Political Science Of The State

THE STATE'S RELATIONS TO RELIGION. 485
which is established. According to this principle, where
there is a union of countries under one sovereign, there may
•be several established religions, as the Episcopal in England,
the Presbyterian in Scotland (and his position would require
him to say the Catholic in Ireland). And again, where the
church, selected on account of its numbers, loses its superior-
ity, it may be disestablished, " and a new alliance is of course
contracted with the now prevailing church, for the reasons
which led to the old alliance." Thus the alliance between the
Pagan church and the Roman empire, and that between the
Popish church and the kingdom of England, were broken
because these could no longer observe the terms of the alli-
ance.
But, if the minor religions spring up after the formation of
the alliance of a church with a state, and are only tolerated,
the feeling that every one of them has, that it alone is true
and pure, causes it to aim at the ruin of the rest; while envy
at the advantages of an establishment will unite the tolerated
churches in one common quarrel to disturb its peace. Thus
the establishment needing protection calls on the state for
help, which gives it a test-law for its security, whereby an
entrance into the administration is shut to all but members
of the established church. Such a test-law is required by the
terms of the alliance, and is fairly a right of the church; the
security of the state equally demands it on the principle " that
no man ought to be trusted with any share of power under
a government, who must, to act consistently with himself,
endeavor the destruction of that very government." Thus,
if establishment and toleration had been secured with no
check, the evils would have been increased. A test-law was
necessary to mitigate these evils and guarantee the existing
state of things.
The remainder of the book is taken up with refuting objec-
tions, of which there are three main ones—that a test-law vio-
lates the common rights of subjects, is injurious to true reli-
gion, and may endanger religious liberty. It is the less
necessary to enter in detail into these, since test-laws have