Chapter 11

State

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TOPICS - click to expand or collapse: THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE ERA OF THE REVOLUTION - NATURE OF WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS - NEED OF A RELIGIOUS SANCTION - VIEW OF DE WITT CLINTON - VIEW OF WINTHROP - DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY INCORPORATED INTO ALL THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS - CHRISTIAN ARTICLES OF THE CONSTITUTION - DECLARE THE DIVINITY OF THE BIBLE - CIVIL OFFICERS REQUIRED TO SUBSCRIBE TO ITS DOCTRINES - THE PRESENT STATE CONSTITUTIONS CHRISTIAN - LEGISLATION OF NEW YORK ON THE SABBATH - PROVINCIAL CONGRESS OF NEW YORK - ITS PROCLAMATION - GENERAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS - ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE - PROCLAMATION.

WHEN a people assume the condition and dignity of a civil state, their first want and effort is a just constitution of government. This accomplished, it affords the highest evidence of their progress in intelligence, liberty, and social order. But the constitution of every nation, if it secures great moral and political prosperity, must be enforced by sanctions which are higher and more authoritative than human parchments and laws. Their practical force and value must be derived from faith in God and the sanctions of the Divine law. Hence the men who have founded states on written constitutions have always resorted to religious sanctions to give practical power to their constitutions and to enforce the laws of the government. This great principle is coexistent in all governments, whether pagan or Christian. Every oath that is taken to support a constitution acknowledges the power and necessity of the sanctions of religion. It is an appeal to God in behalf of constitutional government, - to give it authority, by making the legislation of conscience and accountability to God support and uphold the laws of the land.

"The sanctions of the Divine law," says De Witt Clinton, in an address delivered before the American Bible Society, May, 1823, "supply all deficiencies, cover the whole area of human action, reach every case, punish every sin, and recompense every virtue. Its rewards and punishments are graduated with perfect justice, and its appeals to the hopes and fears of men are of the most potential character and transcendent influence. The codes of men and the laws of opinion and government derive a great portion of their weight from the influence of a future world. Justice cannot be administered without the sanction of truth; and the great security against perjury is the amenability of another state. The sanctions of religion compose the foundations of good government ; and the ethics, doctrines, and examples furnished by Christ exhibit the best models for the laws of opinion."

"All societies of men," says Winthrop, a member of Congress, and Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1848, "must be governed in some way or other. The less they may have of stringent state government, the more they must have of individual self-government. The less they rely on public law or physical force, the more they must rely on private moral restraint. Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled, either by a power within them or by a power without them; either by the word of God or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet. It may do for other countries and other governments to talk about the state supporting religion: here, under our free institutions, it is religion which must support the state."

Lord Bacon, in enumerating what he calls the four pillars of government, three of which are justice, counsel, and treasure, places religion as the first in order and importance, says, -

"The reason why religion is universally and justly represented as essential to the prosperity of states, is not less obvious than the fact. The object of government is to enforce among individuals the observance of the moral law, and states are prosperous in proportion as this object is attained. But the only effectual sanction to this law is the Christian religion. Hence a government which neglects the care of religion is guilty of the folly of promulgating laws unaccompanied with any adequate sanction of requiring the community to obey without presenting to their minds the motives that generally induce to a prompt and cheerful obedience. Under these circumstances, the only resource left to the public authorities is mere physical force; and experience has abundantly shown that this is wholly ineffectual, excepting as an aid and supplement, in particular cases, to the moral influences, which alone can be depended on for the preservation of the tranquillity and good order of society. There are persons, and even parties, who, at the very moment when the use of physical force as an engine of government is discredited and abandoned, seem to be laboring with a sort of frantic energy to destroy the influence of all the moral motives that can be substituted for it,-more especially religion. I have said, and I repeat, that if while we abandon the use of physical force as an engine of maintaining order we should also dis- card the only valuable and effectual moral influence, and leave the individual to the undirected guidance of his own selfish passions, our institutions will be found to be impracticable, and society will fall into a state of dissolution."

Such views were radical in the faith of the Puritans and of the statesmen of the Revolution, and they incorporated the fundamental doctrines of Christianity into their systems of government. The following facts found in the State Constitutions of the Revolution demonstrate the Christian life and character of our civil institutions.

