American Quotations by William J. Federer 2024

Maine State Court (1854) in the case of Donahue v. Richards, 38 Me. 398 (Me. 1854), stated: <The common schools are not for the purpose of instruction in the theological doctrines of any religion or of any sect....No interference, by way of instruction, with the views of the scholars, whether derived from parental or sacerdotal authority, is shown. The Bible was used merely as a book in which instruction in reading was given. But reading the Bible is no more an interference with religious belief than would reading the mythology of Greece or Rome be regarded as interfering with religious belief...

United States Congress (January 19, 1853) as part of a Congressional investigation, records the report of Mr. Badger of the Senate Judiciary Committee: <The [First Amendment] clause speaks of "an establishment of religion." What is meant by that expression? It referred, without doubt, to that establishment which existed in the mother-country, and its meaning is to be ascertained by ascertaining what that establishment was. It was the connection, with the state, of a particular religious society, by its endowment at the public expense, in exclusion of, or in preference to, any other, by giving to its members exclusive political rights, and...

Maryland Constitution (1851): <PREAMBLE. We, the People of the State of Maryland, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty, and taking into our serious consideration the best means of establishing a good Constitution in this State, for the sure foundation and more permanent security thereof, declare... ARTICLE 33. That as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner -as he thinks most acceptable to Him, all persons are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty, wherefore, no person ought, by any law, to be molested in his person or estate, on...

Robert Louis Stevenson (November 13, 1850-December 3, 1894) was a Scottish author and novelist. He wrote: New Arabian Nights, 1882; Treasure Island, 1883; A Child's Garden of Verses, 1885; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 1886; and Kidnapped, 1886. He suffered from tuberculosis, and in an effort to improve his health, sailed with his American wife to the Island of Samoa. They settled there and he continued to write. In Songs of Travel-If This Were Faith, Stevenson wrote: <God, if this were enough, That I see things bare to the buff.> 1850RS001 In 1889, in his work The Master of Ballantrae-Mr. Mackellar's...

California (September 9, 1850) was the 31st State admitted to the Union. The Constitution of the State of California, adopted May 7, 1879, stated: <Preamble. We, the People of the State of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure and perpetuate its blessings, do establish this Constitution.> 1850CA001 <Article I, Section 4. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed in this State; and no person shall be rendered incompetent as a witness on account of his opinions on matters of religious belief; but the liberty...