suaded of the innocence of the accused, and
Quincy, exerted themselves to the utmost for
their clients, and every extenuating circum-
stance was allowed its full weight. Samuel
Adams, it must be confessed, appears not al-
ways to advantage at this time. He was little
satisfied with the postponement of the trial,
and quite displeased with the issue. With
William Cooper, Warren, and a concourse of
people, if we may trust Hutchinson, he appeared
before the Superior Court after the judges had
decided not to proceed at once, and sought to
induce them to alter their decision. The trial
he followed carefully, constantly taking notes.
At its conclusion, over the signature "Vindex,"
he examined the evidence at length, pronounced
much of that given for the soldiers false, and
battled fiercely with the royalist writers who
ventured into the lists against him.

The conduct of the town of Boston was really
very fine. The moderation which put off the
arraignment of the accused men until the pas-
sions of the hour had subsided, the appearance
of John Adams and Josiah Quincy, warm pa-
triots, in the defense, the acquittal at last of all
but two, and the light sentence inflicted upon
these,--all together constituted a grand tri-
umph of the spirit of law and order, at a time
when heated feeling might have been expected

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