The Saints would not be the aggressors, he assured his audience, but they would defend their rights. “That mob that comes on us to disturb us,” he cried out, “it shall be between us and them a war of extermination, for we will follow them till the last drop of their blood is spilled, or else they will have to exterminate us.” No more would the Saints abandon their homes or crops. No more would they bear their persecution meekly. “We this day then proclaim ourselves free,” Sidney declared, “with a purpose and a determination that never can be broken! No, never!!”17
