he government of my province
that every person that doth and shall reside therein shall have and
enjoy the free possession of his or her faith and exercise of worship
toward God, in such way and manner as every such person shall in
conscience believe is most acceptable to God. And so long as such
person useth not this Christian liberty to licentiousness or the
destruction of others--that is, to speak loosely and profanely or
contemptuously of God, Christ, the Holy Scriptures, or religion, or
commit any moral evil or injury against others in their
conversation--he or she shall be protected in the enjoyment of the
aforesaid Christian liberty by the civil magistrate."

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS.

This was in exact accord with the principles and provisions under
which the original colony had been formed, and had already been living
and prospering for more than forty years preceding. Everything,
therefore, was in full readiness and condition for the universal and
hearty adoption of the grand first article enacted by the first
General Assembly, to wit: "That no person now or hereafter residing in
this province, who shall confess one Almighty God to be the Creator,
Upholder, and Ruler of the world, and profess himself obliged in
conscience to live peaceably and justly under the civil government,
shall in any wise be molested or prejudiced on account of his
conscientious persuasion or practice; nor shall he be compelled to
frequent or maintain any religious worship, place, or ministry
contrary to his mind, but shall freely enjoy his liberty in that
respect, without interruption or reflection."

In these specific provisions all classes in the colony at the time
heartily united. And thus was secured and guaranteed to every good
citizen that full, rightful, and precious religious freedom which is
the birthright of all Americans, for which the oppressed of all the
ages sighed, and which had to make its way through a Red Sea of human
tears and blood and many a sorrowful wilderness before reaching its
place of rest.

SAFEGUARDS TO TRUE LIBERTY.

IV. But the religious liberty which our fathers thus sought to secure
and to transmit to their posterity was not a licentious libertinism.
They knew the value of religious principles and good morals to the
individual and to the state, and they did not leave it an open
matter, under plea of free conscience, for men to conduct themselves
as they please with regard to virtue and relig