From: Anna B. Williams. The Rogerenes: Part II, History of the Rogerenes. Boston: Stanhope Press, 1904.

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CHAPTER II.

1675.

WEEK by week, the little band of Bible students on the Great Neck are becoming more and more familiar with the contents of the New Testament. Heretofore they have, like the majority, accepted religion as it has been prepared for them, as naturally as they have accepted other customs, fashions and beliefs. Now that they have begun to search and examine for themselves, it is in no half-way fashion. Doubtless to a bold, direct, enterprising mode of thought and action James Rogers owed his worldly success. It is evident that his children, by inheritance and example, possess like characteristics. Through the mystic power of conversion they have come "to see and to know" ¹ the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They believe that the Scriptures were inspired by God himself, in the consciousness of holy men, and by His providence written and preserved for the instruction of succeeding generations; that, accordingly, what is herein written, by way of precept or example, is binding upon the regenerate man, and no command or example of men contrary to this Word should be obeyed, whatever the worldly menace or action may be.

John Rogers has already begun to work on the first day of the week. Moreover, in order to conform with exactness to the New Testament command and example relating to preachers of the Gospel, he has taken up a handicraft, that of shoemaking. At this date, all handicrafts are held in esteem, some of the most prominent men in a community having one or more; yet the large dealings of Mr. James Rogers have called for an active business life-on the part of. this son, who appears to have been his "right- hand man." In taking up this handicraft, John Rogers appears

¹ See preamble to will of James Rogers, Part I., Chapter I.

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not to neglect other business (in 1678 we shall find him fulfilling a contract to build a ship costing £4,640 ¹), but to be busily employed at the bench in what might otherwise be his leisure hours, and especially upon that day which has been declared "holy" by man and not by God.

How closely this movement is watched by the Connecticut authorities appears by a law enacted in May of this year, in which it is ordered that no servile work shall be done on the Sabbath, save that of piety, charity or necessity, upon penalty of 10s. Fine for each offense, and "in case the offence be circumstanced with high-handed presumption as well as profaneness the penalty to be augmented at the discretion of the judges." What "high-handed presumption" and "profaneness" consist of, in this case, will soon be evident.

The hesitation of the New London church in dealing with the Rogerses can readily be understood. Mr. James Rogers is the principal taxpayer, his rates for church and ministry are largest of all, to say nothing of those of his sons. Not only this, but the family has been one of the most respected in the town. Perchance they may yet see the error of their ways, especially when they have decisive proof of what is likely to proceed from the civil arm, if this foolhardiness is continued.

1676.

Despite the ominous law aimed at themselves and their followers, James Rogers, his wife and their daughter Bathsheba SInith, are preparing for a final consecration to the unpopular cause. In September, 1676, John, Capt. James, Japhet and Jonathan, the four New London members of the Newport church, visit that church, and on their return, September 19, bring with them Elder Hiscox and Mr. Hubbard. – (Letter of Mr. Hubbard.)

The Great Neck is still in midsummer beauty, with delicate touches of autumnal brightness, when the hospitable mansion of James Rogers is reopened to the friends who were here on a like

¹ See "History of Stratford."

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mission in the chilly days of winter. Grave and earnest must be the discourse of those gathered on this occasion. That Connecticut is resolved to withstand any inroad of new sects from Rhode Island, appears certain. But James Rogers and his sons are men not to be cowed or driven, especially when they judge their leadership to be from on High. This little family group is resolving to brave the power and opprobrium of Connecticut backed by Massachusetts.

If there is a hesitating voice in this assembly, it is probably that of Samuel Rogers, whose wife's sister is the wife of Rev. James Noyes of Stonington, and who is similarly allied to other prominent members of the Congregational order. Yet his sympathies are with the cause he hesitates to fully espouse. (We shall find the next meeting of this kind at his house.) As for Bathsheba, surely nothing but the waiting for father and mother could so long have kept her from following the example of her brother John.

In front of the house lies the wide, blue Sound. It is easy to picture the scene, as the earnest, gray-haired man and his wife and daughter accompany Elder Hiscox down the white slope of the beach to the emblem of cleansing that comes to meet them. No event in the past busy career of James Rogers can have seemed half so momentous as the present undertaking. There are doubtless here present not a few spectators, some of them from the church he has renounced, to whom this baptism is as novel as it is questionable; but they must confess to its solemnity and a consciousness that the rite in Christ's day was of a similar character. Those who came to smile have surely forgotten that purpose, as the waters close over the man who has been so honorable and honored a citizen, and who, despite the ridicule and the censure, has only been seeking to obey the commands of the Master, and, through much study, pious consideration and fervent prayer, has decided upon so serious a departure from the New England practice.

