Interpreting a sentence

[Joel S. Berson]

I am reading the following sentence (in email, so I excuse the typo):

>Criminal law in New England was created on the whole by people who
>had found life in Europe too lax, but were considered extremists,
>and persecuted, by their contemmporaries [sic] Europeans.

Is it fair to assume that "criminal law in New England was created on
the whole by people who had found life in Europe too lax"  is the
opinion of the writer of this sentence, rather than the opinion of
"their contemporaneous Europeans"?

Is it fair to assume that the "criminal law was founded ..." part
implies the belief (whether held by the writer or held by the
contemporaneous Europeans) that the New Englanders created a criminal
law that was severe in order to overcome the laxness they saw in Europe?

Joel

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