Note 5 — Chapter I
Reading edition
The records of the church say 1598, (Benedict, vol. i. p. 473) but this statement appears to be a mistake. Mr. Williams, in a letter dated July 21, 1679, (Backus, vol. i. p. 421) said that he was then “near to fourscore years of age.” This proves that he was not born in 1598, and makes it probable that the next year was the true time.