A Cause is now to be tried before you, which is of infinite and eternal importance to us all; and can I be reason­ably blamed for addressing you upon it since I am pub­licly called to act for many thousands in the affair? The cause I refer to turns upon this point, viz. Whether TRUTH and EQUITY, or PARTIALITY and HYPOCRISY shall constitute the future government of this State? I am far from supposing that you would adopt the latter under these names, or when you viewed them in their true nature and effects. The divine law was violated by our first mother, under a view of its being good and pleasant so to do; and the empire of iniquity ever since has been carried on, by calling evil good, and good evil; by putting darkness for light, and light for darkness, bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. And the inspired apostle says, I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. And he earnestly calls us to mark those who cause divisions and offences, contrary to his doctrine, under good words and fair speeches. 2 Cor. 11.3. Rom 16.17, 18. And the case to be tried by you is, who this mark belongs to, and whether it shall now be put upon the right persons or not?

One of the greatest historians of New England exerted all his art to fix it upon the first baptists therein. ^* And the ruling party in this State, have now made a like attempt to fix it up­on me, and upon the communities I am connected with. And you are all called upon, to approve or disapprove of this at­tempt; and if you suffer a wrong judgment to proceed, when you can prevent it, you cannot be guiltless therein. Upon [Page 3]this great cause you are to judge according to law and evi­dence; and my business is to open the case before you, as clear­ly as I can.

Now you are to note, that Christ himself came on purpose to make divisions upon earth; therefore it is not all divisions, but only such as are contrary to his doctrine, that are condem­ned. And a first and capital article of his doctrine is that HE IS HEAD OVER ALL THINGS TO THE CHURCH; and that she is complete in him, Eph 1.21, 22. Col. 2.10. And those are to be marked as deceivers who do not thus hold THE HEAD. Col. 2.19—23. Another article in his doctrine is, that no man can see his kingdom, nor have right to any power therein without regeneration. John 1.12, 13 & 3.3 And the first man that offered money as a means of obtaining power therein, is marked with an eternal brand of infamy. Acts 8.19.23. A third article is, that the whole of our duty is included in love to GOD, and love to our neighbour. Mat. 7.12, & 22. 37—40. A fourth is, that the civil magistrate's power is li­mitted to the last of these; and that his sword is to punish none but such as work ill to their neighbours. Rom. 13.1—10. 1 Pet. 2.13, 14. A fifth is, that those who receive instruction and benefit from Christ's ministers, are required freely to com­municate, according to their ability, to their temporal support, as they will answer it to him in the great day. Luke 10.7—12. 1 Cor. 9.4—14. Gal. 6.6, 7. A sixth is, that none should hear, nor give countenance, to any teachers who bring not Christ's doctrine, but pervert his gospel, as they would avoid partaking in their guilt. Prov. 19.27. Mark 4.24. 2 John, 10, 1 [...]. These are plain points of law. The facts and evi­dence, that you are called to judge upon are as follow.

The doctrine that New-England was founded upon was, that ‘the merits of saints might as well be mingled with the purity of Christ for the saving of the church, as the laws of men with her laws, for the ruling and guiding of it.’ Which doctrine was violated fifteen years after, when the le­gal [...] at Boston determined to mix their laws with Christ's laws about worship, and to compel every man in the colony to swear allegiance to that power, or to be punished at their dis­cretion. And for testifying against such power and such oaths, they banished the first baptist minister in America out of their jurisdiction ^† And to prevent the like evils for the future, our churches sent me to Philadelphia, when the first congress was sitting, to improve the best means we could, to promote impar­tial liberty among ourselves, seeing we were equally concerned [...] against foreign invaders. This attempt was plainly encouraged by the 17th resolve of the county of Suffolk, where­in [Page 4]they promised to pay all due respect and submission to such measures as the Congress should recommend, "for the restora­tion and establishment of our just rights, civil and religious." It was not then known here that they would refuse to be judges of religious controversies. These resolves I carried with me to that city, where a promise was obtained from our delegates in congress, that they would improve their influence toward dif­fusing the religious liberty that has long been enjoyed in Bos­ton into the remotest parts of this State. But this was so far from being fulfilled, that some, if not all of those gentlemen ac­cused us in the convention last fall, of acting an unfriendly part towards our country, for making the attempt which pro­cured that promise. Therefore, in the Independent Chronicle of Dec. 2, I gave a narrative of these affairs, and challenged them to a fair hearing thereon. But instead of any such thing, that accusation is repeated in said paper of Feb. 10, to which other horrid ones are added, by one who stiles himself a num­ber of the convention, without intending the public should know his name. And all this, my countrymen, is to persuade you to swallow down the third article, which, after a very hard struggle, they have inserted in the bill of rights, that they would lay as the foundation of our future government. Which article is pregnant with the following evil.

