USA > New Hampshire > The history of New Hampshire, from its discovery, in 1614, to the passage of the Toleration act, in 1819 > Part 29
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Such was the vexatious nature of the suits to dissenters themselves. But if they could not avoid the tax, how must it be with those who belonged to no religious sect ? For them there was no escape. They were compelled to pay, notwith- standing the plain declaration of the constitution of the United States.
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HISTORY OF
CHAP. XII.
Were it not for the general intolerance of that day, it might be a subject of wonder that the peo- ple should submit to a law thus unconstitutional and void, as well as oppressive, for the space of twenty-eight years. Yet such was the period of their submission and such the provisions of the law. But they manifested an increasing dissatis- faction. They had seen the poor man cast into prison, and the obstinate man after spending his fortune in a fruitless resistance to the claims of the selectmen, overpowered at last, when perhaps the destitute wife and children needed the little for- tune he had thus squandered in an unsuccessful contest. The New Hampshire Patriot,* a popular paper at the seat of government, had spoken warmly against the oppressive exactions of the old law. Many of the most enlightened minds in the state were known to be its opponents.
Besides the revolution in Connecticut, they had seen the representatives of France vote down a proposition to enforce respect to the established religion of the French empire and to punish out- rage against it. They had read of those move- ments in Maryland, in which the name of Breck- enridge had become famous for a speech which he had made on the Jew bill, and in which he brought out, and set in lucid and beautiful order, the great doctrines of civil and religious liberty. The state of Vermont had commenced, in 1791, the same system established in New Hampshire. In 1803, it was relaxed, and any person declaring to or writing to the selectmen, that he was not of the same religious sect with the majority of the town,
Then conducted by Isaac Hill.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE.
was exempt from taxation., In 1807, the compul- CHAP. sory law was wholly abolished. Yet the state of XII. Vermont was not ruined by the change, as had been predicted by the advocates for compulsion. In Connecticut the laws had been abolished which compelled uniformity of religion, by obliging every town to support a clergyman, and allowed to no man the right of suffrage, unless he was in full communion with the church. All this was swept away, to give place to complete toleration and equality-yet neither vice nor crime increased. The state of Pennsylvania never compelled the support of religion ; yet the people were not want- ing in piety, and they had little of the clamor of religious faction.
The constitution of Maine, formed about this time, seemed to embody the liberal sentiments which began everywhere to prevail. Her bill of rights, modelled after that of New Hampshire, declared that there should be no religious test as a qualification for any office-that no person should be hurt, molested or restrained in his per- son, liberty or estate for worshipping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience. Such was the progress of opinions abroad, when the toleration act of New Hampshire came up on its final passage in the house of representatives. It was a favorite maxim with the anti-tolerationists, that " every man ought to be compelled to pay for the support of religion somewhere;"* and they contended that this was implied by the constitution. The tolerationists denied both the constitutionality and the expedi- ency of the doctrine, and contended for absolute * Hubbard's Speech.
1819. Consti- tution of Maine.
Bill of Rights.
Speech- es of Hub- bard, Pitman, and Parker. Speech- es of Whip- ple, Bart- lett, and Butters.
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HISTORY OF
CHAP. freedom and voluntary contribution. The oppo- XII. nents of toleration maintained that it was the design of the framers of the constitution that every citi- Hub- bard's zen should be compelled to contribute his just and speech. June, 1819. equal proportion for the maintenance and support of the ministry. They also gravely contended, and with much sincerity argued, that the passage of this law would produce the dire effect to " make young people walk in the fields and associate and visit much together on the Sabbath"-that it would introduce confusion-that it would dis -- courage preachers of the gospel, by making them too dependent.
On the other hand, the advocates for toleration maintained that the law of 1791 was an attempt to compel uniformity of religious faith, and that such attempts were destructive to liberty and dis- astrous to religion. They endeavored to prove that by the constitution neither the selectmen nor the courts had any right to require evidence of a man's religious faith, beyond his own declaration- that his own deliberate avowal of his belief should be the highest evidence required, and should ex- cuse him from paying the tax. " Have we," said Whipple, " any tribunal to which, as a standard of faith, men's consciences can be referred for de- cision and regulation ? Has our constitution pro- vided any such ? How then, sir, is this question to be settled, but by the individual's declaration, concerning his own religious belief? And, sir, do not your existing laws in effect establish such an inquisitorial tribunal ? They authorize the selectmen to assess monies voted by towns for the support of ministers, and for building and re- pairing meeting-houses. In this assessment they
Speech of Dr. Whip- ple.
