It is moreover to weaken in those who profess this Religion a pious confidence in its innate excellence and the patronage of its Author; and to foster in those who still reject it, a suspicion that its friends are too conscious of its fallacies to trust it to its own merits.

James Madison (1751–1836) American statesman, political theorist, US President (1809–17)

“A Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments,” letter to the Virginia Assembly (20 Jun 1785)

On a proposed law to have the state financially support "Teachers of the Christian Religion."Full text.