to be. Give men as a whole truer outlook and a larger chance and we shall have greatness at our hand at every turn. The vast majority of men now have but a perverted outlook and a meagre chance. Possibly it is the opportunity of this Association, now that its past great work of freeing the minds of men from narrowness and from baseless fear is largely accomplished, to doom also, in the Association's riper present, the world's philosophy of selfishness; to fire men's hearts with the sense of democracy; to redeem the world from pseudo-virtue, converting it to good sense; to convince" men once more of "sin". the sin of sloth and supineness in believing that any power other than their own shall ever bring peace on earth or justice for the oppressed; "to abolish more and more," as has been said, "the struggle for life between men, and to put in its stead an accord between them for the struggle against the unrelenting forces of matter." So shall we perhaps, as an Association, help to complete what now seems Nature's unfulfilled intent. Our Committee on Enlarged Work, which is to report to-day, may perhaps point the way to this. Respectfully submitted, JAMES H. West, Secretary. BOSTON, May 23, 1912. Forty-fifth Annual Convention. TOPIC: STATE AND CHURCH IN AMERICA The Forty-fifth Annual Convention of the Free Religious Association of America was not unworthy of the brilliant and effective meetings which have preceded it in the history of the society. The morning session in Ford Hall on May 24th, despite the excessive heat of the weather and unusual distractions elsewhere, drew a very large audience. This was due in great part, no doubt, to the interest taken in the topic for the day," State and Church in America," which, owing to recent ecclesiastical and public occurrences, proved a very live subject. The addresses given presented a wide range and great divergence of opinion, vindicating the breadth of view, freedom, and fairness of the Association in its public utterances. The audiences at both morning and afternoon sessions were very responsive to the sentiments of the speakers. It has been thought best, however, in the printed report of the speeches, to omit the frequent assent or dissent, applause and laughter, which punctuated them, and let them make their own appeal as earnest and rational presentations of the topic under consideration. At the festival in the afternoon, in the lower hall, some two hundred and fifty places were reserved at the tables. So great was the additional attendance, however, that it was thought best to adjourn to the larger hall above, for the remaining addresses. A unique and gracious feature of the occasion was the presence and word of Abdul Baha, Abbas Effendi, of Persia, the venerated leader of the Bahaist movement of that country. As he entered, leaning on the arm of the President of the Association, the audience rose in token of their respect. In presenting to a larger public this series of addresses on "State and Church," the officers of the Association desire to have it understood that they feel no hostility and wage no war against any conception of religion or religious duty seriously held, but are simply concerned to uphold the principles and institutions of American society against pernicious theories of the civil order and all forms of clerical and foreign aggression upon it. Amidst the great variety of opinions contained in these addresses a common purpose will be found to characterize them to maintain the Sovereignty of the State, and the loyalty of the churches as members of it, in all that relates to their temporal affairs, and to vindicate, as well, the freedom of the churches in the conduct of their spiritual interests. If this lesson shall be newly impressed on the mind of the reader the endeavors of the Association and its co-laborers at the late Convention will not have been in vain. AMERICANISM AND CLERICALISM OPENING ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT, It is my pleasant duty as President of the Free Religious Association of America to welcome you to its Forty-fifth Annual Convention. The subject chosen for your consideration at this meeting is State and Church in America. It is not the first time this topic has been discussed by the Association. In past years earnest and weighty words have been spoken upon it from our platform. Our society has been among the foremost to set forth and maintain true American principles of religious freedom and civil allegiance, and to define the relations which ought to exist between the republican State and the free churches of the land. Recent happenings in the religious life of the United States, especially in Massachusetts, make a renewed and thorough discussion of this great issue both timely and desirable. Perhaps the best introduction to our subject to-day, and to the addresses of the able and well-informed speakers who are to bring you the fruits of their observation and experience with similar problems in other countries, will be a restatement of the fundamental principles of religious and civil liberty in this country; after which I shall call your attention to certain recent encroachments and attacks upon the free and secular institutions of American society by a hostile Clericalism, whose arrogant and unjust demands can no longer safely be ignored, but must be met and refused with firmness, courage, and loyalty. Without entering into the somewhat complicated relations of State and Church in our earlier colonial history it is sufficient to remind you that at the time our republic was born its founders, with a love of both political and religious liberty and a statesmanlike prevision which did them honor, decreed the entire separation of religious and civil institutions in this country, |