with much of hope and of solicitude.

The only sect with which I have ever been connected has taught me a momentous lesson, which I should be dull indeed not to discern, and culpable not to remember. It did not, indeed, purpose to be a sect, but disclaimed and opposed sectarian aims and objects, and sought to lead men out of sectarian trammels and away from all bondage of parties, to help them break the chains of superstition, of human fear and intellectual vassalage, and to bring them into the "glorious liberty of children of God." It was, in this country, a great advance-movement, in Morals and in Religion; and while Channing lived, and Follen, and others whose names perhaps are not less worthy of respect than theirs, it continued to be a movement onward, and it educated many souls to bear a brave and manly part in the toil and contest for the Right and the Truth. In those first days of the movement, of which I speak, in those days when it did not court the favor of man, nor fear to be unpopular, when it despised and shunned the artifices and contrivances of the sects, it did a great and generous work, and stamped its image upon many who are yet with us, living to exalt, to bless, and to free mankind. But the brave spirits, who had been, in our country, and especially in New England, the pioneers and leaders of this moral advance, passed away from among us, and other hands were laid upon the helm,-hands which knew but little of the noble aims to which the movement they aspired to direct was pledged,-knew little and cared less. Then machinery, and formality, and cheap emotion, took the place of vigorous thought, of courageous battling with individual and national wrong, and of fearless search for all truth, human and divine; and the decline and fall of all that was peculiar and precious in New England Unitarianism commenced. The movement

has long since ceased to be an onward one, and that which once was large, with a greatness which depended not upon numbers, has now become small, and feeble, and listless, simply striving to hold a place among other sects. The disappointment, and sorrow, and discouragement, which have been experienced by many, in consequence of this degeneracy, no words can express; and while I still gratefully and gladly join with others in efforts to advance every good work, I am admonished to beware that the outward and visible form do not again usurp with me the place of the substance, and a poor conformity be preferred to manly protest and righteous dissent for truth's and conscience' sake.

You will understand me, therefore, when I say that I watch your movement not only with hope but with solicitude. I know well that some of you, too, have come through trials and disappointments, not unlike those I have already adverted to. You have seen the noble testimonies of Elias Hicks, and of others of an earlier time, disregarded and repudiated by many who are willing to build their sepulchres, and who ought to have entered into their labors. Thank God that, forgetting things that are behind, you are pressing on to higher and better service in the great field of human action.

Some have objected to your name, "Progressive Friends," as savoring of an over-confident spirit. To me it has a different meaning. I like the words. They indicate a purpose, and a good purpose, viz: to go forward, to grow" in knowledge, faith, and action; and to do this in a spirit of "friendliness" to all men. And this is the duty of all. We are bound to be ever pressing forward to the mark, and to comprehend all men in our sympathies and brotherly regards as we go. The name too is an incentive, a spur, which the weakness of our flesh and heart often needs. You confess your duty, and make known your purpose, to advance,

against wrong and falsehood, for the truth and the right. To stand still, morally, is impossible. You are resolved to go forward, persevering to the end.

And what shall the law of your progress be? What else can it be, dear friends, than that you will "follow Truth along her star-paved way,"that you will watch for the light yet to break forth from God's word, from his works, from that perpetual witness of Himself which He leaves no man without? With such guidance, no fear nor doubt can overpower you. The light within you will grow brighter to the perfect day, you will be lifted far above the fear of man and the world's temptation, and your peace and strength will increase forever.

Men are

None can fail to observe the growing tendency of the mind of this country to throw off its traditionary bondage of every kind. restive. In so wicked and oppressive a nation as this, where even the specially-ordained and consecrated ministers of religion hold it inexpedient and foolish to call sin by its own name, and so league themselves with the oppression and wickedness of the land, and strive to drag the very law of God and the beneficent gospel of Christ down to their own vile level,-in such a nation, men should be restive. It is good to resist the devil, in whatever shape he comes. The question how he shall be resisted, assumes a mighty interest and importance. No better element, to decide this question, can be thrown into the moving mass than the example which is set by your meeting, and such as yours,-to examine, test, try every work, institution, creed, party, church, and to know thereby whence it is, what is its character and value, and whether it is to be preserved as good, or cast away to perish as useless, or as a snare and curse to men. Hoping and believing that this true and brave spirit will ever lead you on, I remain, dear friends, your fellow-worker,

SAMUEL MAY, JR.

FROM JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE,

Minister of the Church of the Disciples, Boston.

JAMAICA PLAIN, May 27th, 1858.

