It
grew late--the town, at any rate, was cleared, and the success of the
troops being by no means so certain upon this new battle ground they
were withdrawn by the magistrates. On their return to town, they found
two men had been wounded, and as usually happens in such cases, one of
them had no connection whatever with the business, being a carter
employed in carrying baggage for the troops. When asked how he came to
be among the belligerents, having no interest in the matter, he replied,
that he was under the impression the troops had orders not to fire on
the people, or if they did, it should be with blank cartridge; he was
confirmed in this belief by the fact, that the first four or five shots
took no effect; but, "at any rate," he added, "when I saw the fun going
on, I could not resist the temptation of joining in it."
The persons arrested on the occasion, fifty-one in number, were brought
up for trial before the sitting barrister in about a month afterwards.
All pleaded guilty, and received merely nominal punishment, with the
exception of "lame Pat," their leader. He, poor fellow, was sentenced to
one year's imprisonment, although he declared he had been four days and
four nights living on cabbage leaves and salt, previous to his
misconduct.
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