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necessarily exercise their judgments, and assess CHAP. those whom they deem liable; your collectors XII. - are armed with strong powers; no barrier is in- terposed between the delinquent's property and their grasp; property is taken, exposed to pub- lic sale and the tax satisfied. The only remedy left the oppressed citizen is an appeal to his peers-under the direction of judicial officers, where his conscience is submitted to the arbit- rament of jurors, and of jurors too, perhaps, under the influence of strong religious preju- dices! After struggling for years against the combined influence of the town, the prejudices of the jurors, the corruption of witnesses, the ingenuity of counsel, disposed to perpetuate the oppression, and the 'glorious uncertainty' of the law; after spending the means on which his family depend for support, ruining his fortune and re- ducing himself to beggary; he may recover the amount of tax and cost. For, sir, let it be remembered that unless he shows corruption in the selectmen, or assessors, or a design to tax wrongfully, he can recover no exemplary damages. But even this pitiful redress is not certain. In- stances have frequently occurred when jurors could not agree, and the man wrongfully assessed has been dismissed from the tribunal, where 'drowsy justice still nodded upon her rotten seat, intoxica- ted by the poisonous draught of bigotry prepared for her cup.'"
It was not enough for a man to declare to the selectmen that he was not of the established reli- gion. This denial, far from pacifying, rather served to inflame the agents of the dominant creed,
Whip- ple's speech, June, 1819.
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HISTORY OF
CHAP. who were never satisfied until the dissenter was XII.
arrested and committed to prison.
Bill of Rights, Art. V.
The fifth article of the bill of rights declares, that "every individual has a natural right to wor- ship God according to the dictates of his own con- science and reason; and no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained, in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshipping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience, or for his religious profession, senti- ments or persuasion ; provided he doth not dis- turb the public peace, or disturb others in their religious worship."
Notwithstanding this plain declaration of the bill of rights, no Christians but Congregationalists were recognised as a religious sect. There was but one sect known to the law of 1791. Univer- salists, Methodists, Baptists, were indiscriminately classed with the Orthodox, and when they plead- ed their difference of sentiment as a reason why they should not be taxed, they were told that they were not acknowledged by the laws as religious denominations, and that the assessors therefore might assess them with Congregationalists. The courts even sanctioned this doctrine ; and, for the first time, perhaps, the confidence of the people in the judiciary was shaken. After having been " molested" by the most oppressive taxes, con- trary to the express language and plain meaning of the bill of rights for thirteen years, the Freewill Baptists procured an act of the legislature to be passed in 1804, recognising them as a religious denomination! The Universalists did the same in 1805, and the Methodists in 1807.
Re- cords of Acts, Dec. 7, 1804; June 13, 1805; and June 15, 1807.
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In the course of the discussions which arose CHAP. upon this vitally important question, the opponents XII. of toleration strenuously contended that it was the duty of the state government to establish and en- force uniformity of religion. This position was as- sailed in a most powerful manner by Dr. Whipple.
" This attempt at uniformity," said he, " has Speech in all governments and countries produced that of Dr. Whip- ple. very state of public depravity and moral desola- tion so much deprecated by the opponents of this amendment. The requirement in a foreign gov- ernment,* that any individual shall have partaken of the sacrament, before the exercise of any civil trust, is directly calculated to produce hypocrisy and irreligion. For this reason you see men aris- ing from the the sacred emblems of the blood and body of our Lord, to drunkenness, lewdness and profanity. It was this spirit which kindled the fires of the Inquisition-collected the fagots, and emboldened the horrid inquisitor to chant 'ex- purgat Deus,' around the consuming corse of the human victim. This was the spirit, sir, which, under the mask of Christianity,
' With Heaven's own thunders shook the world below, And played the God an engine on his foe.'
