others are willing to add, for supporting their clergy in a method more convenient than the ordinary one by subscription, but that the pious intentions of such benefactors cannot be effectually carried into execution, the elders of the Church not being incorporated so as to be capable of taking and holding land and slaves for the use of the ministers, and therefore praying that the said elders may be enabled to take and hold land and slaves to such uses, under proper regulations."

No action, owing to political matters.

May 14, 1774.-"The vestry of the parish of Frederick ask leave to levy on the tithables, for the minister's salary, "one hundred and fifty pounds of current money of Virginia, in lieu of the tobacco and cask and the legal allowance for shrinkage."

The petition is granted,-Mr. Wood, Mr. Edward Pendleton, and Mr. Zane being directed to prepare the bill

On May 23, 1774.-The petitions of sundry inhabitants of the county and parish of Augusta, representing that "the parish is upward of ninety miles long and near eighty miles wide, and that there are between threc and four thousand tithables in it, and but one church; therefore praying it may be divided."

On May 24, 1774.-"Ordered, That the members of this House do attend in their places at the hour of ten in the forenoon, on the first day of June next, in order to proceed with the Speaker and the mace to the church in this city, and that the Rev. Mr. Price be appointed to read prayers and the Rev. Mr. Gwatkin to preach a sermon suitable to the occasion."

Richard Henry Lee is to request Mr. G. to comply. Mr. G. has "a disorder in his breast," and Mr. Price preached. This was the day appointed by Parliament for the closing of Boston Harbour.

Many petitions ask the dissolution of vestries for malfeasance of various sorts, that parishes may be altered, &c.

The first great Act aimed at the perpetuity of the Established Church was passed at the session commencing in October, 1776. I find a very striking paper among the archives, which seems to have had a large share in the passage of the subsequent Act. It is labelled "Dissenters' Pet'n, 1776, Oct. 24. Ref'd to Com. of Religion."

The petition is as follows:

"TO THE HONOURABLE THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA :"The memorial of the Presbytery of Hanover humbly represents, That your memorialists are governed by the same sentiments which inspire the United States of America, and are determined that nothing in our power

and influence shall be wanting to give success to their common cause. We would also represent that the dissenters from the Church of England in this country have ever been desirous to conduct themselves as peaceable members of the civil government, for which reason they have hitherto submitted to several ecclesiastic burdens and restrictions that are inconsistent with equal liberty. But now, when the many and grievous oppressions of our mother-country have laid this continent under the necessity of casting off the yoke of tyranny and of forming independent governments upon equitable and liberal foundations, we flatter ourselves that we shall be freed from all the encumbrances which a spirit of domination, prejudice, or bigotry hath interwoven with most other political systems. This we are the more strongly encouraged to expect by the Declaration of Rights, so universally applauded for that dignity, firmness, and precision with which it delineates and asserts the privileges of society and the prerogatives of human nature, and which we embrace as the magna charta of our Commonwealth, that can never be violated without endangering the grand superstructure it was destined to sustain. Therefore we rely upon this Declaration, as well as the justice of our honourable Legislature, to secure us the free exercise of religion according to the dictates of our consciences; and we should fall short in our duty to ourselves and the many and numerous congregations under our care were we upon this occasion to neglect laying before you a statement of the religious grievances under which we have hitherto laboured, that they no longer may be continued in our present form of government.

"It is well known that in the frontier-counties-which are justly sup posed to contain a fifth part of the inhabitants of Virginia--the Dissenters have borne the heavy burdens of purchasing glebes, building churches, and supporting the Established clergy, where there are very few Episcopalians, either to assist in bearing the expense or to reap the advantage; and that throughout the other parts of the country there are also many thousands of zealous friends and defenders of our State who, besides the invidious and disadvantageous restrictions to which they have been subjected, annually pay large taxes to support an Establishment from which their consciences and principles oblige them to dissent,--all which are confessedly so many violations of their natural rights, and in their consequences a restraint upon freedom of inquiry and private judgment.

"In this enlightened age, and in a land where all of every denomination are united in the most strenuous efforts to be free, we hope and expect that our representatives will cheerfully concur in removing every species of religious as well as civil bondage. Certain it is, that every argument for civil liberty gains additional strength when applied to liberty in the concerns of religion; and there is no argument in favour of establishing the Christian religion but what may be pleaded with equal propriety for establishing the tenets of Mahomed by those who believe the Alkoran; or if this be not true, it is at least impossible for the magistrate to adjudge

the right of preference among the various sects that profess the Christian faith, without erecting a chair of infallibility, which would lead us back to the Church of Rome.

"We beg leave further to represent that religious establishments are highly injurious to the temporal interests of any community. Without insisting upon the ambition and the arbitrary practices of those who are favoured by Government, or the intriguing, seditious spirit which is commonly excited by this as well as every other kind of oppression, such establishments greatly retard population, and, consequently, the progress of arts, sciences, and manufactures. Witness the rapid growth and improvement of the Northern Provinces compared with this. No one can deny that the more early settlement and the many superior advantages of our country would have invited multitudes of artificers, mechanics, and all other useful members of society to fix their habitation among us, who have either remained in the place of their nativity, or preferred worse civil government and a more barren soil where they might enjoy the rights of conscience more fully than they had a prospect of doing it in this. From which we infer that Virginia might have now been the capital of America and a match for the British arms, without depending upon either for the necessaries of war, had it not been prevented by her religious Establishment. "Neither can it be made appear that the Gospel needs any such civil

aid. We rather conceive that when our blessed Saviour declares his kingdom is not of this world he renounces all dependence upon State power; and, as his weapons were spiritual, and were only designed to have influence upon the judgment and heart of men, we are persuaded that if mankind were left in the quiet possession of their unalienable religious privileges, Christianity, as in the days of the apostles, would continue to prevail and flourish in the greatest purity, by its own native excellence and under the all-disposing providence of God.

