Evening star., 1901-07-27
That Presented at the Virginia Con-
venti0n.
STRUGGLE FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
History Of the Contest in the Old
Dominion.
PATRICK HENRY's VICTORY
Written for The Evening Star.

made it's report on Saturday last, adopted
without alteration the bill Of rights OF
1776, and It IL to be hoped that the con-
vention Will not suffer itself to be led into
any modification Of the ancient and ia
nous document. The struggle which led
up to it, the mastery presentation Of the
principles OF free government contained in
it, and the influence which 1t has exerted
upon the thought of the nation, are such
as to render It, next to the Declaration Of
Independence, the most renowned and i'm
portant deliverance of the founders of the
American republic. It's most noted section
relates to religion; defining that term as
"the duty which we owe to our Creator.
and the manner of discharging it, and
declaring that it can be directed only by
violence; that all men are equally entitled
to the free exercise of religion, according
to the dictates Of conscience, and that "it
Is the mutual duty of all to practice
Christian forbearance, love and charity
toward each other" A strong effort was
made last week to have the word Chris
tlan eliminated from this section in def
erenee to the sensibilities of non-Chris-
tians, but the committee chose to retain the
language of the declaration as 1t was set
tied by the fathers.
This section and the one which declares
that the people have right to uniform
government and, therefore, that no gov
ernment, separate from or Independent OF
the government of Virginia, ought to be
erected or established within the limits
thereof, were Ieveled against the Anglican
establishment and recall one of the most
famous controversies that has ever oc-
CURED in the history of the world. The
movement for establishing religious free
dom in Virginia commenced in 1863, when
Patrick Henry, in the famous Maury case
before the county court Of Hanover county,
proclaimed the inalienable right of every
man to worship God according to the die
tates of his own conscience.
According to Jefferson. "The first settlers
of Virginia were Englishmen. loyal subjects
to their king and church, and the grant to
Sir Walter Raleigh contained an express
proviso that their laws should not be
against the true Christian faith professed
in the Church Of England. AS soon as
the state of the colony admitted, 1t was
divided into parishes. in each of which was
established a minister of the Anglican
Church, endowed with a fixed salary in
tobacco. a glebe house and land with the
other necessary appendages. To meet these
expenses all the inhabitants of the parish
es were assessed, whether they were or
not members of the established church"
Patrick Henry's Victory.
AS far back as 1886 the legislature OF
Virginia had allowed a stipend to the
Anglican ministers. In 1853 the legisla-
ture passed an act temporarily exempting
the taxpayers from the usual assessment
because of bad crops. The clergy appeal ed
to the archbishop of Canterbury and the
king to restore them their rights; and the
act of 1758 was declared void by the king
In couhcii. The Rev. James Maury there
upon brought a suit for damages against
the collector of Hanover for his failure to
collect and pay over Maury's stipend.
Patrick Henry appeared for the defendant,
and the jury allowed Maury only one penny
as damages. This was the first victory for
the advocates OF religious freedom In Vir-
ginia. The historian, Anderson, in his
work on the Colonial Church. gives full
account of Maury's case, with the follow
ing important comment: 1.-The calm of the
clergy could not have been defeated by
any other means than a sort of revOlu-
ttonary recurrence to fundamental prin-
cfples, an abnegation of the regal authority
/. and an exertion OF popular sovereignty.
Nothing less, in fact. than this was in
volved in the issue of the present trial.
It antedated the American revolution. but
however different the disputes which In a
few years afterward brought about that
event. there can be no doubt that the
spirit which carried the American colonies
triumphantly, through them all was the
spirit evoked by Patrick Henry in the
court house Of Hanover county,"
Eleven years after this first trial Of
strength between the establishmentarians
and the taxpayers the struggle was in
tensified by an act of parliament known as
the Quebec act, and the terrific denuncia-
tions Of that act oy the American Congress
OF 1774. Whoever has read the deliver
ances Of that Congress will not be sur
prised to learn that the right to make
laws for the human mind was very soon
successfully denied In Virginia, as well as
in the other American colonies. Thomas
Jefferson and James Madison now began
to participate in the struggle. The former
denounced the establishment of religion as
"unrighteouS compulsion" and spiritual
tyranny" and says that the first republi-
can legislature, which met In 1776. was
crowded with petitions to abolish It.
These" he says. brought on the sever
est contest in which was ever engaged"
Position of Jefferson and Madison.
Jefferson and Madison planted themselves
on the saying of Martin Luther. that I'VE
should let every one believe what he thinks
right. If he believes wrong and continues
willful, he has punishment enough to ex-
pect in hell. Why will you also punish
him in this world? With Scripture
ard with reason we should convince them
not with fire and sword" Thus they de-
MED the right of the civil power to inter-
fere with religion. They also relied upon
the concluding section of the Augsburg
confession: Therefore, these two govern
ments, the civil and the ecclesiastical.
ought not to be mingled and confounded;
for the ecclesiastical power has it's com
mand to preach the Gospel and L ought
not to make kings; 1t ought not to make
and appoint laws for the civil power" And
thus they established the position that re-
ligion should have part in civil govern
ment. So strictly did they adhere to this
idea of a wall of separation between church
and state, an essential distinction between
civil and religious functions, that they
managed to eliminate even the word "tol-
eration'' from the original draft of the bill
of rights.
On page "a of the first volume Of Madi-
sons writings 1t is stated that the last
article of the declaration Of rights, as re-
ported by the select committee of the con-
vention of I776. was Identical in all re-
spects with the original draft prepared by
George Mason. but was so modified by the
convention as to substitute for the idea ex-
pressed by the term liberation an abso-
lutte and equal right in every man to the
free exercise of religion according to the
dictates of conscience. This excluded the
very idea of right in the government to
take cognizance of any religion whatever,
Christian or pagan, and was effected by
Madison. who offered as a substitute for
Mason's draft the following proposition:
THAT religion, or the duty which we owe
to our Creator. and the manner of dis
charging it, being under the direction of
reason and conviction only, not of violence
or compulsion. all men are equally entitled
to the full and free exercise of it. accord
Ing to the dictates of conscience; and,
therefore. that no man or class of men
ought. on account of religion, to be invest