1) THE CONSTITUTION OF MASSACHUSETTS,

In 1780, inserted the following organic law on the subject of the Christian religion: -

"That as the happiness of a people, and the good order and preservation of civil government, essentially depend upon piety, religion, and morality, and as these cannot be generally diffused through a community but by the institution of the public worship of God, and of public instruction in piety, religion, and morality: therefore, to promote their happiness and to secure the good order and preservation of their government, the people of this commonwealth have a right to invest their legislature with power to authorize and require, and the legislature shall, from time to time, authorize and require, the several towns, parishes, precincts, and other bodies politic, or religious societies, to make suitable provision, at their own expense,for the institution of the public worship, and for the support and maintenance of public Protestant teachers of piety, religion, and morality, in all cases where such provision shall not be made voluntarily; and the people of this commonwealth have also a right to, and do, invest their legislature with authority to enjoin upon all their subjects an attendance upon the instructions of the public teachers aforesaid at stated times and seasons, if there be any on whose instructions they can conscientiously attend." And that "because a frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles of the Constitution, and a constant adherence to those of piety, justice, moderation, temperance, industry, and frugality, are absolutely necessary to preserve the advantage of liberty and to maintain a free government, the people ought consequently to have a particular regard to all those principles in the choice of their officers and representatives; and they have a right to require of their lawgivers and magistrates an exact and constant observance of them in the formation and execution of all laws necessary for the good of the commonwealth." And that every person "chosen governor, lieutenant-governor, senator, or representative, and accepting the trust, shall subscribe a solemn profession THAT HE BELIEVES IN THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, AND HAS A FIRM PERSUASION OF ITS TRUTH."

"I am clearly of opinion," said Mr. Webster, in the Convention of Massachusetts, in 1820, met to revise the Constitution, "that we should not strike out of the Constitution all recognition of the Christian religion. I am desirous, in so solemn a transaction as the establishment of a Constitution, that we should keep in it an expression of our respect and attachment to Christianity, - not, indeed, to any of its peculiar forms, but to its general principles." Another part of the Constitution recognizes in the fullest manner the benefits which civil society derives from those Christian institutions which cherish piety, morality, and religion.

2) THE CONSTITUTION OF SOUTH CAROLINA,

Adopted in 1778, declares Christianity to be the fundamental law of the State, in the following language: -

That all persons and religious societies who acknowledge that there is one God, and a future state of rewards and punishments, and that God is to be publicly worshipped, shall be tolerated. The Christian Protestant religion shall be deemed, and is hereby constituted and declared to be, the established religion of the State. That all denominations of Christian Protestants in this State, demeaning themselves peaceably and faithfully, shall enjoy equal religious and civil privileges.

To accomplish this desirable purpose without injury to the religious property of those societies of Christians which are by law already incorporated for the purpose of religious worship, and to put it fully into the power of every other society of Christian Protestants, either already formed or hereafter to be formed, to obtain the like incorporation, it is hereby constituted, appointed, and declared that the respective societies of the Church of England, that are already formed in this State for the purpose of religious worship, shall continue incorporate and hold the religious property now in their possession. And that whenever fifteen or more male persons not under twenty-one years of age, professing the Christian Protestant religion, and agreeing to unite themselves in a society for the purposes of religious worship, they shall (on complying with the terms hereinafter mentioned) be and be constituted a Church, and be esteemed and regarded in law as of the established religion of the State, and on a petition to the legislature shall be entitled to be incorporated and to enjoy equal privileges. That every society of Christians so formed shall give themselves a name or denomination, by which they shall be called and known in law, and all that associate with them for the purpose of worship shall be esteemed as belonging to the society so called; but that previous to the establishment and incorporation of the respective societies of every denomination as aforesaid, and in order to entitle them thereto, each society so petitioning shall have agreed to and subscribed in a book the five following articles, without which no agreement or union of men upon pretence of religion shall entitle them to be incorporated and esteemed as a church of the established religion of the State. (See Locke's Const., Arts. 97-100).

I. That there is one Eternal God, a future state of rewards and punishments.

II. That God is to be publicly worshipped.

III. That the Christian religion is the true religion.

IV. That the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are of divine inspiration, and are the rule of faith and practice.

V. That it is lawful, and the duty of every man being thereunto called by those that govern, to bear witness to truth. That every inhabitant of this State, when called to make an appeal to God as a witness to truth, shall be permitted to do it in that way which is most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience. And that the people of this State may forever enjoy the right of electing their own pastors or clergy, and, at the same time, that the State may have sufficient security for the due discharge of the pastoral office by those who shall be admitted to be clergymen, no person shall officiate as minister of any established church who shall not have been chosen by a majority of the society to which he shall minister, or by persons appointed by the said majority to choose and procure a minister for them, nor until the minister so chosen and appointed shall have made and subscribed the following declaration, over and above the aforesaid five articles, viz.: -

That he is determined, by God's grace, OUT OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, to instruct the people committed to his charge, and to teach nothing (as required of necessity to eternal salvation) but that which he shall be persuaded may be concluded and proved from the Scriptures; that he will use both public and private admonitions, as well to the sick as to the whole within his cure, as need shall require and occasion shall be given; and that he will be diligent in prayers, and in reading of the Holy Scriptures, and in such studies as help to the knowledge of the same; that he will be diligent to frame and fashion his own self and his family according to the doctrine of Christ, and to make both himself and them, as much as in him lieth, wholesome examples and patterns to the flock of Christ; that he will maintain and set forward, as much as he can, quietness, peace, and love among all the people, and especially among those who are or shall be committed to his charge.