I have been favored with an invitation, through our friend Oliver Johnson, to attend your meeting on the thirtieth. I feel the honor of such an invitation, and should be gratified if I were able to accept it. It is an honor to be invited to meet a body of men, who would never ask to their meeting those who were distinguished merely as popular celebrities; but who ask those only whom they believe to be earnest well-wishers of their race. And it would be a gratification to me to be present and hear the discussions which will no doubt take place at your Yearly Meeting in relation to the most important interests of our humanity. It will not be in my power to attend this year, more than in previous years; but I will not deny myself the pleasure of saying, through you, to the meeting, that I sympathize with their aims, and pray that their coming together may be productive of good results.

The time is coming and now is, when all sincere lovers of the Saviour may co-operate in doing his work, without regard to difference of opinion and difference of ceremony. When Jesus fed the five thousand, and they sat down on the grass together in companies, it is not to be supposed that they were all dressed alike, or that all had the same method of eating, or

the same way of sitting down. But they were all willing to be fed by him. They were all hungry for the Master's food. So it may be now with those who widely differ in opinion, but agree in longing for the sincere milk and meat of the Word.

The Church with which I am connected was formed in 1841, on the basis of a simple declaration of "Faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God," and the “desire to co-operate together in the study and practice of Christianity." Those who sign this declaration become thereby members of the Church, which welcomes to its embrace all who desire to come. Our seats are free to all-our worship is congregational-the whole business of the Society is performed by the whole Church-women having equal rights with the men-speaking and voting with them in regard to all matters secular or religious. So we have gone on for seventeen years, and though not a large or popular body, we are a family of friends, and those who belong to us, belong to us forever. One of our number, Ellis Gray Loring, has just left us for the heavenly world. He was a noble person, one of the earliest supporters and most constant friends of Mr. Garrison in the Anti-Slavery cause. In this great question of the age we are all interested, and have been since the Church was formed. We also, like you, discuss at our meetings, with the utmost freedom, such questions as peace, temperance, non-resistance, marriage, spiritualism, etc. We do not find that this perfect freedom of opinion interferes with our devotion or impairs our sense of the nearness and constant inflowing life and love of sur heavenly Father.

With much respect, I am yours,

JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE.

FROM CHARLES D. B. MILLS.

SYRACUSE, May 26th, 1858.

The circular over your names, announcing in behalf of the Progressive Friends of Pennsylvania, the approaching return of the Yearly Meeting at Longwood, is received. Very gladly would I join you, if I might, on that occasion, to be quickened by your presence and refreshed by your words. I am sure that you will convene in the spirit of truth, tidelity, and love, and that you will find deep and life-giving communion together.

The old is passing away, and a new dispensation is opening upon us. The dead will hardly longer stead to men for the living, empty hearsays for vital convictions.

It is a long and wearisome march, that of mankind, through the ages, through the centuries, in search of felicity, of repose, and joy, in the bosom of the Highest. What crude conceptions, what strange misapprehensions, what dark and dreadful idolatries have prevailed! Judaism, in its best estate, rose scarcely higher than the worship of an animal God, a creature swayed by jealous passion and fitful caprice, wielding at will resistless brute force and armed with all-crushing terrors, One to be tremblingly feared and implicitly obeyed, not intelligently recognized, reverently adored and filially honored.

Christianity, initiated by the appearance in history of Jesus, the living words and noble deeds and heroic sufferings of this young carpenter of Nazareth touching and ravishing the souls of men, grew up apace in new Beliefs, and blossomed out quickly and widely in new institutions. But almost immediately, it was the worship of a name rather than the recognition

of a thing, attemptedly reposing in Book as greater than Truth, in credence as higher than conviction, in observance as more than life. It also became an idolatry, bowing down in stupid relic-worship, ascribing miracles of healing to Jesus' blood, looking for absolution and salvation to his death, and everywhere attempting incantation through this name.

And to the present hour this veil is upon the heart of Christendom, this sorcery enchants and intoxicates and maddens. Protestants, essentially one with Romanists in their worship of the outward, trusting wholly in belief and observance-belief implicit and determined in the prescribed observance blind and persistent of the enjoined. The theology is artificial and sapless, void of vital juices and genuine nourishment for the soul; the dogmas stale and barren, now towering into unintelligible mystery, and anon issuing in absurdity and blasphemy; and the ordinances are foreign, arbitrary, and senseless, a cumbrous yoke, a suffocating prison, having no felt relation to free normal life.

But the day-dawn gleams, and that hour, seen in clear vision by the youthful Jesus as he mused beside Jacob's well, and, as his word of announcement to the Samaritan woman fairly indicates, deemed by him in the enthusiasm of his young heart already then at hand, is at length manifestly approaching. Man is awaking from the long torpors, a higher worship awaits, and the true Catholic Church is to be inaugurated.

