The words at the bottom of Paul Revere's famous print of the Boston Massacre reads "Unhappy Boston! see thy Sons deplore; Thy hallow’d walks besmear’d with guiltless gore; While faithless P____n and his savage bands..." What word is taken out and why? Was this censorship of a swear word, or omission of a name? More importantly what is he trying to say by using the word and omitting it?
Revere's referring to Captain Thomas Preston, the British officer who allegedly ordered the troops to fire on the crowd without provocation. Preston was tried for murder along with his men, but acquitted thanks to his attorney John Adams (yes, that John Adams) convincing the jury that they had been provoked.
(Sources: Contrast this anonymous colonist's account of the Massacre with this account by Preston himself.)
