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WILLIAM WEMMS AND SEVEN OTHERS. 485

who were endeavoring to deprive him of his; that is a point
I would not give up for my right hand, nay, for my life.

‘Well, I say, if the people did this, or if this was only their
intention, surely the officer and soldiers had a right to go to
his relief, and therefore they set out upon a lawful errand,
they were therefore a lawful assembly, if wa only consider
them as private subjects and fellow citizens, without regard
to mutiny acts, articles of war, or soldiers’ oaths; a private
person, or any number of private persons, have a right to go
to the assistance of their fellow subject in distress and dan-
ger of his life, when assaulted and in danger from a few or
@ multitude.

It is not pretended that all who were killed were engaged
in the assault on the soldiers, but if the soldiers fired in self-
defense against those who were actually assaulting them, and
others were killed, they were not guilty of murder; for if it
was justifiable or exeusable in them to kill any one of the
Tioters, it was equally justifiable or excusable, if in firing at
him they killed another who was innocent. So if the provo-
eation was such as to mitigate the guilt to manslaughter, it
would equally mitigate the guilt, if they killed an innocent
man undesignedly, in aiming at those who gave the provo-
eation.

(Hr. Adams then entered into an exposition of the law
relating to manslaughter, contending that if the killing in
this case were not justifiable or excusable, it was done under
such circumstances aa reduced the offense to manslaughter,
and continued) :

An assault and battery, committed upon a man in such a
manner es not to endanger his life, is such a provocation as
the law allows to reduce killing down to the crime of man-
slaughter. Now the law has been made on more considera-
tion than we are capable of making at present; the law eon-
siders 8 man as capable of bearing anything and everything
but blows. I may reproach man as much as I please, I may
call him a thief, robber, traitor, scoundrel, coward, lobster,
bloody back, and if he kills me it will be murder, if nothing

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