" It was the indulgence of this spirit which fixed a stain on the character of Calvin, which not all his excellent virtues, nor time, nor oblivion can wash out. To this idol, Servetus was sacrificed as a burnt offering. To glut this monster, the blood of Balzec flowed; and to slake his thirst for re- venge, the amiable, learned and industrious Cas-
* Connecticut.
55
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CHAP. talio was slandered, traduced and exposed to XII suffering. It was this, sir, which caused the bloody Mary to sacrifice her hecatombs of human victims in the sight of Heaven, in the sight of that God who has declared himself the common Father of us all.
" This spirit, sir, caused our forefathers, who themselves fled from persecution, to banish Qua- kers, whip dissenting females, persecute Baptists, and to do other enormities which have stained the pages of our history. And is none of this spirit left among us ? Is it extinct ? No, sir-this spirit now operates. It is this which causes those who advocate the cause of religious freedom to be stigmatized with the opprobrious epithets of deist, atheist, and men of no religion."
After this speech was delivered, the antagonists of Dr. Whipple sharpened their weapons anew, and prepared to make another and stronger ap- peal to the prejudices and fears of the legislature.
" Pass the bill now on the table," said Mr. Hubbard, "and the temples now consecrated to the worship of the Saviour of the world will soon be deserted and forsaken."
Par- ker's speech, July, 1817.
The opponents of the bill carried the minds of their hearers back to the epoch of the French rev- olution, and informed the house that the bloody scenes of that drama commenced by treating with contempt the institutions of religion.
Yet so rapid was the change of public sentiment in favor of the bill, and so poorly did the objec- tions raised against it bear the test of examination, that even some of the ablest opponents * of the bill,
* Among these was Mr. Hubbard.
Hub- bard's speech, 1819. July.
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while it was under discussion, voted in the affirm- CHAP. ative on the question of its final passage. XII.
The remaining opponents of the law, however, endeavored to convince the house that some of the most bloody scenes in history had been caused by a want of respect for the clergy. It was for Dr. Whipple to reply to arguments like these, by illus- trations drawn from the same sources. "Has the gentleman," (Mr. Parker,) said he, " forgot- ten the day of St. Bartholomew, at Paris, when, in one fatal night, sixty thousand dissenters were murdered in cold blood, under the direction of the officers of the established church ? Has he forgot- - ten the revocation of the edict of Nantz, in the reign of Louis XIV., by which measure fifty thou- sand dissenting families went into exile and num- bers perished ? Or can it be said, that those scenes, so shocking to humanity, so repugnant to the pure principles of the Christian religion, hap- pened from any want of respect for the clergy of that day ? No, sir; the church was then abun- dant in her revenues, splendid and imposing in her worship, and the clergy dictated the government itself. These outrages originated, sir, not in a want of respect for the clergy, nor in sectarian influence; but in that desire for uniformity, that itch for splendid external worship, which in all ages and in every country has produced domina- tion and cruelty in the clergy and stupidity and slavery in the people. We neither ridicule nor oppress the clergy. We commend their virtues and value their labors, while directed to the great and important purposes of teaching that religion which is pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be en-
Jour- nal of House, June session, 1819.
Dr. Whip- ple's speech.
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CHAP. treated, full of good works, without partiality and XII. without hypocrisy. But, sir, when we see them anxious to amass power, wealth, worldly honor, rather than that which cometh from above; when we see them endeavoring to establish 'the splen- dor of the church upon the misery of the citi- zen '-heady, high minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of truth, justice, mercy and charity ; when, like Thomas A. Becket, they are aiming at the civil authority-then shall we have reason to exclaim, in the language of the litany, from such men 'good Lord deliver us!'"'
This speech was replied to at great length, and ably, by the advocates for intolerance, who lost no opportunity to show that the law was unconstitu- tional and subversive of religion. Their argu- ments were met by Ichabod Bartlett, a young but distinguished advocate, of Portsmouth.
