The Republican ledger — Portsmouth, N.H., 1800-07-08 00:00:00, page 1

--THE firft SETTLERS Jo thi^
Country were Emigrants from England,
pf the English church, just at a point of time
when it was flushed with complete vidory
.over the religious of all pejfuafions. Pof
ftffed, as they became, of the powers of
making administering, and executing the.
laws, they Shewed equal tolerance in this'
Country with their Presbyterian brethren,
who had emigrated to the northern govern
ment. The poorQakers were flying from
perfection in England. They cast their
eyes on these new countries as asylums of
civil and religious freedom; but they found
them free only for the reigning fed. Seve
ral ads affthe Virginia assembly of 1659,
.1662 andtffy, had made it penal io parents
to refufe^o have their children baptized ;
had prohibited the unlawful assembling of
Quakers ; had made it penal for any master
of a vessel to bring a Quaker into the state;
had ordered those already here, and such as'
fhauld some thereafter, to be imprisoned til
<hey should abjure the country ; provided a
milder punifhmeht for their firft and second
return, but death for their third"; had in
hibited all persons from fuffering their meet
ings in or near their houses, entertaining
them individually, or difpoling of books
which supported their tenets. If noexecu
tjpn took place here, as did in Neu.Eng-;
land, it was not owing to the moderation^•
the church, or. spirit of the legislature, as"
riba, be inferred from the law itfelf ; but to
historical circumdances which have not been
handed down to us. The Anglicans refin
ed full poffeflion of the country about a cen
tury. Other opinions began then to creep
in, and ,the great care of the government to
„ import their own ,hurch, having begotten'
annual degree of indolence in its clergy,
two-thirds of the people had become diflent
ers at the commencement of the present re
volution. The laws indeed were (till op
pressive on them, but the spirit of the one
party had subsided into moderation, and. of
-NUMBER 46.—VOL. I.]
The truly religious man,.in?prefled with
-due reverence for the author of his existence
and constant preserver, invariably obtains
refpea, dignity and ufefulnefs, by avoiding
'the overtures of hypocrisy, and fpeciouspre
tats of piety
Affirming no dominion over the faith of
ethers, he refpeafully resigns the rites of
Religion and a&s of piety to the acceptance
of aH men, according to the light they have.
, received, and the dilates of their own con
sciences.
To put an end to the persecutions, jeal
.OUfies, rancours and delusions, resulting
from the union of church and state, by po-'
,ical eftablilhraentc, h^s been th limos
those who secured independence and law for
us, as a nation, with the aid of our own
valour and wisdom.
WHILE candid and informed histori
ans and other writers in the chriftiari
church, confess and lament the spirit of in
•-tolerance which ha< frequently degraded
their religion, it is hoped that the following
invaluable extra's from the works of that
/excellent man, Thomas jefferfon, the pre
sent Vice-President of the United States, will
be an acceptable tribute of refpe& for true
jeiigion, corre& animosities among fdtari
,ns, and extend universal peace and coofi
.dence through our country.
- This publication appeared to be more
:fceedful at this time, when the profeSTors of
^hriftianity in the United States, lament that
fafts prayers and'fermons, have been per
verte, to the purposes of war, and the ani
".moft^e^of party.
To THE CITIZENS ^the UNITED STATES.
Upon the preservation of these sacred ard
inestimable rights, depends a large propor
tion of our felicity and prosperity at all
limfs. The Editor.
the Different religions
RECETTEB INTO THE .
STATE OF VIRGINIA.
, The path of true piety isgoo plain to want
•* any direaion."
.. mASHINOffON.
Edigfoug Principles
OF *'
panties ^ifteUanp. c
Mr. JEFFERSON.
A TEST OF THE
.“.WHEN YOU SHALL THESE DEEDS RELATE, SPEAK OF THEM AS THEY ARE # ; NOTHING EXTENUATE NOR SET DOWN OUGHT IN MALICE.''
From a late Publication,
The Republican Ledger.
PRINTED AT PORTSMOUTH, (NEW-HAMPSHIRE) NEXT DOOR TO ROUSSELET's MUSEUM, .MULBERRY LANE.
the other had risen to a degree of determi
nation which commanded rcfpt&.
