,,the ,,jericho ,,road    by    ,w4     
,,bion ,,adkins    ,author of ,twelve   
,steps ,toward ,heaven1 ,the ,anonymous 
,letter1 etc4    #aija                  
,like the rivers1 forever running yet   
never passed1 like the winds  forever   
going yet never gone1 so is             
,odd-,fellowship4        ,,dedication   
,,worthy ,,and ,,gentle ,,brothers    ,i
 ,,dedicate ,,this ,,little ,,book ,,to 
,,thee1 ,,sincerely ,,hoping ,,that ,,it
 ,,will  ,,afford ,,you ,,much          
,,pleasure ,,and ,,be ,,the ,,means ,,of
 ,,inciting ,,you ,,to ,,greater        
,,effort ,,in ,,behalf ,,of ,,our       
,,beloved ,,order4  ,,may ,,thy ,,years 
,,be ,,many ,,and ,,their  ,,seasons    
,,all ,,golden ,,autumns1 ,,rich ,,in   
,,purple ,,clusters ,,and ,,garnered    
,,delights4          ,,preface    ,i    
have lived much that ,i have not        
written1 but ,i have written nothing    
that ,i have not lived1 and the story of
 this book is but a plaintive  refrain  
wrung from the over-burdened song of my 

life2 while the tides  of feeling1      
winding down the lines1 had their       
sources in as many broken  upheavals of 
my own heart4  ,a book1 like an         
implement1 must be judged  by its       
adaptation to its special design1       
however unfit for any other  end4  ,this
 volume is designed to help             
,odd-,fellows in their search for  the  
good things in life4  ,there is need of 
something to break the spell  of        
indifference that oftentimes binds us1  
and to open glimpses of  better1        
sweeter1 grander possibilities4  ,hence 
this volume1 which is a  plea for that  
great fortune of man--his own nature4   
,bulwer says3  ,strive while improving  
your one talent to enrich your whole    
capital as  a man4 ,the present work is 
designed to aid in securing the result  
thus  recommended4  ,we send it forth1  
trusting that it will find its way into 
the hands of every ,odd-,fellow and     
every ,odd-,fellow's friend and         
neighbor1 and that those who read it    

will gather from its pages lessons      
which shall enable them to pluck thorns 
from their pathway and scatter  flowers 
instead4    ,w4 ,,bion ,,adkins4        
,october #a1 #ahii4                     
,,today',s ,,demand      ,god give us   
men4  ,a time like this demands         
,strong minds1 great hearts1 true faith1
 and ready hands2    ,men whom the lust 
of office does not kill2    ,men who    
possess opinions and a will2    ,men who
 have honor2    ,men who will not lie1  
,tall men1 sun-crowned1 who live above  
the fog    ,in public duly and in       
private thinking4    ,for1 while the    
rabble1 with their thumb-worn creeds1   
,their large professions and their      
little deeds1    ,mingle in selfish     
strife1 lo6  ,freedom weeps1    ,wrong  
rules the land1 and waiting ,justice    
sleeps4    ,god give us men6            
--,selected4          ,,tomorrow',s     
,,fulfillment      99   99   ,in the    
long years liker must they grow2    ,the
 man be more of woman1 she of man2      

,he gain in sweetness and in moral      
height1    ,nor lose the wrestling thews
 that throw the world2    ,she mental   
breadth1 nor fail in childward care--   
,till at the last she set herself to    
man1    ,like perfect music unto noble  
words2    ,and so these twain1 upon the 
skirts of time1    ,sit side by side1   
full summed in all their powers1        
,self-reverent each and reverencing     
each4    ,then reign the world's great  
bridals1 chaste and calm2    ,then      
springs the crowning race of human kind4
      --,alfred ,tennyson4              
,,contents    ,objects and ,purposes of 
,odd-,fellowship    ,the ,higher ,life  
,pithy ,points    ,the ,bible in        
,odd-,fellowship    ,brother            
,underwood's ,dream    ,the ,imperial   
,virtue    ,quiet ,hour ,thoughts       
,love ,supreme    ,gems of ,beauty      
,husband and ,father    ,odd-,fellowship
 and the ,future          ,,introductory
    ,on ,april #bf1 #ahai1 ,thomas      
,wildey1 the ,english carriage-spring   

maker1  together with ,john ,welch1     
,john ,duncan1 ,john ,cheatham and      
,richard  ,rushworth1 instituted the    
first lodge of ,odd-,fellows at the     
,seven ,stars  ,tavern in ,baltimore1   
and it was given the name of ,washington
 ,lodge ,no4  #a4  ,from this feeble    
beginning has grown the immense         
organization of  today4  ,the           
,odd-,fellows claim a venerable         
antiquity for their order1  the most    
common account of its origin ascribing  
it to the ,jewish legend  under ,titus1 
who1 it is said1 received from that     
,emperor the first  chapter1 written on 
a golden tablet4  ,the earliest mention 
made of the  lodge is in #agde1 when one
 was organized in ,england4  ,there were
 at  that time several lodges           
independent of each other1 but in a few 
years  they formed a union4  ,toward the
 end of the century many of them were   
broken up by state prosecutions1 on     
suspicion that their purposes were      
seditious4  ,the name was changed from  

the ,patriotic ,order to that of  the   
,union ,order of ,odd-,fellows4  ,in    
,manchester1 ,england1 in #ahac1 some   
of the lodges seceded from the order1   
and formed the ,independent ,order  of  
,odd-,fellows4    ,the order's first    
appearance in ,america was in #ahai4    
,the purposes of  the order were so     
changed by the founders here1 that it is
 said to be  almost purely an ,american 
organization4  ,it was based on the     
,manchester  ,unity1 which was really   
the parent institution4  ,in #ahdb1 this
 country  severed its connection with   
that of ,england4    ,lodges connected  
with either those of ,england or        
,america are  established in all parts  
of the world4  ,the real estate held by 
the  organization exceeds in value      
#bj1jjj1jjj1 and there is scarcely a    
town  in the country that has not its   
,odd-,fellows ,building4  ,the total    
revenue of the order is nearly          
#aj1jjj1jjj per annum4  ,yearly relief  
amounts to nearly #d1jjj1jjj a year4    

,,the ,,jericho ,,road      ,a traveler 
passed down the ,jericho road1    ,he   
carried of cash a pretty fair load      
7,the savings of many a toilsome day71  
,on his ,jericho home a mortgage to pay4
      ,at a turn of the road1 in a      
lonely place1    ,two villainous men met
 him face to face4    ',hands up6' they 
cried1 and they beat him sore1    ,then 
off to the desert his money they bore4  
,soon a priest came by who had a fold2  
,he sheared his sheep of silver and     
gold4    ,he saw the man lie bruised and
 bare1    ,but he passed on by to his   
place of prayer4      ,then a ,levite1  
temple bound1 drew nigh2    ,he saw the 
man1 but let him lie1    ,and clad in   
silk1 and filled with pride1    ,he     
passed him by on the other side4        
,next on the way a ,samaritan came      
7,to priest and ,levite a hated name72  
,the wounded man he would not pass1     
,he tenderly placed him on his ass4     
,he took him to an inn hard by2    ,he  
dressed his wounds and bathed his eye2  

,he paid the landlord his full score2   
,if more was needed would pay him more4 
,ah6 many travel the ,jericho way1      
,and many are robbed and beaten each    
day2    ,and many there be on the way in
 need1    ,whom ,priest or ,levite never
 heed2    ,and who to fate would yield1 
alas6    ,if some ,samaritan did not    
pass4          ,,the ,,objects ,,and    
,,purposes ,,of ,,odd-,,fellowship      
,we are taught that ,god hath made of   
one blood all nations of men to  dwell  
on the face of the earth1 and when we   
say mutual relief and  assistance is a  
leading office in our affiliation1 and  
that  ,odd-,fellowship is systematically
 endeavoring to improve and elevate the 
character of man1 to imbue him with a   
proper conception of his  capabilities  
for good1 to enlighten his mind1 to     
enlarge the sphere of  his affections   
and to redeem him from the thralldom of 
ignorance and  prejudice1 and teach him 
to recognize the fatherhood of ,god and 
the  brotherhood of men1 we have        

epitomized the objects1 purposes and    
basic  principles of our order4         
,odd-,fellowship is broad and           
comprehensive4  ,it is founded upon that
 eternal principle which teaches that   
all the  world is one family and all    
mankind are brothers4  ,unheralded and  
unsung1 it was born and went forth1 a   
breath of love1 a sweet song that  has  
filled thousands of hearts with joy and 
gladness4  ,to the rich and  the poor1  
the old and the young1 at all times1    
comes the rich1 sweet  melody of this   
song of humanity to comfort and to      
cheer4  ,for eighty  years the light of 
,odd-,fellowship has burned before the  
world1 a beacon  to the lost1 a comfort 
to the wanderer and a protection to the 
thoughtless4  ,eighty years of work for 
humanity's sake2 eighty years  devoted  
to teaching men to love mankind2 eighty 
years of earnest labor1  consecrated by 
friendship1 cemented with love and      
beautified by truth4  ,in ancient times 
men sought glory and renown in          

gladiatorial combat1  though the        
victor's laurel was wet with human      
blood4  ,in modern times  men seek the  
plaudits of the world by achievements   
for human good1 and  by striving to     
elevate and ennoble men4  ,looking back 
through nineteen  centuries we behold a 
cross1 and on it the crucified ,christ1 
with  nail-pierced hands1 and wounded1  
bleeding side1 but whose heart was so   
full of love and pity that even in ,his 
dying agonies ,he had compassion  upon  
,his persecutors1 and cried out1        
,father1 forgive them1 for they  know   
not what they do4    ,that event was the
 dividing line between the ancient and  
the modern  era2 between the rule of    
brute force and the mild dominion of    
love  and charity4  ,the mission of     
,odd-,fellowship1 like that of the lowly
  ,nazarene1 is to replace the rule of  
might with the gentle influence of      
love1 and to teach a universal          
fraternity in the family of man4  ,to   
meet and satisfy and better keep alive  

the nobler elements of man's  nature4   
,many orders have been instituted1 but  
none can challenge  greater admiration  
from men1 or deserve more blessings from
 heaven1  than the ,independent ,order  
of ,odd-,fellows4  ,looking back along  
the  pathway of the century behind us we
 behold the wrecks of many orders4  ,the
 morning of their life was beautiful and
 full of glorious promise1  but the     
evening came and they had perished4     
,rich costumes1 impressive  ceremonies1 
beautiful degrees and magnificent       
effects1 all lie buried  and forgotten4 
,it was not because their founders      
lacked energy or  enthusiasm1 not       
because their members were less         
susceptible to the  beauty and poetry of
 tradition and ceremony1 but because    
success and  perpetuity come not from   
human effort1 but are the outgrowth of a
  life-giving principle4  ,the sculptor 
fashions from the marble a form of      
surpassing loveliness1 its lines are    
those of grace and beauty4  ,we  stand  

