'Born at Boston in 1658, of wealthy parentage, a graduate and a master of arts of Harvard, then a traveller and a student abroad, he won such distinction as a mathematician, and notably as an astronomer, as to be made a member of the Royal Society, and was in close touch with the world of scholars; but his career was that of an opulent and cultivated Boston merchant, and for twenty years, from 1693 to his death in 1713, he was treasurer of Harvard College.'

'"In the Church," the Boston News-Letter said of him, "he was known and valued for his Catholick Charity to all of the reformed Religion, but more especially his great Veneration for the Church of England, although his general and more constant communion was with the Nonconformists." In other words, he was of the liberal party in religion and politics, an eminent opponent of the Puritan theocracy, and he did not escape the epithets "apostate" and "infidel."'

'It was his grand-nephew, the then well-known Thomas Brattle, Esq., of Cambridge, who late in the eighteenth century communicated it to the Massachusetts Historical Society (It was first published in that society's Collections, V. pp.61-79. [1798]).'

'Was the letter circulated in MS form? The suggestion is that of Sibley, in his sketch of Brattle's life (Harvard Graduates, II. pp.489-498), the best summary of what is known of him. That the extant copy is without superscription, and signed by initials only, may point to such a use. It must not be forgotten that it was written on the eve of the session of the General Court. The letter makes reference to John ALDEN's witch trial.'

Extract from: Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706 by George Lincoln Burr.