The present Rate of pur laws, on the fub
je& of religion is this, The convention of
May 1776, in their declaration of rights;
declared it to be a truth, and a natural right,
that the #.<ercife of religion ihould be free ;
but when they proceeded to form on that
declaration the ordinance of government,
instead of taking up every principle declar
ed in the bill of rights, and guarding it by
legislative fandion, they puffed over that
which affected our religious rights, leaving
them as they found them. The fame con
vention, however, when they met as a mem
ber ot the general assembly in Oct. 1776,
repealed, all afis of Parliament which had
rendered criminal the maintaining any opin
ions in matters of religion, the forbearing
to repair to church, and the exercising any
mode pf worship ; and suspended the laws
giving falaiies to the clergy, which fufpen
. lion Mast made perpetual in Oct 177 g—
. oppressions in religion being thus
wiped away, we remain at present under
thpfe only imposed by the common law, or
by our own ads of assembly. At the com
mon law, berefy was a capital offense, pun
ifhable.by burning. Its definition wa^ Est
to the ecclesiastical judges, before whom the
conviction was, till the statute of the 1 El.
c^i. circumscribed it, by declaring, that
nothing Ihould be deemed heresy, but what
had been so determined by authority of the
canonical scriptures, or by one of the four
first general councils, or by some other coun
cil having for the grounds of their declara
tion the express Sftjd plain words of the fcrip
turds. Heresy, thus circomferibed, being
an offence at the common law, our act of
alfembly of oa. 1777, c. 17. gives cogniz
ance of it to the general court, by declaring
that ,the jurifdiaion of that court Shall be
general in all matters at the common law.
The execution is by the writ De boeretio
cumburendo. By our own a& of assembly
of ! 7°s> C ° 3 0 ' if a person brought up in the
Chrittian religion denies the being of a God,
or. the Trinity^ or averts there are more
gods than one, or denies the Christian religi
gion to be true, or the scriptures to be of di
vine authority, he is punishable on the firlt
offence by incapacity to hold any office or
employment ecclesiastical, civil or military ;
on the fccond by disability to sue, to take
any gift or legacy, to be guardian, executor
or administrator, and by three years impri
sonment without bail. A father's right to
the custody of his own children being found
ed in law on his right of guardianship, this!
being taken away, they may of course be
levered from him, and put by the authority
of a court into more orthodox hands. This
is a summary view of that religious Slavery,
under which a people have been willing to
remain, who have lavished their lives and
tortiines for the establishment of their,civil:
freedon^ # The error seems not fufficienti)
eradicated, rthat the operations of the mind,
as well as the a&s of the body, are fubjed
to the coercion of the laws. But our rulers
can have no authority over such natural
rights only as we have submitted to them.
The rights of conference we never submit
ted, we could not submit. We are answer
able for them to our God, The legitimate;
powers of government.extend to such afts
only as are injurious to others. But itdoes
me no injury for my neighbor to fay there
are twenty gods, or no god. It neither
picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. If it
be said, his reftimony in a court of justice
cannot be relied on, reje& it then, and be
the fligma on him. Constraint may make
him worse by making him a hypocrite, but
: will never make him a truer man. It
may fix him obstinately: in his errors, arid
will not cure .them. Reason and free in
quiry are the only effectual agents againfi
error. Give a looffe to them, they will sup
port the tr.ue religion, by bringing every
ialfe one to their tribunal, to the test of their
investigation.- They are the natural enemies
of error, and of error only. Had not the
Roman government permitted free inquiry,
Christianity could never have been intro
duced. Had not free inquiry been indulged
at the a^ra of the reformation, the corrup
tions of chriftianitv could not have been
purged away. If it be restrained no„ the
present corruptions will be protested & new
ones encouraged. Was the government to
prescribe to us our medicine and diet, our
bodies would be in such keeping as our fouls
are now. Thus in France the emetic was
/* Farneaux feaflim.
