agraph, which says, "from the fact of the crowd being
so close, and the firing at _first_ being attended with _very
little injury_, it appears probable, that a large proportion of
the muskets were, as stated by one or two of the witnesses,
levelled over the heads of the prisoners, a circumstance, in some
respects, to be _lamented_." Is it, then, to be _lamented_, that
the soldiers did not level their pieces, on the _first_ fire,
directly into the crowd, which they have stated to be so great and
so close that a soldier declared he could not come fairly down to
a charge? or is it to be _lamented_, that one or two hundred were
not killed at the first discharge, and a thousand or two wounded?
If so, we think it much to be _lamented_, that the reporters were
not there, and placed foremost in the crowd.

The circumstance of so few being hurt at the first discharge is
not strange to those who are acquainted with the situation; and
this occurrence alone corroborates the American evidence, and
ought to have been sufficient proof to the commissioners, that the
prisoners upon being charged upon, retreated through the gates,
and shut them after them, before the firing commenced; and which
circumstance, alone, should have shut the door of justification
against Shortland for commencing a fire upon them, as they were in
their own yards. As this was the actual situation of the prisoners
on the first discharge, and the soldiers having to fire through
the iron paling, and the prisoners retreating on a descending
ground, of course brought the muskets, when down to a level, over
the heads of the prisoners--it was owing to this _fortunate_
circumstance that so few were injured on the first discharge of
the musketry; and it seems the inhuman Shortland was aware of this
circumstance, when he was distinctly heard to order his soldiers
to fire low. This does not appear to correspond with that part of
their report which says, "Captain Shortland was in the market
square, exerting himself in giving orders to stop the firing."

That there was any provocation given to the soldiers to justify
their subsequent brutal conduct, the commissioners themselves seem
to find it very difficult to trace any evidence, although they
say, it appears, that there was some resistance made to the
turnkeys in shutting the pris