A summons for James Rogers and his wife and daughter to

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appear before the magistrate is not long in coming. But they are soon released. It cannot be an easy, pleasant or popular undertaking to use violent measures against citizens of such good repute as James Rogers and his family, whose earnest words in defense of their course must have more genuine force than any the reverend minister can bring to bear against it.

There is another Bible precedent wholly at variance with the Congregational custom that this little church zealously advocates. The apostles and teachers in the early church exacted no payment for preaching the gospel, receiving – with the exception of the travelling ministry – only such assistance as might any needy brother or sister in the church. This practice was eminently suitable for the promulgation of a religion that was to be "without money and without price," and well calculated to keep out false teachers actuated by mercenary motives. So great a religion having been instituted, among antagonistic peoples, by men who gave to that purpose only such time as they could snatch from constant struggles for a livelihood, and all its doctrines and code having been fully written out by these very men, could not the teachers and pastors of successive ages so, and with such dignity, maintain themselves and their families, giving undeniable proof that their calling was of God and not of mammon?

We have seen the young man, John Rogers, preparing himself for such a life as this. He has laid aside the worldly dignity and ease that might be his as the son of a rich man, to work at the humble trade of shoemaking; that he may place himself fully with the common people and give of the earnings of his own hands to the poor, as did the brethren of old.

The General Court has heretofore discovered no sufficient reason for granting the petition of Elizabeth Griswold for a divorce. It is probable that, up to this date, it has looked for some relenting on the part of the young nonconformist, rather than movements so distinctly straightforward in the line of dissent. But now that James Rogers and family have openly followed his lead to the extent of engaging in manual labor upon the first day of

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the week, and certain others on the Great Neck, who are members of the Congregational church, are regarding the movement with favor, the sympathy of this practically ecclesiastical body is fully enlisted for the Griswolds.

This Court, which, for nearly a year beyond the time appointed for its decision, has hesitated to grant the divorce to Elizabeth, now, with no further ground than that first advanced, except this evidently fixed determination of John Rogers and his relatives to persist in their nonconformity, "doe find just cause to grant her desire and doe" (Oct. 12,1676) "free her from her conjugal bond to John Rogers."

Among the documents kept on file relating to trials and decisions, the petition of Elizabeth does not appear in evidence, that the public may examine it and discover the nature of the charge put forward for the divorce. This petition and other evidence are kept state and family secrets. There is a law by which particulars of any trial which it is desired to keep secret must not be divulged by speech or otherwise, under penalty of a heavy fine for each such offense. Well may John Rogers and his son by Elizabeth Griswold ever declare that this divorce was desired and obtained for no other cause than "because John Rogers had renounced his religion."

At the meeting of the County Court in January of this year, John Rogers, Capt. James Rogers, Joseph Rogers, Richard Smith (husband of Bathsheba), and one Joseph Horton are fined 15s. each for non-attendance at church. All except John and Capt. James Rogers offer excuse for this offense.

1677.

In the following February, James Rogers, Sr., and his wife Elizabeth, Capt. James and his wife, Joseph and his wife, John, Bathsheba and Jonathan, are each fined 15s. at the County Court for non-attendance at church.

At the next County Court, in June, besides non-attendance at church, John Rogers is charged with attending to his work on the

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first day of the week, in May last, and with having upon that day brought "a burthen of shoes into the town." Upon this occasion, he owns to these facts in court, and further declares before that assembly that if his shop had stood under the window of Mr. Wetherell (magistrate) or next to the meeting-house, he would thus have worked upon the first day of the week. Capt. James and his brother Jonathan being arraigned at the same court for non-attendance at church and for work upon the first day of the week, assert that they have worked upon that day and will so work for the future. James Rogers, Sr., being examined upon a like charge, owns that he has not refrained from servile work upon the first day of the week "and in particular his plowing." "He had," says the record, "been taken of plowing the 6th day of May," by which it appears that he has been imprisoned from that time until this June court, as has John also, since his apprehension with the load of shoes. To have secured bail they must have promised "good behavior" – viz. cessation of work on the first day – until this session of the court, which they could not do, being resolved upon this same regular course.

