IV. Upon which their said majesties did accept the crown and royal dignity of the kingdoms of England, France and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, according to the resolution and desire of the said lords and commons contained in the said declaration.

V. And thereupon their majesties were pleased, that the said lords, spiritual and temporal, and commons, being the two houses of parliament, should continue to sit, and with their majesties royal concurrence make effectual provision for the settlement of the religion, laws and liberties of this kingdom, so that the same for the future might not be in danger again of being subverted; to which the said lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, did agree and proceed to act accordingly.

VI. Now in pursuance of the premises, the said lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in parliament assembled, for the ratifying, confirming, and establishing the said declaration, and the articles, clauses, matters, and things therein contained, by the force of a law made in due form by authority of parliament, do pray that it may be declared and enacted, that all and singular the rights and liberties asserted and claimed in the said declaration, are the true, ancient, and indubitable rights and liberties of the people of this kingdom, and so shall be esteemed, allowed, adjudged, deemed, and taken to be, and that all and every the particulars aforesaid shall be firmly and strictly holden and observed, as they are expressed in the said declaration; and all officers and ministers whatsoever shall serve their majesties and their successors, according to the same, in all times to come.

(Sections VII., VIII., IX., and X., are irrelevant.)

XI. All which their majesties are contented and pleased shall be declared, enacted, and established by authority of this present parliament, and shall stand, remain, and be the law of this realm forever; and the same are by their said majesties, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, declared, enacted, and established accordingly.

XII. And be it further declared and enacted by the authority ⚫ aforesaid, that from and after this present session of parliament, no dispensation by non obstante of or to any statute, or any part

thereof shall be allowed, but that the same shall be held void and of no effect, except a dispensation be allowed of in such statute, and except in such cases as shall be specially provided for by one or more bill or bills to be passed during the present sesssion of parliament.

(Section XIII., irrelevant.)

SEC. 5. COMMENTS ON THE ENGLISH CHARTERS, AND ON ENGLISH

LIBERTIES.

The great charter was extorted by the Norman barons from the Kings, to limit the power of the monarch-not to limit or lessen the powers of parliament. They were concessions made by the Kings to the barons, parliament, and freemen of England, in which the supremacy of parliament is acknowledged, in the words "vel per legem terrae," (or by the laws of the land). The bill of rights of 1689 was for the same purpose-to limit the power of the monarch and secure the rights of the subject from his arbitrary and illegal acts, and not to limit the power of parliament; on the contrary, article or chapter V., of the bill of rights, expressly affirms the supremacy of the acts of parliament, which may be concurred in by their royal majesties.

Those charters were intended to secure the rights and liberties of the freemen of England, and not those of villeins, serfs, nor slaves ; and the writ of habeas corpus was devised to enable the courts to execute those charters, so far as personal liberty is concerned, in order to secure every freeman from arbitrary and illegal imprisonments. The provisions of those ancient charters above quoted, and the principles of the bill of rights of 1689, are embodied with some changes of phraseology in nearly all the American constitutions and bills of rights. Hence the former, and the practice under them, will serve to aid in interpreting the latter.

Neither magna carta, the petition of rights, and its affirmance by King Charles, in 1628, nor the bill of rights of 1689, to secure the rights and liberties of the people of England, made any reference to their religious rights and the liberty of conscience. the contrary, the arbitrary acts of parliament, passed to compel the people to adopt one religious faith, and one prescribed form of religious worship, continued in force, and many punishments were

On

prescribed, and disabilities imposed on dissenters and non conformists, with a view to aid in executing the arbitrary and tyranical laws.

The English people had, at that period, no clear conceptions of religious liberty, and but an imperfect one of toleration in matters of religious faith and worship; though political toleration had been allowed in Holland more than a century, and nearly a century in France, (from 1598 to 1685); and perfect religious liberty had existed in the colony of Rhode Island about fifty years, and a very close approximation to entire religious liberty had long existed in the colonies of Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and the Carolinas.

