being just to all the citizens; how they can leave religious communities entirely free, and yet preserve internal tranquillity; make christianity prosper and become powerful, without the aid of penal laws! Let us assist them to lay the foundation of the new policy firm and stable, because on just principles! to draw strongly and broadly the line of separation between church and state, and to build up for posterity a noble and capacious edifice of freedom, within which all the interests, civil and sacred, may flourish without obstruction and without intermingling.

One word more, and I have done: If the change which all anticipate, and in due time hope for, is, in truth, to take place; if a disruption is at last to be effected, of the church from the state,-let us not suppose that it will be mild and easy, or without a shock to society. The union which seems about to be severed, has endured for centuries; it is to be seen in every quarter of Europe; in this country it has affected the laws, the manners, the modes of thinking, the daily habits of the people. Should any of the political accidents, so frequent in these times, precipitate upon us such a revolution, carrying it by surprise or by force, it will assuredly be attended by evils which we shall all deplore. In such a crisis I think there is peculiar need for our Society, whose duty it will be to prepare the minds, especially of the christian population, for the change; to show them that it is coming, not to punish, but to liberate and to bless; to wean them from their reliance upon laws and privileges; to teach them how, when the props of the state are withdrawn, perhaps suddenly, from their churches, they may instantly adapt themselves to their new situation, and be ready to fulfil the high duties of emancipated christians. For, if the present prognostications are at all to be trusted; if the sounds which we can even already hear,-like the straining and crashing of the fields of northern ice, upon the approach of summer, -do indeed foretell the speedy breaking up of the existing system, there is need for instant preparation, for all the skill, and all the courage that human nature can supply.

APPENDIX.

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE

ASSOCIATION.

That a compulsory support of Religious Institutions is inconsistent with the nature of religion, the spirit of the Gospel, the express appointments of Jesus Christ, and the civil rights of men : That, in every case where the individual disapproves of the system supported, or of the principles of its support, it is an unwarrantable attack upon the right of property, and a direct invasion of the rights of conscience : That it keeps in a state of unnatural separation, those who ought to be united—and in a state of unnatural union, those who ought to be separate : That its tendency, as exhibited in its effects, is to secularize religion, promote hypocrisy, perpetuate error, produce, infidelity, destroy the unity and purity of the church, and disturb the peace and order of civil society: That by its direct and indirect influence, it is among the principal causes of the low state of Christianity in those countries where it is professed, and of the slowness of its progress throughout the world; and that, while thus unreasonable, impolitic, unjust, and mischievous, it has not even the plea of necessity-Christianity having within itself, in the native influence of its doctrines on the minds of those who believe them, every thing which is requisite for its efficient support and indefinite extension.

RULES.

1. The Society shall be denominated, "THE VOLUNTARY CHURCH ASSOCIATION."

II. The object of the Society shall be to disseminate, by publications and otherwise, the principles on which it is founded, and to expose and obtain redress of grievances under which Dissenters may labour.

III. The Society shall consist of persons of all the denominations usually called Evangelical, contributing the sum of Five Shillings annually to its funds.

IV. The business of the Society shall be managed by a Committee consisting of a Chairman, twenty-six Members, a Treasurer, and two or more Secretaries, seven to constitute a quorum, and six at least of the Members of Committee to retire annually.

V. The President or Chairman, and Secretaries of all the Societies formed as Auxiliaries to this Society, shall be entitled to be present at all Meetings of the Committee.

VI. The Society shall hold an Annual Meeting for the purpose of receiving the report of the Committee's proceedings, and electing Office-Bearers.

The Committee have resolved, that every Subscriber shall be entitled to a copy of all the publications by the Society, gratis.

CONSIDERATIONS

ON

CIVIL ESTABLISHMENTS

OF

RELIGION;

WITH AN APPENDIX,

CONTAINING REMARKS ON

DR. INGLIS'S "VINDICATION."

By H. HEUGH, D. D.

THIRD EDITION.

GLASGOW:

DAVID ROBERTSON, TRONGATE;

JOHN WARDLAW, EDINBURGH;

WESTLEY & DAVIS, LONDON.

MDCCCXXXIII.