made ready to fire. The mob hooted, struck their muskets and dared them to fire. At last a volley came. Three were killed and eight wounded. At once there was a tumult. The bells were all rung and the populace hurried to and fro. The bodies of the slain lay on the ground which was sprinkled with a light snow, serving to plainly reveal in the clear moon-light the stains of blood.
[Illustration: OLD STATE HOUSE IN 1801.]
The 29th regiment repaired to the spot prepared for firing, and there would have been a fierce contest but for the excellent conduct of the acting governor, Hutchinson. He took Captain Preston severely to task for firing at the people without the orders of a civil magistrate, and then, quickly working his way to the State House, took his stand in the balcony of the council-chamber looking down King Street, and made an address promising that the law should prevail and justice should be done to all. The next morning Hutchinson was waited upon by the selectmen who informed him that there would be no peace until the soldiers should depart. Hutchinson claimed, however, that the regiments were not under his command.
A mass meeting was soon held in Faneuil Hall, and was addressed by Samuel Adams. It may readily be believed that he advocated no compromise, and a committee of fifteen was immediately appointed of which Adams was a member. According to instructions, they at once repaired to the council chamber, and demanded the instant removal of the troops. At three o'clock a regular town meeting assembled in Faneuil Hall, but, owing to the great number present, adjourned to the Old South Meeting House. Then the committee of fifteen appeared making their way from the council-chamber to the meeting-house. Samuel Adams was at the head, and as the crowd made way on either hand he bared his head, and, inclining to the right and left, as he passed through the line, kept repeating: "Both regiments or none!" "Both regiments or none!"
[Illustration: STATUE IN ADAMS SQUARE.]
In the presence of the dense multitude in the Old South, the governor's reply was rendered: the 29th regiment should go to the castle, but the 14th must remain. Then the cry arose, "Both regiments or none!" and as the shout echoed from every quarter it was plain that the people had caught the meaning of the watchword, given shortly before by Adams. A new committee, also including Adams, was appointed and sent back to the governor, and as they stood in the council chamber the scene was one that John Adams pronounced long after as worthy a historical painting. A few sentences from Adams' address to Hutchinson are clear enough to show the intense earnestness and patriotism of the man.
"It is well known," he said, "that acting as governor of the Province, you are by its charter the commander-in-chief of the military forces within it; and as such, the troops now in the capital are subject to your orders. If you, or Colonel Dalrymple under you, have the power to remove one regiment, you have the power to remove both; and nothing short of their total removal will satisfy the people or preserve the peace of the Province. A Multitude highly incensed now wait the result of this application. The voice of ten thousand freemen demands that both regiments be forthwith removed. Their voice must be respected, their demand obeyed. Fail not then at your peril to comply with this requisition! On you alone rests the responsibility of this decision; and if the just expectations of the people are disappointed, you must be answerable to God and your country for the fatal consequences that must ensue. The committee have discharged their duty, and it is for you to discharge yours. They wait your final determination."
Hutchinson for a long time stood firm,