progress; the official members of the Society of Friends j generally discouraging activity in temperance, anti- slaver}', and other similar organizations, while a large ! proportion — in many localities a majority — of the laitj^ were warmly in favor of co-operating with them. After years of contention, the two parties in Kennett Monthly Meeting fell asunder, and finally, in 1853, an association was organized under the name of "Penn- sylvania Yearl}' Meeting of Progressive Friends." The new society opened its doors to all who recognised the ecjual brotherhood of the human family, without regard to sex, color, or condition, and wlio acknowl- edged the dut}' of defining and illustrating their faith in God, not by assent to a creed, but by lives of per- sonal purity, and works of beneficence and charitj'. 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 communion of soul with soul in a common love of the beautiful and true, and a common aspiration after moral excel- lence." It disclaimed all disciplinary authorit}', whether over individual members or local associa- tions ; it set forth no forms or ceremonies, and made no provision for the ministry as an order distinguished from the lait}'^ ; it set its face against every form of ecclesiasticism, and denounced as the acme of supersti- tious imposture the claim of churches to bold an or- ganic relation to God and to speak by his authority, maintaining that such bodies are purelj'' human, the repositories of no power save that rightly conferred upon them by the individuals of whom they are com- posed. Besides the Yearly fleeting, which includes persons living in places widely distant from each oth- er, there is a local association, which meets for worship at Longwood, near Hamorton, on every First day, and, during a large portion of every year, maintains a First- da}' School for children. Tliis local body has never employed a religious teacher, though there is nothing in the principles of the organization to forbid such a step whenever its members may think it necessary or expedient. Uniformity of practice in this respect is neither expected nor desired, it being held that the ar- rangements for meetings should be in every case adapt- ed to the peculiar needs and tastes of the communities in which they are held. The division in the Society of Friends was not confined to Kennett Monthly Elect- ing, but extended to every Yearly Meeting in the body. As early as 18-19, that division led to the organization, at Green Plain, Ohio, of a society exactly similar to that of the Progressive Friends, but under a differ- ent name. This society is now extinct. At Junius, near Waterloo, N. Y., in the same year, a society of "Congregational Friends" was formed. This society afterwards took the name of " Progressive Friends," and, at a later daj', that of "Friends of Human Prog- ress," by which it is still known. In Salem, Colum- biana County, Ohio, in 1852, a society called "Pro- gressive Friends" was organized, which had but a brief existence. In North Collins, Erie County, N. Y., there is a society bearing the name of " Friends of Human Progress," which, in its principles, is very similar to the " Progressive Friends." (0. J.)
Friends of God. In tlie 14th century a spirit of mysticism jiervaded nearly all Western Germany, from tiie Low Countries to the very borders of Italy. It brought under its influence all ranks and classes, and led ultimately to the formation of an extensive but iniorganized brotherhood, the so-called Friends of God. Among their chief seats were the cities of Stras- burg, Cologne, Basel, Constance, Nuremberg, and Nordlingen. Their distinguishing doctrines were self- renunciation, the complete giving up of self to the will of God, the continuous activity of the Spirit of God in all believers, the possibility of intimate union between God and man, the worthlessness of all religion based
upon fear or the hope of reward, and the essential equality of the laity and clergy, though, for the sake of order and discipline, the organization of the Church was held to be necessary. They often appealed to the declaration of Christ (John xv, 15), "Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth ; but I liave called you friends ; for all things that I have heard of my Fatlier I have made known imto you ;" and from this ])robably arose their name, which was not intended to designate an exclu- sive party or sect, but simply to denote a certain stage of spiritual life, the stage of disinterested love to God. From this association went forth monks and ecclesias- tics who cherished a lively interest in the spiritual guidance of the laity, preached in the German lan- guage (the vernacular of the people), and labored not only to educate the people to perform their duties as required by the Church laws, and to all manner of good works, but also " to lead them forward to a deeper eapmcnce of Christianity, to a truly divine life according to their own understanding of it." From their number also Avent forth "those priests who, scorning to be troubled by the common scru- ples during the time of tlie papal interdict, and amid the ravages of the Black Death, bestowed the con- solations of religion on the forsaken people" (Nean- der. Church History, vol. v). Many of their leaders were in close connection witli convents, especially those of Eugenthal and Maria Medingen, near Nurem- berg ; and it is said that Agnes, the widow of king An- drew of Hungar}', and various knights and burghers, were in close connection with this association. But foremost among their leaders was the Dominican monk Tauler (q. v.), of Strasburg, who spent his life in preaching and teaching with wonderful success in the country extending from his native city to Cologne, and whose influence is to this day active among his countrymen by means of his admirable sermons, which are still wideh' read. Muclr of his religious fervor and light he himself attributed to the instruction of his friend, Nicholas of Basel (q. v.), a la}man, whom Schmidt, in his work below cited, mentions as the greatest of the leaders of the Friends of God. He has often been called a "\A'aldensian, but Schmidt denies this, and says that the only sympathy which any of the Friends of God had with the Waldensians was anti- sacerdotalism. On the strength of documents which Schmidt has lately discovered, the Friends of God are said to have been "mystics to the height of mysti- cism : each believer was in direct union with God, with the Trinity, not the Holy Ghost alone." He says also, "they were faithful to tlie whole medieval imaginative creed: transubstantiation, worship of the Virgin and saints, and Purgatory. Their union with the Deity was not that of pantheism, or of passionate love ; it was rather through the fantas}\ They had wonders, visions, special revelations, prophecies. Their peculiar heresy was the denial of all special preroga- tive to the clergy except the celebration of tlie sacra- ments ; the layman had equal sanctity, equal commu- nion with the Deity, saw visions, uttered prophecies. . . . Neither M'ere they Bible Christians ; they hon- ored and loved the Bible, but sought and obtain- ed revelation beyond it. Tliey rejected one clause of the Lord's prayer. Temptations were marks of God's favor not to be deprecated. But, though suf- fering Avas a sign of divine love, it was not self-in- flicted suffering. They disclaimed asceticism, self- maceration, self-torture. All things to the beloved were of God; all therefore indiflerent" (Milman.Zoi- in Cfirvsfianitt/, viii, 399). The Friends of God are frequently charged with pantheism, but Neander un- dertakes to defend them against this charge, admit- ting, however, that those of tliem who knew not how to "guard against the danger of falling into the un- fathomable abyss of God unrevealed, instead of hold- ing fast to the God revealed in Christ, plunged into