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1887.

FIFTH-DAY MORNING.

The Thirty-fifth Yearly Meeting of Progressive Friends convened in the Meeting-house at Longwood, Chester County, Penna., on Fifth-day, the 6th of Sixth Month, 1887, at 10.30 o'clock, a. m.

The meeting was opened with singing by Misses Turner, Law, Johnson and Swayne.

The Annual Call was read as follows:

The Thirty-fifth Yearly Meeting of Progressive Friends will be held at Longwood, Pa., near Rosedale Station, on the Philadelphia & Baltimore Central R. R., on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh days, the 2d, 3d, and 4th of Sixth Month (June) 1887

The issue which first called us together has been settled, but the slavery of the mind to ignorance, and the slavery of the body to appetite and passion still exist. What is the true Education, what the true method of Reform, what the true principle of Religion, which shall exorcise every phase of intemperance and prostitution, and in the spirit of universal equity and good will build the home, society, the state upon exalted manly and womanly character? This is the problem, always demanding solution, yet never solved, and to whose consideration, as sincere men and women, we are summoned with each returning day to contribute our mites of thought, of feeling, of aspiration.

Let us then assemble once more upon the old spot, hallowed by so many sacred associations, as those who would humbly seek and earnestly serve the Truth in fellowship and love. All thus moved will be welcome and are cordially invited to take part in the discussions of the meeting.

FREDERIC A. HINCKLEY, Clerks.
MARY M. Baily,

The Presiding Clerk, FREDERIC A. HINCKLEY, then said:— It is my simple and easy duty, Friends, this morning, to bid you all a cordial welcome to this annual gathering of the Progressive Friends at Longwood.

Pope wrote long ago, you know, that "the proper study of mankind is man," and it seems to me that whatever differences of opinion in other directions the passage of the years may reveal there is a constantly increasing unity of conviction that Pope was right. The real hell, I take it, is right here in this world, all about us, and while we have been trying, and our ancestors before us have been trying, to avoid the hell which is supposed by many, to exist in some locality in the time to come, we have been blind too often to the conditions which make hell right here in this present time. When we look abroad and take a survey of the field we see men and women trying to live together, but all the time they are in a state of friction; the atmosphere is full of friction; and one of the first steps toward heaven, I take it, is to envolve some thought concerning this world which shall do away with that friction; which shall tend to create an atmosphere of harmony; when we get that we will have heaven all about us, and until we get that there will be more or less of hell all about us, talk or think of it as we may.

If there is any sign of progress in these times; if there is anything which is an encouragement to all charitable people in these times, it is to find that in every religious communion and in every line of philosophical thought and research, there is coming to be more and more of this conviction that we must turn our attention to the things of this world; that we must set about making a heaven here if we expect to find a heaven anywhere, and I hope that is the spirit in which we have gathered together this morning.

In assembling here, I believe we can not do a better thing than to press home this line of thought to its deepest possible roots. There are people enough ready to skim the surface, but what we want to do here is to go down beneath the sur

face and get, if we can, to the very roots of those things, which before birth and after birth, tend to build up a great and noble and pure manhood and womanhood; having no mock modesty; no false notions of pride about the dangers of dealing with the vital questions of life, but taking hold of them in an earnest, reverent spirit such as every man and woman who feels their importance ought to cultivate. We are not here to go through any mere formalism; not to repeat and rehearse the story of the days that are gone; but that we may help each other to, rise to the emergency of the days and the hours that are now. This is what brings me here every year in thankfulness for the opportunity of standing on this old spot where so much has been said and done which it cost something to say and to do, and where, I believe, now, is something of the old spirit ready to maintain a fellowship of free thinking and speaking in the service of the highest ideals of Truth and Humanity.

On motion of SAMUEL PENNOCK a committee, consisting of SALLIE ROBINSON, ANNA R. Cox and PATIENCE KENT, was appointed by the Presiding Clerk to nominate a Presiding Clerk, Recording Clerk and a Treasurer for the ensuing year; to audit the Treasurer's account for the closing year and to nominate persons for a business Committee.

