CHAPTER IV.

RELIGION AND THE CHURCH.

Relation of the Civil Government to Religion.-General Christianity prevalent.-Relation of the Episcopal Church to the people.-Parochial organization.-Diocesan organization.— Convention of a Diocese.-Standing Committee.

In the preceding chapters I have given the reader, in the form of letters to a friend, a brief sketch of the people of Ohio and of the country which they inhabit. He must not, however, suppose that my observations have been entirely confined within those limits. On the contrary, since the date of the last letter, a period of seven years, I have voyaged and travelled more than 13,000 miles, and have seen a number of towns and cities, and conversed with a great variety of persons.

In the first place, I have paid a short visit to my native country. The rapidity of the travelling conveyances, by which I was taken in twenty-three

days from the centre of Ohio to the quiet paternal home on the verge of Salisbury Plain, enabled me to form a ready comparison between America and England, and to correct my judgment of character and habits. In the second place, I have spent some time in New England, where I have seen American society in its oldest and most established form; and have traced to their fountain-head most of the opinions and customs existing in the free states of the North-West. In the third place, I have visited some of the slave states, and while I have witnessed the evils of compulsory servitude, I have experienced the hospitality, and admired the generosity of the descendants of the Virginian Cavaliers. I am now in holy orders and married to a niece of my bishop; and consequently bound by a twofold tie to America and to the American Church. Although the reader may, perhaps, think that I am no longer to be regarded as an impartial witness, I shall still endeavour to state facts as they have fallen under my observation, and to give him the substance of the information which I have acquired from various sources. I consider my present occupation of a parish minister decidedly favourable to the task of giving a full description of the American Church.

Religion sustains a nearer relation to the civil government of the United States than is generally

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supposed. Those who are accustomed to regard this confederacy as having renounced its allegiance to God, would be astonished to learn that Christianity is part and parcel of the law of the land. This will, nevertheless, appear to be the case from the following facts.

In the constitution of the United States we find the expression "Done in the Year of our Lord." In these words the representatives of the people of this Union date the ratification of their form of government from the Advent of Christ, and assert that Christ is their Lord. Again, the general government thus legislates in regard to Sunday;

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If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, &c." In accordance with this, not only the President, but both Houses of Congress, the officers of the state, treasury, navy, and war departments, are all discharged from work on Sunday. The Supreme Court of the United States is by law obliged to suspend its session on that day; and further, the general government appoints and maintains chaplains in the Navy. By a law of Congress passed in 1800, it is enacted also "that the commanders of all vessels in the Navy having chaplains on board shall take care that divine service be performed in a solemn, orderly, and reverent manner, twice a day, and a sermon preached

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on Sunday and that they cause all, or as many the ship's company as can be spared from duty, to attend every performance of the worship of Almighty God." In the laws regulating the army "it is earnestly recommended to all officers and soldiers diligently to attend divine service." Punishment is provided for any officer or soldier "who shall behave irreverently at any place of divine worship." The officers and cadets of the military academy of the United States are required by law to attend divine worship on Sundays. By an act of Congress in 1808, the appointment of a chaplain for each brigade in the army was provided for. By another act in 1816, Congress determined on the appointment and compensation of a chaplain to each of its houses. And finally, when Michigan was a territory subject to the control of Congress, it was provided that "the first day of the week shall be kept and observed by the good people of the territory as a Sabbath, holy day, or day of rest from all secular employments."

This will suffice for the general government. The several state governments have taken similar and even stronger ground. The constitution of Vermont declares it to be "the duty of all Christians to observe the Sabbath, and maintain that mode of public worship, which to them shall seem most agreeable to the revealed will of God." The constitution of

Massachusetts expressly assigns as a reason for certain provisions that "the encouragement of art, science, and all good literature, tends to the honour of God and the advantage of the Christian religion." The constitution of New Jersey provides that "all persons professing a belief in the faith of any Protestant sect, shall be capable of being elected, &c." Maryland makes a declaration of belief in the Christian religion necessary to admission to office. North Carolina provides, "that no person who shall deny the truth of the Protestant religion, or the divine authority of the Old or New Testament, shall be capable of holding any office in the civil department of the state." It is said, on good authority, that twenty-three states, at least, have laws requiring the observance of Sunday as a Sabbath. In many of the states, if not in all, blasphemy is punishable at common law; while the method of administering oaths universally introduces the awful sanctions of religion. And lastly, in all the states, preachers of the gospel are authorized to solemnize marriages; while in some of them, ministers alone perform the nuptial cere

mony.

But although Christianity is thus recognized by the civil authorities; although Christianity is, indeed, the basis of the common law; none of the existing religious denominations is preferred before the