_William_. "I have read about it; but I don't know well how to tell
it. Will you tell it, father?"

_Gen. P_. "Tell it as well as you are able, my son. It is by practice
that we learn to do things well."

_William_. "One evening some British soldiers were near a ropewalk in
Boston. A man, who worked in the ropewalk, said something to them
which they did not like, and they beat him.

"Three days after, on the 5th of March, while the soldiers were under
arms, some of them were insulted by the citizens, and one, it is said,
was struck. This soldier was so angry, that he fired. Then, six others
fired. Three citizens were killed, and five were wounded.

"All Boston was soon roused. The bells were rung. Many thousand people
assembled, and they said that they would tear the soldiers to pieces,
and I don't know but that they would have done so, if Gov. Hutchinson
had not come out, and told the people, that he would inquire into the
matter, and have the guilty punished. This pacified them."

_Gen. P_. "Well done--quite well done, master William. You now know,
Henry, what is meant by the 'Boston Massacre.'"

_Henry_. "It was a bloody affair, I think."

_Gen. P_. "Bloody indeed!--inhuman and highly provoking. The news of
it spread--spread rapidly, in every direction. The country was filled
with alarm. War was seen to be almost certain; such an insult--such a
crime could not be forgotten. Even at Phillipstown, where Crosby was