The Society for Religious Publications
employed 1300 colporteurs, and effected sales during the year to the
amount of 526,000 dollars. The principal of the religious societies are
for the observance of the sabbath, for temperance, anti-slavery objects,
home missions, foreign missions, &c. The last general receipts of all
these societies were 3,053,535 dollars.
In the State of Massachusetts the Unitarians are a very influential body,
numbering many of the most intellectual and highly educated of the
population. These, however, are divided upon the amount of divinity with
which they shall invest our Lord.
The hostile spirit which animates some of the religious journals has been
already noticed. There is frequently a good deal of rivalry between the
members of the different sects; but the way in which the ministers of the
orthodox denominations act harmoniously together for the general good is
one of the most pleasing features in America. The charitable religious
associations are on a gigantic scale, and are conducted with a liberality
to which we in England are strangers. The foreign missions are on a
peculiarly excellent system, and the self-denying labours and zeal of
their missionaries are fully recognised by all who have come in contact
with them. No difficulty is experienced in obtaining money for these
objects; it is only necessary to state that a certain sum is required,
and, without setting any begging machinery to work, donations exceeding
the amount flow in from all quarters.
Altogether it would appear from the data which are given that the
religious state of America is far more satisfactory than could be expected
from so heterogeneous a population. The New England States possess to a
great extent the externals of religion, and inherit in a modified degree
the principles of their Puritan ancestors; and the New Englanders have
emigrated westward in large numbers, carrying with them to the newly
settled States the leaven of religion and morality. The churches of every
denomination are crowded, and within my observation by as many gentlemen
as ladies; but that class of aspiring spirits, known under the name of
"Young America," boasts a perfect freedom from religious observances of
every kind.
There is a creed known by the name of Universalism, which is a compound of
Antinomianism with several other forms of error, and embraces tens of
thousands within its pale. It often verges upon the most complete
Pantheism, and is very popular with large numbers of the youth of America.
There is a considerable amount of excitement kept up by the religious
bodies in the shape of public re-unions, congregational soirées, and the
like, producing a species of religious dissipation, very unfavourable, I
should suppose, to the growth of true piety. This system, besides aiding
the natural restlessness of the American character, gives rise to a good
deal of spurious religion, and shortens the lives and impairs the
usefulness of the ministers by straining and exhausting their physical
energies.
