Dutch Reformed 324 181,986 860,313
Episcopal 1422 625,213 2,365,013
Free 361 108,605 52,973
Friends 714 282,823 359,071
German Reformed 327 156,932 29,024
Jewish 31 16,575 78,036
Lutheran 1203 531,100 602,205
Mennonite 110 29,900 19,791
Methodist 12,467 4,209,333 3,073,700
Moravian 331 112,185 93,002
Presbyterian 4584 2,040,316 3,017,675
Roman Catholic 1112 620,950 1,884,505
Swedenborgian 15 5,070 22,701
Tunker 52 35,075 9,665
Union 619 213,552 144,913
Unitarian 243 137,367 686,305
Universalist 494 205,462 371,073
Minor Sects 325 115,347 155,815

  Total 36,011 13,849,896 L17,973,523

If the foregoing table may be taken as indicative of the whole population, it will be seen that one person out of every three is a Methodist, and only one in every twenty-two is a Romanist; but what is more worthy of remark is, the provision which, under the voluntary system, has been made for public worship.

We here see accommodation provided for 14,000,000 in a population of 23,000,000—­of which 3,000,000 are slaves.  At the same time, it must also be observed, that all these churches are not necessarily supplied with ministers.  Their support being dependent upon their congregation, it will occasionally happen that a minister gets starved out, and some time may elapse before a successor is appointed; the inconvenience of which contingency occurring is obvious.  More than one such case came under my own observation when travelling through the country.

With regard to the distribution of the churches, the only peculiarity I observe is, that the Unitarian community appear to be nearly all gathered into one spot, and that spot the Land of the Pilgrim Fathers, and the State that is considered foremost in education.  Out of 243 churches, 163 are situated in Massachusetts.  I have never heard any reason given for this curious fact; doubtless the great talents of Channing tended to swell their numbers, but could hardly account for the extraordinary proportion established in this State.