1st. It asserts a right in the people of this State, to make and execute laws about the worship of God; directly contrary to the truth, which assures us that we have but ONE LAWGIVER in such affairs. Isai. 33 22. James 4, 12

2d. They who framed this article are so far from holding THE HEAD of the church, and from allowing her to be com­pleat in him, that they do not name either Christ or his church in all their account of the worship of God, and of the choice and support of religious teachers. So that good and happiness are the fine names under which you are urged to receive in­structions, "in piety, religion and morality," without any regard either to our only Mediator, or to her who is presented as a chaste virgin to him. 2 Cor 11, 2.

3d This article is so partial, that it would empower the majority in every town and parish, to covenant for the rest with religious ministers, and to compel every man therein to support the parish minister, if the money paid was not required for o­thers. And no man could require it, nor minister receive it, with a good conscience, who believed this way to be unjust and there are thousands in this State, of various denominations.

4th If this article should be established, our case would be incomparably worse than it has ever yet been. For first, our former laws about worship proceeded entirely from the mis­takes and errors of the legislators, and not at all from our char­ters: [Page 5]but this article would make them an essential part of our constitution. Secondly, we had formerly a legal way of ap­peal from the unjust acts and sentences of the ruling sect here; which was a great restraint upon them. But the plan they have now laid, is to have that restraint entirely taken off. Thirdly, this plan is to empower legislators, who are elected by money qualifications, if they do but bear the christian name, (which the church of Rome does as well as others) to compel all to attend and support what they shall call the worship of God; and what a door this would open upon us you ought to consider. Fourthly, the advocates for this power, have alrea­dy threatened revenge upon us for opposing it, if they can ever get it established. And in the mean time they have exhibited a specimen thereof to the world. For a former legislator headed a mob the June before last, and violently broke up a peaceable meeting for divine worship, only because it was in a way different from the judgment of his party. And because I published an account of it, he said in open town meeting. ‘I know how I will get my recompence of him if ever I come across him!’ ^* Yet he was so far from receiving any punish­ment for all this, that he has been employed in forming the plan of government that is now offered to you. Another mem­ber of the convention was so much inflamed by the forenamed accusations against us last fall, that he went home and procured the imprisonment of two of my brethren, on the very day that I answered those accusations. And two more of my hearers were fined for refusing to assist in seizing the bodies of their friends, for a tax to a minister they had dissented from and had declared they could not in conscience support. And they have since been taxed to him again, and are daily exposed to imprisonment therefor. And our oppressors in their publica­tions of Feb. 10. have accused my brethren in the convention of being such monsters as "even to rake open the ashes of the dead."

They say, ‘No man would betake himself to declaiming and reviling, who had any solid arguments to support his cause.’ I readily grant that such a practice indicates a bad temper, or a bad cause, or both. So far we are agreed But the dispute is about which party have discovered this black mark. In this publication they have ra [...]ed up [...]he German Anababtists whom they represent as ‘pleading conscience for lying with each other's wives, and for murdering their peaceable neighbours.’ To whom they add. ‘the cove­tous Pharisees—Mahomet and the Jesuits;’ and the writer then says, ‘the above account appears to me to contain a full answer to what Mr. Backus has published,’ excepting what concerns the particular gentlemen I named.

