Friday Oct. 14 [TJT]. This association made choice of a Committee of grievances, to correspond with ours in New England, and to prosecute such measures for our relief as they shall judge best, who were Robert Strettle Jone esq., president, Mr. Samuel Davis, Mr. Stephen Sheisel [Shewel], Mr. Thomas Shields, Mr. George Wescot, Alexander Edwards esq., Benjamin Bartholomew esq., Rev. William Rogers, John Evans esa., John Mayhew esq., Edward Nesby [Keasby] esq., Rev. Samuel Jones, Rev. Morgan Edwards, Rev. William Van Horne, Mr. Samuel Jones, Rev. Morgan Edwards, Rev. William Van Horne, Mr. Abraham Breakley, Abel Evans, esq., Secratary, Samuel miles esq., Mr James Morgan and Mr. John Jarman. In the evening there met at Carpenter’s Hall, Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and Robert Treat Paine esquire, delegates from the Massachusetts to the Congress, when James Kinzie [Kinsey] of New Jersey, Stephen Hopkins and Saml. Ward of Rhode Island, Joseph Galloway, Thomas Mifflin of Pennsylvania esquires, and other members of the Congress were present, as also were Mr. Rhodes mayor of the city, the three forenamed quakers, and our Elders Manning, Gano, Jones, Edwards, Rogers, etc. The conference was opened by Mr. Manning, who made a short speech and then read the memorial of our grievences which we had drawn up. In answer to which Mr. John Adams made a long speech, and Mr. Samuel [Adams] another, both of whom said, "There is indeed and ecclesiastical establishment in our province but a very slender one, hardly to be called an establishment." And they exerted all their art for near a hour in trying to represent that we had no cause to complain of encroachments upon our religious liberties at all. As soon as they would permit we brought up facts to the contrary which they tried to take off the edge of, but could not. Then they shifted their plan, and asserted that our general court was clear of blame, and had always been ready to hear our complaint and grant all reasonable help, what ever might be done by executive officers, Mr. S. Adams and Mr. Paine spent near an hour more upon this plea. When they stopt, I told them I was very sorry to have any accusation to bring against the government I belonged to, which I would gladly serve to the utmost of my power; but I might say that facts proved the contrary to their plea; and gave a short relation of our legeslitures treatment of Ashfield, which was very pusling to them. In their pleas Mr. S. Adams tried to represent that regular Baptists were easy among us, and more that once insinuated that these complaints came from enthuseasts who made a merit of suffering persecution, and also that enemies to these colonies had a hand therein. And Mr. Paine said there was nothing of conscience in the matter; twas only a contention about paying a little money, and also that we would not be neighbourly to let them know who we were which was all they wanted and then they would readily exempt us. In answer to which I told them, they might call it enthusiasm or what they pleased but I freely owned before these gentlemen that it is absolutely a point of conscience with me; for I cannot give in the certificates they require, without implicitly acknowledging that power in man which I believe belongs only to God. This shocked them considerably, and Mr. Cushing said it quite altered the state of the case, for if it was a point of conscience he had nothing to answer to that. And the conference of about four hour continuance closed with their promising to do what they could for our relief. Tho’ to deter us from thinking of their coming upon equal footing as to religion with us, Mr. John Adams once said, "We might as well expect a change in the solar system, as to expect they would give up their establishment"; and at another time said, "We might as soon expect that they would submit to the Port Bill, to the Regulating Bill, and the Murder bill as to give up that establishment": which yet he and his frind in the beginning of their pleas called a very slender thing. Such absurdities does religious tyranny produce in great men.