No person shall disturb or molest any religious assembly, nor shall use any reproachful, railing, or abusive language against any Church, that being the certain way of disturbing the peace, and of hindering the conversion of any to the truth, by engaging them in quarrels and animosities, to the hatred of the professors, and that profession which otherwise they might be brought to assent to. No person whatsoever shall speak any thing in their religious assembly irreverently or seditiously of the government of the State. No person shall by law be obliged to pay towards the maintenance and support of a religious worship that he does not freely join in or has not voluntarily engaged to support; but the churches, chapels, parsonages, glebes, and all other property now belonging to any societies of the Church of England, or any other religious societies, shall remain and be secured to them forever.

They should choose by ballot from among themselves, or from the people at large, a governor and commander-in-chief, a lieutenant-governor, and privy council, all of the Protestant religion; that no person should be eligible to a seat in the Senate unless he be of the Protestant religion; that no person should be eligible to sit in the House of Representatives unless he be of the Protestant religion.

3) VIRGINIA,

In her organic charter and legislative acts, affirms the truth of the Christian system in terms as follows: -

By an act of the Assembly in 1705, it was declared, that if any person brought up in the Christian religion denies the being of a God or the Trinity, or asserts that there are more Gods than one, or denies the Christian religion to be true, or the Scriptures to be of divine authority, he is punishable, on the first offence by incapacity to hold office or employment, ecclesiastical, civil, or military; on the second, by disability to sue, to take any gift or legacy, to be guardian, executor, or administrator, and by three years' imprisonment without bail.

This act may be found in Jefferson's Works, vol. viii. p. 399.

This law, opposed to the spirit of Christianity while affirming its divinity, was abolished in 1786 by the following

3.1) ACT FOR ESTABLISHING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

Well aware that Almighty God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burdens, or by civil incapacitations, tend not only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the Author of our Religion, who, being Lord both of the body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercion on either, as was in his almighty power to do:

Be it, therefore, enacted by the General Assembly, That no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry, whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.

This act, passed under the auspices of Mr. Jefferson, he regarded as one of the best works of his life.

The Declaration of Rights, which passed unanimously the Virginia Legislature, June 12, 1776, affirmed that

Its free government could be preserved but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, benevolence, frugality, and virtue, and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles and the manner of discharging it. Religion is the duty we owe our Creator, and can be directed only by reason, not by force and violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of it according to the dictates of conscience; and it is the mutual duty of all to practise Christian forbearance, love and charity towards each other.

The following ancient laws of Virginia show the historic fact of the incorporation of the Christian religion and its ordinances into the civil government of that Commonwealth.

In 1662 it was enacted that

Every person who should refuse to have his child baptized by a lawful minister shall be amerced two thousand pounds of tobacco, half to be paid to the parish, half to the informer.

The whole liturgy of the Church of England shall be thoroughly read at church, or chapel, every Sunday; and the canons for divine service duly observed.

Church-wardens shall present at the county court, twice every year, in December and April, such misdemeanors of swearing, drunkenness, fornication, &c. as by their own knowledge, or common fame, have been committed during their being church-wardens.

Enacted that the Lord's Day be kept holy, and no journeys be made on that day, unless upon necessity. And all persons inhabiting in this country, having no lawful excuse, shall, every Sunday, resort to the parish church or chapel, and there abide orderly during the common prayer, preaching, and divine service, upon the penalty of being fined fifty pounds of tobacco by the county court.

In 1668,

The 27th of August appointed for a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer, to implore God's mercy: if any person be found upon that day gaming, drinking, or working (works of necessity excepted), upon presentment by church-wardens and proof, he shall be fined one hundred pounds of tobacco, half to the informer, and half to the poor of the parish.

4) THE CONSTITUTION OF PENNSYLVANIA,

Adopted in 1776, declares that the Legislature shall consist of "persons most noted for wisdom and virtue," and that every member should subscribe the following declaration: -

I do believe in one God, the Creator and Governor of the universe, the Rewarder of the good, and the Punisher of the wicked; and I acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be given by inspiration.

5) THE CONSTITUTION OF NORTH CAROLINA,

Bearing date 1776, declares

That no person who should deny the being of a God, or the truth of the Protestant religion, or the divine authority of either the Old or New Testaments, or who should hold religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the State, should be capable of holding any office or place of trust in the civil government of this State.

