This speciously worded sentence is deserving of some reply. Suppose the little band of Rogerenes to have attained the size and power necessary for religious legislation, and to be able to do by their opponents exactly as the latter have done by them. They must exact of these the keeping of a seventh day Sabbath, demand aid for the support of seventh day churches, and enact that none shall go to or from their homes on the seventh day, except between said homes and seventh day churches. In case any of these laws be broken, or any dare speak out in first day churches against the tyranny and bigotry of this seventh day legislation, such shall be fined, imprisoned, scourged and set in the stocks. Could any person really suppose such a course possible for these conscientious students of New Testament teachings, who are not only opposed to any religious legislation, but long before this date have given marked attention to the gentle, peaceable doctrines of the Gospel, and listened with respect and interest to the expositions of the Quakers, one of whom at the start had found them “tender and loving”. Close upon this date, the Rogerenes are found openly and zealously advocating the non-resistant principles of the New Testament. A fact not revealed by court records (but which must frequently be taken into account in this history) is detected in this letter of Governor Leete: “_if they would forbear to offend our conscience_,” etc., “we would give them no offence in the seventh day worshipping,” viz.: until such time as the Rogerenes will forbear to labor upon the first day of the week, they must expect, not only fines, imprisonment and stocks, but to have their Saturday meetings broken up, according to the pleasure or caprice of the authorities.[51] Constant liability to punishment by the town authorities, for failure to pay fines for holding their Saturday meetings, is one of the aggravating features of this warfare. (All the power used by the magistrates “at their own discretion” was exercised wholly in the dark, so far as any records are concerned, and the periods of greatest severity in its exercise can only be discerned by effects which can be attributed to no other cause.) ----- Footnote 51: It will be remembered that the officers were themselves liable to be fined if they failed to execute the Sunday laws, and that any religious meetings whatever other than those prescribed by the standing order were against the law, both those holding and those attending such meetings being liable to fine or—in case of non-payment—imprisonment. Continual breaking up of their meetings, together with fines and imprisonments for breach of the first day Sabbath—to say nothing of the license allowed the ever mischievous and merciless mob to aid in indignities—is at length beginning to tell on this people in a manner quite opposite to that looked for by their opponents.