In the publick Advertiser, printed in London, the 28th of April last, I have seen a paper called, the Case of Capt. Thomas Preston: It was published in his name, tho' not wholly his own draft; as he declared to a committee of this town, who waited upon him for an explanation of some passages in it,1 which were notoriously false, and grosly reflecting upon some of the magistrates, as well as the people of the town and province. I may hereafter particularly consider this paper, which has had its run thro' Britain and America; and point out the many "faults of partiality" which are contain'd in it: The only reason why I have not already done it, was, because I agreed in the general sentiment of the inhabitants of this town, that nothing of this kind should be publish'd, at so critical a juncture, lest it might be tho't to prejudice the minds of Jurors on a trial for life.2- It may be perhaps more easy, and of full as much importance to the publick, to ascertain the person, who several times alter'd the state of the case; and, as Capt. Preston himself declared, even after it finally came out of his hands, as it would be, to ascertain the person in a red cloke; which the writer in Draper's paper has been so often in vain called upon to do, in fulfillment of his voluntary promise. - In this paper, Capt. Preston, or his friend in his behalf, says, "he sent a non- commission'd officer and twelve men, and very soon follow'd himself:" The witnesses in court, on both sides declared, that Capt. Preston himself came down with the party. Again he says, he followed, "lest the officer and soldiers should be thrown off their guard, and commit some rash act": But, did he restrain them from commiting so rash an act, as firing upon the multitude? - He surely must have observ'd the violent temper which the soldiers discover'd, as "they rushed thro' the people" according to his own account; "upon the trot, in a threatning manner, damning the people and pushing them with their bayonets", as Mr. Knox and others swore in court: He knew their guns were charg'd with ball; he declar'd it at the time, and on the spot, as Mr. Palmes testified: Should he not then, at the very instant, when he must if ever, have been apprehensive, that they would commit some rash act, at least have caution'd them, not to fire, till he himself should give the orders? Instead of this, by his own, or his friend's account, publish'd as his own, we find no such prudent directions to the men under his command; who by the rules of the army, would have been liable to suffer death, if they had disobey'd! What single step did he take, to prevent their committing a rash act, for the sake of which alone, he tells us, he followed down? Not one according to the state of his case, till after they began to fire: "Upon my asking the men, says he, why they fired without orders, they said, they heard the word, fire, and suppos'd it come from me": It seems, it was the apprehension of the Soldiers, that he order'd them to fire; and we must suppose, that the Soldiers were particularly attentive to their commanding officer: But he adds, "I assured them my words were, don't fire"; from hence it is plain that he gave them some order. I am no Soldier, and never desire to be one: But I appeal to those who are, whether the words, "don't fire," are words of command in the British army; and whether there is not some other word which Soldiers are taught to understand, more proper to be given on such an occasion, or, as I chuse to express it, in the heat of action, which would have prevented such rashness, and even put it out of their power to have fired, at least to have done any mischief. These words, I well remember, it was said were made use of in command, at another time, and by another officer of the same regiment; when one of the soldiers, thro' mistake, fired upon the march, in the street, and very nearly effected the death; not to say, the murder of a worthy citizen: The soldier was soon jostled from the reach of civil power; which was a mighty easy thing to be done, as was found by experience, at a time when the first magistrate of the province had publickly declared, that he had no authority over the King's troops, which has since been repeated: The good men of the county however, found a bill of indictment against the officer who commanded the party: But when the matter came upon trial before the superior court, altho' some positively swore that he gave the word, fire, yet because the soldiers swore that his words were don't fire, a doubt arose; and a doubt you know, must turn in favor of the accused party; for the good old maxim is, whether founded in the law of Moses, the common law, the law of nature and reason, or the safety of human societies, better ten villains escape than one honest, harmless man be hang'd- Whether the officer would have so luckily escaped, upon a trial before a court martial, for giving a word of command, unintelligible in a military sense, I very much doubt.. - Capt. Preston further said, that "his intention was not to act offensively, nor even the contrary part, without compulsion": That is, when he should think himself compelled, he was to act defensively; and in what way could he or his soldiers act upon the defence, with muskets charg'd with ball, but by discharging them upon the people, which he must have concluded would have kill'd some of them? No matter, the people were the agressors; and besides, "the King's money was to be protected" as well as the centinel - Here I will acquit Capt. Preston, as a man of too much honor to suggest a known falshood: It has been the constant practice of a certain set of men, meanly to insinuate, that the Americans in their exertions against lawless power, have always had something dishonorable in view: At present, it is the plundering the King's chest; altho' even Greenwood himself, an hired servant in the custom-house, a dependent upon dependents, if he is to be believed, depos'd before the magistrate, that amidst the whole volley, as some would have it, of snow balls, oyster shells, ice, and as Andrew said, sea coal, thrown at the centinel, "not a single Pane of the custom-house windows were broken; nor did he see any person attempt to get into the house, or break even a square of glass " - The soldiers acted defensively, and it seems as tho' Preston thought they were at length compelled to do it; for if it was done against his orders, or barely without his orders, with what propriety could he say to the person of the first character in the province, "I did it to save my men," - A precise answer indeed, to the question put to him; and therefore, I should have thought, not "unsatisfactory," or "imperfect ", as it was afterwards affirmed to have been.
