sion; Mount Sinai arrayed in terrors; Mount Calvary clothed in wonders-and all the glories of redemption, are exhibited in the church. Truly "the king's daughter is all glorious within; her raiment is of wrought gold." What is the richest and most extended empire that burthens the earth, when compared with the smallest branch of the Redeemer's kingdom? The glories of the Godhead are partially radiated upon every believer,-the church collects all the rays which shine upon the whole 66 sacramental host of God's elect." I write about a kingdom, which God planted, after it had been purchased by the blood of his own Son: and I am not ashamed of my employment. But enough of this. The condition of that part of the peninsula, now composing Somerset and Worcester counties in Maryland, and Accomack county, in Virginia, was in some respects peculiar, as the interests of religion. were regarded, for many years after the country had been settled by Europeans. Virginia was a royal colony whose form of government was singularly constructed. You are already acquainted with the disastrous failure of the attempt to settle that part of this continent, made by Sir Walter Raleigh, in virtue of letters patent, granted to him for that purpose by Queen Elizabeth. It was after that bold projector and distinguished man had been convicted of high treason by a perversion of law, and in despite of justice, and had suffered death upon the scaffold, that Virginia was perma nently peopled, and that form of government organized, which continued to exist, with some modifications, until the war of the Revolution. As to its creation and character, it is enough for our purpose to say, that James the First of England founded it by three several charters granted to a company:— the first bore date, April 10, 1606; the second, May 23, 1609; the third, March 12, 1611-12. But for the cowardice of that Prince, he would have been a despot; and he breathed into those instruments all that blind and unrelenting bigotry for which he was remarkable, from the time of his accession to the throne of England until his death. It is hard to determine, whether he discovered greater dislike to the professors of that faith in which his murdered mother died, or to the church in which he was reared, and of which he was a hypocritical member, until, by the death of Elizabeth, he succeeded to the crown of England. All apostates resemble each other in one thing their dislike to the society from which they have fallen, rarely knows mitigation or end. This remark applies with equal propriety, to Lucifer, Julian, and England's James I. From the character and feelings of the man, we might expect just such a form of government as that of colonial Virginia. It bore his image; and the manner of its administration proves, that his love of absolute power; his lust for honour, wealth, territory; and his bitter and intolerant spirit, pervaded all its ramifications. It is true that those charters granted by King James, were afterwards annulled by judgment of the Court of King's Bench;-but the government had received its tone, and its principles remained unchanged. At the period to which this letter relates, the persecution of all classes of English nonconformists, was more vindictive than it had been at any time since the first year of the reign of Elizabeth; and all those statutes, passed for that purpose, during her reign, and that of her successor, James, and of his son Charles, not only extended to Virginia, but were enforced there with greater rigour than in the parent country itself. All that, however, was not enough to satisfy those in power; and by Provincial legislation further pains and penalties were prescribed for those, who would not conform to the established church.* Puritans and Quakers, were more ⚫ obnoxious to the government of Virginia, than nonconformists of any other name. You are familiar with the fact, that the Puritan missionaries from Massachusetts, who visited that province at the earnest request of a portion of the people, were not only despitefully used, and evil entreated," but actually driven away. It is equally true, that many Puritan families, who had settled there, were compelled by cruel persecution, to leave the colony. Understand me, I beg you, when the word Puritan is used here, that no term of reproach is intended;-so far from that, I believe those so named in derision, have included in their number, some of the holiest men, who have lived since the days of the Apostles. 66 * See some of those Acts in Appendix A. Speaking of names, reminds me of a strange mistake into which Mr. Jefferson has fallen in his "Notes on Virginia." I quote the passage, not only to call your attention to the error, but because it corroborates, in other respects, my own statements. The work was written in 1781-2. He says:-" The first settlers in this country [Virginia,] were emigrants from England, of the English church, just at a point of time when it was flushed with a complete victory over the religious of all other persuasions. Possessed, as they became, with the powers of making, administering, and executing the laws, they showed equal intolerance in this country [i. e. Virginia,] with their Presbyterian brethren, who had emigrated to the northern government. The poor Quakers were flying from persecution in England. They cast their eyes on these new countries, as asylums of civil and religious freedom: but they found them free only for the reigning sect." When did Presbyterians in America, ever persecute any man on account of his religious faith? I have neither heard, nor read of any such persecution. But it is apparent, that he refers to the Independents, or Congregationalists, of New England. You may tell me, that the man who would charge upon the inspired Psalmist the exclamation: "Lord! what have I done that the wicked should praise me," might very readily confound the names Presbyterian and Independent. That will not remove the difficulty; for his works prove, that he laboured more sedulously to investigate the peculiarities of religious creeds, and |