6) DELAWARE,

In her first Constitution, formed during the Revolution, made the following declaration: -

That every citizen who should be chosen a member of either house of the Legislature, or appointed to any other office, should be required to subscribe to the following declaration: - "I do profess faith in God the Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ his only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God and blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be given by divine inspiration."

7) MARYLAND

Formed a State Constitution in 1776, and the Declaration of Rights (Art. XIX.) says, -

That as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to him, all persons professing the Christian religion are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty. And (in Art. XXXV.) "That no other qualification ought to be required on admission to any office of trust or profit than such oath of support and fidelity to this State, and such oath of office, as shall be directed by this Constitution or the Legislature of this State, and a declaration of belief in the Christian religion."

The Constitution also authorized the Legislature "to lay a general tax for the support of the Christian religion."

8) NEW JERSEY,

In her Constitution formed in 1776, declares

That there shall be no establishment of any one religious sect in this province in preference to another, and that no Protestant inhabitant of this colony shall be denied the enjoyment of any civil right on account of his religious principles; but

That all persons professing a belief in the faith of any Protestant sect, and who should demean himself peaceably under the government, should be capable of being elected unto any office of profit or trust, or of being a member of either branch of the Legislature.

The following instructions from the Legislature of New Jersey to its delegates in Congress in 1777 will exhibit the high Christian sentiments of the men who directed the civil and military concerns of the Revolution. Among the delegates were John Witherspoon and Elias Boudinot. The Legislature instructs as follows:

1. We hope you will habitually bear in mind that the success of the great cause in which the United States are engaged depends upon the favor and blessing of Almighty God; and therefore you will neglect nothing which is competent to the Assembly of the States for promoting piety and good morals among the people at large. But especially we desire that you may give attention to this circumstance in the government of the army, taking care that such of the articles of war as forbid profaneness, riot, and debauchery be observed and enforced with all due strictness and severity. This, we apprehend, is absolutely necessary for the encouragement and maintenance of good discipline, and will be the means of recruiting the army with men of credit and principle, an object ardently to be wished, but not to be expected if the warmest friends of their country should be deterred from sending their sons and connections into the service, lest they should be tainted with impious and immoral notions and contract vicious habits.

9) NEW HAMPSHIRE

Formed a State Constitution in 1776, and in it declares

That morality and piety, rightly grounded on evangelical principles, would give the best and greatest security to government, and would lay in the hearts of men the strongest obligation to due subjection; and that the knowledge of these was most likely to be propagated by the institution of the public worship of the Deity and instruction in morality and religion.

The Constitution of the same State in 1792 empowered the Legislature to adopt measures "for the support and maintenance of public Protestant teachers of piety, religion, and morality."

The province of New Hampshire, in a convention composed of one hundred and forty-four deputies appointed by the various towns in the province aforesaid, after resolving "that we heartily approve of the proceedings of the late grand Continental Con- gress," passed the following: -

Lastly, we earnestly entreat you, at this time of tribulation and distress, when your enemies are urging you to despair, when every scene around is full of gloom and horror, that, in imitation of your pious forefathers, you implore the divine Being, who alone is able to deliver you from your present unhappy and distressing situation, to espouse your righteous cause, secure your liberties, and fix them on a firm and lasting basis.

10) THE CONSTITUTION OF GEORGIA,

Adopted in 1777, declares that "all the members of the Legislature shall be of the Protestant religion."

11) THE CONSTITUTION OF VERMONT

Declares that

Every sect or denomination of Christians ought to observe the Sabbath or Lord's Day, and keep up some sort of religious worship, which to them shall seem most agreeable to the revealed will of God.

12) CONNECTICUT,

In Part 7, sec. 1 of her Constitution, declared that, -

It being the duty of all men to worship the Supreme Being, the great Creator and Preserver of the Universe, and their right to render that worship in the mode most consistent with the dictates of their consciences, no person shall, by law, be compelled to join or support, nor be classed with or associated to, any congregation, church, or religious association. But every person now belonging to such congregation, church, or religious association shall remain a member thereof, until he shall have separated himself therefrom, in the manner hereinafter provided. And each and every society or denomination of Christians in this State shall have and enjoy the same and equal powers, rights, and privileges, and shall have power and authority to support and maintain the ministers or teachers of their respective denominations, and to build and repair houses for public worship, by a tax on the members of any such society only, to be laid by a major vote of the legal voters assembled at any society meeting, warned and held according to law, or in any other manner.