Such were the effects of Capt. Preston's sending the non- commission'd officer and the soldiers to protect the centinel and the King's money; and of his following very soon after, to prevent their committing a rash act: But if Capt. Preston had a right to go to the protection of any man whom he thought in danger, had he or his party a right to engage in an affray, and carry into an incensed mob, as he calls it, weapons which could not be used without killing, and there make use of them as he should judge necessary? Ought he not to have called upon a civil officer, and put himself, and his men, if required, under his direction, before he went upon so desperate a design? Or, does the law of the land, invest every, or any military officer, even of the highest rank, with the right, above all other citizens, of making himself a party in a riot, under a pretence of suppressing it; of carrying with him soldiers arm'd with weapons of death, and making use of them at discretion, without even the presence of a civil officer - This is a point of too much importance to be yielded; for the lives of subjects are not to depend, upon the judgment or discretion, much less upon the will and pleasure, or wanton humour of his Majesty's military servants.
I am sensible, I have heretofore taken up too much room in your useful paper: I shall avoid it at present; and the rather, to afford you the opportunity of inserting an address "to the PROTESTANTS of the three Kingdoms, and the COLONIES"; being the preface to a late publication in London, containing a series of important letters of the Earl of Hillsborough, the Marquiss of Rockingham, and others, from a gentleman whose signature is Pliny, junior.
VINDEX
1 See above, page 14 . 2 See above, page 102.
ARTICLE SIGNED "VINDEX."
[Boston Gazette, January 21, 1771.]
To the PRINTERS.
As the lives of five of his Majesty's subjects were unfairly lost on the evening of the 5th of March last, it follows that some persons must have been in fault:
The unhappy sufferers, for ought that has ever appeared, were in the peace of God and the King; let their memories then, so far at least as respects this matter, remain unreproach'd. It appeared by the evidence in court, that all the prisoners were present in king street; that they all discharg'd their musquets but one, and his flush'd in the pan; and that the deceas'd were all kill'd by musquet balls. Six of the prisoners were acquitted by the jury, and two were found guilty of manslaughter. In ordinary cases, the publick ought to rest satisfied, with the verdict of a jury; a method of trial, which an Englishman glories in as his greatest security: It is a method peculiar to the English; and as a great writer observes, has been a probable means of their having supported their liberties thro' so many ages past: Among the most substantial advantages arising from trials by juries, there is this incidental one, in this province especially; that by our laws, no man being oblig'd to serve as a juryman more than once in three years, it falls upon the freemen as it were by rotation; by this means, the people in general are in their turns called to that important trust; by attending in courts of law and justice, it is to be presum'd that their minds are there impress'd with a sense of justice; and that they gain that general idea of right or law, which it is necessary that all men in a free country should have. "It is an admirable institution, by which every citizen may be plac'd in a situation, that enables him to contribute to the great end of society, the distributing justice; and it every where diffuses a spirit of true patriotism, which is zealously employed for the publick welfare." I am not about to arraign the late jurors before the bar of the publick: They are accountable to God and their own consciences, and in their day of trial, may God send them good deliverance. But in times when politicks run high, we find by the experience of past ages, it is difficult to ascertain the truth even in a court of law: At such times, witnesses will appear to contradict each other in the most essential points of fact; and a cool conscientious spectator is apt to shudder for fear of perjury: If the jurors are strangers to the characters of the several witnesses, it may be too late for them to make the enquiry, when they are upon their seats: The credibility of a witness perhaps cannot be impeac'd in court, unless he has been convicted of perjury: But an immoral man, for instance one who will commonly prophane the name of his maker, certainly cannot be esteemed of equal credit by a jury, with one who fears to take that sacred name in vain: It is impossible he should in the mind of any man: Therefore, when witnesses substantially differ in their relation of the same facts, unless the jury are acquainted with their different characters, they must be left to meer chance to determine which to believe; the consequence of which, may be fatal to the life of the prisoner, or to the justice of the cause, or perhaps both. It was for this reason, that I was concern'd, when the council for the crown objected the notoriety of the immoral character of a witness, that he was stopped by one of the council on the other side. In a court of justice, it is beneath any character to aim at victory and triumph: Truth, and truth alone is to be sought after.