Mary, wife of Capt. James Rogers, herself a member of the Newport church, is presented at the same court for absenting herself for the last six months from public worship. Bathsheba Smith is presented for the same, and also for a "lying, scandalous paper against the church and one of its elders" set up "upon the meeting house." This paper was evidently occasioned by the above-mentioned imprisonment of her father and brother on account of their having substituted the Scriptural Sabbath for that instituted centuries later by ecclesiastical law.

The court "sees cause to bear witness against such pride, presumption and horrible profaneness in all the said persons, appearing to be practiced and resolved in the future," and order that "a fine of £5 apiece be taken from each of them and that they remain in prison at their own charge until they put in sufficient bond or security to no more violate any of the laws respecting the due observance of the first day of the week," or "shall forthwith upon

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their releasement depart and remain out of the colony." Bathsheba is fined £5 for non-attendance at church and the "scandalous paper," and Mary and Elizabeth 10s. each for non-attendance at church.

It is evident that a crisis has now arrived; the sacred Puritan Sabbath has been ignored in an amazingly bold manner by this little band of dissenters, who openly declare, in court, their intention of keeping a seventh day Sabbath, and that alone, whatever be the menace or the punishment.

In these early days, £5 is so large a sum as to be of the nature of an extreme penalty. Truly, the "discretion of the judges" is beginning to work. How James Rogers and his two sons escaped from prison at all, after this sentence, does not appear; certainly they did not give any bonds not to repeat their offenses nor any promise to remove from the colony. Proof of their release is in the fact that they are all again before the court at its very next meeting, in September, together with Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph and his wife, all for non-attendance at church; and upon this occasion, John declares that he neither does nor will attend the Congregational church, nor will he refrain from servile work on the first day of the week, upon which the court repeats the fine of £5 "for what is past" and recommends to the commissioners that the delinquent be called to account by a £5 fine "if not once a week yet once a month." This, if strictly carried out, means almost constant imprisonment for John at his own charge, since it is against his principles to pay any such fines, or to give any of the required promises. Even could he be at large, £60 a year would seem to be more than he could earn by shoemaking. (At this period, £60 would buy a good farm "with mansion house thereon.")

Besides the arraignment of the Rogers family at the June court, as previously described, a suit is brought by Matthew Griswold for damages to the amount of £300. A part of this sum is for the Mamacock farm, which John Rogers very naturally declined to deliver up to the marshal on demand of the divorced wife, which

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refusal is denominated by Mr. Griswold in this suit a "breach of covenant." Another part is for the Griswold share of articles comprised in the marriage settlement of the fathers upon the couple. In this sum of £300 is also included a considerable charge for the maintenance of Elizabeth and her children at her father's, during the time between her leaving her husband's house and the date of the divorcement by the General Court; also board for her and her first child three months at her father's house, during an illness following birth of said child (see Chapter XIV, "Dragon's Teeth ").

Thus the divorced husband is asked to deliver up. the farm he gave Elizabeth in full expectation of her remaining his wife, to repay all that her father gave them during the four years of their happy married life, to pay her board during a visit to her father's house by solicitation of her parents,^l and also to recompense her father for the maintenance of herself and children at the same place after she had deserted her husband and forcibly taken away his children.

It is to the credit of this County Court that, although incensed at the audacity of John Rogers in bringing a load of shoes into town on the first day of the week, together with his other "offenses," it decides this case wholly in favor of the defendant.

An appeal is taken by Mr. Griswold. In the following October his suit comes before the Superior Court at Hartford. This court reverses the decision of the County Court as regards the farm, which is to "stand firm" to Elizabeth "during her natural life."

At the October session of the general Court, Elizabeth Griswold

¹ An evident attempt is made by the Griswolds, in inserting this item in the bill for damages, to lay the illness of Elizabeth following the birth of her child to some failure on the part of the young husband to suitably provide for her confinement. Her son, John Rogers 2d, however, in his "Reply" to his half-brother, Peter Pratt, mentions a far more serious and lengthy illness that befell Elizabeth upon the birth of her latter son, during which illness both she and her husband, Peter Pratt, Sr., had great misgivings regarding the justice of her divorce from John Rogers. That the illness in either case was of a constitutional origin is indicated by the parallel cases.

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petitions that her children may be continued with her and brought up by her, their father "being so hettridox in his opinions and practice."

