and at the time of the firing not seventy, as Mr.
Palmes thinks.*[Asterisk reference mark indicates note
below.]
But after the firing, and when the slaughter
was known, which occasioned the ringing of all
the bells of the town, a large body of the inha-
bitants soon assembled in
Kingstreet, and conti-
nued there the whole time the 29th regiment
was there under arms, and would not retire till
that regiment and all the soldiers that appeared,
were ordered, and actually went, to their bar-
racks: after which, having been assured by the
Lieutenant Governor, and a number of the civil
magistrates present, that every legal step should
be taken to bring the criminals to justice, they
gradually dispersed. For some time the appear-
ance of things was dismal. The soldiers out-
rageous on the one hand, and the inhabitants
justly incensed against them on the other : both
parties seemed disposed to come to action. In
this case the consequences would have been ter-
rible. But by the interposition of
his Honor,
some of his Majesty's council, a
number of civil
magistrates, and other gentlemen of weight and
influence, who all endeavored to calm and pa-
cify the people, and by the two principal officers
interposing their authority with regard to the
soldiers, there was happily no further bloodshed
ensued ; and by two o'clock the town was re-
stored to a tolerable state of quiet. About that
time, Capt. Preston, and a few
hours after, the
party that had fired, were committed to safe
custody.
[Asterisk reference mark]* See his Deposition.