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Madison
Letter to Randolph
In
stating his approval of the contents of the ecclesiastical
Journal, Madison expresses some of his objections to
the General Assessment (proposed by Mr. Henry). One
of his greatest fears is oppression of the liberty of
conscience through the legal establishment of Christianity.
RJ&L
Religious Institutions Group
TO
EDMUND RANDOLPH
Orange
July 26, 1785
Your
favour of the 17th inst: inclosing a letter from Mr. Jones
and a copy of the ecclesiastical Journal, came safe to hand.
If I do not dislike the contents of the latter, it is because
they furnish as I conceive fresh and forcible arguments
against the Genl Assessment. It may be of little
consequence, what tribunal is to judge of Clerical misdemesnors
or how firmly the incumbent may be fastened on the parish,
whilst the Vestry & people may hear & pay him or
not as they like. But should a legal salary be annexed to
the title, this phantom of power would be substantiated
into a real monster of oppression. Indeed it appears to
be so at present as far as the Glebes & donations extend.
I had seen some parcels of these proceedings before I recd
your letter, and had remarked the sprinklings of liberality
to which you allude. My conjectures, I believe, did not
err as to the quarter from which they came.
Letter
from James Madison to Edmund Randolph (July 26, 1785), in
2 The Writings of James Madison, 1783-1787, at 152 (Gaillard
Hunt ed., 1901).
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