all the states; and in some, all marriages within the Levitical degrees are also forbidden. "The common law of England, which requires consent merely, without any particular form of solemnization, to render a marriage legally valid, is adopted in those states of the American Union which have not enacted special legislative statutes on the subject. In some of the states marriage is required to be solemnized in the presence of a clergyman or magistrate. "All our distinguished men, so far as I know, are Christians of one denomination or other. A great reaction has taken place within the last thirty years against the torrent of infidelity let in by the superficial philosophy of the eighteenth century. "I believe the separation of Church and State is, with us, considered almost, if not universally, as a blessing.” With these extracts, which give the views of one of the most distinguished statesmen and diplomatists of America, and which confirm the positions we have advanced on all the points to which they refer, we close our remarks on the existing relations between the Church and State in that country. CHAPTER XII. overthrow and its consequences; and, finally, the relations which have subsisted between the churches and the civil governments since the Revolution. We are now about to enter upon the consideration of the resources which the churches have developed since they have been compelled to look, in dependance upon God's blessing, to their own exertions, instead of relying on the arm of the state. A review of the ground which we have gone over may be given almost in the very words of an able author, to whom we have been repeatedly indebted. 1. "The first settlers of the United States went to it as Christians, and with strong intent to occupy the country in that char acter. 2. "The lives they lived there, and the institutions they set up, were signalized by the spirit and doctrine of the religion they professed. 3. The same doctrine and spirit, descending upon the patriots of the federal era, entered largely into the primary State Constitutions of the Republic, and, if analogy can be trusted, into the constructive meaning of the Federal Charter itself. 4. "Christianity is still the popular religion of the country. 5. "And, finally, notwithstanding some untoward acts of individual rulers, it is to this day, though without establishments, and with equal liberty to men's conscien REVIEW OF THE GROUND WHICH WE HAVE ces, the religion of the laws and of the GONE OVER. We have now arrived at the close of the Third Book of this work. We have traced the religious character of the early colonists who settled in America; the religious establishments which they planted; the happy and the unhappy influences of those establishments; their government. If records tell the truth-if annals and documents can outweigh the flippant rhetoric of licentious debate, our public institutions carry still the stamp of their origin: the memory of better times is come down to us in solid remains; the monuments of the fathers are yet standing; and, blessed be God, the national edifice continues visibly to rest upon them." BOOK I V. THE VOLUNTARY PRINCIPLE IN AMERICA; ITS ACTION AND CHAPTER I. INFLUENCE. in the beginning of the seventeenth cenTHE VOLUNTARY PRINCIPLE THE GREAT AL-tury, freedom of conscience and the rights TERNATIVE. — THE NATURE AND VASTNESS OF ITS MISSION. THE reader has remarked the progress of Religious Liberty in the United States from the first colonization of the country until the present time, and traced the effects of its successive developments in modifying the relations between the churches and the state. of the immortal mind were but little understood in the Old World. Those even who fled to the New, to enjoy this greatest of all earthly blessings, had but an imperfect apprehension of the subject and its bearings. That which they so highly prized for themselves, and for the attainment of which they had made such sacrifices, they were unwilling to accord to others. Not that men were not allowed, in evHe has seen that when that country be* "An Inquiry into the Moral and Religious Chargan to be settled by European emigrants, | acter of the American Government," p. 139, 140. I ery colony, to entertain whatever opinions But it was not long before a step in advance was made by Virginia and Massachusetts, of all the colonies the most rigid in their views of the requirements of a Church Establishment. Private meetings of dissenters for the enjoyment of their own modes of worship began to be tolerated. A second step was to grant to such dissenters express permission to hold public meetings for worship, without releasing them, however, from their share of the taxes to support the Established Church. The third step which religious freedom made consisted in relieving dissenters from the burden of contributing in any way to the support of the Established Church. And, finally, the fourth and great step was to abolish altogether the support of any church by the state, and place all, of every name, on the same footing before the law, leaving each church to support itself by its own proper exertions. Such is the state of things at present, and such it will remain. In every state, liberty of conscience and liberty of worship are complete. The government extends protection to all. Any set of men who wish to have a church or place of worship of their own, can have it, if they choose to erect or hire a building at their own charges. Nothing is required but to comply with the terms which the law prescribes in relation to holding property for public uses. The proper civil authorities have nothing to do with the creed of those who open such a place of worship. They cannot offer the smallest obstruction to the opening of a place of worship anywhere, if those who choose to undertake it comply with the simple terms of the law in relation to such property. On the other hand, as we have shown, neither the General Government nor that of the States does anything directly for the maintenance of public worship. Religion is protected, and indirectly aided, as has been proved, by both; but nowhere does the civil power defray the expenses of the churches, or pay the salaries of ministers of the Gospel, excepting in the case of a few chaplains connected with the public service. Upon what, then, must Religion rely? Only, under God, upon the efforts of its friends, acting from their own free will, influenced by that variety of considerations which is ordinarily comprehended under the title of a desire to do good. This, in America, is the grand and only alternative. To this principle must the country look for all those efforts which must be made for its religious instruction. To the consideration of its action, and the development of its resources, the book upon which we now enter is devoted. Let us look for a moment at the work which, under God's blessing, must be accomplished by this instrumentality. The population of the United States in 1840 was, by the census, ascertained to be At present (January, 17,068,666 souls. 