On motion of WILLIAM LLOYD the time of the sessions was fixed at 10 o'clock in the forenoon and to extend to 12., and at 2 o'clock in the afternoon and to extend to 4; the afternoon sessions to be further extended to half past four at the discretion of the Presiding Clerk.

On motion of HENRY KENT the speakers in discussions not including opening addresses were limited to ten minutes, and no speaker allowed to address the meeting more than once on the same subject, until the others desiring to do so had spoken.

The question of raising funds called out a general discussion, after which SALLIE ROBINSON of the Committee on Nominations submitted the following report: For Presiding Clerk, FREDERIC A. HINCKLEY; for Recording Clerk, MARY A. BAILY; for Treasurer, AARON MENDENHALL; for Business Committee

HENRY S. KENT, DR. MARY A. ALLEN, PROF. THOS. DAVIDSON, GILES B. STEBBINS, ELIZABETH C. HINCKLEY, SAMUEL B. WESTON, RACHEL G. FOSTER and the Officers of the Meeting. The report as a whole was adopted. On motion the Business Committee were authorized to add to their number if they should desire to do so. After singing by MISS TURNER, the meeting adjourned for the noon recess.

FIFTH-DAY AFTERNOON.

Singing by the Meeting under the lead of MISS TURNER.

HEREDITY.

The Presiding Clerk introduced DR. MARY A. ALLEN, of Ithaca, New York, who said:

It is with much timidity this afternoon that I take my place on this platform which has been graced in times past by so many eminent men and women; but if I bring you here no flowers of rhetoric to please your fancy perhaps I may present a few facts which will turn your minds in the direction of a subject of very great importance.

The word "Heredity" is comparatively a modern word, but the law of heredity is as old as creation. We find the statement of this law in the first chapter of Genesis where it is said that "Every plant and animal shall bring forth after its kind"; and even if we had no such written statement we should know by experience that the law exists when we find that plants and animals are following this law. The revelations attending the unearthing of the Pharaohs have been an exposition of the truth of this law, for the wreaths which crowned these Pharaohs are similar to those composed to-day, and the seeds that were buried with them, when put into the ground, germinate and bring forth plants identical to those of the present time.

By this law man has taken hold of the plant world and has re-made it almost according to his own desire. From the simple sweet-briar, he has produced the many varieties of roses which we now have. From the wild crab apple of the woods he has produced the various apples of the orchard. We find that he can take even accidental variations and produce a fixed

type. In the animal world we find that this law has been in force continually. Along the banks of the Nile are found animals identical with those on the Egyptian monuments, and man has taken advantage of his knowledge of Heredity in remaking and re-modelling the animal world. He finds he can produce certain qualities in the animal if he so wishes. If he desires to produce speed he knows how to produce it, or strength or endurance. He can increase the dairy products of his farm or improve the qualities of cattle which produce the best food for his table. He can, by training, domestication and selection, change the type. It is said that the pointer was brought from Spain in the Seventeenth Century, and was, at that time, a heavy, lumbering, loosely-made, slow dog, but by training, culture and selection he has been brought to his present state of perfection. So, also, from one common ancestor man has produced the various breeds of horses which we have ; some having speed; others, endurance; others, size, He has found, too, that the young of animals inherit the education of their progenitors and so new instincts are created in the animal world, new instincts in the individual, which are perpetuated in their descendants. It is said that a breed of dogs in Sante Fe have learned from experience how to approach the deer so as to be free from danger. It is the practice of these animals always to approach the deer from behind, whereas another breed of dogs with equal intelligence, but without this experience are sacrificed to the animal by not knowing how to approach it; approaching in front they are struck by the forefeet of the deer. These dogs have, therefore, from experience developed a new instinct. A cat who opened doors had a family of kittens, every one of which learned to open doors, and another set of cats although unable to do the same thing had intelligence enough to ask their friends to open the doors for them.

It is found, too, that the effects of accidents are often perpetuated in the offspring of animals. A cat who lost her tail by accident had, in every succeeding family of kittens, one or

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