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Thanx for this ping; needed to reread this.

Let him who has eyes, see, and him who has ears, hear.

May God's blessings be upon you and yours through a joyful Holiday Season.

Gargantua

"He [Lord Baltimore] laid the foundation of this province [Maryland] upon the broad basis of security to property and of freedom of religion, granting, in absolute fee, fifty acres of land to every emigrant; establishing Christianity agreeably to the old common law, of which it is a part, without allowing preeminence to any particular sect. The wisdom of his choice soon converted a dreary wilderness into a prosperous colony."
Elliot's Debates, Vol. I, p. 34.

"Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and the advancement of the Christian faith, and the honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, we do, by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and of one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid."
Elliot's Debates, Vol. I, p. 25.

"[F]or such [profane scoffers] there will be in every age--who will tell us that all religion is in vain; that is, that our political creeds, which have been handed down to us by our forefathers as sacredly as our Bibles, and for which more of them have suffered martyrdom than for the creed of the apostles, are all nonsense; who will tell us that paper constitutions are mere paper, and that parchment is but parchment, that jealousy of our rulers is a sin, &c."
Justice Thomas Tredwell, Elliot's Debates, Vol. II, p. 399.

Happy Thanskgiving. Thank you Mr. President.