Although womankind is naturally the more devout of the sexes, yet it is as a worshipper and not as a propagandist; and it is believed that the only system of religion ever founded by a woman was originated in Lynn on Broad Street diagonally opposite the Society House, by Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, which dates from February, 1866, and whose branches have permeated throughout the civilized world. The various societies of this creed at the last report reached the number of 1,424, but I understand that there is no close estimate of the number of the adherents of this cult, whose millions through the weight of numbers are an ethical force which must be considered. In summing up the various activities originated in Lynn there were two which have been a leaven whose influences have been strongly felt so far and so wide that their limitations cannot be measured or perhaps even estimated. I refer first to the separation of town and parish on March 5, 1722, which appears to have been the first record in all history of the separation of church and state, not as the result of struggle or controversy, but in the deliberate opinion that such a course would be for the good of both. This concurrent enactment on the part of the town and the parish was carried out in the most amicable spirit and the town meetings were held in the Old Tunnel meeting house for eighty years after that separation. This action of a little New England town, far reaching in the establishment of civic liberty and religious freedom, has been presented in such a masterly manner by Judge Nathan Mortimer Hawkes at the two hundred and seventy-fifth anniversary of the First Church as to receive the commendation of President Taft in an autograph letter written while summering at Beverly. The second great event was of recent years in the enactment of the secret ballot law which was introduced March 2, 1888, by Elihu Burritt Hayes of Lynn, a member of the State legislature. This law stopped any dominating power outside of general public sentiment controlling the ballot at the polls as is shown by the diminution of majorities, whatever party may be locally in the ascendant. These few citations of the initiatives of the relatively few men of achievement who are leaders in every community, endowed with wisdom to plan and vigor to execute, are sufficient to show that Lynn has a history forming a guidance for to-day, investing its people with a local pride like unto that of the apostle of old, a citizen of no mean city. Men of Lynn were authoritatively in the councils of the Colony leading to the establishment of the Commonwealth, and inaugurated many of the fundamental measures of legislation. The extent to which the members of this little band, hemmed between the savages and the deep sea, developed their own self-reliance is shown by the manner in which within a few years they applied the principles of law, developed under generations of monarchies to the solution. of problems of local self-government, and beyond that they initiated new functions of sovereignty, notably the written ballot, trade schools, industrial statistics, free public education, the town government, the separation of church and state, citizen militia, printed paper money and the record of deeds and mortgages. Well did Carlyle characterize the people who showed such an initiative as "the last of the heroisms." There were giants in those days. Some of these references may have appeared trite, others not so broadly known and many important features have been omitted because not the earliest in their characterization, but the whole indicates the opportunities for further monographs upon elements of Lynn history in continuation of the collections amassed by this Society during the past sixteen years, and it also shows the reason for this Society as an organization of to-day, applying such of the past as may be useful to the present and an indication for the future, and above all a civic centre. One lesson of a review of the past clearly shows that the ethical standards of life have become higher, inevitable legitimate differences of opinion are not to such a great extent accompanied by personal violence, there is a deeper respect for law and order, and above all that ineffable summation of moral principles termed "business honor" prevails as never before. THE PRESIDENT: "Statesman, yet friend to truth! Of soul sincere, Who broke no promise, serv'd no private end, I present to you the Hon. Samuel W. McCall, honorary member of the Lynn Historical Society. ADDRESS At the dedICATION OF THE SOCIETY BUILDING BY HON. SAMUEL WALKER MCCALL, LL. D., Winchester, Mass., Mr. President, Mr. Mayor and Ladies and Gentlemen: I appreciate very much the honor of an election as an honorary member of the Lynn Historical Society. I am very glad to be here tonight to congratulate you on this beautiful new building. I appreciate all the more the fact of being an honorary member from what I see to-night. In the historical societies with which I have been connected, the writing of history seems to have been regarded as the、 exclusive prerogative of the men. In those societies the membership has been made up of men, and as the lion said in effect in the fable, if the lion had the writing of history instead of man, the lion, and not man, would be the chief thing in the universe. I understand that your membership is about equally divided between women and men, in fact, I do not know but that the women are in the majority. I have no doubt that the future histories of Lynn will be written with absolute impartiality, as between the two sexes. It will be very interesting to observe whether the other historical societies do not follow your example when they come to see how much more grandly the women of Lynn look upon the pages of the history of the country than the women of other places. They will help to make history attractive; they will help to make it popular. Of course, you can make anything attractive or popular, even the |