Such were the effects of Capt. Preston's sending the non-
commission'd officer and the soldiers to protect the centinel and
the King's money; and of his following very soon after, to prevent
their committing a rash act: But if Capt. Preston had a right to
go to the protection of any man whom he thought in danger, had he or
his party a right to engage in an affray, and carry into an incensed
mob, as he calls it, weapons which could not be used without killing,
and there make use of them as he should judge necessary? Ought he not
to have called upon a civil officer, and put himself, and his men, if
required, under his direction, before he went upon so desperate a
design? Or, does the law of the land, invest every, or any military
officer, even of the highest rank, with the right, above all other
citizens, of making himself a party in a riot, under a pretence of
suppressing it; of carrying with him soldiers arm'd with weapons of
death, and making use of them at discretion, without even the presence
of a civil officer - This is a point of too much importance to be
yielded; for the lives of subjects are not to depend, upon the
judgment or discretion, much less upon the will and pleasure, or
wanton humour of his Majesty's military servants.
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