ing how they should be permitted to hold
office, by providing that " if the party shall
profess to be a few, the declaration shall be
of his belief in a future state of rewards and
punishments."
Now if the amendment of the gentleman
from Baltimore county (Mr. Ridgely) is
adopted, there will be no provision what-
ever in our Constitution recognizing the
fact that a party should be a believer in the
Christian religion, or in a future slate of re-
wards end punishments. Now, as we are
a Christian people, as in the preamble of
this bill of rights we express our gratitude
to God for our civil and. religions liberties ;
and having in succeeding articles recognized
the existence of God, and of the Christian
religion, we should make that also a test for
office. I think the State can do no less than
to that extent recognize the existence of
God and implore his assistance.
Mr. RIDGELY. My friend from Somerset
(Mr. Jones) has placed in my hands an
amendment which I will adopt instead of
the one I submitted, as it more fully ex-
presses my views, and will, I think, meet
the views expressed by the gentleman from
Prince George's (Mr Clarke )
Now, Mr. Chairman, it is not a fact that
our Declaration of Rights, in the preamble,
recognizes the Christian religion. The gen-
tleman is mistaken. It recognizes the exist-
ence of Almighty God And it is in the
spirit of that recognition that I propose that
this article in our bill of rights shall con-
form to the preamble. If the preamble had
set cut with an express acknowledgment of
the Christian religion then it would be perfectly
consistent to carry that acknowledgement
and recognition throughout the De-
claration of Rights.
Mr. CLARKE. Article 36 recognizes the
Christian religion by providing that aparty
to hold office shall declare his belief in the
Christian religion; or, if a Jew, his belief
in a future state of rewards and punish-
ments.
Mr. RIDGELY. The position that the gentleman
occupied was that the bill of rights
set out with an expression of gratitude to
Almighty God for the civil and religious
privileges we enjoy And the idea he de
sired to convey to this House was that that
declaration should be preserved throughout
this bill of rights, and that it would be in
harmony with that declaration to have this
article retain the declaration that we are a
Christian people.
How my theory is this: that we are a
people who recognize the existence of a Su-
preme Being, the Almighty God, and of our
just moral accountability to that Supreme
Being. And to that extent it would
be proper and just to preserve the idea in
the Constitution throughout. The propo-
sition which I have submitted is designed to |
occupy the precise position which the Con-
stitution of the United States occupies. It
is the idea of some gentlemen that no re-
ligions test whatever should be required to
qualify an individual to bold public office.
I profess Mr. Chairman, to have as high
veneration for the Christian religion as any
man has. I am a humble, perhaps a very
unworthy member of a Christian religious
community. But the opinions and sentiments
which I entertain upon that subject
do not prejudice me against those who dif-
fer with me in those religious sentiments.
I believe that under our form of government
every man who is an elector who if quali-
fied to bean elector under our Constitution,
should also be regarded as having all the
qualification which the Constitution ought
to impose upon him in order to be one of
the elected, in other words that there
should be no difference between the qualifi-
cations of the elector and the qualifications
of the elected. What I mean is this; in
prescribing in your fundamental law what
shall be the qualifications to entitle an indi-
vidual to exercise the right of suffrage, no
religions teat is imposed; and, therefore, in
prescribing the qualifications of an individ-
ual to entitle him to hold office, yon should
impose no religions qualification other than
the general declaration of a belief in the ex-
istence of God, and a proper moral account-
ability to that God, either in this world or
the world to come. for deeds done in this life.
This same proposition, but in a somewhat
different form, was submitted in the Con-
vention of 1850, of which I bed the honor
to be a member It was then submitted in
this form: that no person should be disqual-
ified from any civil or political capacity on
account of his religions belief. That was
considered to be too general and comprehensive.
But it was by virtue of that pro-
position that there was afterwards intro-
duced into this Constitution this very idea
of freeing witnesses in "courts of justice, and
jurors, from the disquallfications on account
of religious belief, which formerly existed in
England.
The idea which I desire to impress upon
this House is, that in view of the great dif-
ference of religions opinions that exist in
this State, and the earnestness and perfect
honesty and sincerity with which those religious
opinions are entertained, it would be
neither wise, nor proper, nor just, on the
part of this Convention, to impose such a
stringent restriction upon our fellow citi-
zens, as to require that they should all be-
lieve in the Christian religion in order to be
qualified to bold office, or the modification
proposed by the gentleman from Prince
George's, (Mr. Clarke), a belief in a future
state of rewards aid punishments; although
I should be unwilling to admit any provision
into our Constitution which would admit |
