The Rogerenes. John R. Bolles
is stirred up that the young eaglet may spread its wings and seek the sun. The victor’s laurels are not cheaply gained; conflict and struggle are the price. Sparks flash from collision. Lightnings cleanse the air. The geode is broken to free the gem that lies within. Diamonds are cut and polished ere they shed forth their splendor. Great good is usually ushered in by great labor and sacrifice. It is so with liberty. Let us tread about its altars with reverence, with unshod feet; altars from which have ascended flames so bright as to illumine earth, and offerings so sweet as to propitiate heaven. The unjust and tyrannical laws by which the early battlers for religious freedom in this section were assailed have long since been erased from the statutes of the State. The tide of public sentiment had swollen to such height, in which all denominations except the standing order were a unit, that they were wiped out, and their existence was made impossible in the future. That the Rogerene movement largely contributed to bring about this result will be shown. Of the hardships, loss of liberty, loss of property, etc., which the Rogerenes endured for conscience’s sake, Miss Caulkins speaks thus:—
Attempts were made to weary them out and break them up by a series of fines, imposed upon presentments of the grand jury. These fines were many times repeated, and the estates of the offenders melted under the seizures of the constable as snow melts before the sun. The course was a cruel one and by no means popular. At length, the magistrates could scarcely find an officer willing to perform the irksome task of distraining.
The demands of collectors, the brief of the constable, were ever molesting their habitations. It was now a cow, then a few sheep, the oxen at the plow, the standing corn, the stack of hay, the threshed wheat, and, anon, piece after piece of land, all taken from them to uphold a system which they denounced.
Further details of their sufferings will be omitted in this place; but the famous suit of Rev. Gurdon Saltonstall against John Rogers demands and shall receive dose attention.
It was while Rev. Gurdon Saltonstall was minister of the church of New London, and through his influence, that John Rogers was expatriated, so to speak, and mercilessly confined three years and eight months in the jail at Hartford, “as guilty of blasphemy.” Shortly after his release, Rev. Mr. Saltonstall brought a suit against John Rogers for defaming his character. The following is the record of the court:—
At a session of the County Court, held at New London, September 20th, 1698, members of the court, Capt. Daniel Wetherell, esq., Justices William Ely and Nathaniel Lynde, Mr. Gurdon Saltonstall, minister of the gospel, plf. pr. contra John Rogers, Sr., def’t, in an action of the case for defamation.
Whereas you, the said John Rogers, did some time in the month of June last, raise a lying, false and scandalous report against him, the said Mr. Gurdon Saltonstall, and did publish the same in the hearing of diverse persons, that is to say, did, in their hearing, openly declare that the said Saltonstall, having promised to dispute with you publicly on the holy Scriptures, did, contrary to his said engagement, shift or wave the said dispute which he promised you, which said false report he, the said Saltonstall, complaineth of as to his great scandal and to his damage unto such value as shall to the said court be made to appear. In this action the jury finds for the plaintiff £600 and costs of court £1 10s.
The £600 damages, equal perhaps to $10,000 at the present day, was not more remarkable than the suit itself, which had no legal foundation. Lorenzo Dow tells “how to lie, cheat and kill according to law.” But here is a deed—ought we not to call it a robbery?—done under cover, without the authority, of law. For the words alleged to have been spoken, action of slander was not legal. That this may be made clear to the general reader, we quote the language of the law from Selwyn’s “Digest”:—
An action on the case lies against any person for falsely and maliciously speaking and publishing of another, words which directly charge him with any crime for which the offender is punishable by law. In order to sustain this action it is essentially necessary that the words should contain an express imputation of some crime liable to punishment, some capital offense or other infamous crime or misdemeanor. An imputation of the mere defect or want of moral virtues, moral duties, or obligations is not sufficient.
To call a man a liar is not actionable; but the offensive words charged upon Rogers do not necessarily impute as much as this. There might have been a mistake or a misunderstanding on both sides, or Mr. Saltonstall may, for good reason, have changed his purpose. No crime was charged upon him, which we have seen is necessary to support the action. “Where the words are not actionable in themselves and the only ground of action is the special damage, such damage must be proved as alleged.” In this case no special damage, is alleged and of course none proved. The causes of the suit were too trifling for further discussion. Falsehood need not rest upon either. Duplicity was no part of Roger’s character, and, since we have spoken a word for him, we will let the Rev. Gurdon Saltonstall speak for himself, as quoted by Mr. McEwen in his “Bi-Centennial Discourse”:—
“There never was,” said Gov. Saltonstall in a letter to Sir Henry Ashurst, “for this twenty years that I have resided in this government, any one, Quaker or other person, that suffered on account of his different persuasion in religious matters from the body of this people.”
We may suppose that Mr. Saltonstall thought he had done a brilliant act, to recover from John Rogers a sum equal to about six year’s salary. But there are scales that never grow rusty and dials that do not tire. Time, the great adjuster of all things, will have its avenges.
While the least peccadilloes of the Rogerenes have been searched out as with candles and published from pulpit and from press, no one of their enemies has ever found it convenient to name this high-handed act of oppression, as shown in the suit referred to. Perhaps they have viewed it in the light that the Scotchman did his text, when he said, “Brethren, this is a very difficult text; let us look it square in the face and pass on.” They may not even have looked it in the face.
Last, if not least, of the unauthenticated anecdotes narrated by Mr. McEwen of the Rogerenes, in his half-century sermon, which we would not care to unearth, but which has recently been republished in The Outlook, is here given:—
One of this sect, who was employed to pave the gutters of the streets, prepared himself with piles of small stones, by the wayside, that when Mr. Adams was passing to church, he might dash them into the slough, to soil the minister’s black dress. But, getting no attention from the object of his rudeness, who simply turned to avoid the splash, the nonplussed persecutor cried out, “Woe unto thee, Theophilus, Theophilus, when all men speak well of thee!”
When we remember that Mr. Adam’s name was not Theophilus, and that, if it was on Sunday that the preacher was going to church, the gutters would not have been in process of paving, a shadow of doubt falls upon this story.
But Mr. McEwen throws heavier stones at the Rogerenes, which we are compelled to notice, and shall see what virtue there is in them.
Why, in speaking of the Rogerenes, in his half-century sermon, does he say: “To pay taxes of any sort grieved their souls”? when they were so exact to render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s? Miss Caulkins fully exonerates them from this charge. We repeat her words:—
He (John Rogers) maintained also obedience to the civil government, except in matters of conscience and religion. A town or county rate the Rogerenes always considered themselves bound to pay; but the minister’s rate they abhorred.
Why should they not? Would not the Congregational church at that time have abhorred such a tax imposed upon them to support the Baptist ministry? Until we are willing to concede to others the rights that we claim for ourselves, we are not the followers of Him who speaketh from heaven. But the most glaring wrong done to these dissenters by the standing order, outvying perhaps Gov. Saltonstall’s groundless suit for damages, is found in the course taken by the magistrates, unrebuked, who, however small was the fine or however large the value of the property distrained, returned nothing to the victims of their injustice.
Says John Rogers, Jr.:—
For