In the ſecond printed edition, that of 1660, the law appears as follows, under the title
"BOND-SLAVERY
IT is Ordered by this Court & Authority thereof; That there ſhall never be any bond-ſlavery villenage or captivity amongſt us, unles it be Lawfull captives, taken in juſt warrs, [or ſuch] as [ſhall] willingly ſell themſelves, or are ſold to us, and ſuch ſhall have the liberties, & Chriſtian uſuage, which the Law of God eſtabliſhed in Iſrael, Concerning ſuch perfons, doth morally require, provided this exempts none from ſervitude, who ſhall be judged thereto by Authority. [1641.]" Maſs. Laws, Ed. 1660, p. 5.
The words italicized in brackets appear among the manuſcript corrections of the copy which (formerly the property of Mr. Secretary Rawſon, who was himſelf apparently the Editor of the volume) is now preſerved in the Library of the American Antiquarian Society at Worceſter, in Maſſachuſetts. It is plain, however, that the printed text required correction, and—although no better authority can poſſibly be demanded than that of the Editor himſelf—it is confirmed by the subſequent edition of 1672, in which the ſame error, having been repeated in the text, is made the occaſion of a correction in the printed table of errata. There is a want of accuracy even in this correction itſelf; but the intention is ſo obvious that it cannot be miſtaken. Maſs. Laws, Ed. 1672, pp. 10, 170.
To prevent any poſſible doubt which may ſtill linger in the mind of any reader at the end of the demonſtration through which we ourſelves firſt arrived