1844) it surpasses 18,500,000. Upon the voluntary principle alone depends the religious instruction of this entire population, embracing the thousands of churches and ministers of the Gospel, colleges, theological seminaries, Sunday-schools, missionary societies, and all the other instrumentalities that are employed to promote the knowledge of the Gospel from one end of the country to the other. Upon the mere unconstrained good-will of the people, and especially of those among them who love the Saviour and profess His name, does Those may this vast superstructure rest. tremble for the result who do not know what the human heart is capable of doing when left to its own energies, moved and sustained by the grace and the love of God. Still more not only must all the good that is now doing in that vast country, and amid more than 18,500,000 of souls, be continued by the voluntary principle, but the increasing demands of a population augmenting in a ratio to which the history of the world furnishes no parallel, must be met and supplied. And what this will reNor can the police authorities interfere quire may be conceived when we state the to break up a meeting, unless it can be fact that the annual increase of the popuproved to be a nuisance to the neighbour-lation during the decade from 1840 to 1850 hood by the disturbance which it occasions, or on account of the immoral practices which may be committed in it; not on account of the particular religious faith which may be there taught. All improper meddling with a religious meeting, no matter whether it is held in a church or in a private house, would not be tolerated. cannot be short of 500,000 upon an average! From 1790 to 1800, the average annual increase of the inhabitants of the country was 137,609; from 1800 to 1810 it was 193,388; from 1810 to 1820 it was 239,831; from 1820 to 1830 it was 322,878; from 1830 to 1840 it was 420,174. At this rate the annual increase from 1840 to 1850 will, upon an average of the years, exceed | necessary in order to give the reader a 500,000. And the whole increase of the ten proper idea of the manifestations of what years will exceed 5,000,000 of souls. To has been called the voluntary principle in augment the number of ministers of the the United States, and to trace it throughGospel, churches, &c., so as adequately to out all its many ramifications there. But, meet this annual demand, will require great before entering upon this, I would fain exertion. give him a right conception of the character of the people, as being that to which the principle referred to mainly owes its success. At the first sight of this statistical view of the case, some of my readers will be ready to exclaim that the prospect is hopeless. Others will say, Wo to the cause of religion if the government does not put its shoulders to the wheel! But I answer, not only in my own name, but dare to do it in that of every well-informed American Christian, "No! we want no more aid from the government than we receive, and what it so cheerfully gives. The prospect is not desperate so long as Christians do their duty in humble and heartfelt reliance upon God." If we allow that 80,000 of this half | a million of souls which constitutes the annual increase of the population are under five years of age, and therefore need not be taken into account in calculating the required increase of church accommodation which must be annually made, as being too young to be taken to the sanctuary, we have 420,000 persons to provide for. This would require annually the building or opening of 420 churches, holding 1000 persons each, and an increase of 420 ministers of the Gospel; or, what would be much more probable, 840 churches, each holding on an average 500 persons; and a sufficient number of preachers to occupy them. That that number should be 840 would certainly be desirable; and yet a smaller number could suffice; for in many cases one minister must, in order to find his support, preach to two or more congregations. So, if 840 churches be not built every year, something equal to this in point of accommodation must be either built or found in some way or other. Sometimes schoolhouses answer the purpose in the new settlements; sometimes private houses, or some public building, can make up for the want of a church. Now we shall see in the sequel to what extent facts show that provision is actually made to meet this vast demand. For the present, all that I contemplate in giving this statistical view of the subject is, to enable the reader to form some idea of the work to be accomplished on the voluntary principle in America, if religion is to keep progress with the increase of the population. CHAPTER II. FOUNDATION OF THE VOLUNTARY PRINCIPLE Enough has been said in former parts of this work to show, that whether we look to the earlier or later emigrations to America, no small energy of character must have been required in the emigrants before venturing on such a step; and with regard to the first settlers in particular, that nothing but the force of religious principle could have nerved them to encounter the difficulties of all kinds that beset them. But if great energy, self-reliance, and enterprise be the natural attributes of the original emigrant, as he quits all the endearments of home, and the comforts and luxuries of states far advanced in civilization, for a life in the woods, amid wild beasts, and sometimes wilder men, pestilential marshes, and privations innumerable, the