Its construction shall be after none of the old patterns. It shall be baptized into no party name. It shall worship by no prescribed symbols. It shall stand not in outward structure, in dogma, and creed, and rite, but in inward life, in vital formation, and normal human growth. Its foundations shall be laid deep and broad as are the elemental principles of human nature, and its temple shall afford fit shrine for the worship of all sincere souls. Its doctrines shall be confessedly the truths of human consciousness, the great verities of thought that shine into all minds, its ordinances the assiduous practice of every manly virtue, the glad doing of every kindly office, the steady culture of the spirit towards all wisdom and excellence; and its communions shall be the fellowship of true hearts, celebrated not in formal rite and solemn ceremony, but flowing and felt in all genuine benign presence of soul to soul, natural as affection, legible as eye-glances, spontaneous as speech, and rich and wide as life.

This Church shall pour a clear and powerful light around, quenching all darkness, banishing ignorance, superstition, and terror, abolishing wrong and crime of every type and grade, and lifting man to freedom, strength, and blessedness. It shall hold and wield miraculous gifts greater than any yet known to history; it shall heal the sick, cleanse lepers, cast out devils, utter oracles, and re-vitalize and regenerate the race. In the earnest fidelity of its freedom, it shall do high deeds for justice, and the shackles shall fall broken from the limbs of every slave. In presence of its lofty sobriety, the drunkard shall be touched, incited, won, passion awed to silence, and manly ambitions awake and astir within him.

That you may be encouraged, prospered, blessed in your endeavors for the introduction thus of heaven's kingdom on the earth, is the sincere prayer of all the true and good of every place and name. Speak freely, do valiantly in obedience to the inmost thought, the highest conviction within you, and your word shall not be empty or your deed in vain. It shall be more than a passing sound, a transient appearance; it shall be dynamic, vital, eternal, one of the permanent facts, a truth ever during, a force never spent. Yours evermore, for Truth, Justice, Freedom. CHARLES D. B. MILLS.

FROM AARON M. POWELL.

GHENT, Columbia Co., N. Y., May 25th, 1858.

I deeply regret that from ill health I shall have to forego the prospect of attending this year, the Yearly Meeting of Progressive Friends, in Pa.

During the several years of those annual gatherings I have noted with much interest the broad, catholic, and liberal Christian spirit, by which they seem uniformly to have been characterized.

The same great law of revolution and development which we recognize in the past, is no less active in our own time. Its manifestations are seen in the rise and modifications of the different religious movements, which now and then crop-out in human society.

Myself of Quaker education, and interested in the past career of the Society of Friends, I have regarded with much interest the rise and growth of this modern association of Progressive Friends, as the legitimate outgrowth, and offspring, more than any other, of the descendants of Fox, Penn, and Hicks.

The times are auspicious for this new association. May it not be forgotten by any of us that "the one condition coupled with the gift of truth is its use," and that the only way to make real progress "is to enact our best insight."

Let the testimonies demanded by topics prominent in public interest be of "no uncertain sound." While by recent adjudication "all evangelical Christians," through their great representative organization, the American Tract Society, are made to approbate the "sum of all villanies" as no sin, but virtually of Divine appointment, I hope Progressive Friends will reaffirm with renewed vigor, by deed as well as word, the utter sinfulness of any Ecclesiastical or Political union with slaveholders and their apologists.

Yours fraternally,

FROM WILLAM H. FISH.

AARON M. POWELL.

CORTLAND, N. Y., May 19th, 1858.

I still keep hoping, from year to year, "against hope," that I shall be yet able to attend one, at least, of your always glorious Yearly Meetings of "Progressive Friends" at Longwood. Last year I promised myself the great privilege of being with you this year, if my circumstances would possibly admit of it; but "circumstances" again say nay, and so I must submit with as much grace as possible. It is a great self-denial, but that, you know, is "the way of the cross"-not of the Churches' cross-a mere "central gallows," to use Channing's figure-but of the cross of reformers-following in the footsteps of Christ. But you will have another good meeting-its interest greatly increased by the presence of that brave and good man, Theodore Parker-and its influence will go out into all the world. We at a distance shall soon hear of it, and be refreshed and encouraged, without doubt, by its published Report, which I shall look for with much anxiety. Thanks to the Spirit of Humanity that is abroad in the world, which is the Spirit of the Father, that the Churches -or, rather, that the ecclesiastical parties of the age-have not control of the Press! Let us have the Report as soon as possible.

But we want very much a Progressive Friends' Meeting here at Cortland. Can't we have one in the Summer or Autumn? The fields are white for the harvest. "Come over and help us."

Fraternally,

WM. H. FISH.