Note [688 — Chapter VIII
Reading edition
[688] Ibid., ii, 364. Palfrey, History of New England, ii, p. 30, points out that the expression in the Massachusetts Body of Liberties, “willingly sell themselves,” related to such as contracted to labor for a term of years, though in some cases, such term might have been for life. The engagement, whatever its duration, would be subject to transference to a third party, in which case the original contractor would be “sold.”