same qualities are very much called forth by colonial life, after the first obstacles have been overcome. It accustoms men to disregard trifling difficulties, to surmount by their own efforts obstacles which, in other states of society, would repel all such attempts, and themselves to do many things which, in different circumstances, they would expect others to do for them. Moreover, the colonies were thrown very much on their own resources from the first. England expended very little upon them. Beyond maintaining a few regiments from time to time, in scattered companies, at widely-separated points, and supplying some cannon and small arms, she did almost nothing even for the defence of the country. In almost every war with the Indians, the colonial troops alone carried on the contest. Instead of England helping them, they actually helped her incomparably more in her wars against the French, in the Canadas, and in the provinces of NewBrunswick and Cape Breton, when they not only furnished men, but bore almost the whole charge of maintaining them. Then came the war of the Revolution, which, in calling forth all the nation's energies during eight long years, went far to cherish that vigour and independence of character which had so remarkably distinguished the first colonists. And although in some of the colonies the Church and State were united from the first, the law did little more than preScribe how the churches were to be maintained. It made some men give grudgingSOME minuteness of detail will be found ly, who would otherwise have given little STATES. or nothing; while, at the same time, it lim- | some government official for the means of ited others to a certain fixed amount, who, needful repair, a few of them put their if left to themselves, would perhaps have hands into their pockets, and supply these given more. themselves, without delay or the risk of vexatious refusals from public functionaries. With the exception of a few thousand pounds for building some of the earliest colleges, and a few more, chiefly from Scotland, for the support of missionaries, most of whom laboured among the Indians, I am not aware of any aid received from the mother-country, or from any other part of Europe, for religious purposes in our colonial days. I do not state this by way of reproach, but as a simple fact. The Christians, not only of Great Britain, but of Holland and Germany also, were ever willing to aid the cause of religion in the colonies; they did what they could, or, rather, what the case seemed to require, and the monuments of their piety and liberality remain to this day. Still, the colonists, as was their duty, depended mainly on their own efforts. In several of the colonies there was from the first no Church Establishment; in two of those which professed to have one, the state never did anything worth mention for the support of the churches; and in all cases the dissenters had to rely on their own exertions. In process of time, as we have seen, the union of Church and State came gradually to an end throughout the whole country, and all religious bodies were left to their own resources. Thus have the Americans been trained to exercise the same energy, self-reliance, and enterprise in the cause of religion which they exhibit in other affairs. Thus, as we shall see, when a new church is called for, the people first inquire whether they cannot build it at their own cost, and ask help from others only after having done all they think practicable among themselves; a course which often leads them to find that they can accomplish by their own efforts what, at first, they hardly dared to hope for. Besides, there has grown up among the truly American part of the population a feeling that religion is necessary even to the temporal well-being of society, so that many contribute to its promotion, though not themselves members of any of the churches. This sentiment may be found in all parts of the United States, and especially among the descendants of the first Puritan colonists of New-England. I shall have occasion hereafter to give an illustration of it. These remarks point the reader to the true secret of the success of the voluntary plan in America. The people feel that they can help themselves, and that it is at once a duty and a privilege to do so. Should a church steeple come to the ground, or the roof be blown away, or any other such accident happen, instead of looking to CHAPTER III. HOW CHURCH EDIFICES ARE BUILT IN THE CITIES AND LARGE TOWNS. THE question has often been proposed to me during my residence in Europe," How do you build your churches in America, since the government gives no aid?" Different measures are pursued in different places. I shall speak first of those commonly adopted in the cities and large towns. There a new church is built by what is called "colonizing:" that is, the pastor and other officers of a large church, which cannot accommodate all its members, after much conference, on being satisfied that a new church is called for, propose that a commencement be made by certain families going out as a colony, to carry the enterprise into effect, and engage to assist them with their prayers and counsels, and, if need be, also with their purses. Upon this, such as are willing to engage in the undertaking go to work. Sometimes individuals or families from two or more churches of the same denomination coalesce in the design. Or a few gentlemen, interested in religion, whether all or any of them are members of a church or not, after conferring on the importance of having another church in some part of the city where an increase of the population seems to require it, resolve that one shall be built. Each then subscribes what he thinks he can afford, and subscriptions may afterward be solicited from other gentlemen of property and liberality in the place, likely to aid such an undertaking. Enough may thus be obtained to justify a commencement; a committee is appointed to purchase a site for a building, and to superintend its erection. When finished, it is opened for public worship, a pastor is called, and then the pews, which are generally large enough to accommodate a family each, are disposed of at a sort of auction to the highest bidder. In this way, the sum which may be required, in