before it charmed1 whispering our       
admiration1 but the impression  on the  
heart is only passing4  ,the poet sings 
of home1 of mother and of  love2 the    
meter may be faulty and the words may   
charm not1 but the  sentiment is true   
and touches our hearts4  ,the experience
 it recites is  common to humanity1 and 
wherever its sweet tones are heard it   
softens  men's natures and makes them   
better1 truer and nobler4  ,who among us
  would be willing to exchange the      
influence of the immortal song ,home    
,sweet ,home1 or be willing to forget   
the ,christian's ,nearer ,my ,god to    
,thee1 for all the inanimate beauty of  
art8  ,one charms the eye1 the  other   
touches and calls to life the best and  
sweetest emotions of the  human heart4  
,so it is with fraternal societies4     
,flashing swords1  glittering helmets1  
jeweled regalias and beautiful degrees  
may touch  the vanity and excite the    
admiration1 but to win the heart we must
  satisfy its longings1 feed its hopes  

and lift it above the narrowness  and   
selfishness of its daily experience4    
,odd-,fellowship strives to  touch the  
heart and better feelings1 rather than  
feed the vanity of man  or arouse his   
admiration for gorgeous displays4  ,its 
work is an  exemplification of the      
living1 practical ,christianity of      
today4  ,in  almost every state in this 
fair land of ours can be found          
,odd-,fellows'  homes1 within whose     
walls the orphan is no longer           
motherless4  ,for each  and every little
 one within these homes1 one million    
,odd-,fellows feel a  father's love and 
pledge a parent's care4    ,add to all  
this great work the little deeds of     
love1 the little acts of  kindness that 
make life beautiful2 add kind words of  
cheer and friendly  help and tender     
consolation1 and add again the benefit  
of union1 the  strength that comes from 
hearts united in ,god's work among      
mankind1 and  you have caught a glimpse 
of the life-giving principle that has   

made  ,odd-,fellowship one of the       
grandest fraternal and beneficiary      
institutions the world has ever known4  
,the work it has done can not be  fully 
estimated until the record is read in   
the bright light of  eternity4  ,in that
 glad day the tears that have been wiped
 away will  become jewels in somebody's 
crown1 and the sobs that have been      
hushed  will be heard again in hosannas 
of welcome4    ,onward6 is the ringing1 
pregnant watchword of the world4  ,the  
vast1  complicated1 ponderous machinery 
of life is kept in motion by tireless   
and irresistible forces4  ,the multiform
 and magnificent affairs of men  and of 
nations are all impelled forward with an
 energy and a velocity  as wonderful as 
glorious to behold4    ,not             
retrogressive1 but progressive--not     
enervating1 but energizing--not         
ephemeral1 but substantial--not from bad
 to worse1 but from the  imperfect to   
the consummate1 are the characteristics 
by which are so  prominently            

distinguished the tidal waves of the    
world's progress today4    ,activity and
 achievement came with creation1 and    
constitute an  inflexible1 irrepealable 
law of the universe4  ,in stir and push 
we have  light and life1 but in         
idleness1 and superstitious clinging to 
fossilized ideas and bygones1 we have   
demoralization1 decay and death4        
,fortunately for the world1 and         
agreeably with infinite design1 man     
plods his way in harmony with the law   
alluded to4  ,not all men1 but the      
great masses of them1 wherever ,the true
 light shineth1 especially  when        
accompanied by rays and helps from one  
of the noblest and grandest  of         
confraternities our world has known1    
,the ,independent ,order of             
,odd-,fellows4  ,when the huge planet   
which we call our world had been  tossed
 into being from the furnace fires of   
,omnipotence1 and the  maternal lullaby 
began to gather force on hill top and in
 valley1 the  discovery was naturally   

enough made that association and        
co-operation  were preferable to        
isolation and unrelieved dependence2 and
 from that  hour forward1 this principle
 has been interwoven into the very      
framework of human society4  ,the       
purpose has been the elevation and      
improvement of mankind4  ,for1 though   
the first product was pronounced  good1 
it quickly degenerated2 and there came  
an emphasized demand for  reform4       
,,early ,,organizations4    ,human      
isolation is an unnatural condition4    
,it antagonizes the highest  and best   
interests of the world4  ,its influence 
is never beneficent1  but always and    
necessarily harmful4  ,if the truest    
well being of the  universe1 and the    
supremest glory of ,jehovah could have  
been attained  by conditions of         
solitude1 it is not impossible that the 
good  ,all-,father would have given to  
every man a continent1 and so have made 
him monarch of all he surveyed4         
,physically regarded1 there is no limit 

to ,omnipotent power4  ,a  continent1   
and even a world1 was therefore within  
the pale of divine  possibilities4      
,jehovah1 however1 is not only great1   
but he is the  ,greatness of ,goodness4 
,high and holy ends were to be          
accomplished1 and  happy purposes to be 
secured1 by means of human              
instrumentalities1 and  be jointly      
shared by ,creator and creature4        
,among the earliest of ,deific          
utterances1 therefore1 we have this3 ,it
  is not good that man should be alone4 
,i concede that1 primarily1 the         
companionship of woman is here intended4
  ,but the declaration is not  only good
 in this1 but equally so in other       
regards4  ,a lifetime of  solitude with 
no incentives to action--nothing to draw
 out1 exercise  and expand the latent   
powers of the soul--no interchange of   
thought--no  clashing of opinion--no    
towering resolves to stimulate--no      
difficulties  to surmount6  ,what       
imagination so fertile that it could    

picture a more  hateful or intolerable  
,hades than would be such a condition of
 affairs8    ,hence1 in the early days  
of the world's history we discern the   
principle of association and            
co-operation1 with plans and systems    
embodying its practical application4    
,organizations came into being1         
obedient to the summons of necessity4   
,how well the various  organizations    
have wrought along the pathway of       
centuries1 and how  great or small may  
have been the measure of their success1 
,i am not  here to discuss1 much less to
 determine4  ,each has done its work in 
its  own way1 and pockets responsibility
 for results4  ,common courtesy and     
candor suggest that each has been       
largely animated by highest and         
worthiest of motives4                   
,,odd-,,fellowship1    ,reared upon the 
broad catholic principle of brotherhood1
 extending its  helpful hand from nation
 to nation1 and from continent to       
continent1  linking its votaries        

together with the golden triple chain of
  ,friendship1 ,love and ,truth1 can    
afford to be friendly with each1 and    
have a kindly word for all societies    
that reach down after and raise up  a   
fallen brother1 and if possible make him
 wiser1 better and happier4  ,should a  
like courtesy be extended to this order1
 while it would  certainly constitute a 
new departure1 it would prove none the  
less  gratifying4  ,but1 from certain   
sources1 the order has been the         
recipient of a peculiar kind of         
consideration1 so long that the memory  
of man scarce runneth to the contrary4  
,inflamed appeals and bristling         
denunciations have gone out against it1 
while great1 swelling  words--swollen   
with hatred1 bigotry1 prejudice and     
superstition--have  assailed it         
relentlessly and almost uninterruptedly4
  ,mainly1 these  assaults have been met
 with the terse and pointed invocation1 
,father1  forgive them2 they know not   
what they do4    ,that this great and   

potent brotherhood may not1 in all its  
parts and  jurisdictions1 have so       
deported itself1 and so carried forward 
its  work1 as to be justly free from    
unfavorable criticism and merited       
censure1 is probably true4  ,as with    
organizations1 there is sometimes  too  
much haste displayed in gathering1 and  
too little discrimination  exercised in 
selecting1 the materials that are       
brought as component  parts of the great
 superstructure of ,odd-,fellowship4    
,too much daubing  with untempered      
mortar--too great a desire for the      
exhibition of  numerical force1 and the 
multiplication of lodges--too much      
regard for  the outward trappings and   
paraphernalia1 and too little regard for
 the  internal qualities of those       
seeking membership in the fraternity4   
,such  deplorable departures1 as well   
from the primary as the ultimate objects
  had in view1 are not fairly           
attributable to anything that may be    
reasonably considered as an outgrowth of

 the order1 but come despite  its       
constant teachings and warnings4  ,bad  
work they of course make1 and  so at    
times and to a limited extent bring the 
fraternity under the ban  of popular    
displeasure1 but shall the world        
predicate unfavorable  judgment upon a  
few and unfair tests8  ,if so1 and the  
principle  logically becomes general1   
pray who shall be appointed             
administrator of  the effects of other  
social and moral organizations1 and even
 of the  church itself8  ,for in these  
regards all offend1 if offense it be4   
,when the principles of ,odd-,fellowship
 are carefully studied it is  apparent  
to every candid mind that it is founded 
upon that eternal  principle which      
recognizes man as a constituent of one  
universal  brotherhood1 and teaches him 
that as he came from the hand of a      
common  parent1 he is in duty bound to  
cherish and protect his fellow-man4     
,viewed in this light1 ,odd-,fellowship 
becomes one of the noblest  institutions

 organized by man in the world4  ,if the
 beauty and grandeur  of universal      
brotherhood could be impressed upon the 
minds of all the  people1 how very      
different from the past would the future
 history of  the world read4  ,what a   
delightful place this old stone-ribbed  
earth  would be if men would look upon  
each other as brothers1 members of one  
common family2 enjoying the many        
comforts of one home2 trusting to the   
guidance and protection of one          
,father--,god4  ,we are more nearly     
related  than we think4  ,running       
through all humanity there is a link of 
relationship and a bond of sympathy that
 can not be exterminated4  ,the         
principle of brotherly love is so great 
and broad that all mankind  could unite 
in offices of human benefaction4        
,brother4  ,oh1 how sacred  and how     
sweet when spoken by a true heart6      
,whether it be in the home  circle1     
lodge-room1 or in some distant land1 it 
sends the same soothing  thrill of joy  

to the heart4  ,let us pause just a     
moment to think of the  time and place  
when we first learned to call each other
 brother4  ,ah6  ,methinks no           
,odd-,fellow will ever forget his first 
lesson4  ,he will  always remember how  
quickly he was changed from the haughty 
disposition  manifested by that one of  
old1 who1 when he prayed1 went to the   
public  square1 or climbed to the house 
top1 and thanked ,god that he was not   
like other men1 to the humble attitude  
of that one who stood afar off  and     
bowed his face in the dust1 crying      
aloud1 ,o ,lord6  ,be merciful  unto me 
a sinner4  ,how very much like this     
ancient boaster are  thousands of the   
human family today4  ,sitting in high   
places1  surrounded by wealth and power1
 they see nothing beyond the narrow     
circle in which they move4  ,they are   
deaf to the low1 sad wail of  sorrow    
that comes from some breaking heart4    
,seated by their own  comfortable       
fireside they give no thought to the    

lonely widow standing  outside in the   
cold4  ,it distresses them not that the 
keen1 wintry  blast sends its icy chill 
to the already broken heart4  ,no       
thought1 no  feeling1 for this poor     
creature that must now fight the fierce 
battles  incident to human life1 all    
alone4  ,how sadly these tender duties  
to  suffering humanity are neglected    
when left to the cold charity of the    
world4    ,odd-,fellowship seeks to     
lessen sorrow and suffering4  ,it       
supplies  temporal wants2 gives         
encouragement2 aids and comforts those  
who are in  distress4  ,in sickness we  
watch by their bedside and administer to
  their wants4  ,if death calls1        
,odd-,fellowship forsakes not its       
follower1  but hovers near1 listening   
attentively to the last words and       
parting  instruction of the dying one4  
,brothers and friends1 let me admonish  
you to do all the good you can while in 
health and strength1 for at  most life  
is short and we know not how soon the   

