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Show 48 XBOM.S] MASSACHUSETTS' POLICY TOWARD THE INDIANS 599 Person or Persons whatsoever, every such Person or Persons so ofending, being ieo-ally coavicted thereof in any Court of Quarter Sesstons of the County v,he e ^ O f f e n d e r s shall be apprehended (in which said Court the Offences are Ivcrebv 1 1 Cogmzable) shall forfeit aud pay, for every such Offence, the bum of i.ra Snd,bounds, and suffer Twelve Months Imprisonment without Bail or ain-pr e; and shall moreover, find Surety for his good Behavior during the bpt.ee of Twelve Mouths from and alter the Expiration of the Term of such ^ - ™ t > one Moiety of the said Sum of Money to the Prosecutor, and the other Moiety to the ZLeers of the Poor of the City or Township where such Offender shall be apprehended, to the Use of the Poor thereof.' By the close of the eighteenth ceutury, or at least before the year 1SI0, all the land within the bounds of Pennsylvania, including the addition forming Erie county, had been purchased from the Indians. There was other legislation relating to the subject, but as it is of the same tenor as that given it is unnecessary to quote it here. , That the policy of this colony, inaugurated by William Penn, was just and honorable must be conceded from the evidence given above, and that it was so considered by the Indians is a matter of history. The method pursued in makiug purchases from the Indians, however, was peculiar, as is apparent from the deeds which have been preserved, some of which have been noticed. The object, as remarked above, seems to have been to extinguish claims rather than to purchase definite bodies of land. The consequence was that the grauts often overlapped aae another and tracts had to be purchased twice or three times where: there were couflieting claims, as in case of the valley of the Susquehanna. Part of the payment for the first deed, as w'U be, seen by reference to the copy given above, consisted of rum. This, however, appears to have beeu the ouly one for which intoxicants formed part of the payment. MASSACHUSETTS It is. probably not going too far to agree with Eeverend Dr George E. Ellis2 that the problems of the Massachusetts colonies, especially of Massachusetts Bay, have not even yet been fully aud clearly worked out by modern historians. There remains in the mind of him who has searched the numerous histories, lectures, and essays relatiug to the early days of New England rather a contused idea of conflicting views,, lights of various tints, and opinions of various hues than a clear, comprehensive idea of the views, motives, aud purposes of the hardy pioneers who sought a refuge ou the rugged shores of Massachusetts hay. There is generally close agreement as to details, even to minute particulars, for the data, except on a few lines, aro more than usually full; hence he who would solve the problems to his own satisfaction must study the records for himself and draw his own conclusion. Unfortunately for the present investigation, the subject under 1 Acts of Asstmthly of tho Province of Penus\ lvaaia, Philadelphia, 1775, p. 355. 1 Aims sind Purposes of tho Massachusetts Colony. 18 ETU, PT 2 0 |