good moral character, and worthy of fellowship in any other similar Society.

Secretary.

The following Articles of Agreement and By-Laws were adopted by The Free Congregational Society of Florence, Mass., which has been in successful operation over fifteen years.

ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT.

We, the undersigned, inhabitants of Florence and its vicinity in the town of Northampton, wishing to avail ourselves of the advantages of associate effort for our advancement in truth and goodness, and for the promotion of general intelligence, good morals and liberal religious sentiments, do hereby agree to form ourselves into a body corporate under the name of the FREE CONGREGATIONAL SOCIETY OF FLORENCE.

Respecting in each other and in all, the right of intellect and conscience to be free, and holding it to be the duty of every one to keep his mind and heart, at all times open to receive the truth and follow its guidance, we set up no the ological condition of membership and neither demand nor expect uniformity of doctrinal belief; asking only unity of purpose to seek and accept the right and true, and an honest aim and effort to make these the rule of life. And recognizing the brotherhood of the human race and the equality of human rights, we make no distinction as to the conditions and rights of membership in this Society, on account of sex, or color or nationality.

The officers of this Society shall be a Moderator, Clerk, and Treasurer, who shall be first chosen at the first business meeting of the Society, and afterwards at each annual meeting thereof, and shall perform the customary duties of their respective offices.

The Society shall hold its annual meeting on the first Monday in April, at such hour and place as the Moderator of the preceding year shall appoint.

BY-LAWS.

1st. All subscribers to the articles of association shall be considered members of the Society wherever they reside, so long as they manifest by their lives, an honest purpose to promote its objects.

2d. The officers of the Society shall be chosen by ballot, unless at the meeting at which they are to be chosen some other method shall be proposed through the presiding officer and shall be adopted by unanimous vote or by silent assent of all the members present.

3d. A majority of all the votes given shall be necessary to the choice of any officer, unless three attempts to obtain such majority shall have failed; in which case, at the fourth trial, the person having a larger number of votes than any other person shall be considered chosen, though that number should not be a majority of the whole number given. 4th. Standing Committees shall be annually chosen, which shall be:

First. An Executive Committee of three members, to make arrangements for carrying into effect the votes and resolutions of the Society.

Second. A Library Committee of three members, to take measures for establishing a Library and Reading Room, to select books and periodicals for the same and have the charge of them when established.

Third. A Committee of five members on Music, to provide for singing in our public meetings, and promote as. far as may be, improvement therein.

Fourth. A School Committee of three or more members, to take measures for opening and keeping up Sunday Schools under the auspices of the Society.

5th. In case of the Moderator's absence from any meeting of the Society, the meeting shall be called to order by the Clerk and a Moderator pro tem. shall be chosen by nomination and show of hands. Should the Moderator and

Clerk be both absent, both offices shall be filled pro tem. in like manner, on call of the Treasurer, or, in his absence, of any other member.

6th. The Moderator may call a special meeting of the Society whenever he thinks it desirable; and it shall be his duty to call one, whenever five members shall request him in writing to do so.

7th. It shall be the duty of the Clerk to give public information of the hour and place of each annual meeting, and the day, hour and place of each special meeting, by posting written notices of the same in two or more conspicuous places, at least seven days before the meeting notified is to be held.

FORM 3.

The following basis of organization was adopted by "The Society of Ethical Culture" of this city-to which Prof. Felix Adler is lecturer-on Feb. 15th, 1877-both sexes voting.

Whereas, The need of a more permanent and effective organization to support the cause of enlightenment has become apparent: and

Whereas, We whose names are hereunto subscribed do now propose to consolidate such an organization for the purpose aforesaid, therefore be it

Resolved, To enunciate the following as the sentiment by which we are guided in the formation of such union:

That the integrity and consistency of life in all its parts is the noblest good and its achievement the supreme duty of human existence.

That insincerity, while it is justly condemned in every circumstance, deserves the severest reprobation when permitted to enter the fundamental questions that give direction to the character and determine the moral welfare of

man.

That the forms of dogmatic belief, as currently taught, have ceased to satisfy our highest needs; that they obstruct the free development of mind and heart, and that to emancipate ourselves from so grievous a thralldom is at once a stern obligation and a privilege.

That we recognize in the great truth of man's moral nature the essential safeguard of life, the source of nobleness in effort, of power in action, and of fortitude in afflic tion.

That to further the recognition of these truths in word and deed is a sacred duty which we owe both to ourselves and to our fellow-men, and whereby we shall best secure common happiness, prosperity and peace.

That to insure the moral elevation of the masses in particular, with all the great benefits, which that includes, we hold to be a lofty aim and one well calculated to afford true satisfaction to all who behold in the work of progress the fitting accomplishment of human destiny.

That it is earnestly desirable to transmit to the incoming generation the best convictions of the present unimpaired, to acquaint them in such manner as befits their years and understanding with the principles, aspiration, and consolations of the modern view of life, and thus to train them in the enjoyment of the inestimable benefits of liberty from their youth upward.

That for all these purposes the necessity of united action is self-evident, in which alone lies the pledge of extended usefulness, permanency, and strength.

We, therefore, in view of these convictions, and in response to the solemn obligations which they impose, do hereby consolidate ourselves in an association to be known by the style and title of the Society of Ethical Culture. And we direct that the main channels of its influences shall be:

1. A system of weekly lectures on the Sunday, in which the principles of ethics shall be developed, propagated, and advanced among adults.

2. A school wherein a course of moral instruction shall be supplied for the young, the same to be erected and enlarged as time and circumstances may favor.

And with implicit confidence in the simplicity and the greatness of our cause, we do hereby invoke the coöperation of all who think and feel with us to our support, sincerely trusting that the new union which we now found may become an instrument of lasting good in the commu

nity in which we live, and may at all times faithfully serve the best and truest interests of mankind.

The Demands of Liberalism.

AS USED BY THE LIBERAL LEAGUES OF THE UNITED

STATES.

1. We demand that churches and other ecclesiastical property shall no longer be exempt from just taxation.

2. We demand that the employment of chaplains in Congress, in State Legislatures, in the navy and militia, and in prisons, asylums, and all other institutions supported by public money, shall be discontinued.

3. We demand that all public appropriations for educational and charitable institutions of a sectarian character shall cease.

4. We demand that all religious services now sustained by the government shall be abolished; and especially that the use of the Bible in the public schools, whether ostensibly as a text-book or avowedly as a book of religious worship, shall be prohibited.

5. We demand that the appointment, by the President of the United States or by the Governors of the various States, of all religious festivals and fasts shall wholly cease.

6. We demand that the judicial oath in the courts and in all other departments of the government shall be abolished, and that simple affirmation under the pains and penalties of perjury shall be established in its stead.

7. We demand that all laws directly or indirectly enforcing the observance of Sunday as the Sabbath shall be repealed.

8. We demand that all laws looking to the enforcement of "Christian" morality shali be abrogated, and that all laws shall be conformed to the requirements of natural morality, equal rights, and impartial liberty.

9. We demand that not only in the Constitutions of the United States and of the several States, but also in the practical administration of the same, no privilege or ad