Note 72 — Chapter I

The address is given in full in Hovey, A Memoir of the Life and Times of Isaac Backus, pp. 218–221. It drew a kindly response from the Provincial Congress, signed by John Hancock as president, pleading the inability of the Congress to give redress and advising the aggrieved parties to submit their case to the General Court of Massachusetts at its next session. This step was taken in September, 1775; but beyond the fact that a bill, drawn to give redress, was once read in the sessions of the Assembly, nothing came at the matter. “Such”, remarks Backus, “is the disposition of mankind”. (Cf. Backus, History of New England, vol. ii, pp. 202 et seq. Cf. Burrage, History of the Baptists in New England, pp. 113 et seq.)