te
for the same rent which this gentleman pays for going to church; but it
must also be recollected that it is quite optional and that those who do
not go to church need not pay at all.

It was not, however, until late years that such was the case. In
Massachusetts, and in most of the Eastern States, the system was not
voluntary, and it is to this cause that may be ascribed the superior
morality and reverence for religion still existing, although decaying,
in these States. By former enactments in Massachusetts, landowners in
the country were compelled to contribute to the support of the church.

Pews in cities or towns are mentioned in all deeds and wills as
_personal_ property; but in the country, before the late Act, they were
considered as _real_ estate.

A pew was allotted each farm, and whether the proprietor occupied it or
not, he was obliged to pay for it; but by an Act of the Massachusetts
State legislature, passed within these few years, it was decided that no
man should be compelled to pay for religion. The consequence has been,
that the farmers now refuse to pay for their pews, the churches are
empty, and a portion of the clergy have been reduced to the greatest
distress. An itinerant ranter, who will preach in the open air, and
send his hat round for cents, suits the farmers much better as it is
much cheaper. Certainly this does not argue much for the progressive
advancement of religion, even in the moral State of Massachusetts.

In other points the cause of morality has, till lately, been upheld in
these Eastern States. It was but the other day that a man was
discharged from prison, who had been confined for disseminating
atheistical doctrines. It was, however, said at the time, that that was
the last attempt that would ever be made by the authorities to imprison
a man for liberty of conscience; and I believe that such will be the
case.

The _Boston Advocate_ says--"Abner Kneeland came out of prison
yesterday, where he has been for sixty days, under the barbarous and
bigoted law of Massachusetts, which imprisons men for freedom of
opinions. As was to have been expected, Kneeland's liberation was made
a sort of triumph. About three hundred persons assembled, and were
addressed by him at the jail, and he was conveyed home in a barouche.
During his persecution in prison, liberal sums of money have been sent
to him. How much has Christianity gained by this foul blot on the
escutcheon of Massachu