TUESDAY, JULY 8; 1800.
l once forbidden as a medicine, and the po
tatce as an article of food, government is
just as infallible too when it fixes fyflems in
phyfic.' Galileo was sent to the inquisition
for affirming that the earth was a sphere :
the government had declared it to be as tflat
as a trencher, and Galileo was obliged to
abjure his error. This error however at
length prevailed, the earth became a globe,
and Descartes declared it was whirled round
its axis by a vortex. The government in
which he lived was wife enough to fee that
this was no question of civil jurifdi&ion, or
we (hould all have been involved by author
ity in vortices., Jn fa&, the vortices have
been exploded, and the Newtonian princi
ple of gravitation is now more firmly estab
lished, on the basis of reason, than it would
be were the government to step in, and to
make it an article of necessary faith, Rea
son and experiment have been indulged, and
error h^s fled before them. It is erroralone
which needs the support of government. —
Truth can Hand by itfelf. Subjc& opinioh
to coercion : whom will you make your in
quifitorsr Fallible men ; men governed by
bad pallions, by private as Well as public
reafoas. And why fubje& it to coercion ?
To produce uniformity. But is uniformity
of opinion desirable ? No more than of face
and llature. Introduce the bed of Procrus
tes then, and as there is danger that the large
men may beat the small, make us all of a
size, by lopping the forme, and stretching
the latter. Difference of opinion is advan
tageous in religion. The fcveral feds per
form the office of a censor morum over each
other. Is uniformity attainable r Millions
of innocent men, women, and children, since
the introduction of Christianity, have been
burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned ; yet we
have not advanced one inch towards uni
formity. What has been the effect of co
ercion' to make one half the world fools,
and the other half hypocrites. To fopport
roguery and error all over the earth. Let
us re&& that it is inhabited by a thousand
millions of people. That these profefs pro
bably a thousand different fyltems of reli
gion. That oursis but one of that thousand.
That if there be but one right, and ours that
one, we should wish to fee the 999 wander
ing fe&s gathered into the fold cf truth.—
But againftfuch a majority we cannot effect
this by force. Reason and persuasion are
the only practicable instruments. To make
way for these, free inquiry mjdt be indulg
ed ; and how can we with others to indulge
it while we refufe it ourselves. But every
date, fays ar, inquisitor, has established some
religion. No two, fay I, have established
thofame. Is this a proof of the infallibili
ty of establishments I Our filter dates of
Pennsylvania & New-York, however, have
long subsisted without any eftablilhment at
all. The experiment was new and doubt
ful when they made it. Jt has answered
beyond conception. They flourish infinite
ly. Religion is well supported ; of various
kinds, indeed, but all good enough ; all fuf
ficient to preserve peace and order ; or if a
fed a,ife°s, whole tenets would subvert mor
als, good sense has fair play, and reasons and
laughs it out of doors, without Differing the
state to be troubled with it. They do not
hang more malefactors than we do. They
are not more disturbed with religious diffen
fioris. Qn the contrary, their harmony is
unparallcd, and can be ascribed to nothing
but their unbounded tolerance in which
they differ from every nation on earth. —
They have made the happy difeovery, that
the way to silence religious difpntes, is to
take no notice of them. Let us too.give,
tis experiment fair play, and get rid, while
we may, of these tyrannical laws. It is
true, we are as yet secured against them by
the spirit of the times. I doubt whether the
people of this country would fuffer an exe
ctuion for heresy, or a three years impri
sonment for not comprehending the myfte
rics of the Trinity. But is the spirit of the
people an infallible, a permanent reliance ?
Is it government f Is this the kind of pro
tedion we receive in return for the rights
we give up i Besides, ffic spirit of the times
may alter, will alter. Our rulers will be
come corrupt, our people carelcfs. A fin
glc zealot may commence persecutor, and
better men be his victims, jt can never be
too often repeated that the time for fixing
every elfential right on a legal basis is while
our rulers are honest, and oujfehis united.
