_By order of the Governour, with
the Advice of the Council_,
J. WILLARD, Secr.
GOD save the KING.
No mention is made of either of these remarkable proclamations in any
history of Boston, or other work that we have seen; and it can scarcely be
generally known that Massachusetts indorsed the proclamation of the King
of England, declaring war against "the French King," or that the colony,
without regard to the King and his government, declared war, including the
most desperate and bloody conditions, against the St. John's and Cape
Sable's Indians, a hundred years after the settlement of the colony, and
something more than one hundred and fifty years ago. It will be noticed
that the sum of five pounds additional is offered in each case for man,
woman, or child, if brought in alive; but considering the expense, danger,
and trouble of doing so, it could hardly have been expected that any thing
beyond the scalps of the victims, even of children, would be brought in;
and it would seem, if any considerable number were killed or brought in,
that the debt incurred would be likely to become somewhat burdensome upon
the colony. The terms of the proclamation were based upon the votes and
orders of the General Court, authorizing the payment of the rewards
offered, passed on the 26th day of October. The records of Boston show
that in 1756, January, L50 were paid for an Indian scalp, and it is to be
hoped this was the only payment ever made for such a purchase.