TILE PRINCIPLES OF CIVIL CHURCH LAW. In the course of the adjudication of the many causes that have arisen from ecclesiastical mat ter:, the civil courts have developed the follow ing as the basic principles of American civil Church law: (1) Al] ecclesiastical relations are voluntary, both in their inception and continua tion. (2.1 The freedom of action for the pur poses of religion is guaranteed to every one by the organic and is limited by the same law by the civil rights of others, and by all that is necessary for the and good order of the State and for the protection of public morals. (3) No civil right can. in the eyes of the law, be impaired by all ecclesiastical relation. (4) The law of the land is a part of the law of the churches. (5) No law of the churches, when it is found to be in conflict with the law of the land, has any validity. (6) The civil courts are open for the adjudication of ecclesiastical causes when civil rights are involved. (7) The civil courts, when they assume jurisdiction of a cause, will accept the decisions of ecclesiastical tribu nals, if sack tribunals act according to the Church law, and do not exceed their jurisdietion. (RI The authority of the civil courts over all religious organizations is secured by the same means as in the ease of private persons and secu lar organizations: judgments, decrees, and the issue of the writs of mandamus, information in the nature of quo warranto, prohibition, and in junction. (9) The principles of the law of charitable uses and of trusts, as modified by statute. are applied to property devoted to the
purposes of religion. (10) The American clergy man, from the standpoint of the law, is a volun tary member of the association to which he be longs. The station is not forced upon him; lie seeks it. He accepts it with all its consequences. and with all the rules and laws and canon: then subsisting or to be made by competent au thority. Such cannot, in any event, en danger his life or liberty, impair any of his per sona] rights, deprive him of property acquired under the laws, or interfere with the free exer cise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship; for these are protected by the constitu tions and laws.
The results of American civil Church law may be summed up in the language of the Supreme Court of the United States, in the case of Wat son rs. Jones, 1:3 Wall. U. S., 639, as follows: "In this country, the full and free right to en tertain any religious belief, to practice any re ligious principle, and to teach any religious doctrine, which does not violate the laws of morality and property, and which does not in fringe personal rights, is conceded to all. The law knows no heresy, is committed to the sup port of no dogma. the establishment of no sect." It is these principles of civil Church law that are to govern in all the relations of the civil power and the churches beyond the confines of the United States—in the insular possessions of tile Hawaiian Islands, Porto Rico, and the Philippines.