The court, "having considered the petition, and John Rogers having in open court declared that he did utterly renounce all the visible worship of New England and professedly declare against the Christian Sabbath as a mere invention," grants her petition "for the present and during the pleasure of the court." John Rogers is to pay a certain amount towards the support of his children at Matthew Griswold's, for which the Mamacock farm is to stand as security.¹

The various forms of stringency lately in operation are so little deterrent to the new movement that on Saturday, Nov. 23, Elder Hiscox and Mr. Hubbard are again at New London, holding worship with the Rogerses.² The next day, Joseph's wife, having given a satisfactory account of her experience, is to be baptized. In this instance, John Rogers proposes that they perform the baptism openly in the town. This earnest and zealous young man overcomes the objections of the saintly but more cautious Mr. Hubbard. Moreover, his father, mother, Joseph and Bathsheba are on his side, and there is evident readiness on the part of the person to be baptized. If they have, at much peril and loss, begun a good work in this region, by setting aside inventions of men and substituting the teaching and practice of Christ and his apostles, it is no true following of the Master to hide their light under a bushel.

No mention is made of objection on the part of Elder Hiscox to going into town on this occasion, and he is found preaching there before the baptism, out of doors by the mill cove, with an alarming number of hearers. He is soon arrested and brought

¹ Elizabeth afterwards appears to have all the rents towards support of the children. Later, when the children are grown, she gives up the farm to John Rogers, for a reasonable consideration, as will be seen.

² The facts contained in this chapter, not otherwise indicated, are from Letters of Mr. Samuel Hubbard.

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before a magistrate and the minister, Mr. Bradstreet. The latter has "much to say about the good way their fathers set up in the colony," upon which Mr. Hubbard replies that, whereas Mr. Bradstreet is a young man, he himself is an old planter of Connecticut and well knows that the beginners of this colony were not for persecution, but that they had liberty at first to worship according to their consciences, while in later times he himself has been persecuted, to the extent of being driven out of this Colony, because he differed from the Congregational church.

Some impression appears to be made upon the magistrate; since he asks them if they cannot perform this obnoxious baptism by immersion elsewhere, to which Mr. Hubbard assents. They are then released and proceed to the house of Samuel Rogers, by the mill cove.

The time consumed in going from the presence of the magistrate to the house of his brother is sufficient to fix the resolve of John Rogers that no man, or men, shall stand between him and a command of his Master. For more than two years he has been an acknowledged pastor of the New London Seventh Day Baptist Church, under the church at Newport. If the older pastor from Newport cannot perform a scriptural baptism in the name of the Master, for fear of what men can do, in the way of persecution, then that duty devolves upon himself. Upon reaching his brother's house, he offers an earnest prayer; then, taking his sister by the hand, he leads her down the green slope before his brother's door, to the water, and himself immerses her, in the name of Father, Son and Holy Ghost, in the glistening water of the cove.

Doubtless the crowd that gathered during Mr. Hiscox's discourse and the after-disturbance has not yet dispersed, for the magistrate is directly informed of what has taken place. Supposing Mr. Hiscox to be the daring offender, he is straightway apprehended. But John Rogers appears before the magistrate, to state that he himself is the author of this terrible act, upon which Mr. Hiscox is released and the younger pastor is held in custody.

This new action on the part of the fearless and uncompromising

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youth, increases the excitement and comment. If the majority of the townspeople condemn him, there are yet some, even of Mr. Bradstreet's congregation, to wonder and admire. James Rogers, Sr., and his family undoubtedly rejoice that John is not to be turned aside by the hesitation of others, or for fear of what men can do to him. As for Jonathan, who is engaged to Naomi Burdick, granddaughter of Mr. Hubbard, it is not strange if he has hesitated to approve of a move made contrary to Mr. Hubbard's judgment.

It soon further appears that the New London church is not studying to conform to that at Newport, but to know the very doctrines and will of Christ himself, as revealed by His own words and acts and by those of His disciples.

In the course of their study of the New Testament, the Rogerses find distinct command against long and formal prayers like those of the prescribed church, so evidently constructed to be heard and considered of men, and of a length that would probably have appalled even the Pharisee in the temple.¹

They also carefully consider the command given by Christ to the disciples, and to believers in general, in regard to healing the sick, and the explicit directions given by James, the brother of Christ in the flesh, to the church at large: "Is any sick among you," etc. They see that other directions in this same chapter are held by the churches as thoroughly binding upon Christians of to-day; yet here is one, which, although perfectly agreeing with the teachings and practice of Christ and of the other apostles, is now commonly ignored. Indeed, should anyone attempt to exactly follow this direction of James, he would be considered a lunatic or a fool. Carefully does James Rogers, Sr., consider this matter, with his two sons, the one his logical young pastor and the other his practical, level-headed young shipmaster. Turn it as they may, they cannot escape the conclusion that if any of the New Testament injunctions are binding upon the church, all of them must be, so far as human knowledge can determine.

