Note 519 — Chapter VIII · THE GROWTH OF A FRONTIER

Hutchinson, Papers, vol. I, pp. 223 ff.; J. Winthrop, History, vol. II, pp. 348 ff. Prof. G. L. Kittredge has recently written an elaborate account of Dr. Child—"Doctor Robert Child the Remonstrant," reprinted from Publications, Col. Soc., Mass., 1919. It is a strong brief in defense of the action taken by the Massachusetts authorities, and contains the fullest and most accurate account of the Petition and the subsequent trials yet written. Prof. Kittredge is a firm supporter of the old theory that Child was plotting to overthrow the government in the interests of Presbyterianism. While this may be so, it seems not to cover the cases of the other remonstrants. The main interest of the affair for our present work, however, lies in the evidence afforded of discontent with the Puritan regime, and in that connection, Prof. Kittredge, after showing the extreme diversity of views held by the signers on most matters, speaks of “their discontent with the administration which was the sole binding element common to all the Remonstrants” (p. 29). He also states (p. 52), that “there was more or less public sentiment in favor of the defendants.”