"We would also humbly represent that the only proper objects of civil government are the happiness and protection of men in their present state of existence, the security of the life, liberty, and property of the citizens, and to restrain the vicious and encourage the virtuous, by wholesome laws equally extending to every individual; but that the duty which we owe our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can only be directed by reason and conviction, and is nowhere cognizable but at the tribunal of the Universal Judge.

"Therefore we ask no ecclesiastical establishment for ourselves, neither can we approve of them when granted to others: this, indeed, would be giving exclusive or separate emoluments or privileges to one set (or sect) of men, without any special public services, to the common reproach or injury of every other denomination. And, for the reasons recited, we are induced earnestly to entreat that all laws now in force in this Commonwealth which countenance religious domination may be speedily repealed,—that all of every religious sect may be protected in the full exercise of their

several modes of worship, and exempted from all taxes for the support of any Church whatsoever, further than what may be agreeable to their own private choice or voluntary obligation. This being done, all partial and invidious distinctions will be abolished, to the great honour and interest of the State, and every one be left to stand or fall according to merit, which can never be the case so long as any one denomination is established in preference to others.

"That the Great Sovereign of the universe may inspire you with unanimity, wisdom, and resolution, and bring you to a just determination on all the important concerns before you, is the fervent prayer of your memorialists. "Signed by order of the Presbytery.

"JOHN TODD, Moderator.
"CALEB WALLACE, P. Clerk."

On June 3, 1777, the Presbytery of Hanover petitioned the Assembly again. Thanking it for the late Act, (of 1776,) they proceed to remonstrate against "a general assessment" which was left to be decided by the next Assembly. If the Legislature have any power over religion and its ministers, it has all power, and might oppress and enslave. The memorialists declare that these consequences are "so entirely subversive of religious liberty, that, if they should take place in Virginia, we should be reduced to the melancholy necessity of saying, with the apostles in like cases, 'Judge ye whether it be best to obey God or man,' and also of acting as they acted."

Nov. 28, 1777.-The petition of the inhabitants of Christ Church parish, in the county of Lancaster, says that in 1759, by an Act of Assembly, a new vestry was elected in the parish, but death has now reduced them to four. These four have "elected into that office a person whom we think not friendly to the glorious cause we are now engaged in; and, as we are now declared a free and independent people, we think we have a right to the choice of a new set of rulers." They therefore pray a dissolution of the tory vestry and power to elect a new one. This petition is signed by one hundred and twenty-eight persons, apparently the principal men of the county. A counter-petition is filed, signed by seven persons, declaring that the vestryman in question-Mr. William Montague--is not a tory, though he had been so considered, and praying a refusal of the petition to dissolve the body. But the vestry was dissolved."

On the 26th November, 1778, various inhabitants of King William county (Protestant Episcopal) petition and say that the Act suspending the salaries of clergymen was regarded as temporary: they hope some provision will be made. They do not wish conscientious Dissenters to contribute to the support of the Church; "that men of such principles and persuasions should be exonerated from the support of a clergy so different

in point of worship from them, must be confessed by all to be just and reasonable." The clergy are, however, men of real merit and fine education, and deserve some assistance from the Legislature. The Dissenters are declared to be, often, men of "disorderly and dissipated lives," who seduce the poor from their labour and negroes from their duties. This memorial was "deferred" to the next Assembly.

Petitions from Amherst, Culpepper, Caroline, &c. for a general assessment. This last Caroline-memorial, (Episcopal,) of date December 5, 1777, states that the memorialists "have seen an Act of the last session of Assembly, by which dissenters from the Church of England are exempted from all levies for the support of the said Church or its ministers, and highly approve thereof, as founded on principles of justice and propriety, and favourable to religious liberty at the same time they beg leave to suggest that as, in their opinion, public worship is a duty we owe the Creator and Preserver of mankind, and productive of effects the most beneficial to society, it ought to be enjoined and regulated by the Legislature, so as to preserve public peace, order, and decency, without prescribing a mode or form of worship to any." It then declares that the voluntary-contribution system will cause difficulties between the clergy and people and discourage men of genius and injure religion. A general assessment is then prayed.

December 2, 1778, referred to next session.

November 6, 1778.--Sundry (Episcopal) inhabitants of the county of Cumberland declare that the Dissenters are seducing the ignorant and sowing "discontent between husbands and their wives." They have "seen meetings in the night of our slaves, without our consent, which could produce nothing but deeds of darkness," and the Dissenters had produced "disobedience and insolence to masters." They "wish to see a well-regulated toleration established," that men "may be permitted to serve God in their own way, without molestation. . . But we wish also that these nightly meetings may be prohibited under severe penalties." Lastly, they pray that "some regulation may be adopted to make the clergy of the Established Church accountable for their conduct, and be removed for their misbehaviour."

This was rejected December 2, 1778.

October 29, 1778.-"Some of the people called Seceding Presbyterians" pray that they may thereafter make oath "by holding up the right hand" only; which petition was granted.

November 10, 1779.-" Divers of the freeholders and other free inhabitants of Amherst county"—who afterwards describe themselves as 66 composed of Church of England men, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Method