“Let me give an illustration. The church, I think, furnishes the best example, showing how your public school will slowly but gradually lose its despotic state power and influence. According to your history, only a comparatively few years ago your people thought that the church and state were inseparably bound together by some superhuman tie. You then thought that it was the state’s duty to look after the welfare of the ‘soul’ as well as the body. Churches were built and the clergy maintained by compulsory taxation, the same as you now build and maintain public schools and teachers. There was but one denomination then, and every person was a member of that denomination or church. But as the mind unfolded toward self-reliance, kindness and individual liberty, different denominations were born to suit the rising intelligence. Thus step by step the separation of church and state continued until the only remnant of compulsory authority the state claims to exercise over the church at present is to exempt her property from taxation, and that remnant is already getting very feeble. “Thus we see that the church continually grew weaker in dictatorial authority and membership, and stronger in simplicity and individual freedom. With every forward step of advance it became more natural, and this forward movement continued with us and will, no doubt, continue with you until the church loses itself in nature by becoming identical with it. Only a few centuries ago nearly every man, woman and child in your Christian world was a church member. Now the population of the United States in round numbers is about 60,000,000; of these about 8,000,000 are Catholics and about 12,000,000 are Protestants. About 20,000,000 out of the 60,000,000 are church members. Formerly, then, the rate per cent. of church members was nearly 100 per cent., now it is only 33 per cent. More than 66 per cent. passed through the successive steps of theological liberty, or they passed entirely beyond all theological dogmas as far as church membership is concerned.