284 



FRIENDS. 



" the tree of life," and consequently died a spiritual 

 death. Animal propensities may be transmitted from 

 parents to children, but the Scriptures do not teach 

 that we inherit any guilt from Adam, or from any of 

 our ancestors ; nor do we feel any compunction for 

 their sins. 



Other distinctive doctrines are : 

 The unity, omnipresence, omnipotence, and om- 

 niscience of God, the only fountain of wisdom and 

 goodness, are fully set forth hi the Scriptures of both 

 the Old and New Testament. That spiritual influence 

 or medium by which the Most High communicates 

 His will to man, is called His Word, and the same 

 term is applied to His creative power, by which all 

 things were made. The most full and glorious mani- 

 festation of the Divine Word, or Logos, was in Jesus 

 Christ, the immaculate Son of God, who was miracu- 

 lously conceived and born of a virgin. In Him the 

 manhood or son of man was entirely subject to the 

 Divinity. The doctrine that God cannot or will not 

 forgive sins without a compensation or satisfaction, 

 and that man, not being able to make this satisfac- 

 tion, it was made by Jesus Christ, who was appointed 

 or given up to be killed for this purpose, is so incon- 

 sistent witli the Divine character, that it cannot be 

 reconciled with the teachings of the Son of God. 

 When the sinful nature in man is slain by the power 

 of God being raised into dominion in us, then is 

 Divine iustice satisfied, for there is nothing vindic- 

 tive in the character of the Deity. He does not afflict 

 His creatures for any other purpose than their own 

 reformation or purification, and when that purpose 

 is accomplished. He is ready to pardon' His repenting 

 children. The washing of regeneration and renew- 

 ing of the Holy Ghost" is the only baptism essential 

 to salvation. We have no grounds to believe that 

 "the passover" which Jesus ate with His disciples 

 was intended to be perpetuated in the Christian 

 Church ; nor does it appear that He instituted a new 

 ceremony on that occasion. The author of Chris- 

 tianity has prescribed no set form of worship, en- 

 joining only that it must be in spirit and in truth. 

 Friends have adopted silence as the basis of public 

 worship, believing that it is free from the objections 

 that exist against all prescribed forms ; that it gives 

 to each worshipper an opportunity for self-examina- 

 tion and secret prayer, with the benefit that results 

 from the sympathy of other minds present; and 

 that it affords the best preparation for the exercise of 

 spiritual gifts in preaching, prayer, or praise. The 

 Christian ministry can be rightly exercised by those 

 only who have received a call and qualification from 

 the Head of the Church. 



There are twelve independent yearly meet- 

 ings of the Religious Society of Friends (Or- 

 thodox), of which the oldest is that of London, 

 of which records exist as far back as 1672. 

 The settlements of Friends in France, Germany, 

 Norway, and Australasia, report to the London 

 meeting. There is a yearly meeting in Ireland 

 and in Canada, and there are nine in the United 

 States. Those in the United States are the 

 New England, New York, Philadelphia, Balti- 

 more, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Western . 

 Indiana, and Iowa. The increase of member- 

 ship in the Western States is very rapid. The 

 total number in the society is estimated at 

 80,000. The first-day schools connected with 

 all the yearly meetings are conducted with 

 energy and efficiency, and are numerously at- 

 tended. A normal first-day school has been 

 established by the North Carolina yearly meet- 

 ing. The Orthodox Friends in the United 

 States have three colleges, viz. : Haverford 

 ollege, Pa. ; Earlham College, Richmond, Ind. ; 



and Whittier College, Salem, Iowa; besides 

 several large boarding-schools. 



The Hicksite Friends count six independent 

 yearly meetings, with an aggregate member- 

 ship of about 35,000. They have several lit- 

 erary institutions, among which is Swarth- 

 more College, near Philadelphia. It was pro- 

 jected nearly four years ago, and was formally 

 opened on the 10th of Novembr, 1869. It is 

 designed to accommodate 400 pupils. One 

 hundred and eighty-nine were in attendance 

 on the day of the opening. 



The Society of Progressive Friends originated 

 in a secession from the Kennett (Chester Coun- 

 ty, Pennsylvania) monthly meeting of Hicksite 

 Friends, of members who were dissatisfied 

 with the passive attitude of the society in re- 

 lation to the temperance, antislavery, and other 

 movements, which took place in 1853. It opens 

 its doors to all who recognize the equal broth- 

 erhood of the human family, without regard 

 to sex, color, or condition, and who acknowl- 

 edge the duty of defining and illustrating their 

 faith in God, not by assent to a creed, but by 

 lives of personal purity, and works of benefi- 

 cence and charity. It disavowed any intention 

 or expectation of binding its members together 

 by agreement as to theological opinions, and 

 declared that it would seek its bond of union 

 in "identity of object, oneness of spirit in re- 

 spect to the practical duties of life, the com- 

 munion of soul with soul in a common love of 

 the beautiful and true, and a common aspira- 

 tion after moral excellence." It enforces no 

 discipline, forms, or ceremonies, sets forth no 

 dogmas, and has no ministers distinguished as 

 such. The division effected by this body ex- 

 tended through all the yearly meetings to a 

 greater or less degree. The sixteenth yearly 

 meeting was held at Longwood, Chester County, 

 Pa., on the 4th of June, 1869. The attendance 

 was very large. Testimonies were adopted on 

 intemperance, tobacco, and opium, the freed- 

 men, women's rights, the ballot to the black 

 man, treatment of criminals, capital and labor, 

 the Indians, with a memorial to Congress in 

 their behalf, and a letter to the tribes, and on 

 peace. 



The "Friends of Human Progress," a socie- 

 ty of sympathizing views, held their twenty- 

 first anniversary at Waterloo, New York, on 

 the 12th of June, 1869. 



2. CANADA. The number of members in the 

 Canada Yearly Meeting is 15,154. There are 

 fourteen first-day schools, with 72 teachers and 

 500 pupils. 



3. GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. The Lon- 

 don Year ly Meeting was held on the 20th of May, 

 1869. A notable feature was the address of 

 Johin Bright on the peace question, on which he 

 expressed hopeful views, notwithstanding the 

 large standing armies which are still main- 

 tained. The number of members is 13,815, of 

 whom 6,525 are male, and 7,290 female. The 

 net increase for the year was forty-eight, af- 

 fording a pleasant contrast to the features of 



