338 TRAVELS IN THE CONFEDERATION 



to which an equal rank, equal rights and liberties are 

 legally appurtenant. Therefore should the Episcopal 

 party succeed in bringing their church again into a 

 close union with the state (of Maryland), receiving 

 through the state a special place and maintenance, 

 from that moment all other religious societies would 

 be held to be merely tolerated Dissenters, and this 

 would be a grievous thing as well as an injustice. 

 Should one Assembly, the members of which belonged 

 in a majority to one church, concede this party-advan- 

 tage, the case might be that another Assembly through 

 a preponderance of other denominations would change 

 everything again. This would be a fruitful and fear- 

 ful source of continual strife and contention. Besides, 

 there are in this and other states many preachers as 

 well as congregations diversely denominated, who hold 

 themselves bound in conscience neither to receive nor 

 to give reward for the preaching and dispensing of the 

 gospel. Was then the government to agree to furnish 

 pay from the public treasury to the preachers of the 

 Episcopal church, a part of this burden would fall 

 upon these and other sects ; and it would be highly 

 unjust to make citizens pay for something about which 

 they have no concern. 



These were very nearly the grounds of opposition to 

 the religious party-strife, recently stirred up by some 

 members of the Episcopal church. For the rest, so 

 long as in America itself they will have no bishops,* 



* According to published reports this is now the case. 



" In December 1786 the Right Reverend D r White of Pen- 

 " sylvania and the Right Reverend D r Provost of New York 

 " were consecrated at London, as bishops for the United 

 " States, by the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury. D r Griffith 