,angel of ,death will  unfold his broad1
 shadowy wings over our path and call us
 to give an  account of our stewardship2
 then all that will remain of us on     
earth  will be the good or evil we have 
done4    ,odd-,fellowship is full of    
sacred teachings and sublime warnings4  
,it  teaches us that we are in a world  
full of temptations1 sin and sorrow4    
,we see the emblems of decay all around 
us4  ,the strong man of today may  stand
 forth1 nerved for toil1 with all the   
bloom of health mantling  cheek and     
brow1 seemingly as strong and vigorous  
as the mighty oak1 and  yet tomorrow he 
will fade as the autumn leaf4  ,then he 
realizes how  foolish it is to be vain2 
thinks of the instability of wealth and 
power1 and the certain decay of all     
earthly greatness4  ,odd-,fellowship    
teaches us that charity springs from the
 heart1 is not puffed up1 seeks  not its
 own4  ,it makes us strong1 and         
encourages us to push on through  life1 
even though we are beset on every side  

with toil1 danger and  strife4          
,brothers1 let nothing cause you to turn
 back or away from the  principles of   
our noble order4  ,cling closer and     
closer each day to  honesty and truth1  
and bear in mind that be the road ever  
so rough and  untraveled1 narrow and    
dark1 if you follow truth you will find 
light at  the end of the journey4       
,,the ,,secresy ,,objection4    ,more   
common1 perhaps1 than any other filed   
against it has been the  objection that 
,odd-,fellowship does its work secretly1
 this objection  being not unfrequently 
urged by persons of candor and honest   
impulses4  ,if1 it is demanded1 the aims
 and purposes of the order be legitimate
  and praiseworthy1 why shroud them in  
mystery rather than give them the  broad
 sunlight of publicity4    ,the         
objection is not new1 nor is it urged   
with any increase of its  original      
force1 whatever may be the fact in the  
matter of vehemence4  ,answer might be  
made3 ,the order does not choose to     

ascend to the house  tops for the       
purpose of heralding its affairs to the 
world4  ,but that  answer would not be  
satisfactory1 nor is any likely to be   
that may be  presented1 now or          
hereafter4  ,it is nevertheless true    
that there are  certain matters         
pertaining to the order and its works   
with which the  outside world has no    
sort of concern1 even as with those very
 peculiar  secret societies1 the        
individual1 the family1 the church and  
the state4  ,if other organizations     
prefer to resort to the newspapers1 the 
pulpit1  the rostrum and other          
information conduits for the purpose of 
advertising their wares1 their greatness
 and their goodness1 and the  vast      
amount of humanitarian work they are    
doing and purposing1 such is  their     
unquestioned privilege4    ,but if the  
preference of ,odd-,fellowship be for   
quieter and less  obtrusive methods1    
pray who shall fairly contest its right 
of choice8    ,and then it should be    

remembered that there are matters in    
which the  right hand is prohibited the 
privilege of interfering with the       
prerogatives of the left1 and the left  
with those of the right4  ,nor  should  
the fact be forgotten that there is     
,divine example1 if not  precept1 for   
the established modus operandi of the   
order4  ,upon a  certain occasion the   
,great ,teacher had performed a very    
humble service  for one of his disciples
 who was sadly at loss for the why and  
the  wherefore1 and the answer1 received
 to his inquiry was3 ,what ,i do thou   
knowest not now1 but thou shalt know    
hereafter4    ,and in the grand         
hereafter1 when the films of ignorance  
and the  warpings of prejudice and      
superstition shall have melted away     
under the  bright sunlight of ,eternal  
,day1 it is not impossible that our     
vexed1  inquisitive1 worrying opponents 
may be permitted to look back over the  
pathway this order has traversed1 glance
 at the work that has been  wrought and 

peradventure discover how unreasonable1 
as well as  fruitless1 has been the     
warfare they have been pleased to wage  
with  such persistent fury4  ,a long    
time to wait1 maybe1 but then good      
things  do not come rapidly nor all at  
once4  ,meanwhile1 to encourage them in 
their waiting1 their watching and their 
worrying1 let them take this  lesson    
from the same ,great ,teacher3 ,the wind
 bloweth where it listeth1  and thou    
hearest the sound thereof1 but canst not
 tell whence it cometh  or whither it   
goeth4  ,ah1 no6 it will not do1 because
 you can not see  and comprehend all of 
everything1 inside as well as outside1  
to  conclude that it must necessarily be
 bad4  ,adopt that theory1 and you  not 
only fly in the face of reason1 but bump
 your head against almost  everything in
 nature1 in art and in science4         
,secrets6 yes2 they are within us and   
without us1 above us and beneath  us and
 all about us1 and what are you going to
 do about it8  ,well  might ,israel's   

old and gifted poet king write3 ,we are 
fearfully and  wonderfully made1 soul   
and body1 the mortal and the immortal1  
the  material and the immaterial1       
strangely and mysteriously conjoined6   
,god's secret1 this6  ,will you denounce
 ,him and withdraw allegiance from      
,him1 for the reason that ,he fails to  
make clear to you a clear and           
satisfying revelation8  ,the same old   
singer said thousands of years  ago1    
,the ,heavens declare the glory of ,god 
and the firmament showeth  ,his         
handiwork4  ,and those heavens1 with    
that firmament1 are charged  and        
surcharged with mightiest and           
profoundest secrets4  ,we seize the     
telescope and plunge into the vast      
profound overhead1 intent upon          
mastering the secrets of the revolving  
spheres4    ,we travel from star to     
star1 from system to system1 until we   
reach yon  lonely star that appears to  
be performing the ,guardian's task1 upon
 the  verge of unmeasured and           

immeasurable space4  ,we may descry and 
describe  the form and outlines of those
 heavenly bodies1 detect their movements
  and approximately determine their     
distances and dimensions4  ,but what    
more8  ,little that is satisfying4      
,when they had a beginning1 what        
purposes they subserve in the sublime   
system of ,god's stupendous  universe1  
and when they shall have a consummation1
 we may not certainly  know4  ,secrets1 
these1 and such ,secret things belong   
unto ,god4  ,we  would like to know     
these secrets1 but must wait2 for there1
 roll those  mighty worlds that gem the 
distant sky1 as distantly and dismally  
as  when ,chaldean and ,egyptian        
astronomers and astrologers viewed their
  movements three thousand years ago1   
rifled meanwhile of but few of  their   
well kept secrets4  ,he that pencils the
 lily and paints the rose  and gives to 
every blade of grass its own bright drop
 of dew1 has been  pleased to say3      
,hitherto shalt thou come and no        

further4  ,and there  is great unwisdom 
in setting up factious opposition to the
 fiat of  ,omnipotence4  ,possess your  
souls in patience1 ,o friends6 wait1 as 
we  must wait1 before knowing all1 or   
even knowing much4  ,if you can not be  
,odd-,fellows1 you can at least be men1 
with an effort4      ,,what ,,is        
,,odd-,,fellowship8    ,but1 sir1 you   
demand1 can you tell us something more  
about  ,odd-,fellowship1 its purposes   
and its ,work8  ,i can1 a little4  ,come
  with me1 then1 and we will look into  
the lodge4  ,ah6  ,in the most          
conspicuous place there stands an       
altar--upon it the open ,bible1 the     
world's great word of ,life and ,light4 
,upon the principles enunciated  by that
 ,book1 largely rests the great         
superstructure of ,odd-,fellowship4     
,the ,bible is to the order what the sun
 is to the material universe--its       
illuminator and vivifier1 even as it    
also is the1 guide to faith and         
practice4  ,a man may neglect his       

closet1 his church1 his ,bible1 but     
when he enters the lodge he is bound to 
listen to the voice of his  ,maker1 as  
it thunders from ,his word2 and while   
the lodge does by no  means lay claim to
 the possession of religious attributes1
 yet has it  been the means1 by the     
constant use of the ,bible1 of turning  
many from  the ways of wrong-doing and  
sin1 into paths of pleasantness and     
peace2  and by a unique system of       
symbolism and a comprehensive and       
practical  application of its sublime   
truths1 the faith of the believer has   
been  strengthened1 enlarged and        
rendered usefully active4               
,odd-,fellowship's plan of benefaction  
addresses itself to the physical  as    
well as the moral nature1 and1 reaching 
out from its immediate  subjects1       
permeates by natural affinity every     
sphere in which active  sympathy may be 
invoked4  ,its mission and its results  
are not only  active and substantial1   
but often so effective by its           

consequential or  indirect influence as 
to penetrate entire communities4  ,in   
this  connection ,i will say            
,odd-,fellowship is not a religious     
organization4  ,our work pertains       
particularly to this life1 educating the
 heart of man  to practical beneficence1
 alleviating the sufferings of humanity 
and  elevating the character of man4    
,odd-,fellowship was not organized for  
the purpose of ridding the world of all 
its sorrows1 but to ameliorate  and to  
soften the suffering to which the human 
family is heir4  ,it is  an association 
of men who have united themselves for   
the purpose of  smoothing the ragged    
edge of want1 and extending to those who
 are bound  down by the iron bands of   
misfortune a helping hand4              
,odd-,fellowship  holds no affinity with
 the classifications or distinctions of 
society1  but dispenses charity to all  
alike4  ,it does not array itself       
against  the church1 nor presume to     
arrogate its functions1 or to supervise 

its  teachings4  ,its lodges are not the
 council rooms of enmity to  religious1 
civil1 moral or social organizations4   
,far otherwise2 all  its oracles and    
instructions in relation to these grave 
subjects find  their warrant and        
authority in the divine law1 under the  
inspiration of  which it proclaims the  
,golden ,rule as the sublimest          
illustration of the  law of love4       
,odd-,fellowship keeps a close watch    
over its subjects1 and  constantly      
impresses upon their minds the fact that
 their hearts must  not foster evil1 the
 progenitor of crime1 or hatred and     
vice1 whose  evil consequences must     
continue to afflict mankind until the   
coming of  that time to which hope looks
 forward with ardent joy1 when one law  
shall bind all nations1 tongues and     
kindred of the earth1 and that law  will
 be the law of ,universal ,brotherhood4 
,odd-,fellowship also  teaches us that  
we are never to judge a man by his      
outward appearance4  ,a man's form may  

