The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1876-10-14


own dominions, he sold the prisoner
whom he did not think proper to kill, an,
the men of Massachusetts, bought then
without question of his title. They KEEP
them and worked them to death, or sol,
them again as their interest prompted
for they held that the right Of domination
resulting from the application of brut,
force, was good in the hands Of all subse
quent purchasers, however remote from
the original eonquisitOr.
They executed this theory to It's fulles
extent in their own wars with the Indians
Without cause or provocation, and with
out notice or warning, they fell upon tn,
Pequods, massacred many of them, ant
made slaves of the survivors, without dis
tinction Of age or sex. About seven hun
drcd, including many women and children
were sent to the West Indies, and there
sold on public account, the proceeds being
put into the colonial treasury. Eigh
score Of these unfortunate people escaped
from the butchery by fight, and afterwart
agreed to give themselves up on solemn
promise Of the authorities that they should
neither be put to death nor enslaved
The promise was broken with as little re.
morse as a modern abolitionist would vic.
late his oath to support the constitution
The precious results of the wal" were moi
to be lost by an honest observance Of theil
pledged faith, and the victims of this in.
famous treachery were all Of them shipped
TO the Barbados, and sold or "swapped
for Blackamoors, This practice of en-.
shaving their captives was uniform, cover
ed all cases, and included women and
children as well as fighting men. When
death put King Philip beyond their reach,
they sent his wife and child with the rest
to be sold into slavery. The Indians made
bad slaves. They were hard to tame, they
escaped to the forest, and had to be hunted
down, brought back and branded. They
never ceased to be sullen aud disobedient
The Africans always, on the contrary,
accepted the situation" were easily do
mesticated, and bore the yoke without
murmuring. For that reason, it became
a settlcdrule ofpublic and private economy
in Massachusetts, to exchange their worth
less Indians for valuable negroes, cheating
their West India customers in every trade.
Perhaps it was here that your party got
the germ of its honesty as well as its hui
manity. They made war for no other OBJ
ject than to supply themselves with sub.
jects for this fraudulent traffic. In 1913
Emanuel Downing, the foremost lawyer in
the colony and leader of commanding
influence, as well as high connections,
made written argument in favor Of a war
with the Narragansetts. He did not pre-
tend that any wrong had been done; but
he had pious dread that Massachusetts,
would be held responsible for the false re.
ligion of the Narragansetts. 81 doubt"
says he, "if it be not synne in US, having
power in our hands, to suffer them to
mayntayne the worship of the devil which
their pow-wowes often doe" This ten,
derness for the sins of other people is very
characteristic Of the party which got the
"germ of its ideas" from that source. But
60 little further and you will see with
pleasure how exactly you have copied their
doctrines This is the way Mr.. Downing
applies the motive power. off" says he,
"upon a just war, the Lord should deliver
them into our hand, we might easily have
men, tcon.en and children enough to &c
change for Moors (negroes) which will be
more gayneful pilladge for us than wee
conceive; for do not see how we can
thrive until we get into stock Of slave'
sufficient to do all our business" This
Except the spelling) might come from an
abolition caucus to-day. You will find
Downing's letter in Moore, p. 10.
They did get most Of their Indians off
and supplied themselves with negroes il
their place. The shameless inhumanity
with which the blacks were used made
slavery in Massachusetts "the sum Of al
yillainy." In the letter of Downing, already
referred to, he says: "You know very
we'll we shall mayntayne twenty Moores
cheaper than one Englishe servant.
Think of reducing West India negro in
that intensely cold climate to the one
twentieth part of the food and clothing
which white mental was in the habit o.
getting. They must have been frozen and
starved to death in great numbers. Wher
That happened it was but the loss of an
animal. The harboring of slave woman
was, in 1646, pronounced by the highest
authority to be the same injury as the un
lawful detention of beast. In 17f6 Sc
well, the chief justice of the colony, sale
that negroes were rated with horses ant
hogs. DR.. Belknap tells us that afterward
when the stock enlarged and the market
became dull, young negroes and mulatto'
were sometimes given away like puppies
This is the kind Of freedom, this the equal
ity of the races, which you learned from
the ancient colonists.
But they taught you more than that
Their precept and example established the
slavery of white persons as well as Indians
and negroes. As their remorseless tyran'
ny spared no age and no sex, so it mad'
no distinction of color Besides the car
goes of white herctics which were capturet
and shipped to them by their brethren il
England, they took special delight in fas
tening their yoke on all who were snspec
ted of heterodoxy. One instance is worthy
of special attention. Lawrence Southwicl
and his wife were Quakers, aud accused
at the same time with many others of at
tending Quaker meeting, or "syding will
Quakers," aud absenting themselves from
the publick ordinances. The Southwicki
had previously suffered SO much in thei
persons aud estates from this kind Of per
secution, that they could no longer worl
or pay any more fines, and, therefore, tn,
general court, by solemn resolution, order
ed them to be banished on pain Of death
Banishment, you will not fail TO notice
was in itself, EQUIVALENT to lingering
death if the parties were poor and feeble
for it meant merely driving them into tn
wilderness to starve with hunger aud cold
Southwick and his wife went out and diet
very soon. But that is not all. This un
fortunate pair had two children, boy an,