I have asked colleagues who specialize in American religious and early repub- lic history to read Laura Schmidt's paper. One response has been from Peter Williams, professor of religion and director of American studies. He likes the article but says that it is less novel than it might appear and that it over- simplifies the theology involved. He suggests as a supplement chs. 25 and 26 of Sydney Ahlstrom, RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. Williams also questions calling it a "religious" interpretation; in fact it focuses on cleri- cal politics rather than on religion itself. David Fahey (Miami Univ., Oxford, OH 45056, USA) [log in to unmask]