be clothed with rags1 his hands may be  
rough and hard1  his cheeks may be      
browned by the rays of summer's sun2 yet
 underneath  all this there may be an   
honest heart4  ,if so1 we take him by   
the hand  and call him brother4         
,odd-,fellowship teaches equality2 we   
must meet  upon one common level4  ,the 
brother who lives in the rough log cabin
  enjoys the same right and privileges  
as the monarch on his throne4  ,we      
live1 we move and have our being1 and   
are indebted for all things to  the ,one
 ,great ,ruler of the ,universe--,god4  
,all persons are desirous of  being     
happy1 and happiness is sought for in   
various ways4  ,odd-,fellowship teaches 
that man is responsible for his own     
misery4  ,i  believe that no mere       
misfortune can ever call for exceeding  
bitter  sorrow4  ,as long as man        
preserves himself from contamination of 
that  which is evil and foul1 he can not
 reach any very low depth of woe4  ,by  
his own act1 by his own voluntary       

desertion of the true aim of life1  and 
by that alone1 is it possible that a man
 should drink his cup of  misery to the 
dregs4  ,the want of happiness1 so      
prevalent1 is thus the  natural         
consequence of the inherent blindness of
 men4  ,by it they are  led to pursue   
eagerly the phantom of wealth1 rank1    
power1 etc41  white neglecting that     
which alone can satisfy the wants of the
 soul4  ,if men could really know what  
is their chief good1 we should no longer
  hear on every hand prayers offered up 
for those idle accoutrements of  life1  
which may indeed be enjoyed1 but often  
bring only  dissatisfaction1 and can be 
dispensed with without inconvenience to 
mankind4    ,many persons say           
,odd-,fellowship is contrary to the     
teachings of the  ,bible4  ,the way such
 people read their ,bible is just like  
the way that  the old monks thought     
hedgehogs ate grapes4  ,they rolled     
themselves  over and over where the     
grapes lay on the ground4  ,what fruit  

stuck to  their spines they carried off 
and ate4  ,so your hedgehoggy readers   
roll  themselves over and over their    
,bibles and declare that whatever sticks
  to their spines is ,scripture and that
 nothing else is4  ,but you can  only   
get the skins of the texts that way4    
,if you want their juice you  must press
 them in cluster4  ,now the clustered   
texts about the human  heart insist as a
 body1 not on any inherent corruption in
 all hearts1  but on the terrific       
distinction between the bad and the good
 ones4  ,a  good man out of the good    
treasure of his heart bringeth forth    
that  which is good1 and an evil man1   
out of the evil treasure1 bringeth      
forth that which is evil4    ,they on   
the rock are they which1 in an honest   
and good heart1 having  heard the word1 
kept it4    ,delight thyself in the     
,lord1 and ,he shall give thee the      
desires of  thine heart4  ,the wicked   
have bent their bow that they may       
privily  shoot at him that is upright in

 heart4  ,for all of us1 the question is
  not at all to ascertain how much or   
how little corruption there is in  human
 nature1 but to ascertain whether1 out  
of all the mass of that  nature1 we are 
the sheep or the goat breed2 whether we 
are people of  upright heart being shot 
at1 or people of crooked heart doing the
  shooting4    ,and of all the texts    
bearing on the subject1 this1 which is a
 quite  simple and practical order1 is  
the one you have chiefly to hold in     
mind3 ,keep thy heart with all          
diligence1 for out of it are the issues 
of life4    ,the will of ,god respecting
 us is1 that we shall live by each      
others  happiness and life2 not by each 
others misery or death4    ,men help    
each other by their joy1 not by their   
sorrow4  ,there is but  one way in which
 man can ever help ,god--that is1 by    
letting ,god help  him4    ,a little    
boy1 who had often heard his father pray
 for the poor1 that  they might be      
clothed and fed1 interrupted him one day

 by saying1  ,father1 if you will give  
me the key to your corn crib and wheat  
bin1 ,i  will answer some of your       
prayers4    ,ah6 my friends1 always keep
 in mind this truth1 ,one hour of       
justice is  worth seventy years of      
prayer4    ,call not this1 then1 a      
,godless institution1 rioting in        
selfishness and  infidelity1 as it has  
been denominated by certain             
super-excellent  ,christians1 who appear
 to have fully persuaded themselves that
 no good  can possibly come from such a 
,nazareth4  ,for1 with the constant and 
unvarying light of the ,holy ,bible1    
that illuminated lexicon of the  sweet  
,beyond1 and of the approaches          
thereto--that trusty talisman of  all   
hopeful hearts--that competent counselor
 of the wisest and the  best--that      
inspirer of joy and satisfaction born of
 no other book--that  precious presager 
of immortal life beyond the river--that 
divine guide  to faith and practice1 can
 by no means fail in the ultimate       

working out  of its sublime purposes4   
,in the ranks of ,odd-,fellowship there 
are many of the truest1 noblest1        
sharpest and most holy men in the       
civilized world4  ,none of these have   
been able to make that ,godless and     
selfish discovery4  ,this brilliant     
achievement is reserved for those       
favored mortals that never saw the      
inside of an ,odd-,fellow's lodge1 and  
are entirely ignorant of its  character 
and practical workings4  ,the order has 
increased largely in  wealth1 power and 
influence4  ,large cities and towns1    
which formerly  paid little or no       
attention to us1 now eagerly welcome us 
to their  hospitalities4    ,judges and 
governors vie with each other in doing  
us honor1 and well  may we be proud of  
the position the order has attained4    
,just think of  it a moment3 when you   
clasp hands with an ,odd-,fellow here in
 your own  home1 you are really clasping
 hands with one million men who have    
obligated themselves to stay with you   

through every trial and  misfortune4    
,wonder no longer1 then1 at the growth  
and stability of  this great fraternity1
 or that its votaries cling to it with  
such  unshaken and unswerving fidelity4 
,ah6 it is no light matter1 no small    
privilege1 to be admitted to membership 
in such an organization--so  freeing    
one's self from the surgings of         
self-seeking and selfish                
considerations--free from the trammels  
of prevailing prejudice and             
passion--free from the false educational
 influences that warp the mind  and     
drive charity from the heart4    ,our   
order's emblem is the three links1      
,,friendship1 ,,love ,,and ,,truth4     
,friendship1 love1 truth--golden links  
these1 that not only bind  together     
their obligated votaries1 but that      
recognize and embrace1  because of      
worthiness and plighted faith1 that     
behind the back as well  as face to     
face1 have a defensive1 kindly word and 
a brother's generous  deed2 that1 amid  

the upheavals of communities and the    
crumbling of  nations1 systems and      
governments1 swerve not from their      
course1 and are  corralled by no        
arbitrary bounds1 and that1 whatever the
 dialect1 the  nationality or the       
religion of men1 read upon humanity's   
brow the  inscription written by the    
finger of infinite love--a man and a    
brother1 a woman and a sister4    ,a    
faithful and true friend is a living    
treasure1 estimable in  possession and  
deeply to be lamented when gone4        
,nothing is more common  than to talk of
 a friend2 nothing more difficult than  
to find one2  nothing more rare than to 
improve by one as we ought4    ,the only
 reward of virtue is virtue4  ,the only 
way to have a friend is  to be one4     
,such is friendship4  ,next in our      
golden chain is ,love4  ,love is the    
stepping stone to heaven4  ,this        
principle teaches man his  capabilities 
for good1 enlightens his mind1 enlarges 
the sphere of his  affections and leads 

him to that true fraternal relation     
which was  designed by the ,great       
,author of his existence4  ,love teaches
 us to be  self-sacrificing4  ,for a    
bright instance of this we point you to 
,moses1  the great law-giver of the     
,jews4  ,he turned his back on the      
splendors  of ,pharaoh's court and chose
 rather to share the wretchedness of his
  lowly people than serve as a king for 
their oppressors1 finally dying  in     
sight of that inheritance1 which1 though
 denied to him1 was given to  his       
ungrateful countrymen4  ,how very bright
 on the pages of history  shine such    
acts of love and sacrifice4  ,this      
principle belongs to no  one            
organization1 party or sect4  ,it can be
 made to bud and bloom as  well under   
the fierce rays of the torrid zone1     
midst the icebergs of  ,greenland1 or   
the everlasting snows of ,caucasus4  ,it
 always carries the  same smile1 whether
 in the cabin or in the palace4         
,following in its  footsteps there is   

such a halo of glory1 such a gentle     
influence1 that  it gathers within its  
sacred realm antagonistic natures1      
controls the  elements of discord1      
stills the storm1 soothes the spirit of 
passion1  and directs in harmony all of 
man's efforts to fraternize the world4  
,in this strangely selfish and uncertain
 world none are so affluent or          
favorably circumstanced as not at some  
time and in some way to become          
dependent4  ,oh6 there are emphasized   
essentialities that are not  embraced   
among the commodities of the market1 and
 in order to the  realization of which  
money possesses no purchasing power4    
,to relieve  the pungent pinchings of   
penury with raiment1 food and shelter1  
and so  send the sunshine of gladness to
 the poor and needy1 is                 
something--indeed is much4  ,but1 ah6   
the delicate and intricate  mechanism of
 mind is out of gear1 a secret sorrow   
swells and sways the  heart1 and        
unitedly they cry3 ,who will show us any

 good8  ,who remove  this rankling      
sorrow8  ,what good ,samaritan competent
 to the task of  affording relief to    
this dazed brain8  ,oh6 it is here that 
the trained  votaries of the triple     
brotherhood bring to bear their wondrous
 power4  ,if it be true that one touch  
of nature makes the whole world kin1 it 
is equally true that the ties of        
brotherhood here would wield their  most
 potent influence1 and of the true      
,odd-,fellow well may it be said1  ,he  
hath a tear for pity1 and a hand open as
 day for melting charity4    ,,truth6   
crown jewel of the radiant sisterhood of
 queenly graces6  ,she  can not be      
crushed to earth4  ,the eternal years of
 ,god being hers1 she1  no more than her
 author1 can go down4  ,error may fling 
widely open his  arsenal gates of       
defilement and deceit1 and seek so      
earnestly and  tirelessly the usurpation
 of her throne2 but there she sits1 as  
firmly  and gracefully as when the      
morning stars sang together and the sons

 of  ,god shouted for joy4  ,such is    
truth1 the rarest of all human virtues4 
,the man who is so conscious of the     
rectitude of his intentions1 as to  be  
willing to open his bosom to the        
inspection of the world1 is in          
possession of the strongest pillars of a
 decided character4  ,the course  of    
such a man will be firm and steady1     
because he has nothing to fear  from the
 world and is sure of the approbation of
 heaven4  ,while he who  is conscious of
 secret and dark designs1 which1 if     
known1 would blast  him1 is perpetually 
shrinking and dodging from public       
observation1 and  is afraid of all      
around1 and1 much more1 of all above    
him4  ,such a man  may indeed pursue his
 iniquitous plans steadily2 he may waste
 himself  to a skeleton in the guilty   
pursuit1 but it is impossible that he   
can  pursue them with the same          
health-inspiring confidence and exulting
  alacrity with him who feels at every  
step that he is in pursuit of  honest   