¹ Prayers an hour or more in length were common at that time.

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Whether Mr. Hiscox or Mr. Hubbard agrees with them in the above conclusions does not concern these conscientious students of Scripture. Not so with Jonathan, the young lover. He is.ready to believe that a religion good enough for so conscientious and godly a man as Mr. Samuel Hubbard is good enough for him. He judges that his father and brothers are going too far, not only in this, but in braving constant fines and imprisonments by so openly working upon the first day of the week.

Evidently, Jonathan cannot remain with the little church of which John is the pastor. Yet in dropping him, by his own desire, from their devoted band, they merely leave him in the church of Newport, of which they themselves are yet members (and will be for years to come), although they have made their own church a somewhat distinct and peculiar branch.¹ There is no sign of any break with the beloved son and brother, in friendliness or affection (now or afterwards), on account of this difference of opinion.

1678.

In March, 1678, Jonathan is married to Naomi; he brings her to the Great Neck, to a handsome farm by the shore, provided for them by his father, close bordering the home farms of his father and brothers.² This is an affectionate family group, despite some few differences in religious belief. It is evident enough to these logicians that He who commanded men to love even their enemies, allowed no lack of affection on the part of relatives, for any cause.

When the church at Newport learns that the name of Jonathan Rogers has been erased from the roll of the Connecticut church, because of his more conservative views, representatives are sent to New London to inquire into the matter. Here they learn of still

¹ Before long, the Newport church sends Mr. Gibson to live and preach upon the Great Neck, to such Sabbatarians as hold merely with the doctrines and customs of that church. Between this pastor and John Rogers, pastor of the still newer departure, we find no evidence of collision.

² This farm is afterwards conveyed to Jonathan, with other valuable property, by the will of his father.

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another departure of this church from their own, in that this church have omitted the custom of oral family worship, because they find no command for any prayers except those directly inspired by the occasion and the Spirit, but direct condemnation of all formal prayer, as tending to lip service rather than heart service, and to be heard of men rather than of God.

What can the Newport church offer in protest, from scriptural sources? To excommunicate persons for not following the teaching of Christ is one thing; to excommunicate them for obeying such teaching is another. The Newport church takes no action in these matters, although evidently much perplexed by this conscientiously independent branch of their denomination.

Accounts of the intolerance towards the Seventh Day sect in Connecticut having led Peter Chamberlain¹ to write a letter regarding this matter to Governor Leete of Connecticut, the latter replies, in a studiously plausible manner, that the "authority" has shown "all condescension imaginable to us" towards the New London church ("Rogers and his of New London"), having given them permission to worship on the seventh day, "provided they would forbear to offend our conscience."

The letter of Governor Leete contains also the following ingenious sophistry: –

"We may doubt (if they were governors in our stead) they would tell us that their consciences would not suffer them to give us so much liberty; but they would bear witness to the truth and beat down idolatry as the old kings did in Scripture." ²

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,

¹ A prominent Seventh Day Baptist of England.

² This statement of Governor Leete has been quoted against the Rogerenes again and again.

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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.¹ 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.)

¹ 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.

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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.

In June, 1678, James Rogers, Sr., and his sons, John and James, enter the New London meeting-house and take their seats in the pews set off to them, that of James, Sr., being, presumably, the highest of all, since he is the largest taxpayer in the town. It may be supposed by some that their spirits are at length subdued by the three years of incessant persecutions and annoyances. But presently they rise, one by one, in the midst of the service, and declare their condemnation of a worship in the name of Christ, which upholds persecution of those worshipping in the same name, and by the same book, who, in this name and this book, find no command for a first day Sabbath. To bring such arguments into the midst of a Congregational meeting is more effectual than any violence of constable or mob; yet, so far from being contrary to any command of the Gospel, it is a direct maintenance of the command there set forth to testify to the truth, regardless of consequences. At last, these distressed people have devised a method by which even this powerful ecclesiastical domination may be held in check.

From the church they are taken to prison, from prison to trial. They are fined £5 each. Payment of the fine being refused, imprisonment ensues, at their own expense; for such a period as will as effectually deplete their purses. Fines and imprisonments are to them common experiences; but the church party understand that here, at last, is an effective weapon in the hands of these people, with blade of no lesser metal than the words of the Master himself.

