But when force is employed, to constrain men to the performance of religious duties, the end proposed is not attained. Men may be made to assume attitudes, and to repeat words, and to visit certain places; but they cannot be forced, by human power, to love God. They cannot thus be made religious. The soul is not subject to human constraint. Men cannot penetrate the interior sanctuary, where she resides, in the awful presence of God alone. It is absurd, therefore, to attempt to accomplish, by human laws, what they are incompetent, from their nature, to effect. No legislator ever enacted a law, requiring the citizens to love the state. The law provides for the punishment of actions inconsistent with this love; but beyond the external manifestations of the inward feelings, it does not attempt to extend its jurisdiction. Laws requiring men to perform religious duties are vain, as well as unjust. They attempt an impossibility, because the duty is not performed, unless it springs from love to God; which love no human power can create in the soul. But such laws are unjust, because God has given to men no power over the conscience, and because men cannot grant this power to each other. Civil society is necessary to the happiness of men, and a sufficient amount of power must be confided to the hands of rulers, for the protection of society. But the degree of this delegated authority is limited by its objects. The regulation of the conscience is not one of the purposes for which men combine in civil society. The object of such a society is the promotion of civil interests. Those interests must be guarded and promoted. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness must be secured to every citizen. When these ends are attained, government has fulfilled its purpose. It has no power to dictate to the citizen, in what mode he shall pursue happiness. It cannot interfere with his domestic or social relations, unless the public welfare is injured. It cannot, above all, intrude into the hallowed asylum, where the religious affections reign. It is inconsistent with the theory of the social compact, to suppose, that men have surrendered to the state the right to control their faith,—a surrender which is not necessary to the ends for which men unite in political communities. But if men were willing to yield this right, they could not do it. God holds every man personally responsible. Every individual must stand at the judgment seat of Christ, and give an account of his own actions. No man, therefore, can surrender to another the control over his conscience. His soul is committed to his own responsibility, and of him God will require it. He must not commit himself implicitly to the control or guidance of any man; but, seeking for light from Heaven, he must strive for the perfection of his moral nature, and for a preparation for the eternal life beyond the grave.