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Show 132 CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL REVEKTJE. ported by its laws and upheld by its authority. The civil government, therefore, was wholly precautionary, and only for such gentiles as might settle among them, the power and authority of the church over its members being amply sufficient where they alone were concerned. In the organization of the civil government, nothing could be more natural than that, the whole people being of one faith, they should choose for functionaries to carry it into execution, those to whom they had been in the habit of deferring as their inspired guides, and by whom they had been led from a land of persecution into this far- off wilderness, which, under their lead, was already beginning to blossom like the rose. Hence came the insensible blending of the two authorities, the principal functionaries of the one holding the same relative positions under the other. Thus the bishop, in case of a dispute between two members of the ' church, would interpose his spiritual authority as bishop for its adjustment, while in differences between those not subject to the spiritual jurisdiction, and who could not be made amenable to church discipline, he would act in the magisterial capacity conferred upon him by the constitution and civil laws of the State. Thus the control of the affairs of the colony remained in the same hands, whether under church or state organization; and these hands were, in a double capacity, those into which the constituents had, whether as citizens or as church- members, themselves chosen to confide it. The revenue of the new State seemed to partake of the same double character; the treasures of the church being freely devoted, when necessary, to the promotion of the temporal prosperity of the body politic. These are derived from a system of tithing, similar to that of the ancient Israelites. Each person, upon profession of his faith, and consequent reception into the bosom of the church, is required to pay into " the treasury of the Lord" one- tenth of all that he possesses; after which, he pays a tenth of the yearly increase of his goods; and in addition contributes one- tenth of his time, which is devoted to labour on the public works, such as roads, bridges, irrigating canals, or such other objects as the authorities may direct. The whole amount thus collected goes into the coffers of the church, and is exacted only from its members. A tax is also laid upon property as with us, which is levied upon all, both « saint" and gentile, and which constitutes the revenue of the civil government. All goods brought into the city, pay as the price of a license, a duty of one per cent., except spirituous liquors, for / |