ends by honest means4  ,the clear1      
unclouded brow1 the open  countenance1  
the brilliant eye1 which can look an    
honest man  steadfastly1 yet            
courteously1 in the face1 the           
healthfully beating  heart and the firm1
 elastic step1 belong to him whose bosom
 is free  from guile1 and who knows that
 all his motives and purposes are pure  
and right4  ,why should such a man      
falter in his course8  ,he may be       
slandered1 he may be deserted by the    
world1 but he has that within him  which
 will keep him erect1 and enable him to 
move onward in his course1  with his    
eyes fixed on heaven1 which he knows    
will not desert him4    ,odd-,fellowship
 teaches its members to be men of honor4
  ,when ,i say  honest1 ,i use it in its
 larger sense of discharging all your   
duties1  both public and private1 both  
open and secret1 with the most          
scrupulous1 heaven-attesting integrity2 
in that sense1 farther1 which  drives   
from the bosom all little1 dark1        

crooked1 sordid1 debasing               
considerations of self1 and substitutes 
in their place a bolder1  loftier and   
nobler spirit1 one that will dispose you
 to consider  yourselves as born not so 
much for yourselves as for your country 
and  your fellow-creatures1 and which   
will lead you to act on every occasion  
sincerely1 justly1 generously and       
magnanimously4  ,there is a morality  on
 a larger scale1 perfectly consistent   
with a just attention to your  own      
affairs1 which it would be folly to     
neglect2 a generous expansion1  a proud 
elevation and conscious greatness of    
character1 which is the  best           
preparation for a decided course in     
every situation into which you  can be  
thrown2 and it is to this high and noble
 tone of character that  ,i would have  
you to aspire4  ,i would not have you to
 resemble those  weak and meagre        
streamlets1 which lose their direction  
at every petty  impediment that presents
 itself1 and stop and turn back1 and    

creep  around1 and search out every     
channel through which they may wind     
their  feeble and sickly course4  ,nor  
yet would ,i have you resemble the      
headlong torrent that carries havoc in  
its mad career2 but ,i would have  you  
like the ocean1 that noblest emblem of  
majestic decision1 which in  the calmest
 hour still heaves its resistless might 
of waters to the  shore1 filling the    
heavens day and night with the echoes of
 its sublime  declaration of            
independence1 and tossing and sporting  
on its bed with  an imperial            
consciousness of strength that laughs at
 opposition4  ,it is  this depth and    
weight and power and purity of character
 that ,i would  have you resemble2 and  
,i would have you1 like the waters of   
the ocean1  to become the purer by your 
own action4  ,men are sometimes ruined  
because they aim not at virtue1 but only
 at the reputation which it  brings4    
,odd-,fellowship teaches its members to 
be brave1 honest and  diligent4  ,if we 

have these attributes1 victory must     
surely crown our  efforts4  ,how often  
in the history of our country have men  
of humble  birth come forth in time of  
danger1 and1 nobly risking all1 even to 
death1 or disgrace worse than death     
itself1 stood between their country  and
 defeat1 and built for themselves a     
glorious name4  ,nor1 alas6 is  the     
opposite case to this unknown4  ,some of
 ,america's proudest sons  have1 by     
their own acts1 sunk themselves into the
 inner-most depths of  infamy and vice4 
,virtue alone is true nobility4    ,oh1 
give me inborn worth6 dare to be just1  
,firm to your word and faithful to your 
trust4    ,knowledge is a mighty rock in
 a weary land1 and to you1 brothers1    
'tis  permitted to smite this rock1 and 
from it gushes fountains of living      
waters1 which form rivers of wisdom1    
flowing to the uttermost parts of  the  
earth1 carrying the proper idea of life 
to the souls of men4  ,the  river of    
science flows in a deep1 straight       

course1 searching out the  hidden       
mysteries1 and demonstrating facts1     
while ,truth builds her  defenses on its
 shores1 and ,love rears her fair       
palaces and calmly  enjoys the result of
 labor and research4  ,history1 with its
 broad  stream bringing knowledge down  
through the vanished centuries1         
revealing many a lost art1 which avails 
us much in these later days4  ,mysteries
 which magicians have left behind       
them--secrets for ages  undusted--that  
we may read the records of the past4    
,experience builds citadels upon these  
heights4  ,flowing parallel to  history 
is the great1 turbid stream of politics4
  ,its crimson billows  cast wrecks upon
 the strand1 and the moaning waves      
strangely blend the  tones of grand     
martial music with the discords of      
despair and  disappointment1 for it is a
 treacherous tide4  ,along its winding  
shores  war builds her forts1 and there 
are fields of carnage and blood1 and    
dark fortresses of envy1 from which fly 

the poisoned shafts of malice1          
falsehood and revenge1 and there are    
many graves in which lie ambition1      
glory and renown1 with all their        
brilliant dreams4  ,opposite to this    
from the rock of knowledge gush the     
sweet fountains of poetry and  music1   
singing on their way through fair1      
secluded dells1 where there  are        
moss-covered rocks1 clinging vines1     
fragrant flowers and ferns and  singing 
birds4  ,in their shining waves of light
 are mirrored the azure  sky1 golden    
sunshine and fleecy clouds1 while youth1
 beauty1 laughter  and joy stray along  
the verdant shores1 keeping time to the 
music of  the merry spray and weaving   
garlands to crown their radiant brows4  
,not far from the rock of true knowledge
 flows a deep stream1 calm1  clear and  
beautiful4  ,majestically it sweeps     
through stately forests1  extended      
plains and lofty mountains2 and the fair
 cities of honesty1  temperance and     
truth are built upon its shores4  ,this 

wonderful stream  is fed by the         
ever-living fountains of honor1         
morality1 justice1 mercy  and divine    
love4  ,the music of its waves sends    
forth hymns of true  patriotism1 love of
 country and of home2 and the sweet     
songs of faith  and immortality float   
upward like strong1 white wings1 bearing
 the soul  away on pure melody above    
this world of longing and of hope1 until
 it  rises to meet the world of glory   
and fulfillment4  ,upon these shores    
faith1 hope1 charity and security have  
reared their white temples1  which shall
 ever represent a living institution1   
bearing on its banner  as a motto these 
beautiful words3    ,,friendship1 ,,love
 ,,and ,,truth4    ,the stream which ,i 
have just described is the great river  
of  ,odd-,fellowship1 and flows into the
 vast ocean of eternal peace1 and  such 
is the momentum and indestructibility of
 ,odd-,fellowship1 that1  like a great  
river fed from inexhaustible sources1   
men may come and men  may go1 but it    

goes on forever and forever4            
,brothers1 these are the streams flowing
 from the smitten rock whose  fountains 
you unseal4    ,standing at the mouth of
 the ,columbia ,river1 one can hear the 
ocean  waves moaning1 surging1          
thundering forevermore4  ,you can not   
stay the  rushing tides that come and   
go1 ebb and flow1 until time shall be no
  more2 and there the great river of the
 west1 the mighty ,columbia1  pouring   
her floods into that vast1 boundless    
sea1 so shall  ,odd-,fellowship pour her
 deep1 exhaustless stream into futurity1
 and all  the combined forces of        
opposition1 ignorance and fear shall    
have no  power to stay the onward       
rushing1 overwhelming flood4  ,wafted   
back to  us from the unexplored shore   
across that sea--softly whispering      
through  the rose marine spirit of the  
mist--intuitive knowledge reveals the   
throne of the ,grand ,lodge above1 from 
which flows the pure river of  life1 on 
whose shores grow the trees of knowledge

 and of life immortal1  which bear no   
fruit of sin1 but whose leaves are for  
the healing of  poor1 suffering         
humanity4  ,brothers1 build such a      
character as will  cause ,christ and the
 angels to rejoice when they behold it4 
,then1 when  life's work is done1 when  
the blessed ,master calls1 you will not 
look  mournfully into the past1 but will
 look eagerly into the mighty future    
just opening before you4    ,and as your
 life goes out amidst the rustling of an
 angel's wings--like  a summer sea      
asleep upon a sandy shore--you will not 
regret that you  practiced the          
principles laid down by our noble order1
    ,,friendship1 ,,love ,,and ,,truth4 
,,the ,,higher ,,life    ,manhood1 fully
 developed and symmetrically formed1    
through the various  stages of the      
world's history1 has been the great     
conservative element  of society1 and   
has been in high request4  ,some ages1  
however1 have  seemed to make a larger  
demand for this element than others1 and

 this  age of ours is one which yields  
to none of its predecessors in its call 
for manliness of character--for men of  
the right stamp4  ,the perils of  the   
times are imminent1 and the demand for a
 high grade of intelligence  and great  
strength of moral principle never was   
stronger4  ,new  developments of human  
genius and activity1 are constantly     
arising1 and  new dangers to the dearest
 interests of society are calling for   
vigilance4  ,this is neither a stagnant 
nor a tame and quiet age4  ,it is  an   
age of activity1 of enterprise1 of      
speculation1 of adventure1 of           
philosophizing and of both real and     
pseudo reforms4  ,the age eminently     
demands vigorous and mature manhood4    
,therefore1 study1 think1  investigate1 
learn4  ,remember1 however1 that it is  
not knowledge stored  up as intellectual
 fat which is of value1 but that which  
is turned into  intellectual muscle4    
,out of dull and selfish seclusion go   
forth4  ,regulate with care your basal  

endowments4  ,prove thy strength1 and   
render it sure4  ,deliver thy           
conceptions from narrowness1 thy charity
  from scrimpness1 thy purposes from    
smallness4  ,deny thyself and take up   
thy cross4  ,do and dare1 love and      
suffer4  ,so shalt thou build a         
character that will abide all the tests 
which future years or ages may  bring4  
,bear constantly in mind that you are   
endlessly improvable4  ,it is for  ,god 
and for ,omnipotency to do mighty things
 in a moment2 but  degreeingly to grow  
to greatness is the course that ,he hath
 left for  man4  ,to the conscious human
 self there belong possibilities of such
  moment that no one can well study them
 without being either thrillingly       
impressed or made to experience unusual 
emotions4  ,the conclusion is1          
therefore1 unavoidable1 that every soul 
can become great4  ,by processes  of    
culture to which it is able to subject  
itself1 it can perpetually  increase in 
wisdom1 in strength1 and in nobleness4  

