Memoirs of William Miller - Sylvester Bliss

“The space above the barricades was guarded
by police officers, who had permitted some few
persons, principally members of Congress, to pass
over, which filled some of the unfavored ones with
no little indignation, and the democratic spirit of
the people began to work.
“A number of abortive attempts were made to
pass the barrier, but, except to the privileged few,
unsuccessfully. One person, however, more
determined than the rest, showed fight, and was
rather roughly handled by the officers, when the
crowd, taking his part, and presuming he was
abused, made a rush to the barrier, to break it
down, but for the moment unsuccessfully. The
crowd became, however, more calm, until a
gentleman, whom I understood to be a clergyman,
stepped forward, and said that he had been
requested to inform the people before him ‘that
there was no certain information that Mr. Miller
was in the city;’ upon which a shout arose, unlike
anything I have heard since the shouts on Bunker
Hill, in September, 1840, intermingled with cries
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