The British parliament passed an act in 1689, to allow some degree of toleration to pretestent dissenters; but the Roman Catholics were still proscribed, and were subject to many disabilities and oppressions, until the passage of the Catholic emancipation bill, in 1830; which, for the first time, established complete religious toleration in the Islands of Great Britain and Ireland. But entire religious liberty has never been established there--catholics, and dissenting protestants are still taxed by their oppressive tything system, to support the Episcopal bishops and clergy.

The principles of perfect religious liberty were first announced by Roger Williams, and established by him in the colony of Rhode Island. In its expansive, great, permanent, and benign influence upon the welfare of the human family, it was the greatest and the noblest achievment of the seventeenth century-equalled only by the reformation of the 16th century, by the establishment of free toleration in Holland and France in the same century, and by the American revolution of the 18th century.

Free toleration in matters of religion had long existed in all the American colonies, including even the puritan colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut; and entire religious liberty was established during the revolntion in all the states except those two. The connection between church and state was continued in Connecticut until the adoption of their first constitution, in 1818; and one class of people were taxed to support the clergy and churches of another; and such was the case in Massachusetts, until they adopted an amendment to their state constitution, in 1833. Since that time, I believe entire religious liberty has existed in all the states;

and all the churches and clergy are supported by voluntary contributions, and by renting or taxing pews and seats in the places of worship.

Not only both of the civil wars in England, in the 17th century, and the revolutions of 1649 and 1688, grew out of a spirit of intolerance and religious persecutions, but nearly all the great wars of Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries grew out of the

same causes.

The history of the civilized world, during the last fifteen centuries, establishes the affirmation as a philosophic truth, that permanent peace and harmony cannot exist in any nation, without religious toleration; and that perfect freedom in matters of religious faith and worship constitutes the strongest agent of peace and harmony which can exist among any people. There was more restlessness and turbulence, more dissensions, excitements, controversies, bitter contentions, strifes, and quarrels, in the colony of Massachusetts Bay, during the period of the most rigid intolerance and the most violent persecutions, than in any of the other American colonies, at any period of their existence.

SEC. 6. CONSTITUTION OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

The following articles are taken from the constitution of South Carolina, adopted March 25th, 1776, viz:

ARTICLE VIII.

Sec. 1. 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 declared, shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of this state.

2. The rights, privileges, immunities, and estates of both civil and religious societies and of corporated bodies, shall remain as if the constitution of this state had not been altered or amended.

ARTICLE IX.

Sec. 1. All power is originally vested in the people; and all free governments are founded on their authority, and are instituted for their peace, safety, and happiness.

2. No freeman of this state shall be taken, or imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold, liberties, or privileges, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any manner destroyed, or deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by the judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land: nor shall any bill of attainder, ex posto facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, ever be passed by the legisla tare of this state.

3. The military shall be subordinate to the civil power.

4. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel punishments inflicted.

5. The legislature shall not grant any title of nobility or hereditary distinction, nor create any office, the appointment to which shall be for a longer time than during good behavior.

6. The trial by jury, as heretofore used in this state, and the liberty of the press, shall be forever inviolably preserved.

Section 23, of article I., is as follows:

23. And whereas the ministers of the gospel are, by their profession, dedicated to the service of God, and the care of souls, and ought not to be diverted from the great duty of their functions: therefore, no minister of the gospel, or public preacher, of any religious persuasion, whilst he continues in the exercise of his pas toral functions, shall be eligible to the office of governor, lieutenant governor, or a seat in the senate or house of representatives. Section 5, of article X., is as follows, viz:

5. The legislature shall, as soon as may be convenient, pass laws for the abolition of the rights of primogeniture, and for giving an equitable distribution of the real estate of intestates.

SEC. 7. BILL OF RIGHTS OF VIRGINIA.

A Declaration of Rights made by the Representatives of the good People of VIRGINIA, assembled in full and free Convention; which rights do pertain to them and their Posterity, as the basis and foundation of Government. Unanimously adopted, June 12th, 1776.

Sec. 1. That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the