NOTE. THE following minute, duly authenticated, having been received by the person who superintended the printing of this pamphlet, while the sheets were passing through the press (too late to consult the Publishing Committee), he deems it proper, for the information of those whom it concerns, to insert it here: Our friend, JOSEPH A. DUGDALE, being present with us, the truthful and luminous Exposition of Sentiments put forth by the Pennsylvania Yearly Meeting of Progressive Friends, recently held at "Old Kennett," Chester County, was presented and read. The magnitude and importance of the principles embraced, and their appositeness to the present wants of human society, were deeply felt; and this meeting earnestly recommends to its members their co-operation in the circulation of the document. Signed by direction of the Yearly Meeting of Congregational Friends, held in Waterloo, Seneca County, N. Y., from the 5th to the 7th of the Sixth month, inclusive, 1853. THOMAS M'CLINTOCK, Clerks. PROCEEDINGS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA YEARLY MEETING OF Progressive Friends, HELD AT OLD KENNETT, CHESTER COUNTY, FIFTH MONTH, 1853. NEW YORK: JOHN F. TROW, PRINTER, 49 ANN STREET. MINUTES. In conformity with the following Call, a large number of persons assembled in Old Kennett (Friends') Meeting-house, Chester County, Pa., on the 22d of the Fifth month, 1853. The house was full in every part, many stood in the doors and passages, and a considerable number went away because they could not find room within the walls. Call for a General Religious Conference, with a view to the establishment of a Yearly Meeting in Pennsylvania. The various religious denominations in the land are arrayed against the progressive spirit of the age, and by their very structure, assumptions and regulations, cannot occupy a co-operative position, because they impose fetters upon freedom of speech and of conscience, by requiring a slavish conformity in matters of abstract faith and sectarian discipline. This has led and is leading to extensive secessions from such organizations in all parts of the country, leaving the seceders generally in a scattered and isolated condition, whose talents, influence and means might be profitably concentrated for the advancement of the world-embracing cause of Human Brotherhood, and who are yearning for some form of association at once simple, free and attractive. The abuse of a good thing is not a reason for its utter rejection; and organization, in itself considered, is not only proper, but may be rendered powerfully efficacious as an instrument in the hand of Reform, without impairing the liberty, detracting from the independence, or limiting the conscience of any individual; though from the nature of things its perpetuation is not to be expected or desired, but it is at all times to be regarded as a means to an end, and to be discarded whenever it becomes an impediment to the progress of truth. The Society of Friends has been a theatre of agitation for years, growing out of ecclesiastical domination on the one hand, and the demand for practical righteousness on the other; a domination entirely at variance with the spirit of primitive Quakerism, seeking to suppress free thought and to exclude from membership those whose lives are without blemish, whose example in word and deed is as a burning and shining light, and who are seeking to know and do the |