(No. 68.)
SAMUEL Drowne of Boston, of lawful age, testifieth and
saith, that about nine of the clock of the evening of the
fifth day of March current, standing at his own door in Corn-
hill, saw about 14 or 15 soldiers of the 29th regiment, who
carne from Murray's barrack, some of whom were armed with
naked cutlasses, swords or bayonets, others with clubs, fire shovels
or tongs, and came upon the inhabitants of the town, then stand-
ing or walking in Cornhill, and abused some and violently assault-
ed others as they met them, most of whom were without so
much as a stick in their hands to defend themselves, as the de-
ponent very clearly could discern, it being moon-light, and
himself being one of the assaulted persons -- All or most of the
said soldiers he saw go by the way of Cornhill, Crooked-lane
and Royal-exchange-lane into Kingstreet, and there followed
them, and soon discovered them to be quarrelling and fighting
with the people whom they saw there, which the deponent
thinks were not more than a dozen, when the soldiers came
there first, armed as aforesaid. Of those dozen people, the most
of them were gentlemen, standing together a little below the
town-house upon the exchange. At the appearance of those
soldiers so arm'd, the most of the twelve persons went off, some
of them being first assaulted -- After which the said soldiers
were observ'd by the deponent, to go towards the main-guard,
from whence were at the same time issuing and coming into
kingstreet five soldiers of said guard and a corporal arm'd
with firelocks, who call'd out to the fore-mentioned soldiers arm'd
with cutlasses, &c., and said to them go away, on which they
dispersed and went out kingstreet, some one way and some
another--by this time were collected together in kingstreet
about two hundred people, and then the deponent stood upon
the steps of the exchange tavern, being the next house to the
custom-house ; and soon after saw Capt. Preston, whom he well
knew, with a number of soldiers arm'd with firelocks drawn
up near the west corner of the custom-house ; and at that
instant the deponent thinks so great a part of the people were
dispers'd at the sight of the armed soldiers, as that not more
than twenty or thirty remained in king street ;* [* Asterisk reference mark indicates that there is a note below.] those who did
* [Asterix reference mark: ] Mr. Drowne says there were collected together in King-street about
two hundred persons, and that at the sight of the armed soldiers,
they so far dispersed, as that not more than twenty or thirty re-
mained in King street.
This circumstance accounts for the diversity in some of the depositions,
with regard to the number of persons in King street about that time :
such depositions probably referring to different moments. -- Moments,
because the whole disturbance in King-street, from its beginning to
the firing, continued but a short space of time