(For nearly five years after this countermove, no disturbance of meeting and no serious molestation of the Rogerenes appears on

¹ They were forced to pay for bed and board during imprisonment. Sometimes a prisoner brought a bed of his own.

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record. Evidently during that period the commissioners are not displaying such zeal in breaking up seventh day meetings as was the case previous to this appearance in the meeting-house.)

1679.

In October, 1679, there appears in the records of the General Court, an effort on the part of Samuel Rogers to clear a stigma from the reputation of his wife. She has been charged, by a man who has lost some money, with having appropriated it, and the County Court, by weight of circumstantial evidence, decided the case in favor of the plaintiff. In the case before the General Court, at this date, a man who has been imprisoned, on charge of being the true culprit, not being appeared against by Samuel Rogers, is released. (During the four years following this release, Samuel Rogers is at much expense in endeavoring to establish his wife's innocence. In 1683, he presents such clear proof of the falsity of the charge that the General Court grants him 300 acres of land, towards compensation for time and money expended in clearing his wife's name. In this instance, Samuel Rogers makes an address to the court, the substance of which does not appear on record. )

By this time there are a considerable number of Sabbatarians on the Great Neck, some of whom have come from Rhode Island. Any who object to the ultra movement of which John Rogers is the exponent, can attend the meetings of the less radical Mr. Gibson. Both of these pastors appear, however, to be working largely in unison, and they are both arraigned before the County Court, in September of this year, for servile labor on the first day of the week, together with James Rogers, Sr., and Capt. James. John Rogers is fined 20s., and the others 10s. each, and "the authority of the place" is desired "to call these or any others to account" for future profanation of the Sabbath, and to punish them according to law. On this occasion, Mr. Gibson states that he usually works upon the first day of the week. It is presumable that Jonathan Rogers also works, although not conspicuously.

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This is one of the spasmodic efforts to check this growing community of nonconformists, by punishment of the bolder offenders, despite the fact that the child is growing too sturdy and strategic to be handled with perfect impunity.

In the latter part of this year, Mr. Hubbard, having come to the Great Neck on a visit (probably to the home of his grand-daughter, Naomi Rogers), finds that Mr. James Rogers has recently been severely injured, by a loaded cart having passed over his leg, below the knee, for which injury he has allowed of no physician, "their judgment being not to use any means." A cart in these days being of no delicate mechanism, it is not improbable that a physician would have advised amputation. Mr. Rogers appears to be well on the way to recovery at the date of Mr. Hubbard's visit.

1682.

Save the moderate fine in September, 1679, for a single non-observance of the first day of the week, which non-observance has been occurring with every recurring Sunday, no recorded effort to suppress the sect occurs from the date of the appearance of James Rogers and his sons in the Congregational meeting-house, 1678, until late in 1682, when William Gibson, John Rogers, James, Sr., Capt. James, Joseph, Bathsheba and her husband, Richard Smith, are presented before the County Court for "prophanation of the Sabbath," upon which occasion John Rogers declares that he worked the last first day, the first day before, and the first day before that, and so had done for several years. James, Sr., and Capt. James express themselves to the same effect. Bathsheba and her husband "own" that this is their practice also, and aver that, "by the help of God," they shall so continue.

The court, not only "for the offense" but for the "pride, obstinacy and resolution" displayed in regard to continuance of the offense, fines each of the offenders 30s. apiece, – except Joseph, whom they fine 20s., – and to continue in prison until they shall give good security for the payment of these fines. A bond of £20

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each is also required, for their good behavior for the future and abstinence from all servile work on the first day of the week.

Here is the bringing up of a fast horse with dangerous suddenness. But for the imprisonment, it is almost certain that the next Sabbath would see another interruption of the Congregational services. As it is, Joseph and Captain James break out of the prison, for which the latter is fined £3 and the former £5. Undoubtedly they are speedily apprehended and returned to prison. (It is entirely unlikely that any of the fines are paid or bonds given; so that how these people finally escape from durance, unless after very long imprisonment, cannot be conceived.)

1683.

In this year occurs the death of Richard Smith, husband of Bathsheba. Also the will of James Rogers is written, at his dictation, by his son John. In this year James Rogers confirms to his son Joseph all his lands at "Poquoig or Robin Hood's Bay," within certain boundaries of fence, ledge and "dry pond." This land appears to be a part of the gift of land returned by Joseph to his father, in 1670.

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