,the soul's chief capabilities may1 for 
the sake of elucidation1 be  represented
 as so many different rooms within      
itself1 each of which can  be made to   
have a spaciousness equaled by no       
material amplitude ever  yet            
ascertained1 and each of which1 so long 
as it is kept in the  process of growth1
 is and will be susceptible of fresh    
furnishing4  ,these apartments of the   
minor man are too wonderful to admit    
being  depicted either by a writer's pen
 or by a painter's brush4  ,their most  
distinguishing characteristics can1 at  
best1 only be indicated4  ,who  can tell
 how much knowledge can find place in   
them1 or what volumes of  feeling they  
can contain8  ,who can declare the      
magnitude of the  grandest traits that1 
in them1 can have freedom to thrive and 
bear  fruit8  ,who can estimate the     
length and breadth1 the height and depth
  of the loftiest inspirations or the   
noblest joys that1 in them1 can be      
experienced8  ,to give a full expression

 to the utmost intelligence1  potency1  
amiability1 purity1 meritoriousness and 
majesty that can  reside in the         
capability--rooms of a human soul--would
 be equivalent to  picturing the        
imaginable or to portraying the         
infinite1 and to do  either the one or  
the other is impossible4  ,one may be   
sadly  indifferent to the value of his  
soul's foremost capabilities1 may       
inadequately exercise them1 and may     
secure to them merely a dwarf-like      
compass2 but there is never a time when 
they can not be made to  transcend the  
limits of development to which they have
 attained4  ,their  possessor can       
educate them forever4  ,he can          
unceasingly add to their  roominess and 
resource4  ,in all time to come he can  
cause them to  continue to exceed       
breadth after breadth4  ,oh1 who can    
conceive how  great his mental being is 
able to become8  ,who can comprehend how
  elevated a life it is possible for him
 to live8  ,who can be liable to        

overrate the vastness of the destiny for
 which he was created8    ,in the       
language of ,hughes1 ,our case is like  
that of a traveler on the  ,alps1 who   
should fancy that the top of the next   
hill must end his  journey because it   
terminates his prospect1 but he no      
sooner arrives at  it1 than he sees new 
ground and other hills beyond it1 and   
continues to  travel on as before4  ,the
 thought of the soul's improvability is 
well  adapted to quicken torpid virtue  
and to revive drooping aspirations4  ,it
 tends to scatter the gloom resulting   
from disappointed endeavors4  ,let it   
but have a star-like clearness in the   
mind1 and there will  spring from it an 
ever-new interest in life and being4    
,we know that the paths of usefulness   
and affection must sometimes be  strewn 
with smitten leaves and faded bloom1 and
 that the heart must  sometimes be      
chilled by harsh changes1 even as the   
face of nature is  chilled by rude      
winds4  ,we know that we are doomed to  

find thorns in  roses1 and to suffer    
from thorns in the flesh4  ,we know that
 there  are for us hours when the       
sunshine without must be darkened by    
shadows  within2 when we must be pierced
 by trials2 when we must be humbled by  
afflictions4  ,yet1 so we but duly know 
our mental possibilities1 how  much     
there is to animate us and to make us   
hopeful4  ,well may we go our  way1 with
 a high ambition and with good cheer4   
,well may we prize1 as a  stage of      
action1 this old stone-ribbed earth1    
whereon we can behold the  beauty of    
emerald meadows and of blossoming       
plants1 and can hear the  songs of      
russet-bosomed robins and the prattle of
 children1 the voice  of the vernal     
breeze1 and the sound of the summer     
rain4  ,oh1 who that  ever muses on the 
soul's heirship to the divine1 can wish 
he had never  been born8  ,i am grateful
 for my existence4  ,i rejoice that ,i  
have  place amid the bright-robed       
mysteries which surround me4  ,i glory  

in  the shifting scenery of the seasons4
  ,no flaw do ,i find in the sun1 the   
moon1 or the stars4  ,no prayer have ,i 
to make that the grass which  grows at  
my feet may be fairer than it is1 or    
that the mornings and  evenings may be  
more attractive4  ,let me know as ,i    
may1 and feel as ,i  should1 the truth  
that ,i am endlessly improvable1 and ,i 
am assured that  the soul of the        
universe will somehow sweeten every     
bitter allotment  that falls to me1 will
 charm my pained steps over the burning 
marl  which belongs to the course of    
probationary experience1 and will assist
  me joyfully to approximate the        
greatness of ,his own infinite and      
tranquil character4  ,it is bliss to    
feel that the soul is an  ever-enduring 
entity4  ,unlike the clouds and the     
snow-heaps1 the fluids  and the liquids1
 the rocks and the metals--unlike all   
the generations  of living organisms--it
 neither wastes away nor loses its      
distinctiveness4  ,nay1 it outlasts     

every transmuting process1 and1 as a    
self-identifying self1 is endlessly     
living4    ,if we reach the high plane  
of a perfect manhood1 we must climb4    
,come  up hither1 and ,i will show thee 
things which must be hereafter4--,rev41 
iv1 #a4  ,in this mystical ,revelation  
we behold the seer1 ,john1 dreaming  at 
the base of the celestial hill1 and in  
his dream he hears a voice  commanding  
him to rise to the summit of the        
eternities1 where1  standing1 he shall  
behold all things that must be4  ,this  
vision has an  infinite significance1 in
 that no small part of the felicity     
associated  with the idea of eternity is
 the thought that1 with ample mind1 we  
shall perfectly understand the mighty   
plan and enterprise of ,god1 and  know  
with perfect knowledge that which is    
dark and obscure now4  ,but  not only   
has this truth to us an infinite        
significance2 it has also a  temporal   
one1 in that it tells us that there is  
an immediate  relationship between      

elevation of life1 between high         
thinking1 living  and doing1 and the    
power to command the future4  ,come up  
hither1 and ,i  will show thee things   
which must be hereafter4  ,that is1 let 
us stand  high and we see far and wide1 
let us stand high and we see deep4      
,elevation grants perspective and yields
 the possession of those years  not only
 that are1 but that are not4  ,now1 so  
understood1 these words  have much      
inspiration1 comfort and solace for all 
of us1 for a very  large part of man's  
life is future4  ,indeed1 the great     
regulative force  of every human spirit 
is not so much the present and the      
past--present  opportunity and past     
experience--as future ideality4  ,the   
architectonic  principle of life is not 
the momentum that sweeps down to us from
 the  years that have been1 but the     
ideal that lies deep in the years that  
are yet to be4  ,this is the mysterious1
 occult power that moulds1 forms  and   
fashions our stature1 and that is       

determining the greatness or the        
littleness of our destiny4  ,and not    
only is the future architectonic1  it is
 also an inspiration and refuge for our 
anxieties1 defeats and  inadequacy1 his 
incompetency1 how little he has         
achieved1 realizes his  inconsequence   
and insignificance1 and he looks forward
 and sees triumph  in tomorrow2 he      
beholds the summit of the hill1 and     
says1 ,there ,i  shall stand victorious 
some future day4  ,today incomplete1    
tomorrow  complete2 today imperfect1    
tomorrow perfect2 today bound1 tomorrow 
emancipated2 today humiliated1 tomorrow 
crowned4  ,hence1 the future is  man's  
refuge1 hope and strength4  ,and in a   
yet more profound sense does  the future
 exert a wonderful power over our lives1
 in that it holds for  us the           
inheritance undefiled and incorruptible1
 the patrimony of  eternity4  ,and who  
can measure the influence of this belief
 over human  character8  ,blot it out1  
and what inspiration have we to struggle

 on8  ,if we are to perish as the beast 
of the field1 wither like the grass1    
and vanish like the transient cloud1 man
 has no grand1 sublime  impulsion in    
this life4  ,but let him believe that he
 is the child of  ,god1 that there is an
 immortal soul1 not only in him1 but an 
eternal  sphere awaiting him--let him   
believe that here he is but in the bud1 
that these seventy years are but the    
seed time1 and that infinite eons  lie  
before him for fruition and             
efflorescence1 and you magnify his      
spirit1 enlarge his hope1 and inspire   
him with a zeal to conquer and  achieve4
    ,but now there is a popular         
philosophy that tells us that man can   
only  know two points of time3 that     
point of time through which he has      
gone--the past1 and that point of time  
in which he is now living--the  present4
  ,he may know experience and he may    
grasp opportunity1 but he  can know     
nothing of futurity4  ,the future is a  
riddle1 an unexplored  continent1 a     

terra incognita into which no human eyes
 have ever pried  or ever may pry1      
sealed as it is by the counsel of ,god  
against the  curious vision of ,his     
children4  ,and to some extent ,i think 
we all must  admit that this popular    
notion holds true4  ,there are those to 
whom the  future must be a blank1 who   
peer into it and behold nothing there4  
,i have noticed that no great poem1 no  
great religion1 no great creation  of   
any kind1 was ever written or conceived 
by people who lived in the  valleys1    
cramped by the hills4  ,the hills narrow
 one's horizon1 make  one insular1      
provincial1 limited4  ,and what is true 
of literature and  art is true also of  
life4  ,the man of low ideals never     
vaticinates2 the  man who is living down
 in the lower ranges of existence never 
prophesies4  ,the man with a low brow   
has always a limited perspective2  so1  
also1 the man with a low heart or a low 
conscience4  ,the sordid man  can never 
measure the consequences of his wealth4 

,he may know that  tomorrow he will be  
as rich as he is today1 or richer1 but  
he can not  prognosticate what his      
riches will mean to him                 
tomorrow--whether he  will find in them 
more or less felicity1 whether they will
 be a  blessing or a burden4  ,neither  
has the base man1 the immoral man1 any  
clear vision of futurity4  ,he lives in 
doubts and fears1 and is begirt  with   
clouds and confusion4  ,he half fears   
that there is a law of ,god1  and half  
doubts it2 half believes in retribution1
 and half doubts it2  half believes in  
moral cause and effect1 and half doubts 
it4  ,he sees1  with no certain sight1  
the inevitable penalty awaiting his     
wrong-doing1  else he would not and dare
 not sin4  ,no man would sin1 could he  
read  the future2 no man would defy the 
,infinite1 did he unerringly know that  
,god is a just ,god1 and that ,he shall 
visit inevitable retribution upon  him  
who trangresses ,his holy law4  ,the    
wicked man1 like the sordid man  living 

in the low lands1 never vaticinates1 and
 can not1 not by reason  of any want of 
talent or conscience1 but by reason of  
want of altitude  of vision4  ,but ,st4 
,john does not tell us here that all men
 shall know  all things that must be2   
that all men have a sense of futurity4  
,what  he does say is that there is an  
intimate and indissoluble relationship  
between elevation and futurity2 that    
only the man who stands upon the        
altitudes can command the future2 for   
only there1 when he is at his  best1 and
 when he is living on the summit of his 
soul1 does he behold  the true and      
perfect action of the forces and the    
laws of the ,eternal4  ,it is not ,stay 
down there and ,i will show thee things 
which must be  hereafter1 but ,come up  
hither--live1 aspire1 ascend into the   
altitudes of mind2 ascend into the      
altitudes of feeling2 ascend into  the  
altitudes of conscience2 live where ,god
 means you to live1 and  then--,i will  
show thee things which must be          

