Note [528 — Chapter V
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[528] It is estimated that there were probably between 30,000 and 40,000 white inhabitants in the United Colonies at the time of King Philip’s War, and that of these, 6,000 to 8,000 were able to bear arms. Mather, A Brief History of the War with the Indians of New England, p. xxix. No estimate of the number of Praying Indians at the time of the war seems available. Palfrey, A Compendious History of New England from the Discovery by Europeans, etc., ii, p. 124, states their number, when at the highest, as 4,000. In 1685, Mr. Hinckley, governor of Plymouth, estimated them at 1,439, not counting children under twelve years of age. Hutchinson, The History of the Colony of Massachusetts, i, p. 349.