The Portland daily press., 1881-08-17
TIE PRESS.
THE MALTA WAR.
[coNoLUDED FROM FIRST PAeE.l


prisoners, out that does not tighten their Of
fence. Before and during the trial, so great
was the alarm, SO general the fear of further
violence ON the part of the gquatters, that Maj
Gen. Sewall of the militia was called upon to
order out his men. Sentinels were posted, and
the citizens, who had seen in each bush NAL
"a squatter in Indian attire, but speaking pure
English, were comforted. One might party
came near the bridge at Augusta, where vi
dettes were on the watch, and one of them was
seized by the militia sentinels; whereupon
there was brief encounter; the squatters res
cued their man and captured major of mill
tia, probably in full uniform; the alarm bell
rang; the streets were full of excited people,
and the following day 800 men were in
arms under Gen. Sewall. The dreaded foe,
whom, for brevity's sake, we may call
the Maltese, thereupon betook themselves
to their homes on their purloined lands. But
till the trial was over and the guilty were set
free there was disquiet throughout the pur-
chase. The moral effect, however, of the ar
raignment was great. The majesty of the law
was vindicated. The men who with tears had
confessed their crime in killing Chadwick,
were a sort of missionary band among their
neighbors and kindred. Shooting at sheriffs
became an questionable pastime. Practical
rebellion died away in due time. The Ku-
Klux argument was no longer resorted to.
Order reigned in Malta after season. But
the memory Of the sharp reports which rang
out upon the still September air. of the dying
means that Knocked the peaceful aspect of ma
ture, of the brutal savage doings of men not of
savage birth, and of the alarm which would
not suffer the innocent to sleep along the Ken
nebec valley, did not fade away. The revolu-
toDary epoch, for such it was came to an end,
but the marks of the tragedy remain.
STATUTES MADE NECESSARY
by these violent and unlawful dealings with
lands aud with landlords and their assistants,
are to se found in the codes of Maine and Mas
tachusette. Any who would come to Maine
twhere hanging is no more) to do their killing
must be careful not to disguise themselves as
Indians, for thereby they may possibly break
an additional law, passed soon after the Chad
wick murder, that forbids assuming any dis
guise with the intent to modest sheriff, sur
veyor or any other person in the discharge of
his duty. The "betterment act" well known
in legal practice, was another result of these
land troubles Out of the exceeding evil good
came.
The Improvement was the chief part of
old-time sermons. The "improvement' of
what has been herein written may take the
form OF an exhortatlon to great calmness and
charity in passing judgment on tenants at
proprietors OF the lands they occupy Shoot
ing landlord in Ireland in this year of grace
may be no greater enormity than was the muir
der of Chadwick, who, unfortunately, agreed
TO carry the surveyors chain in Malta, Me-,
more than seventy years ago. Human nature
has always had its tigerish element, in Massa-
chusetts as well as in South Carolina or Ire
land, and this story of blood which stains the
annals OF the Maine district of the common
wealth of Massachusetts may persuade us to
speak with moderation and strict justice of
other offenders, knowing that our own citizens
have been tempted to do violence and have
succumbed to temptation.