hereafter4    ,and now1 if you will     
consult your own experience or meditate 
on  history1 if you will scan the great 
things thought and the great things     
done1 and the great things wrought and  
the great things won by man1 you  will  
see that they have been always wrought  
and won and done and  thought upon the  
heights4  ,the ,muses live upon         
,parnassus1 the ,deities  upon ,olympus4
  ,jehovah has his abiding place on     
,zion4  ,david says1 ,i  look unto the  
hills1 whence cometh my help4  ,not unto
 the meadows1 or  the streams1 or by the
 forests1 or the cities1 or the seas1   
but unto  the hills1 whence cometh my   
help4  ,he looks high1 and his high     
vision  grants him spiritual            
perspective4  ,and ,jesus speaks his    
great sermon1  not by the ,jordan1 but  
on the mount4  ,he is transfigured on a 
mount1  crucified on a mount1 and       
ascends to the right hand of ,his       
,father from  a mount4  ,everywhere the 
heights play a great part in the history

 of  human thought1 feeling and faith4  
,all great truth comes down2 it does    
not rise up4  ,all great religion comes 
down2 it does not rise up4  ,it  is not 
the wilderness1 nor the low lands1 nor  
the level places1 but  ,mount ,carmel1  
,mount ,horeb1 ,mount ,zion1 the ,mount 
of the ,beatitudes and  the ,mount of   
,transfiguration that are focal points  
of righteousness and  faith4  ,and when 
you look at and reflect upon men--the   
great men1 the  men who have moulded the
 world1 who have made the massive       
contributions  to humanity1 who have    
dealt the ,titan strokes that have      
redeemed the  race from its servitudes  
and bestialities1 who1 like ,atlas1 have
 upheld  and lifted up the world2 who1  
like ,prometheus1 have brought to man   
precious gifts from ,zeus1 and so       
delivered him from the tyranny and      
dominion of his ignorance1              
superstitions1 fears and passions--you  
will  always find that they are men who 
have lived upon the lofty summits of    

the ,spirit1 and therefore have been    
seers of the future and have seen  those
 things which must be hereafter4        
,every high-minded man has always lived 
in the future4  ,take the  sovereign    
prophet of the ancient faith4  ,the     
world about him is dark  and desolate2  
,israel's powers are at the ebb2 the    
great faith that she  has inherited is  
degraded1 sensualized1 formalized1      
buried under a  debris of priestcraft1  
infidelity1 idolatry and corruption2 and
 yet  this prophet stands upon the hills
 and dreams--dreams against the         
present1 dreams through all the darkness
 environing him--and sees the  day when 
the faith of ,israel shall be the faith 
of the world2 when the  law of ,israel  
shall dominate the conscience of the    
world2 when the  ,savior of ,israel     
shall be the ,savior of the world1 and  
when the ,jehovah  of ,israel shall be  
the ,jehovah of the world4  ,standing   
high1 his soul  soaring1 thinking lofty 
thoughts1 he beholds ,israel in glorious

  perspective as the nation that shall  
lead man from bondage to liberty1  from 
darkness to light4  ,or think again of  
the life1 the history1 the  hope of     
,jesus1 and behold in ,him a perfect    
illustration of this truth2  this truth 
that there is an intimate relationship  
between high living  and high thinking1 
high doing1 high willing and the vision 
of the  future4  ,what right had ,christ
 to hope at all8  ,what right had ,he to
  think of a ,kingdom of ,god that was  
going steadily to conquer and take      
possession of this earth8  ,what right  
had ,he to think that ,his ,gospel      
would come to be the regnant gospel over
 the minds of men8  ,what right  had ,he
 to think that ,his own beautiful spirit
 would prevail over the  perverse and   
rebellious will of society8  ,what right
 had he to think  that the world would  
ever come to accept ,his marvelous      
beatitudes as  truth8  ,what right had  
,he to believe that the cross would ever
 be a  universal symbol of salvation8   

,judged from the near point of view1 by 
immediate results1 by the facts that    
were right before ,his eyes1  history   
records no more conspicuous and terrible
 failure than the life  of ,jesus4  ,a  
,savior1 and yet disbelieved in by the  
people2 a ,savior1  and yet scorned by  
the multitude2 a ,savior1 and yet called
 a wine  bibber and a glutton2 a        
,savior1 and yet humiliated and         
degraded2 a  ,savior1 and yet dying     
ignominiously upon the cross4  ,where is
 there any  ample redemption1 any       
glorious assertion of the mind1 in these
 sad1  gloomy1 hopeless facts8  ,and yet
 ,he said1 ,i1 if ,i be lifted up1 shall
  draw all men unto ,me4  ,how did ,he  
dare make such a prophecy as that8  ,how
 did ,he dare arrogate to himself such a
 dominion as that8  ,why1  simply       
because1 living in the altitudes1 he had
 vision of things that  must be4  ,he   
knew that ,he had righteousness in ,his 
heart1 and that  righteousness must at  
last be established4  ,he knew that ,his

 spirit was  a spirit of peace and good 
will towards men1 and that peace and    
good  will towards men must ultimately  
prevail4  ,he lived on the heights1 and 
,he saw those things that were to be4   
,and now1 what is true of these  great  
men may be true of every one of us1     
according to the loftiness of  our      
living4  ,every one of us may command   
the future--may1 in a measure1  prophesy
 and weigh the consequences1 and        
calculate the issues of our  own life2  
and every one of us can live a far      
larger1 fuller and richer  life1 in the 
years that are to be than we can live in
 the past or in  the time that is now4  
,and first1 let me say to you that the  
man that lives upon the altitudes  of   
his spirit beholds with sure vision the 
issuance of his life in  triumph4  ,we  
speak of life habitually as being a     
complicated and  intricate thing1 and no
 doubt it is1 upon its lower ranges4  ,a
 man is  prosperous today1 sweeping1    
with sails full set1 before the breeze1 

his  bark leaping gladly1 mounting      
buoyantly upon the waves2 but no man can
  tell what the morrow will bring forth 
to him4  ,prosperity is not a  matter of
 certitude1 security or permanency4  ,an
 ill wind comes1 and  the vessel is     
swept to disaster2 on the shoals or     
rocks1 rushing to  destruction against  
some ,scylla or swallowed up by some    
,charybdis4  ,and  what is true of      
prosperity is true of power4  ,today a  
man is the idol  of the people1         
flattered1 honored1 extolled and crowned
 by them4  ,they  gather round him and  
intoxicate him with their plaudits4  ,he
 is the man  of the people1 the great   
man of his day1 but who can tell how    
long this  will rule enthroned8  ,an    
unfortunate speech1 an error of conduct1
 a  moment of indecision1 a failure to  
appeal to the demagogic instincts of    
the race1 and he is ruthlessly bereaved 
of his honor and his glory  gone4  ,the 
idols of yesterday are the broken       
statues of today2 the  heroes of        

yesterday are the have-beens of today4  
,so capricious1 so  ephemeral1 so       
mutable1 so mercurial1 so impermanent   
are the whims of  humanity1 and so      
unstable its idolatries and adorations4 
,and as the mighty fall1 so the obscure 
rises4  ,names that were unknown  ten   
years ago are blazoned almost on the    
skies4  ,the insignificant come  up and 
take the scepter in their hand4  ,the   
poor man of a little while  ago is the  
rich merchant or the successful lawyer  
of today4  ,this is  his hour1 this the 
moment of his power4  ,strange1 is it   
not8  ,there  seems to be no method1 no 
system in those lower planes of life4   
,the  rich become poor and the poor     
rich1 the strong weak and the weak      
strong2 the ruler becomes the ruled and 
the ruled the ruler2 the master  becomes
 the servant and the servant the master4
  ,no order1 no system1  no method      
anywhere in mundane things1 and         
therefore no power of vision  and       
vaticination4    ,but now in the higher 

things there is none of this            
impermanence and  instability4          
,everything is in order here4  ,when man
 is living in the  fulness of his       
nature1 when he is living on the        
heaven-kissing  pinnacles of his spirit1
 when his whole being is harmonious with
 the  great and glorious laws of ,god1  
his future is assured2 it is bound to   
be a great and beautiful success4  ,no  
possibility of failure upon the         
heights2 every possibility of failure   
upon the level2 every possibility  of   
disaster down there1 but upon the peaks 
there can be no disaster1 no  mistake1  
no accident1 no dethronement2 there must
 be inevitable and  unconditional       
achievement4  ,of course1 ,i do not mean
 popular  achievement--achievement as   
men usually count achievement1 or       
success  as men ordinarily rate success4
  ,so measured1 every great man's life  
has been a dismal failure4  ,paul's life
 was not a popular success1 nor  was    
,isaiah's1 nor was ,augustine's1 nor was

 ,savanarola's1 nor was  ,socrates'1 nor
 was ,christ's life a popular success4  
,measured by  terrestrial standards1    
measured by the low ideals of humanity1 
these  lives were all ignominious       
failures1 every one of them2 but        
measured by  the ,divine standard1 by   
the mind and will of ,god1 they are     
triumphant  victories4    ,and now ,i   
say that every man whose point of view  
is high1 who is  standing upon the very 
highest reaches of his own being1       
seeking  sincerely to be true to all    
that is heroic and great in his         
heaven-endowed nature1 that man is bound
 to be1 by the decree of the  ,eternal1 
an ultimately successful man4  ,he is   
bound1 just so surely as  ,god's sun is 
bound to come tomorrow1 he is bound to  
be crowned1 not  only with a celestial  
but with a terrestrial success--success 
as ,god  measures success4  ,he may feel
 pain2 he may feel the slings and arrows
  of outrageous fortune2 he may         
experience neglect2 he may contend      

against a host of untoward              
circumstances2 he may groan under the   
pressure and weight of many woes2 he may
 weep bitter1 burning1 scalding  tears  
of sorrow and grief1 but still he must  
triumph1 for ,god is just  and will     
crown with a perfect equity ,his        
faithful children4    ,and so1 my       
friends1 the central truth that ,i      
deliver to you is this1  that life1 life
 upon the summit of the soul1 is the    
supreme1  resplendent luminary4  ,not   
argument1 not philosophy1 not the       
elaborate1  logical processes of the    
intellect1 not the ,bible1 not the      
church1 but  life2 this is the great    
infallible interpreter4  ,live and ye   
shall see4  ,do my will1 says ,christ1  
and ye shall know4  ,stand high and firm
 on  the summit of your soul and ye     
shall see the things that must be       
hereafter--a victorious righteousness1 a
 triumphant life1 and the  redeemed     
hosts swathed and folded in the light of
 ,him who is  everlasting1 omnipotent   

and all-loving4          ,,pithy        
,,points    ,brethren1 be merciful in   
your judgment of others4    ,every      
temptation promptly resisted strengthens
 the will4    ,there is a sad want of   
thoughtful mercy among us all4    ,every
 step we take on the ladder upwards     
helps to a higher4    ,if we are true   
,odd-,fellows we will put away all      
bitterness and malice4    ,brothers1    
remember the moral harvest comes to all 
perfection2 not one  grain is lost4     
,as ,odd-,fellows there are loads we can
 help others to carry1 and thus  learn  
sympathy4    ,the test of truthfulness  
is true dealing with ourselves when we  
do  wrong and true dealing with the     
brethren when they fall4    ,it is a    
serious reflection that even our secret 
thoughts influence  those around us4    
,the ,brotherhood has a ,father watching
 over it1 who is the same  yesterday1   
today and forever4    ,man alone is     
responsible for the eternal condition of
 his soul4  ,we  make our own heaven or 

