Germination of the Separation of Church and State

19 March 2010

"The thirty nine articles and book of common prayer are established by law. No man can fill any office in the civil or military departments without taking an oath to support them, and upon receiving a commission he must seal his oath with the eucharist: this is true of all, saving the members of parliament, who are obliged only to take the oath of abjuration, curse the Pope and Papistry."--John Leland, 1794.

John Leland, The Yankee Spy, The Writings of the Elder John Leland and the Events of His Life, Printed by G.W. Wood, 1845, p. 219.