" It is objected," said he, " that the bill before the house permits every person to settle the ques- tion for himself, what denomination he is of-that his consent is necessary, to be subjected to any denomination, and his dissent frees him. Praised be God, that the wisdom of our fathers has so ordained-for thus I undertake to say it is decreed in our constitution. This is apparent, in the first place, from the nature of the evils intended to be guarded against by the provisions of that consti- tution. Their object was not only to secure the perfectly free exercise of religious opinions, but to remove all pretence for disturbing or annoying any in the enjoyment of it. The intention was not merely to authorize a defence against oppressors, but to disarm bigotry and fanaticism-not only to
Speech of Icha- bod Bart- lett, July, 1819.
Consti- tution of New Hamp- shire.
Bill of Rights, Art. V.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE.
CHAP. XII. ~
interpose the shield of charity and toleration, but to wrest from the hand of persecution the sword that would be used to perforate it. The framers of that instrument had learned, by fatal expe- rience, the truth of Lord Mansfield's declaration before the house of peers, that 'conscience is not controllable by human laws ; nor amenable to human tribunals. Persecution or attempts to force conscience can never produce conviction, and are only calculated to make hypocrites or martyrs.' They had learned the outrages of religious infatu- ation when countenanced by law. History had told them of the horrors of the civil power, under the pretence of pious purposes, which were prac- tised upon the followers of our Saviour. They had seen, with the cruelty, the inefficacy too of the civil government upon this subject. They had seen an army of seven hundred thousand men, for religious purposes, making prisoners and victims, but never converts or Christians. They had seen its absurdity in 'solemn convocations' upon the most frivolous pretences. They had not only seen the effect of the stake and fagot in the reign of Mary; they had not only looked upon the con- dition of the sufferer, but had themselves passed through the fires of persecution. They had en- countered the savage beasts and savage men of the wilderness, to escape the more savage fury of religious intolerance. And, such is the effect of fanaticism, they had seen those yet bleeding with the stripes and wounds of persecution, themselves become persecutors; and even the legislative re- cords of a neighboring colony stained with an act authorizing the putting to death, without even the
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CHAP. form of a trial, 'any Quaker, Adamite, or here- XII. tic.' Disgusted with the follies and absurdities, shocked at the horrors, and bleeding with the wounds, which religious bigotry, armed with civil power, had inflicted, the framers of our constitu- tion determined to guard against the repetition of such scenes. They had become convinced, too, that the pure religion of the gospel would ever flourish best unencumbered with legal pains and penalties ; that every effort of compulsion and force reacted upon the movers; and that even should an external observance of any particular creed be enforced by the civil authority, it could at best command but a hypocritical service; that tenets, enforced by an officer of the law, or the point of the bayonet, could produce no salutary influence upon the mind. And while experience had taught them the inefficacy of such attempts, revelation proclaimed that the principles of the gospel were their own best support; and that the work, 'if it were of God, would prevail.' With such convictions, they determined to remove every pretence for violence-and that the arm of civil power should in no case interfere where the peace of civil society was undisturbed.
" Those evils, sir, are not guarded against ; the views of those who framed our constitution are not accomplished upon any other construction of that instrument than the one adopted by this bill. Say to the majority of any town that they may tax, not only their own sect, but all, who, they may please to say, do not belong to some other sect; and deprive the person so assessed from deciding that question ; and what is the consequence ? Do
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we want new evidence of the propensity of any dominant sect to assume to itself all claim to cor- rectness-to dispense indiscriminately the title of infidel and heretic to all who differ ? Do we not know that the privileges and powers of the consti- tution, thus interpreted-
'Like saving faith, by each would be applied To one small sect, and all are damned beside ?'
" Did those who sought the blood of our fore- fathers believe they were sending to the scaffold and stake persons of any religion ? Never. Take from the dissenter the power of determining his faith for himself, and the sect in power, while they levy their contributions upon him, will claim the merit of seizing the goods of infidels for the support of religion ; as the executioners of our ancestors did the praise of destroying their bodies to save their souls from heresy.
" It may perhaps be thought that in the present age there can be no danger in putting a construc- tion upon this provision of the constitution, which shall give the majority a right to decide upon and control the religious opinions of the minority. Has human nature changed ? Has it ceased to be true that like causes produce like effects ? Give to religious bigotry the power, and you shall again hear the thunders of the Vatican denouncing all dissenters. You shall soon see a second edition of the famous unam sanctam, declaring a univer- sal assent to the exercise of omnipotence by some particular sect, in matters of faith, essential to sal- vation. They may not perhaps again clothe those they condemn as heretics in garments of pitch for
CHAP. XII.