addition to the original subscriptions, is at once made up. The total cost, indeed, is sometimes met by the sums received for the pews, but much depends upon the situation and comfort of the building, and the popularity of the preacher. The pews are always sold under the condition of punctual payment of the sums to be levied upon them annually, for the pastor's support and other expenses; fail ing which, after allowing a reasonable time, | regular Sabbath services at the usual hours. they are resold to other persons. But if After announcing their intention by public all the required conditions be fulfilled, they advertisement, they proceed to organize a become absolutely the purchaser's, and church, that is, a body of believers, accordmay be bequeathed or sold like any other ing to the rules of the communion to which property. they belong. If Presbyterians, the Presbytery appoints a committee to organize the church according to the Book of Discipline, by the appointment and consecration to office of ruling elders, after which it falls under the care of the Presbytery. A pastor is next called and regularly inducted. Meanwhile, the congregation may be supposed to be increasing, until strong enough to exchange their temporary for a permanent place of worship. In this way new swarms are every year leaving the old hives, if I may so speak, in our large cities, and new church edifices are rising in various localities where the population is extending. Instead of being sold in fee-simple, the pews are sometimes merely rented from year to year. This prevails more in large towns and villages than in cities, and in such cases the churches must be built solely by "subscription," as it is called, that is, by sums contributed for that special object. Should these prove, in the first instance, insufficient, a second, and perhaps a third subscription follows, after a longer or shorter interval. The seats in some churches, even of our largest cities, are free to all. Such is the case with all the Quaker, and most of the Methodist meeting-houses; these are occupied on what is called the "free-seat" plan, and have the advantage of being attended with less restraint, especially by strangers or persons who may not have the means to pay for seats. But there are disadvantages also in this plan. Families who regularly attend, and who may bear the expense of the church, have no certain place where all may sit together, and in case of being delayed a little longer than usual, may find it difficult to get seats at all. The Methodist churches, accordingly, are coming more and more into the other plan in our large cities. Where they have not done so, and also in the Quaker meeting-houses, the males occupy one half of the house, the females the other; a rule, however, observed more constantly in the latter than in the former body. Church edifices, or meeting-houses, on the freeseat plan, must, of course, be built by subscription alone. A more common practice in forming new congregations, and erecting church edifices, is this: The families who engage in the undertaking first obtain some place for temporary service the lecture-room attached to some other church, a courthouse, a schoolroom, or some other such building*—and there they commence their * In Philadelphia there is a building called the Academy, built for Mr. Whitfield's meetings, the upper part of which is now divided into two rooms, each capable of containing 400 or 500 people, and both constantly used as places of worship, one permanently by the Methodists. The other has been occupied temporarily by colonies, which have grown into churches, and then gone off to houses which they have built for themselves. In this way that one room, as I have often been told, has been the birthplace, as it were, of more than twenty different churches. It is rented to those who wish to occupy it by the corporation, to which it belongs. In the lower story there are schools held throughout the week. The church edifices in the chief towns and cities are, generally speaking, large and substantial buildings, especially in the more densely-settled districts. Those in the suburbs are often smaller, and not expected to be more than temporary, as they give place to larger and better structures in a few years. In the cities and larger towns, whether on the Atlantic slope or in the Valley of the Mississippi, they are, in nine cases out of ten, built of brick; a few are of stone; and in the New-England cities and towns of second and third rate size, they are often built of wood. As for the cost of church edifices, it is difficult to speak precisely where the country is so extensive. In the suburbs of our large cities on the seaboard, from Portland, in Maine, to New-Orleans, some may not have cost more than from 5000 to 10,000 dollars; but in the older and more denselypeopled parts of those cities, they generally cost 20,000 dollars and upward. Some have cost 60,000 or 80,000, and yet are comparatively plain, though very chaste and substantial buildings. A few have cost above 100,000,* without including such as Trinity Church at New-York, belonging to the Episcopalians, or the Roman Catholic Cathedral at Baltimore, for these very elegant and expensive buildings have cost at least 300,000, if not more. There may have been, in States assemble-are allowed to be used as places of worship on the Sabbath in a case of exigency. The church in which the late eloquent Dr. Mason was last settled as a minister in New-York, cost, I believe, rather more than 100,000 dollars. It was an excellent, large, tasteful, substantial, brick building. Yet it, and some others in the lower parts of the city, whence business is driving the people to the upper part, have been torn down, and their sites are covered with shops and counting-rooms. The congregations have mainly emigrated to about a mile and a half, or two miles northward. So matters go in our London. The chapel of the University of New-York is used for the same purpose; and the Court-houses through- + Trinity Church is not yet finished. It is a reout all the land, and even some of the State-houses-markably fine specimen of Gothic architecture. I that is, those in which the Legislatures of the several have not heard what the cost will be, but, including |