Where you have no religion, you are sure to have no government, for as religion disappears, anarchy takes place and fixes a compleat Hell on earth till religion returns.

The statement argues that public order and legitimate government depend on religious belief: remove religion and society supposedly slides into anarchy, producing a “hell on earth” until religion is restored. It reflects a common early-modern and early-American assumption that religion underwrites morality, self-restraint, and civic obedience—functions seen as prerequisites for stable republican government. The rhetoric is absolutist (“sure to have no government”), using fear of chaos to justify religion’s social utility rather than making a theological argument. Read critically, it also reveals anxiety about social cohesion and the perceived fragility of political institutions when shared moral frameworks weaken.