13) THE CHARTER OF RHODE ISLAND,

Granted by Charles II., in 1682-83, and which continued to be the Constitution of that Commonwealth till 1843, says, -

The object of the colonists is to pursue, with peace and loyal minds, their sober, serious, and religious intentions of godly edifying themselves and one another in the holy Christian faith and worship, together with the gaining over and conversion of the poor ignorant Indian natives to the sincere profession and obedience of the same faith and worship.

14) THE CONSTITUTION OF NEW YORK,

Though less full and explicit on the subject than those of other States, yet contains an organic act recognizing the Christian religion. The Constitution of 1777 has the following articles, the same as those inserted in the Constitution formed in 1821: -

And Whereas we are required, by the benevolent principles of rational liberty, not only to expel civil tyranny, but also to guard against that spiritual oppression and intolerance wherewith the bigotry and ambition of weak and wicked priests and princes have scourged mankind: this Convention doth further, in the name and by the authority of the good people of this State, ORDAIN, DETERMINE, and DECLARE that the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever hereafter be allowed within this State to all mankind: Provided, That the liberty of conscience hereby granted shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of this State.

And Whereas the ministers of the gospel are, by their profession, dedicated to the service of God and the cure of souls, and ought not to be diverted from the great duties of their functions: therefore, no minister of the gospel, or priest of any denomination whatsoever, shall, at any time hereafter, under any pretence or description whatever, be eligible to or capable of holding any civil or military office or place within this State.

An examination of the present Constitutions of the various States, now existing, will show that the Christian religion and its institutions are recognized as the religion of the Government and the nation.

The recognitions of Christianity in the State Constitutions are of three kinds. 1. These instruments are usually dated in the year of our Lord. 2. Nearly all of them refer to the observance of Sunday by the Chief Executive Magistrate, in the same way in which such observance is referred to in the Constitution of the United States. 3. All the State Constitutions, or legislation under them, guard with vigilance the religious observance of the Christian Sabbath, and punish, with greater or less severity, all unlawful violation of the day. 4. Definite constitutional provisions not only recognizing the Christian religion, but affording it countenance, encouragement, and protection.

"In perusing the thirty-four Constitutions of the United States, we find all of them recognizing Christianity as the-well-known and well-established religion of the communities whose legal, civil, and political foundations they are. The terms of this recognition are more or less distinct in the Constitutions of the different States; but they exist in all of them. The reason why any degree of indistinctness exists in any of them, unquestionably, is that at their formation it never came into the minds of the framers to suppose that the existence of Christianity as the religion of their communities could ever admit of a question. Nearly all these Constitutions recognize the customary observance of Sunday; and a suitable observance of this day includes a performance of all the peculiar duties of the Christian faith. The Constitution of Vermont declares that 'every sect or denomination of Christians ought to observe the Sabbath or Lord's Day, and keep up some sort of religious worship, which to them shall seem most agreeable to the revealed will of God.' The Constitutions of Massachusetts and Maryland are among those which do not prescribe the observance of Sunday: yet the former declares it to be 'the right, as well as the duty, of all men in society, publicly and at stated seasons to worship the Supreme Being, the great Creator and Preserver of the universe;' and the latter requires every person appointed to any office of profit or trust to 'subscribe a declaration of his belief in the Christian religion.' Two of them concur in the sentiment that 'morality and piety, rightly grounded on evangelical principles, will be the best and greatest security to government; and that the knowledge of these is most likely to be propagated through a society by the institution of the public worship of the Deity, and of public instruction in morality and religion.' Only a small part of what the ConstItutions of the States contain in regard to the Christian religion is here cited. At the same time, they all grant the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, with some slight discriminations, to all mankind. The principle obtained by the foregoing inductive examination of our State Constitutions is this: - THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES HAVE RETAINED THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION AS THE FOUNDATION OF THEIR CIVIL, LEGAL, AND POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS; WHILE THEY HAVE REFUSED TO CONTINUE A LEGAL PREFERENCE TO ANY ONE OF ITS FORMS OVER ANY OTHER." 1

In 1838, the Legislature of New York, in a report from the Committee on Petitions, "praying a repeal of the laws for the observance of the Sabbath," by a vote nearly unanimous rejected the petition, and declared that, -

In all countries, some kind of religion or other has existed in all ages. No people on the face of the globe are without a prevailing national religion. Magistrates have sought in many countries to strengthen civil government by an alliance with some particular religion and an intolerant exclusion of all others. But those who have wielded this formidable power have rendered it a rival instead of an auxiliary to the public welfare, a fetter instead of a protection to the rights of conscience. With us it is wisely ordered that no one religion shall be established by law, but that all persons shall be left free in their choice and in their mode of worship. Still, this is a Christian nation. Ninety-nine hundredths, if not a larger proportion, of our whole population, believe in the general doctrines of the Christian religion. Our Government depends for its being on the virtue of the people, - on that virtue that has its foundation in the morality of the Christian religion; and that religion is the common and prevailing faith of the people. There are, it is true, exceptions to this belief; but general laws are not made for excepted cases. There are to be found, here and there, the world over, individuals who entertain opinions hostile to the common sense of mankind on subjects of honesty, humanity, and decency; but it would be a kind of republicanism with which we are not acquainted in this country, which would require the great mass of mankind to yield to and be governed by this few.

