132 CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL KEVENUE. 



ported by its laws and upheld by its authority. The civil govern- 

 ment, therefore, was wholly precautionary, and only for such gen- 

 tiles as might settle among them, the power and authority of the 

 church over its members being amply sufficient where they alone 

 were concerned. In the organization of the civil government, 

 nothing could be more natural than that, the whole people being 

 of one faith, they should choose for functionaries to carry it into 

 execution, those to whom they had been in the habit of deferring 

 as their inspired guides, and by whom they had been led from a 

 land of persecution into this far-off wilderness, which, under their 

 lead, was already beginning to blossom like the rose. Hence 

 came the insensible blending of the two authorities, the principal 

 functionaries of the one holding the same relative positions under 

 the other. Thus the bishop, in case of a dispute between two 

 members of the church, would interpose his spiritual authority as 

 bishop for its adjustment, while in differences between those not sub- 

 ject to the spiritual jurisdiction, and who could not be made ame- 

 nable to church discipline, he would act in the magisterial capacity 

 conferred upon him by the constitution and civil laws of the State. 

 Thus the control of the affairs of the colony remained in the 

 same hands, whether under church or state organization ; and these 

 hands were, in a double capacity, those into which the constituents 

 had, whether as citizens or as church-members, themselves chosen 

 to confide it. 



The revenue of the new State seemed to partake of the same 

 double character ; the treasures of the church being freely devoted, 

 when necessary, to the promotion of the temporal prosperity of the 

 body politic. These are derived from a system of tithing, similar 

 to that of the ancient Israelites. Each person, upon profession of 

 his faith, and consequent reception into the bosom of the church, 

 is required to pay into "the treasury of the Lord" one-tenth of 

 all that he possesses ; after which, he pays a tenth of the yearly 

 increase of his goods ; and in addition contributes one-tenth of his 

 time, which is devoted to labour on the public works, such as roads, 

 bridges, irrigating canals, or such other objects as the authorities 

 may direct. The whole amount thus collected goes into the coffers 

 of the church, and is exacted only from its members. A tax is 

 also laid upon property as with us, which is levied upon all, both 

 "saint" and gentile, and which constitutes the revenue of the civil 

 government. All goods brought into the city, pay as the price of 

 a- license, a duty of one per cent., except spirituous liquors, for 