From tlie coaclufion ofthis war we shall
be going down hill. It will not then be
necessary to resort eyery moment to the peo
An ACI jor efeblijling RELiG((,U h 'FRn.
the beginning ^ th )ear [ „$;
.WELL aware that Almighty God hath
created the mind free; that all attempts to
l M" " b y temporal pmjfhments or
burdens, Qr by civil incapacitations, tend
only to beget habits of hypocrisy and mean-
LL a ? d ^' e , a de P arture ficin the plan of
! he Author of our religion, who being
Lord both of body and mind,\yet chcfe not
to propogate it by coercions on either, as
Was in his Almighty power to do ; that the
impious preemption of Legislators and rul
ers civil as well as ecclelialtical, who being
themselves but fallible and uninspired men
have assumed dominion over the faith of oth
e,> • I'.°^ U F their own opinions and modes
°' , inking as the only true and infallible,
and as foch endeavoring to impose them up
on others, hath eftabliffied and maintained
fade religions over the great part of the
world, and through all that time to compel
a man to furnifh contributions of money fey
the propagation of opinions which he dis
believes, is fmful and tyrannical ; that ever)
the forcing him to support this or that teach
-5' !" s own religions purfuafion,is depriv
ir]g him of the comfortable liberty of giving
his contributions to the particular pallor,
whose morals he would make his pattern,
and whose power he feels molt purfuafive to
righteousuefs, and is withdrawing from ths
miniflry those temporal rewards, which,
proceeding from an approbation of their
personal condu&, are ah additional incite?
ment to earned and unremitting labors for
the inftrudion of mankind ; that our civil
rights have no dependance on our religious
opinions, more than our opinions in physics
or geometry ; that therefore the proscribing
any citizen as unworthy the public coufi?
dence by laying upon him an incapacity of
being called to offices of trust and emolu
ment, unless he profefs or renounce this or
that religious opinion, is depriving him in
juriously of those privileges and advantages
to which in common with his fellow-citi
zens he has a natural right ; that it tends
also to corrupt the principles of that very
religion it is meant to encourage, by bribing
with a monopoly of worldly "honors and e
moluments, thole who will externally pro
fefs and conform to it ; and though indeed
these are criminal who do not withstand
such temptation, yet neither are those inno
cent who lay the bait in their way ; that tQ
fuffer the civil magilirate to intrude his pow
ers into the field of opinion and to reltraig
the profeffion or propagation of principles,
on suspicion of their ill tendency, is a dan
gerous fallacy, which at once destroys all
religious liberty because he being of course
judge of that tendency, will make his opin
ions the rule of judgment, and approve or
condemn the sentiments of others only as
they ^all square with or differ from his own;,
that it is time enough for the rightful pur,
poses of civil government, for its officers to
interfere when principles break out into o
vert a&s against peace arid good order ; and
finally, that truth is great and will prevail
'° herfelf, that Ihe is the proper and
Efficient antagoniti to error, and has noth
ing to fear from the confli&, unless by hu
man interpolation disarmed of her natural
weapons, free argument and debate, errors 3
ceasing to be dangerous.when it is permit
ted freely to contradict them.
Be it therefore enabled by the General As.
femlly, That no man (hall be compelled to
trequept or support Iny religious Worship,
place or miniflry whatsoever, nor /hall be
enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened
My or goods, nor (hall otherwise
fuffer on account of his religious opinions
or belief ; but that all men fall be free to
profefs, and by argument to maintain, their
opinions in matters of religion and that ,e
fame Ihall in no wife diminish, enlafero
effect their civil .capacities. ' 7
And though we well knofr that this a&
fembly, dead by the people for the ordinal
ry purposes of Legislation only, hire no
power to retrain so afls of ffetyty^
[I DOL. JO CTS. PER ANNUM.
•O# w >°' •¥& •'''"'" '' '^^^ * 1 ^Q#6n„
ple for support. Ti c y will be hfy^en,
therefore, and their rights disregarded .
7 hey will forget themselves, but in the fide
faculty of making money, and will never
think of uniting to effe& a due r<fpt& for
Cackles, therefore, which
Ihall rfot be knocked off at the condition of
this war, will remain on us long, will be
made heavier and heavier, till our rights
'hall revive or expire in a convulsion.