It is quite unnecessary to enter into a detailed review of all the evidences that Christianity is the common creed of this nation. We know it, and we feel it, as we know and feel any other unquestioned and admitted truth; the evidence is all around us, and before us, and with us. We know, too, that the exceptions to this general belief are rare, - so very rare that they are sufficient only, like other exceptions, to prove a general rule.

The following papers reflect the Christian tone of the civil government and people of New York during the era of the Revolution: -

Die Saturnii, 9 ho. A.M., July 8, 1775.

The Continental Congress having recommended it to the inhabitants of the Colonies to keep the twentieth day of July instant, 1775, as a day of fasting and prayer, this Congress does strictly enjoin all persons in this colony religiously to observe the said recommendation. And we, being taught by that holy religion, declared by the merciful Jesus and sealed by his blood, that we ought to acknowledge the hand of God in all public calamities, and being thoroughly convinced that the Great Disposer of events regardeth the hearts of his creatures, do most earnestly recommend it to all men to conform themselves to the pure dictates of Christianity, and by deep repentance, and sincere amendment of their lives, implore of our heavenly Father that favor and protection which he alone can give.

COMMITTEE-CHAMBER, NEW YORK, May, 1776.

Whereas the honorable Continental Congress have appointed and earnestly recommend "that the 17th inst. (being to-morrow) be observed by the United Colonies as a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer, that we may with united hearts confess and bewail our manifold sins and transgressions against God, and, by a sincere repentance and amendment of life, as a people, appease his righteous displeasure against us, humbly imploring his assistance to frustrate the cruel purposes of our unnatural enemies, and, by inclining their hearts to justice and peace, prevent the further effusion of human blood; but if, continuing deaf to the voice of reason and humanity, and inflexibly bent on desolation and war, they constrain us to repel their hostile invasions by open resistance, that it may please the Lord of hosts, the God of armies, to animate our officers and soldiers with invincible fortitude, to guard and protect them in the day of battle, and to crown the Continental armies, by sea and land, with victory and success; that he may bless all our representatives in General Congress, Provincial Congress, Conventions, and Committees; preserve and strengthen their union, give wisdom and stability to their councils, and direct the most efficient measures for establishing the rights of America on the most honorable and permanent basis; that he would be graciously pleased to bless all the people in these colonies with health and plenty, and grant that a spirit of incorruptible patriotism and of pure and undefiled religion may universally prevail, and that this continent may be speedily restored to the blessings of peace and liberty, and enabled to transmit them inviolate to the latest posterity." It is therefore expected that all the inhabitants of this city and county do, on the morrow, abstain from all and every kind of servile labor, business, and employment, and attend upon divine service in public, which will be performed in all churches in this city; that no persons (but such as are in the Continental service, whose business may require it) will be permitted to cross the ferries, ride or walk out of town, or about the streets, for amusement or diversion; and that all parents and masters will be careful to restrain their children from playing and straggling about this city on the ensuing day, which ought to be, and we trust will be, regarded as the most solemn day this devoted continent has ever yet beheld.

A true copy from the minutes. Published by order of the Committee,

JOSEPH WINTER, Secretary.

The following extracts from a proclamation issued by the Great and General Court of Massachusetts Bay in January, 1776, exhibit the high Christian character of the government of that Commonwealth: -

As the happiness of the people is the sole end of government, so the consent of the people is the only foundation of it, in reason, morality, and the natural fitness of things. And therefore every act of government, every exercise of sovereignty, against or without the consent of the people, is injustice, usurpation, and tyranny.

It is a maxim of every government that there must exist somewhere a supreme, sovereign, absolute, and uncontrollable power; but this power resides always in the body of the people, and it never was or can be delegated to one man or a few, - the great Creator having never given to men a right to invest authority over them unlimited either in duration or degree.

When kings, ministers, governors, or legislators, therefore, instead of exercising the powers intrusted to them according to the principles, forms, and propositions stated by the constitution and established by the original compact, prostitute those powers to the purposes of oppression, - to subvert instead of supporting a free constitution, - to destroy instead of preserving the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, - they are no longer to be deemed magistrates vested with a sacred character, but become public enemies, and ought to be resisted.

