1776-so] Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Declarations. 239 a right to uniform government; and hence that no government should be set up, independent of that of Virginia, within the limits thereof. The fifteenth, that liberty can be preserved only by adhering to justice, temperance, and virtue. The sixteenth, that religion should be go- verned by reason and conviction, not by force ; that all men are entitled to freedom of religion, according to conscience; and that it is the duty of all men to practise Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other. The Declaration of Rights of Pennsylvania, next in order of time, following shortly after independence had been declared, also contained sixteen articles, beginning with a preamble. The preamble recites that the object of government is to secure and protect the community as such, and to enable the individuals composing it to enjoy "their natural rights and the other blessings which the Author of existence has bestowed upon man." Other recitals, which need not be stated, follow. The declaration contains some affirmations not in the Bill of Rights of Virginia, touching freedom of emigration, and the right of the people to assemble and consult for the common good and to petition the legislature for redress of grievances ; otherwise it is substantially the same as its predecessor in Virginia. The Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, also beginning with a preamble, contains thirty articles. The Declaration and the State constitution were adopted in 1780, a constitution proposed two years before having been rejected by popular vote. The preamble to the Declaration in question recites the object of government as in the corresponding preamble of the Pennsylvania declaration, and proceeds to affirm that the body-politic is "a voluntary association of indi- viduals..^ social compact by which the whole people covenant with each citizen, and each citizen with the whole people that all shall be governed by certain laws for the common good"; and then that the people "ordain and establish the following declaration of rights and frame of government as the constitution of the State." The Declara- tion is more minute than that of Pennsylvania or Virginia, but without material difference in effect. The provision in regard to religion is more particular, towns being required to provide, at their own expense, for " the public worship of God and for the support and maintenance of public Protestant teachers of piety, religion, and morality in all cases where such provision shall not be made voluntarily." The legislature may " enjoin upon all the subjects an attendance upon the instructions of the public teachers aforesaid, at stated times and seasons, if there be any on whose instructions they can conscientiously and conveniently attend." All denominations of Christians "demeaning themselves peaceably and as good subjects" should have equal protection of the law. "Freedom of deliberation, speech and debate," as well as of the press, is declared. The last article provides that "the legislative department shall never
