d for the slaves, which, when they have earned it,
hee is to repay it back againe." The marginal note is "Lieft.
Davenport to keep ye slaves." (Mass. Rec. i. 253.[271]) So there can
be no doubt as to the permanent establishment of the institution of
slavery as early as 1639, while before that date the institution
existed in a patriarchal condition. But there isn't the least fragment
of history to sustain the haphazard statement of Emory Washburn, that
slavery existed in Massachusetts "from the time Maverick was found
dwelling on Noddle's Island in 1630."[272] We are sure this assertion
lacks the authority of historical data. It is one thing for a
historian to think certain events happened at a particular time, but
it is quite another thing to be able to cite reliable authority in
proof of the assertion.[273] But no doubt Mr. Washburn relies upon Mr.
Palfrey, who refers his reader to Mr. Josselyn. Palfrey says, "Before
Winthrop's arrival, there were two negro slaves in Massachusetts, held
by Mr. Maverick, on Noddle's Island."[274] Josselyn gives the only
account we have of the slaves on Noddle's Island. The incident that
gave rise to this scrap of history occurred on the 2d of October,
1639. Winthrop was chosen governor in the year 1637.[275] It was in
this year, on the 26th of February, that the slave-ship "Desire"
landed a cargo of Negroes in the colony. Now, if Mr. Palfrey relies
upon Josselyn for the historical trustworthiness of his statement that
there were two Negroes in Massachusetts before Winthrop arrived, he
has made a mistake. There is no proof for the assertion. That there
were three Negroes on Noddle's Island, we have the authority of
Josselyn, but nothing more. And if the Negro queen who kicked
Josselyn's man out of bed had been as long in the island as Palfrey
and Washburn indicate, she would have been able to explain her grief
to Josselyn in English. We have no doubt but what Mr. Maverick got his
slaves from the ship "Desire" in 1638, the same year Winthrop was
inaugurated governor.

In Massachusetts, as in the other colonies, slavery made its way into
individual families first; thence into communities, where it was
clothed with the garment of usage and custom;[276] and, finally, men
longing to enjoy the fruit of unrequited labor gave it the sanction of
statutory law. There was not so great a demand for slaves in
Massachusetts as in the Southern States; and yet they had their uses
in a domestic way, and