James McHenry on the Importance of the Bible to Government

James McHenry (as in Fort McHenry) was a signer of the U.S. constitution and helped to ratify the Bill of Rights. Surely he understood what the meaning of the First Amendment was. In 1813 he said:

"Public utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. ...The doctrine they preach, the obligations they impose, the punishment they threaten, the rewards they promise...can alone secure to society, order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government... Without the Bible, we increase penal laws."

See the Google Books excerpt for Three Secular Reasons Why America Should Be Under God, by William J. Federer. Or buy this book here