| Citation |
NHG-P.773.013
12 Mar 1773:23,31 (856)
Boston, March 8. The Committee appointed by this town at
their meeting in March last, to make application to some
suitable gentleman to deliver an oration on the fifth
instant, upon the dangerous tendency of standing armies, &
in commemoration of the horrid massacre perpetrated by a
party of the 29th regiment on the fifth of March 1770,
having acquainted the select-men of the town that they had
apply'd to Doctor Benjamin Church, and that he was ready to
perform that service for the town; a meeting was thereupon
legally assembled by the select men at Fanueil-Hall on
Friday last at eleven o'clock in the forenoon;
. . . [12 lines, 32 lines describing the meeting and related
commemorative events, organized by the Friends of
Constitutional Liberty] In a window east of the balcony, was
placed a large transparent frame, containing the following
verses.
Canst thou, spectator, view this crimson scene,
And not reflect what thee sad portraits mean;
Or can thy slaughter'd brethren's guiltless gore,
Revenge, from year to year, in vain implore?
. . . [5 verses]
At a quarter after nine, the precise time of the evening
when the bloody scene was acted, the paintings were taken
in, and the bells set to tolling, which held till ten.
. . . [24 lines]
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