the kitchen, then he left the house and went home ; after which
the deponent came down Kingstreet, and went
thro'
Quaker-
lane, and coming up the lane again, saw the centinel at the
custom-house leave his post and come into the
middle of the
street, and said to the deponent's fellow-apprentice, who he
thought had said something of an officer's not paying his debts,
let me see your face; the boy answered, I am not asham'd to
show my face ; immediately upon which the centinel
fetched
a sweeping stroke with his gun, upon the side of his head, which
made him reel and stagger about, and cry much. The depo-
nent asked what he was struck for ; he answered for nothing.
he then asked the centinel what he meant by thus
abusing the
people. He reply'd, damn'd your blood, if you do not get out
of the way, I will give you something ; he then fixt his bayo-
net, and push'd at them, & they both run
- then one Richard
Ward, another fellow-apprentice, asked the one struck, what
it was for, and endeavoured to get his stick to
strike the cen-
tinel, but he told him not to, & came away ; then he heard a
huzza or two, and as he got up Silby's alley, up came a
num-
ber of grenadiers, as he tho't about ten,
with clubs, cutlasses
and bayonets, crying out, where are the damn'd
Yankeys. He
reply'd, what is the matter - they
answer'd, we will let you
know. - He then run into his master's entry, & as running in,
saw near twenty other soldiers with bayonets, &c. flourishing
coming from the guard house as he tho-t;
immediately after,
he heard the bells ring, and then as he took it, the same party
with a serjeant at their head, came running by, knocking down
and slashing all the town's people they met with; then he heard
people who were running, ask where the fire was. He told them
it was no fire, but the soldiers near Justice Quincey's
were
fighting with the inhabitants. - He then went towards Justice
Quincey's, and found the soldiers had retired to their barracks,
when 3 cheers were given by the inhabitants - He then went
down to Kingstreet, and heard the people talking
of the abuse
his fellow-apprentices had received from the centinel, but saw
no insult offered the centinel, the people being in
the middle
of the street. - One came up with a cane, appeared a gentle-
man, and spoke to the centinel, and then
went away ; then
the centinel went up the steps of the
custom-house and pointed
his gun ; some of the inhabitants then said he is going to fire
- then he took down his gun and loaded it, while he was
loading, one Thomas Greenwood a waiter went into the
cus-
tom house door, and it was shut immediately ; and then
Mr.
Green's son John said the centinel was a going to fire ; but he
saw no abuse offered him, or any danger he was in. He then