BY REV. DR. C. S. VEDDER OF CHARLESTON, S. C. Ah, England, was it yesterday We saw thee bow the knee and pray In Kipling's grand Recession hymn- Didst thou the gate of prayer beset, That not in Heaven's cause, but thine "Lest we forget-lest we forget?" And has that prayer to Heaven flown, That thou wouldst evermore discard And hast thou, then, that prayer forgot, When he who taught thee thus to plead, "The tumult of the shouting dies," When weakness crushed by soulless might, No more shall plead in vain for Right, And all earth's subtle, specious lies Unmasked shall stand beneath earth's skies, By Him who hears the wronged soul's cries, All tyrant pleas and powers despite. Constitution. ADOPTED APRIL 30, 1885. AS AMENDED APRIL 6, 1894. ARTICLE I. Name. SECTION I. This organization shall be called THE HOLLAND SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. ARTICLE II. Object. The object of the Society shall be, FIRST. To collect and preserve information respecting the early history and settlement of the City and State of New York by the Dutch, and to discover, collect, and preserve all still existing documents, etc., relating to their genealogy and history. SECOND. To perpetuate the memory and foster and promote the principles and virtues of the Dutch ancestors of its members, and to promote social intercourse among the latter. THIRD. To gather by degrees a library for the use of the Society, composed of all obtainable books, monographs, pamphlets, manuscripts, etc., relating to the Dutch in America. FOURTH. To cause statedly to be prepared and read before the Society, papers, essays, etc., on questions in the history or genealogy of the Dutch in America. FIFTH. To cause to be prepared and published when the requisite materials have been discovered and procured, collections for a memorial history of the Dutch in America, wherein shall be particularly set forth the part belonging to that element in the growth and development of American character, institutions, and progress. ARTICLE III. Members. SECTION I. No one shall be eligible as a member unless he be of full age, of respectable standing in society, of good moral character, and the descendant in the direct male line of a Dutchman who was a native or resident of New York or of the American colonies prior to the year 1675. This shall include those of other former nationalities who found in Holland a refuge or a home, and whose descendants in the male line came to this country as Dutch settlers, speaking Dutch as their native tongue. This shall also include descendants in the male line of Dutch settlers who were born within the limits of Dutch settlements, and the descendants in the male line of persons who possessed the rights of Dutch citizenship within Dutch settlements in America, prior to the year 1675; also of any descendant in the direct male line of a Dutchman, one of whose descendants became a member of this Society prior to June 16, 1886. ARTICLE IV. Officers. SECTION I. A President, a Vice-President for each original Dutch Center or Settlement in America, a Secretary and a Treasurer, shall be chosen at each annual meeting, and shall hold office for one year, and until their successors are elected. There shall also be chosen from its members, twenty Trustees. Those elected at the first election shall divide themselves into four classes of five each; onc class to hold office one year, the second class for two years, the third class for three years, and the fourth class for four years, next thereafter. each annual meeting thereafter there shall be chosen five Trustees to fill the place of the class whose term will then expire. The offices of Secretary and Treasurer may be filled by one person. At SECTION 2. All elections shall be by ballot, under the direction of inspectors, to be appointed by the President, and a plurality of votes shall elect. ARTICLE V. Powers and Duties of Officers. SECTION I. The President of the Society, and in his absence the Vice-President for New York City, shall authorize the call for all meetings of the |