"Liberty is a free agency to do a thing or not at pleasure. Rational Liberty is a freedom of doing a thing from some motive agreeable to a Moral Law which is always founded in Reason or perfect vertitude. Religious Liberty is a freedom of doing right or any Moral action or refraining from any immoral or wrong action accord to the dictates of a person's conscience. Every rule of conscious was given an intelligent Being by his Creator who created his Mind, to govern his actions and to his curator alone every such Being is only accountable rationally expecting his reward or punishment from him alone for such actions.
All Mankind who cannot save their own lives from diseases & Death acknowledge a dependence on the cause of their existence as their Creator -this dependence naturally leads them to seek help from him when in distress & pay their devotions to their Creator. This wears high among the human race is varied according to their more correct or imperfect notions of their Creator, the cause of their existence & their dependence in this or a future state of existence-from these opinions or creeds their conscious duties & modes of worship are formed-their creeds make such a variety of modes of worship found on this globe, each acting according to his own conscience or expressing an innate self disapprobation by its deviation-this rule of conscious which is the natural light the Creator has given Man cannot be otherways than light to the man who follows its dictates-but is wholly dependant on an intelligent mind & conscious ideas for their correctness or incorrectness of action. A Man in his Natural state having no other criterion of judging & action must test every thing by it & from his religious creed accordingly.
Now as the Creator has given no power of substitution in his prerogative no human being can not only not know whether an action is right or wrong in its own nature but cannot even know the affility such action has to the action consequence when performed or fully know the motives leading to it-these be left wholly to his Maker to know to judge to reward. But as all Mankind have such a sense of Moral duties inherently written themselves us to know they must not & cannot injure others with impunity. They are deterred from doing it by the Rule of Conscience & if this is not of sufficient guard they avail themselves in a natural state by the great law of nature self preservation & …?.. in society by Civil---? -these actions which Man is allowed to avenge is only such injuries as arise from the Volition of Passions, not the Motives of Reason- the first are seldom if ever approved by conscience, the last always are that can be judged of by others who can readily detect passions in others, the last never can be known but by their own confession-the first injures someone contrary to the laws of Morality-the last can injure no one-the first degrades the Man to the level of a ferocious beast-the last elevates human nature-the first is always to be recognized by civil good-the last is amenable only to the Creator of the Motives. Perhaps this distinction may appear to be an Enigma to some who have not thoroughly reflected upon it but every one may easily satisfy himself of the truth that the Civil authority has not nor cannot have any control over Man any further than to restrain & punish the -?- of his passions-look to the whole of our penal code, Murder, Theft, robbery, Arson….Mayhem, Burglary, Adultery, Treason, all arise from the gratification of some passion. Homicide -?-, drunkenness.. are crimes which the civil power are cautious of punishing & when it does it is wholly to amend the morals or prevent deleterious examples to corrupt the Morals of others. The Civil cause of Debts nonperformance or dues & are injuries to the properties of others & are temptations of raising individual passions require the public aid to restore the wrongs so committed on rights withheld. ……..
On the back:
January 15, 1788
This day Capten? Thomas Elkins and I John Singleton …. and …… and ......... ..............
Even as ........ over......... ......... ..............
(this section very difficult to transcribe)
Signed: Thomas Elkins for Singleton, and in a different hand, John Singleton.
Thomas Elkins and John Singleton are both found on the same page in the 1790 census in Kingston, Rockingham Co, New Hampshire and on the nest page is Josiah Bartlett, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. (Copy of census included).
Written on the back is:
Religious Liberty No. 4
Ecclesiastical Property & Tythes
The clergy of NE until late years has very little Ecclesiastical ……..property. Every Society purchased & owned among them the House & apparatus used in their Worship & every….. while settled as their partner enjoyed the benefit of them but when removed they still belonged to the Society.
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