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HISTORY OF
CHAP. a conflagration, or in the skins of wild beasts to XII. be devoured by dogs! but they will enrol them in their tax lists, to support doctrines which may be thought of a pernicious tendency, and set upon them a no less ravenous race of blood-hounds. ' Fanaticism,' said Sir James M'Intosh, 'is the most incurable of all mental diseases, because, in all its forms, it is distinguished by a mad contempt for experience.' Not the enemies, but the friends of religion have too much reason, with regard to the leaders of different denominations, without dis- tinction, to describe each in the language of an eloquent divine of the present day, as 'arrogating all excellence to his own sect, and all saving power to his own creed; sheltering, under the name of pious zeal, the love of domination, the conceit of infallibility, and the spirit of intolerance; and trampling on men's rights under pretence of sav- ing their souls.'"
These and similar speeches went forth to the people-were eagerly read and loudly applauded by all but the Congregational order. The sound- ness of their arguments produced great effect. Indeed, so evident are most of their positions, and so apparent, that at the present day the only won- der is that they should ever have been doubted, or should ever have found opponents. These opponents constantly sought for historical proofs of the danger of multiplying sects. But had they sought to find illustrations of the danger of swal- lowing up all minor sects in one predominant order, they would have been much more successful in their researches.
Against the toleration act fanaticism fought
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with its usual ferocity. By the enlightened por- CHAP. tion of the people it was hailed with joy. By the XII. - orthodox it was loaded with anathemas. The clergy feared that their tithes would be diminished when the people were no longer compelled to pay them. The ignorant and bigoted mourned over the change with well-meant sorrows. "Alack! Alack!" quoth they, "religion! we have none of it. Our general court at Concord have put away our religion. The godly folk there fought hard and long for religion, but the wicked ones outnumbered them, and religion is clean gone." The clergy had instilled into the minds of the igno- rant that the wicked ones (who composed a major- ity of the legislature) had destroyed a law with- out which religion could not exist.
After the passage of the toleration act, a clamor was raised throughout the state, with the hope of producing a reaction against the bill and thus in- fluencing the elections. Some declared it to be "a repeal of the Christian religion;" others said that "the Bible is abolished ;" others that "the wicked bear rule." The truth perhaps was that the dominant sect could no longer support their system by extortion and oppression, that all sects were placed upon a level-so that it was not reli- gion which was abolished, but the power of the Congregational order.
In the passage of this law the friends of reli- gious liberty found cause for rejoicing. They regarded it as an auspicious era in the history of New Hampshire, and believed that it would be viewed with peculiar interest throughout the country, and with pride and pleasure by their
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posterity. 'They rejoiced that a law, which they regarded as a stain upon the statute book, had at length been wiped away-and that every citizen might now worship in the manner and season most agreeable to him, without being driven to a con- fession of faith before a jury, or to the necessity of expending hundreds of dollars in a court of law to recover back an illegal assessment of a few shillings.
Notwithstanding all the clamors raised against the toleration act, no sooner had it gone into oper- ation than religion began to be supported more liberally by voluntary contribution than it had be- fore been by compulsion. When this fact was apparent, and stood clearly revealed by the light of experience, the bitter censures which had been passed upon the friends of the law, began to be withdrawn, and the severest strictures were dealt out freely to its opponents. Thus it happened that the men, who, at the outset, while the law was unpopular, put their political character and suc- cess at stake by their fearless and decided con- duct, gained finally their reward, while the honest dupes of fanaticism, and the timid and time-serv- ing politicians who stooped to gain popularity by compromising principle, met with the odium which was their due, and with the distrust which their conduct inspired-thus illustrating the wise say- ing of Governor Bell, that " the statesman who takes the constitution for his guide, and faithfully adheres to its spirit, may confidently indulge the assurance that he cannot materially err; and though prejudice or self-interest may misrep- resent and censure his official acts, time, with
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