(Excerpt - Modified)

I heard the bells ring and went to the gate. I stayed there a little and saw Mr. Lovell coming back with his buckets. I asked him where was the fire. He said it was not fire.

Numbers of boys on the other side of the way were throwing snowballs at the soldiers. The sentinels were enraged and swearing at the boys. The boys called them, "Lobsters, bloody backs," and hollered, "Who buys lobsters!"

There were also a number of people who stood where I did and were picking up pieces of sea coal that had been thrown out thereabout and snowballs, and throwing them over at the sentinel.

I went to cross over to where the soldiers were and as soon as I got a glimpse of them, I heard somebody huzza and say, "Here is old Murray with the riot act"—and they began to pelt snowballs.

The first word I heard was a grenadier say to a man by me, "... you, stand back."

Question. How near was he to him?

Answer. He was so near that the grenadier might have run him through if he had stepped one step forward. While I stopped to look at him, a person came to get through ..... He turned about and said, "You …. lobster, bloody back, are you going to stab me?"

The soldier said, "By God, will I!"

One of the persons who was talking with the officer turned about quick to the people and said, "... him, he is going to fire!" Upon that, they cried out, "Fire and be ….., who cares! … you, you dare not fire," and began to throw snowballs and other things, which then flew pretty thick.

Question. Did they hit any of them?

Answer. Yes, I saw two or three of them hit. One struck a (soldier) on the hat. And the people who were right before them had sticks, and as the soldiers were pushing their guns back and forth, they struck their guns, and one hit a grenadier on the fingers.

The people .... crying, "... them, they dare not fire!" "We are not afraid of them!"

One of these people, a stout man with a long cordwood stick, threw himself in and made a blow at the officer. The stout man then turned round and struck the soldier's gun at the Captain's right hand and immediately fell in with his club and knocked his gun away and struck him over the head. The blow came either on the soldier's cheek or hat.

This stout man held the bayonet with his left hand and twitched it and cried, "Kill the dogs! Knock them over!" .... I turned to look towards the officer, and I heard the word, "Fire!" I thought I heard the report of a gun and, upon hearing the report, I saw the same grenadier swing his gun and immediately he discharged it.

Question. Did the soldiers of that party, or any of them, step or move out of the rank in which they stood to push the people?

Answer. No, and if they had they might have killed me and many others with their bayonets.

Question. Did you, as you passed through the people towards Royal Exchange Lane and the party, see a number of people take up any and everything they could find in the street and throw them at the soldiers?

Answer. Yes, I saw ten or fifteen round me do it.

Question. Did you yourself.…

Answer. Yes, I did.

Question. After the gun fired, where did you go?

Answer. I run as fast as I could into the first door I saw open … I was very much frightened.