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us, if our forefathers had not wisely provided means of putting a 

 stop to them. If you do not know what those means are, I will 

 inform you in so few words as I am able. When the justices of 

 the peace, or other civil magistrates, are informed of a riot, it is 

 their indispensable duty to use all lawful means for putting the 

 speediest end to it. For which purpose they are authorised to press 

 into this service every man or body of men they find necessary 

 soldiers as well as others ; and when the soldiers are so engaged in 

 the assistance of the civil magistrate, it is not the War Office, as 

 some have erroneously supposed, that has a power to give the 

 soldiers orders respecting their firing not even the officers them- 

 selves belonging to the regiments called in ; but the power is by 

 our excellent Constitution given to the civil magistrates : 'tis they, 

 and they alone, who have the whole authority in these cases ; they 

 must give the word of command to the military officers, and then 

 the officers that word of command to the men. 



" Such were the wise and necessary regulations established by 

 our forefathers, and I wish you seriously to think of them, that 

 you may be convinced of the folly, as well with respect to your- 

 selves as the public, of resisting that power in the first instance 

 which must in the end prevail. If any one doubts of this, I call 

 upon him to name a time or place, in this or any other civilised 

 nation, where a tumultuous rising of the people, obstinately refusing 

 to disperse, has not been quelled either by the civil or military 

 powers of the State. It is, indeed, impossible, from the nature of 

 things, that it should be otherwise ; for if order and obedience of 

 the laws could not be restored, there must be an end of that com- 

 munity. 



"And here I cannot help observing that if you consider the 

 behaviour of the magistrates and the military officers upon the late 

 unhappy occasion how they bore every insult and abuse, and could 

 not be provoked to order the military to fire, by which great 

 numbers must have fallen, and many of you now be mourning the 

 loss of your parents, brothers, and friends, but left the guilty per- 

 sons to the quiet decision of that law against which they had 

 offended I am sure you must think their moderation and humanity 

 deserving of the highest praise. 



" I would now open to your view the means which we are taking 

 to alleviate the distresses arising from this scarcity of provisions. 



" The most obvious and effectual is the opening of our seaports 

 for the importation of foreign grain, which will give effect to the 

 subscriptions now raising for your relief; for unless a real plenty 