[Page 6] Here therefore, my dear countrymen, you have a very plain case to judge upon. Our opponents call that good which we call evil. And the great judge of all says. Every one that doeth evil, hateth the light—but be that doth truth cometh to the light. John 3.20, 21. And you are called to judge betwixt us upon this great point. Each of us profess to plead for the cause of truth and equity, as it concerns your welfare as well as ours; and if you should give a wrong judgment upon it, none can say how great and pernicious the effects will be to us all, and to all succeeding generations, even till time shall be no more; yea, to all eternity. Never was there so fair an opportunity offered to any people since the rise of antichrist, as you now have, to assert your own rights, and to cast off tyranny. One charac­ter of those who have a form but deny the power of godliness. is that they are false-accusers. Another is, that they are ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Tim 3.1—7. And since it is certain that christianity was founded upon the truth, and that the power of it conquered the Roman empire; do they not deny the power of it, who hold that it would soon be lost from among us, if force was not used to support it? I concur with them that religion has been the the life of New England. But I am so far from thinking that human laws about religious worship have been our life that I know they have been most deadly things to us; & that if the power of godliness had not been above them & had not prevailed against them we should all have been ruined long ago Plagues from God ever have followed, and ever will follow, those who add to his laws about worship Rev. 22 18. This was the practise and the portion of the Pharisees, Mahomet, the Jesuits, and the mad men of Munster; and can you be so much de­ceived, as to continue that practice among us, because the advo­cates for it, cast those hateful names upon those who oppose it! They do not come so near to the light as the Pharisees did; for when they taught God's fear by the precepts of men, they made a man an offender for a word. Isai 29.13, 21. Mat. 15, 9; but our accusers have not done so much as this.

Since I was first called to act as agent for the Baptists in this State, we have published four books, besides a number of pa­pers, against the use of secular force in religious affairs, which are now to be had in Boston; yet, when in behalf of our church­es, I challenged our accusers in the convention, to a fair and open hearing; they have been so far from it, as to [...] the co­vetous Pharisees, Mahomet the Jesuits, and the German Ana­baptists, upon us: and have added thereto an enormity that but few tyrants were ever guilty of. And all this without pro­ducing so much as a single word from all our writings to prove their charges against us. And in Mr. Gill's paper of March [...] [Page 7]they call those who oppose said article, ‘a certain junto, com­posed of disguised tories, British emisaries, pro [...]e and li­centions deists, avaricious worldlings, disaffected sectaries, and furious blind bigots.’ And you must remember that they tell you plainly, that if they could have found any better arguments than these to support their cause, they would glad­ly have used them.

Instead of raking open the ashes of the dead, we earnestly re­quested our countrymen seven years ago, to bury some of their bones which appeared above ground. ^* This our opponents were so far from consenting to, that they dragged a carcase in­to the convention, to defile the worship of GOD with. Ezekiel 43, 7—9. Upon which one of my brethren turned the cover­ing a little off from it; which is what they mean by their bit­ter exclamation. That is, they denied that their fathers ever persecuted any in this country; and he recited a few acts of their courts to prove that they did. The sentence of Solo­mon may give light in this case. 1 Kings. 3.27. For our op­ponents are so much for dividing the living child, that they would have religious teachers settled and supported in the name of this State, who should administer ordinances in the name of Christ. But those women never thought of disputing about which was the living child, and which not, as our ad­versaries do. For after the head of their form was cut clear off, they contend for power to put another head to it, and for the people to give life to such a monster; as being essentially necessary to the good of the State. Rev. 13.15—18. The image there spoken of is undoubtedly a form of godliness, in­vented and supported by the power of man. In Luther's time it received a great wound by the sword of truth, which state-policy has since healed. But now when its head has been out clean off, our accusers are in earnest to have the people put another head thereon, so that the teachers who were settled in the name of King George, might be supported by a name that then had no existence.

All this norse proceeds from no better cause than our insist­ing upon impartiality in our future government. We lately proved, that the greatest minister in Boston, eighty years ago, who was then president of Harvard-College, called the practice we oppose SIMONY and ROBBERY. ^† And the special act which was then made in favour of this town, shews that the legislators meant to abridge the country of the liberty Boston would not part with. And I challenge all our opponents to prove if they can, that we have ever desired any other religious liberty, than [Page 8]to have this partiality intirely removed. And such light in these matters has now been obtained, in all parts of this State, and among gentlemen of all denominations, that those who will yet plead, for having the sword put into the hands of any to prepare war against such as put not into their teachers mouths, are welcome to all the honor or advantage they can ever ob­tain thereby.

I close with requesting my dear countrymen well to consider what GOD says of those who fasted, and asked of him the or­dinances of justice, while they refused to let the oppressed go free. Isai. 58.1—12 and 59.1—20. And since he has so remark­ably saved us, from the galleys and gallant ships that were sent against us, from the islands (Isai. 33.20—22) have we not reason to hope, that HIS FEAR will soon become so great in the west, as to return again with glorious effects upon those who dwell towards the rising of the sun?