The present generation may be congratulated on the acquisition of a form of government more immediately, in all its branches, under the influence and control of the people, and therefore more free and happy than was enjoyed by their ancestors. But, as a government so popular can be supported only by universal knowledge and virtue in the body of the people, it is the duty of all ranks to promote the means of education for the rising generation, as well as true religion, purity of manners, and integrity of life, among all orders and degrees.

That piety and virtue, which alone can secure the freedom of any people, may be encouraged, and vice and immorality suppressed, the Great and General Court have thought fit to issue this proclamation, commanding and enjoining it upon the good people of this colony that they lead sober, religious, and peaceable lives, avoiding all blasphemies, contempt of the Holy Scriptures and of the Lord's Day, and all other crimes and misdeameanors, all debauchery, profaneness, corruption, revelry, all riotous and tumultuous proceedings, and all immoralities whatsoever; and that they decently and reverently attend the public worship of God, at all times acknowledging with gratitude his merciful interposition in their behalf, devoutly confiding in him as the God of armies, by whose favor and protection alone they may hope for success in their present conflict.

And all judges, justices, sheriffs, grand jurors, tithing-men, and all other civil officers within this colony, are hereby strictly enjoined and commanded that they contribute all in their power, by their example, towards a general reformation of manners, and that they bring to condign punishment every person who shall commit any of the crimes or misdemeanors aforesaid, or that shall be guilty of any immoralities whatsoever; and that they use their utmost endeavors to have the resolves of the Congress and the good and wholesome laws of this colony duly carried into execution.

And as ministers of the gospel within this colony have, during the late relaxation of the powers of civil government, exerted them- selves for our safety, it is hereby recommended to them still to continue their virtuous labors for the good of the people, inculcating by their public ministry and private example the necessity of religion, morality, and good order.

Ordered, That the foregoing proclamation be read at the opening of every superior court of judicature, &c. and inferior court of common pleas and court of general sessions for the peace within this colony, by their respective clerks, and at the annual town meetings, in March, in each town. And it is hereby recommended to the several ministers of the gospel throughout this colony to read the same in their respective assemblies, on the Lord's Day next after receiving, immediately after divine service.

By order of the General Court.

In Council, January 19, 1776. In the House of Representatives,

January 23, 1776.

GOD SAVE THE PEOPLE!

In January, 1777, the Legislature of the State of Massachusetts Bay addressed to the people, through civil officers and Christian ministers, a paper on the great conflict then in progress, which, after presenting the condition of the country, closes in these words: -

We, therefore, for the sake of religion, for the enjoyment whereof your ancestors fled to this country, for the sake of your laws and future felicity, entreat you to act vigorously and firmly in this critical condition of your country. And we doubt not but that your humble exertions, under the smiles of Heaven, will insure that success and freedom due to the wise man and patriot.

Above all, we earnestly exhort you to contribute all within your power to the encouragement of those virtues for which the Supreme Being has declared that he will bestow his blessing upon a nation, and to the discouragement of those vices for which he overturns kingdoms in his wrath; and that at all proper times and seasons you seek to him, by prayer and supplication, for deliverance from the calamities of war, duly considering that, without his powerful aid and gracious interposition, all your endeavors must prove abortive and vain.

The Christian views of the people and government of the colony of Massachusetts are further disclosed by the following proclamations: -

PROVINCIAL CONGRESS, CONCORD, MASS.,

Saturday, April 15, 1775, A.D.

Whereas it hath pleased the righteous Sovereign of the universe, in just indignation against the sins of a people long blessed with inestimable privileges, civil and religious, to suffer the plots of wicked men on both sides of the Atlantic, who for many years have incessantly labored to sap the foundation of our public liberties, so far to succeed that we see the New England colonies reduced to the ungracious alternative of a tame submission to a state of absolute vassalage to the will of a despotic minister, or of preparing themselves to defend at the hazard of their lives the inalienable rights of themselves and posterity against the avowed hostilities of their parent state, who openly threaten to wrest them from their hands by fire and sword.

In circumstances dark as these, it becomes us, as men and Christians, to reflect that, whilst every prudent measure should be taken to ward off the impending judgment, or to prepare to act in a proper manner under them when they come, at the same time, all confidence must be withheld from the means we use, and repose only on that God who rules in the armies of heaven, and without whose blessing the best human counsels are but foolishness, and all created power vanity.

