THOMAS] JIASSACHUSETTS' POLICY TOWAKl) THE INDIANS 599 



Per.sou or Tersoiis whatsoever, every hucU Person or Persons so oflending, being 

 legally convicted tliereof in any Conrt of Qnarter Sessions of the County where 

 such Offenders shall lie apprehended (in which said Conrt the Offences are hereby 

 made Cognizable) shall forfeit and pay, for every such Offence, the Hum of Fife 

 Hundred Pounds, and suffer Twelve Months Imprisonment, without Bail or Main- 

 prize; and shall, moreover, find Surety for his good Behavior during the .Space of 

 Twelve Months from and after the Expiration of the Term of such Imprisonment; 

 one Moiety of the said Sum of Money to the Prosecutor, and the other Moiety to the 

 Overseers of the Poor of the City or Township where such Offender shall be appre- 

 hended, to the Use of the Poor thereof 



By the close of the eighteeuth century, or at least before the year 

 181 0, all the laud withlu the bouuds of Peunsylvauia, iucludiug the 

 addition forminji- Erie county, had been purchased from the Indiaps. 

 There was other legislation relating to the subject, but as it is of the 

 same tenor as that giveu it is unnecessary to quote it here. 



That the policy of this colony, inaugurated by William Penu, 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 making purchases from the Indians, howev^er, 

 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 grants often 

 overlapped one another and tracts had to be purchased twice or three 

 times where there were conflicting claims, as in case of the valley of 

 the Susquehanna. Part of the payment for the first deed, as w''l be 

 seen by reference to the copy giveu above, consisted of rum. This, 

 however, ajjjjcars to have been the only one for which intoxicants 

 formed part of the payment. 



MASSACHUSETTS 



It is probably not going too far to agree with Eeverend Dr George 

 E. Ellis- that the problems of the Massachusetts colonies, esjjecially 

 of Massachusetts Bay, have not even yet been fully and clearly worked 

 out by motlern historians. There remains in the mind of him who has 

 searched the numerous histories, lectures, and essays relating to the 

 early days of New England rather a confused idea of conflicting 

 views, lights of various tints, and opinions of various hues than a 

 clear, comprehensive idea of the views, motives, and purposes of the 

 hardy pioneers who sought a refuge on the rugged shores of Massa- 

 chusetts bay. There is generally close agreement as to details, even to 

 minute particulars, for the data, except on a few lines, are more than 

 usually full; hence he who would solve the problems to his own satis- 

 faction must study the records for himself and draw his own conclu- 

 sion. Unfortunately for the present investigation, the subject under 



> Acts of Assembly of tile Province of rcuusyh-auia, Philadelphia, 1773, p. 353. 

 2 Alius nut\ Purposes of the Massachusetts Colony. 



18 ETii, PT 2 — a 



