Now your teachers tell me that in this school the pupils belong to sixteen different churches. I suppose each one of you thinks that the church to which he belongs is better than any of the others. I hope you do. I hope that every child is sincere in his religious belief, whatever it may be. But how would you feel if some representative of the State should come here this morning, and announce that a law had been passed by which every pupil must belong to the Baptist, the Methodist, the Catholic, or the Jewish church? How would you feel if a law were to be read to you which provided that unless you changed your religious belief and adopted some other, you would be burned to death out here on the hillside? You can hardly believe that such a thing would be possible in any age of the world; and yet never forget that the foregoing provision which I have read from the Constitution of the United States was the first declaration of the right of the people of a whole Nation to worship God according to their own will, their own conscience. The declaration of this great right by the Constitution of the United States has been in full force ever since the adoption of the Constitution, not only as a National law, but similar provisions have been made the policy, usually by the Constitution, of every State in the Union. What a glorious thing it is to live in a Nation and in an age where no man, no state, and no power can tell you what to believe, or how to express your belief, what church you shall attend, or in what manner you shall express your religious faith. Not only this, but this constitutional guaranty protects every one in his right to belong to no church if he so elects. The soul is free. No power can compel one to belong to any church, nor in any manner to hold or exercise religious faith, or religious duty or obligation. _In other words, men are free_, and this freedom, aside from any other guaranty of the Constitution, should make us all feel affection and veneration for this great charter of human liberty. But freedom of worship is only one of the many rights and privileges guaranteed to the people—to all the people. Another great natural right—God given right—is firmly and finally established: “_Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech or of the press._”(54)