In a letter to his brother-in-law, "probably written during the ſummer of 1645," is a moſt luminous illuſtration of the views of that day and generation on the subject of human ſlavery. He ſays:
"A warr with the Narraganſett is verie conſiderable to this plantation, ffor I doubt whither yt be not ſynne in vs, hauing power in our hands, to ſuffer them to maynteyne the worſhip of the devill, which their paw wawes often doe; 2lie, if upon a Juſt warre the Lord ſhould deliver them into our hands, we might eaſily haue men, woemen and children enoughto exchange for Moores, which wilbe more gayneful pilladge for vs than wee conceive, for I doe not ſee how wee can thrive vntill wee gett into a ſtock of slaves ſufficient to doe all our buiſines, for our children's children will hardly ſee this great Continent filled with people, ſoe that our ſervants will ſtill deſire freedom to plant for them ſelues, and not ſtay but for verie great wages. And I ſuppofe you know verie well how wee ſhall maynteyne 20 Moores cheaper than one Engliſhe ſervant.
"The ſhips that ſhall bring Moores may come home laden with ſalt which may beare most of the chardge, if not all of yt. But I marvayle Conecticott ſhould any wayes haſard a warre without your adviſe, which they cannot mayntayne without your helpe." M. H. S. Coll., iv.,, vi., 65.
II.
We come now to the era of poſitive legiflation on the ſubject of human bondage in America, Mr.
