tO6 CIVIL POWER IN TITINGS SACRED. For I am persuaded the great God, the Author of all civil soei= ety and government, will never require any such sort of wor- ship, nor at such times or places, as shall endanger the peace and welfare of cities and nations. Let but rulers allow such liberty for worship, as God andnature demand, there will be no ground for any body to seek such places or times for social wor- ship, as can give just umbrage to any state or government. SECT. VIII.-Of a particular Religion professed by the Ruling Powers. I. Another question arises here. if the supreme power of the state or civil government professes some particular revealed religion, or worships the great God with some peculiar modes and ceremonies of its own, may not the rulers of the state autho- rise and appoint men to be public teachers of their own religion in all the forms and ceremonies thereof ? And may not these men celebrate these ceremonies by public authority, and lead others into the worship of their God according to these special fortes and,ceremonies ? And may not the rulers appoint these teachers or priests to be paid out of the public revenue, or by tithes, &c. that is, tenths or twelfths of the improvement of the land, or by any taxes imposed by the government ? To this I answer, II. Answer. That every governor, every teacher, and every single person seems to have a natural right and liberty not only to practise their own religion themselves, but to persuade as many as they can to worship the God they worship, and that in and by their own approved forms. If duty to God should not . require it, benevolence and love to our neighbours will incline men to this : But we trust attempt it so far only as reason and persuasion can prevail, without any compulsion or force, for con- science and religion must be ever freer Whatsoever is done by mere compulsion or terror of men is not hearty and voluntary, and thereforeit is not religion, and can never be pleasing to the great God. III. ButI cannot yet see any sufficient reason why a state should appoint the peculiarities of any revealed religion, or the special rites and ceremonies of any particular worshippers, or the men who celebrate them to be supported at the public charge: For these peculiarities are not necessary to the preservation of the state, nor to the common outward civil welfare of apeople; and I think the power of the' magistrate reaches no further. Nor will I venture to say that taxes or tenths, or twelfths, or any subsidy should be raised by the state for any other end, than the civil welfare of the state requires. If a heathen prince impose a tenth penny on all his subjects, as a tax to maintain heathen worship, would a christian willingly pay it, and think himself bound in conscience to do it ? Is not this evidently the
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