...discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence ; and, therefore, all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion according to the dictates of conscience ; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance,...

...constitution in 1776, while New York did not adopt hers until 1777. In her constitution Virginia declared that "all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience." In the New York Constitution it was declared " that the free exercise...

...religion. The clause in the bill of rights, as finally adopted at his suggestion, accordingly declares that "all men are equally entitled to the free exercise...religion, according to the dictates of conscience." The incident illustrates not only Madison's liberality of spirit, but also his precision and forethought...

...assembly's protest against the actions of the government replacing it. Further, Virginia directed that "all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practise Christian forbearance,...

...bit of parliamentary maneuvering, the sentence was reworked according to Madison's design, to read, "all men are equally entitled to the free exercise...according to the dictates of conscience. ..." The clear-eyed Madison had eliminated the implication that there was some supervising secular power that...

...and presumahly the greatest influence on Madison, is especially clear on this poinL It provides that "all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience" and defines "religion" as "the duty which we owe to our 144 See Marshall,...

...discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force and violence; and therefore, all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance,...

...discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practise Christian forbearance,...

...discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; And therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion according to the dictates of conscience. This declaration, however, was merely abstract, and did not stay the...

...before the Declaration of Independence, the Virginia Declaration of Rights provided, inter alia, that "all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience ..." 46 After centuries of government support for the state church in...