It is the happiness of the church, that when the powers of earth and hell are combined against it, and those who should be nursing fathers become its persecutors, then the Throne of Grace is of the easiest access, and its appeal thither is graciously invited by that Father of Mercies who has assured it that "when his children ask bread, he will not give them a stone." Therefore, in compliance with the laudable practice of the people of God in all ages, with humble regard to the steps of Divine Providence towards this oppressed, threatened, and endangered people, and especially in obedience to the command of Heaven, that binds us to call on him in the day of trouble:

Resolved, That it be, and hereby is, recommended to the good people of this colony, of all denominations, that Thursday, the eleventh day of May next, be set apart as a day of public humiliation, fasting, and prayer; that a total abstinence from servile labor and recreation be observed, and all their religious assemblies solemnly convened, to humble themselves before God, under the heavy judgments felt and feared; to confess the sins they have commited; to implore the forgiveness of all our transgressions; a spirit of repentance and reformation; and a blessing on the husbandry, manufactures, and other lawful employments of this people; and especially that the union of the American colonies in defence of their rights (for which hitherto we desire to thank Almighty God) may be preserved and confirmed; that the Provincial, and especially the Continental, Congresses, may be directed to such measures as God will countenance; that the people of Great Britain and their rulers may have their eyes opened to discern the things that make for the peace of the nation and all its connections; and that America may soon behold a gracious interposition of Heaven for the redress of her many grievances, the restoration of all her invaded liberties, and their security to the latest generations.

Ordered, That the foregoing be copied, authenticated, and sent to all the religious assemblies in this colony.

WATERTOWN, Nov. 20.

14.1) A PROCLAMATION FOR A PUBLIC THANKSGIVING.

Although, in consequence of the unnatural, cruel, and barbarous measures adopted and pursued by the British administration, great and distressing calamities are brought upon our distressed country, and in this colony in particular we feel the dreadful effects of a civil war, by which America is stained with the blood of her valiant sons, who have bravely fallen in the laudable defence of our rights and privileges; our capital, once the seat of justice, opulence, and virtue, is unjustly wrested from its proper owners, who are obliged to flee from the iron hand of tyranny, or held in the unrelenting arms of oppression; our seaports greatly distressed, and towns burnt by the foes who have acted the part of barbarous incendiaries; and although the wise and holy Governor of the world has, in his righteous providence, sent droughts into this colony, and wasting sickness into many of our towns; yet we have the greatest reasons to adore and praise the Supreme Disposer of all events, who deals infinitely better with us than we deserve, and amidst all his judgments hath remembered mercy, by causing the voice of health again to be heard amongst us; instead of famine, affording to an ungrateful people a competency of the necessaries and comforts of life; in remarkably protecting and preserving our troops when in apparent danger, while our enemies, with all their boasted skill and strength, have met with loss, disappointment, and defeat; and, in the course of his good providence, the Father of all Mercies hath bestowed upon us many other favors which call for our grateful acknowledgments:

Therefore, We have thought fit, with the advice of the Council and House of Representatives, to appoint Thursday, the 23d of November instant, to be observed throughout this colony as a day of public thanksgiving; hereby calling upon ministers and people to meet for religious worship on the said day, and devoutly to offer up their unfeigned praise to Almighty God, the source and benevolent bestower of all good, for his affording the necessary means of subsistence, though our commerce has been prevented and the supplies from the fishery denied us; that the lives of our officers and soldiers have been so remarkably preserved, while our enemies have fallen before them; that the vigorous efforts which have been made to excite the savage vengeance of the wilderness and to rouse the Indians in arms, that an unavoidable destruction might come upon our frontier, have been almost miraculously defeated; that our unnatural enemies, instead of ravaging the country with uncontrolled sway, are confined within such narrow limits, to their own mortification and distress, environed by an American army, brave and determined; and that our rights and privileges, both civil and religious, are so far preserved to us, notwithstanding all efforts to deprive us of them.

And to offer up humble and fervent prayers to Almighty God for the whole British empire, especially for the United American Colonies; that he would bless our civil rulers, and lead them into wise and prudent measures at this dark and difficult day; that he would endow our General Court with all that wisdom which is profitable to direct; that he would graciously smile upon our endeavors to restore peace, preserve our rights and privileges and hand them down to posterity; that he would grant wisdom to the American Congress equal to their important station; that he would direct the generals and the American armies, wherever employed, and give them success and victory; that he would preserve and strengthen the hands of the United Colonies; that he would pour his Spirit upon all orders of men through the land, and bring us to a hearty repentance and reformation, and purify and sanctify all his churches, and make ours Emanuel's land; that he would spread the knowledge of the Redeemer throughout the whole earth, and fill the world with his glory. And all servile labor is forbidden on this day.

Given under our hands, at the Council-Chamber at Watertown, the fourth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five.

By their Honors' command.

JAMES OTIS.

PERCY MORTON, Dep. Secy,

GOD SAVE THE PEOPLE!

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State and religion relationship

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