hell1 not by the final act of life1 but 
by life  itself4    ,truth supplies us  
with the only true and perfect standard 
by which to  test the value of things1  
and so corrects the one-sided1          
materialistic  standard of business4    
,if an ,odd-,fellow begins right ,i can 
not tell how many tears he may wipe     
away1 how many burdens he may lift1 how 
many orphans he may comfort1  how many  
outcasts he may reclaim4    ,love       
edifies2 that is1 it builds up perfectly
 the whole man1 secures an  entire and  
harmonious and proportionate development
 of his nature4  ,it  does so by casting
 out the selfishness in man which always
 leads to a  diseased and one-sided     
growth of his nature4    ,no two souls  
are endowed in an exactly similar way4  
,and for the  difference of endowment   
there is a reason in the ,divine mind1  
for each  soul in its generation has its
 appointed work to do1 and is endowed   
with suitable grace for its performance4
    ,we are not ,odd-,fellows in the    

true sense unless we put away all       
bitterness1 malice and selfishness4     
,common sense of mankind is quite  right
 when it says a man's religion is not   
worth much if it does not  make him     
good4  ,have goodness first--out of     
goodness good works will  come4         
,every good work requires every good    
principle4  ,a man with very  prominent 
and striking characteristics will always
 be a perfect man4  ,a  perfect man has 
such harmonies that he scarcely has a   
characteristic4  ,to be fruitful in     
every good work you must have in your   
heart the germs  and seeds1 the springs 
and sources of all ,christian virtue4   
,we are all greater dupes to our        
weakness than to the skill of others2   
and the successes gained over us by the 
designing are usually nothing  more than
 the prey taken from those very snares  
we have laid ourselves4  ,one man falls 
by his ambition1 another by his perfidy1
 a third by his  avarice1 and a fourth  
by his lust2 what are these but so many 

nets1  watched indeed by the fowler1 but
 woven by the victim8    ,sorrow is not 
an accident--occurring now and then--it 
is the very woof  which is woven into   
the warp of life1 and he who has not    
discerned the  divine sacredness of     
sorrow1 and the profound meaning which  
is  concealed in pain1 has yet to learn 
what life is4  ,the cross manifested  as
 the necessity of the highest life alone
 interprets it4    ,equity--,an eternal 
rule of right1 implanted in the heart4  
,what it asks  for itself it is willing 
to grant to others4  ,it not only       
forbids us to  do wrong to the meanest  
of ,god's creatures1 but it teaches us  
to  observe the golden rule1 ,all things
 whatsoever ye would that men  should do
 unto you1 do you even so to them4      
,there is no greater  injunction--no    
better rule to practice4    ,don't rely 
on friends--don't rely on the name of   
your ancestors4  ,thousands have spent  
the prime of life in the vain hope of   
help from  those whom they called       

friends1 and many thousands have starved
 because  they have rich fathers4  ,rely
 upon the good name which is made by    
your  own exertions1 and know that      
better than the best friend you can have
  is unquestionable determination1      
united with decision of character4      
,how little is known of what is in the  
bosom of those around us6  ,we  might   
explain many a coldness could we look   
into the heart concealed  from us2 we   
should often pity where we hate1 love   
when we curl the lip  with scorn and    
indignation4  ,to judge without reserve 
of any human  action is a culpable      
temerity1 of all our sins the most      
unfeeling and  frequent4    ,how a      
common sorrow or calamity spans the     
widest social differences and  welds    
all1 the rich and poor1 in one common   
bond of sympathy1 which1  begetting     
charity and all her train1 softens the  
hardest heart and  banishes the         
sturdiest feeling of superiority6  ,over
 the lifeless body  of the departed1    

enemies and friend can weep together1   
and1 burying  strife and differences    
with their common loss1 feel a kinship  
which  unites them1 and which all       
humanity shares4    ,don't be           
exacting4--,an exacting temper is one   
against which to guard  both one's heart
 and the nature of those who are under  
our control and  influence4  ,to give   
and to allow1 to suffer and to bear1 are
 the graces  more to the purpose of a   
noble life than cold1 exacting          
selfishness1  which must have1 let who  
will go without1 which will not yield1  
let who  will break4  ,it is a          
disastrous quality wherewith to go      
through the  world2 for it receives as  
much pain as it inflicts1 and creates   
the  discomfort it deprecates4          
,verily1 good works constitute a        
refreshing stream in this world1        
wherever they are found flowing4  ,it is
 a pity that they are too often  like   
oriental torrents1 waters that fail in  
times of greatest need4  ,when we meet  

the stream actually flowing and         
refreshing the land1 we  trace it       
upward1 in order to discover the        
fountain whence it springs4  ,threading 
our way upward1 guided by the river1 we 
have found at length  the placid lake   
from which the river runs4  ,behind all 
genuine good  works and above them1 love
 will1 sooner or later1 certainly be    
found4  ,it is never good alone2        
uniformly1 in fact1 and necessarily in  
the  nature of things1 we find the two  
constituents existing as a complex      
whole1 love and good works1 the fountain
 and the flowing stream4    ,never give 
up old friends for new ones4  ,make new 
ones if you like1 and  when you have    
learned that you can trust them1 love   
them if you will1  but remember the old 
ones still4  ,do not forget they have   
been merry  with you in time of         
pleasure1 and when sorrow came to you   
they sorrowed  also4  ,no matter if they
 have gone down in social scale and you 
up2 no  matter if poverty and misfortune

 have come to them while prosperity     
came to you2 are they any less true for 
that8  ,are not their hearts as  warm   
and tender if they do beat beneath      
homespun instead of velvet8  ,yes1 kind 
reader1 they are as true1 loving and    
tender2 don't forget old  friends4      
,young men6  ,let the nobleness of your 
mind impel you to its  improvement2 you 
are too strong to be defeated1 save by  
yourselves4  ,refuse to live merely to  
sleep and eat4  ,brutes can do this2 but
 you  are men4  ,act the part of men4   
,prepare yourselves to endure toil4     
,resolve to rise--you have but to       
resolve4  ,nothing can hinder your      
success if you determine to succeed4    
,do not waste your time by wishing  and 
dreaming1 but go earnestly to work4     
,let nothing discourage you4  ,if you   
have no books1 borrow them2 if you have 
no teachers1 teach  yourself2 if your   
early education has been neglected1 by  
the greater  diligence repair the       
defect4  ,let not a craven heart or a   

love of ease  rob you of the inestimable
 benefit of self-culture4    ,have the  
courage to face a difficulty1 lest it   
kick you harder than you  bargained for4
  ,difficulties1 like thieves1 often    
disappear at a  glance4  ,have the      
courage to leave a convivial party at   
the proper hour  for doing so1 however  
great the sacrifice2 and to stay away   
from one  upon the slightest grounds for
 objection1 however great the temptation
  to go4  ,have the courage to do       
without that which you do not need1     
however much you may admire it4  ,have  
the courage to speak your mind  when it 
is necessary that you should do so1 and 
hold your tongue when  it is better you 
should be silent4  ,have the courage to 
speak to a poor  friend in a seedy coat1
 even in the street1 and when a rich one
 is  nigh4  ,the effort is less than    
many people take it to be1 and the act  
is worthy of a king4  ,have the courage 
to admit that you have been in  the     
wrong1 and you will remove the fact in  

the mind of others1 putting  a desirable
 impression in the place of an          
unfavorable one4  ,have the  courage to 
adhere to the first resolution when you 
can not change it  for a better1 and    
abandon it at the eleventh hour upon    
conviction4          ,,the ,,bible ,,in 
,,odd-,,fellowship    ,the ,bible is a  
book for the understanding2 but much    
more it is a book  for the spirit and   
for the heart4  ,many other kinds of    
learning are  found in the ,bible4  ,it 
is a manual of ,eastern antiquities1 a  
handbook  of political experiences1 a   
collection of moral wisdom as applied to
  personal conduct1 a mine of poetry1 a 
choice field for the study of           
languages4  ,the ,bible is the book of  
,god1 and therefore it is the book  of  
the future1 the book of hope4  ,it      
pierces the veil between this and       
another life1 pointing us on to the     
realms of light4  ,in sorrow1 in  sin1  
and in death we may1 if we will1 find in
 the ,holy ,bible patience1  consolation

 and hope4  ,the ,bible opens the       
widest1 freest outlook for  the mind    
into the eternal1 enlarging a man's     
range of spiritual sight1  and enabling 
him to judge of all things in both      
worlds in their true  proportion4  ,the 
,bible gets into life because it first  
came out of  life4  ,it was born of life
 at its best4  ,its writers were the    
tallest  white angels literature has    
known4  ,no other literature has five   
names  equal to these3 ,moses1 ,david1  
,isaiah1 ,paul and ,john4  ,these men   
and the  others wrote as they were moved
 by the ,holy ,ghost4  ,the messages of 
the  ,bible are the loftiest in the     
range of human thought4  ,there have    
been  many magnificent periods like the 
age of ,elizabeth1 the time of the      
,renaissance and the age of ,victoria1  
but no other single century has  ever   
done anything equal to the production of
 the ,new ,testament in the  first      
century4  ,the ,bible has a sound       
psychology4  ,it seeks to  influence the

 whole man4  ,it pours white light into 
the intellect4  ,it  grapples with the  
great themes upon which thinkers stretch
 their minds4  ,john ,fiske's three     
subjects are all familiar themes to the 
readers of  the ,bible4  ,its style is  
incomparable in grandeur and variety4   
,it  approaches the intellect with every
 form of literary style4  ,it is the    
supreme intellectual force in the life  
of the common people4  ,it has  been    
teacher and school for the millions4    
,the ,puritans1 for example1  used it as
 a poem1 story book1 history1 law and   
philosophy4  ,out of it  ,new ,england  
was born4  ,it has been the chief       
representative of the  ,english language
 at its best4  ,anglo-,saxon life and   
learning are  saturated with it4  ,the  
literature of ,england and ,america is  
full of  the ,bible4  ,shakespeare and  
,tennyson are specimens4  ,each of these
  authors quote from nearly every book  
in the ,bible1 and each of them  refers 
to the ,bible not less than five hundred

 times4  ,herbert ,spencer  admits that 
it is the greatest educator4  ,it is    
winning its place in  school and        
college4  ,no education is complete     
without a knowledge of  this literature4
  ,it is the privilege of               
,odd-,fellowship to enthrone the  ,bible
 in the lodge-room1 and in the home4    
,it teaches the intellectual  life from 
above and lifts it to the ,bible's own  
level4    ,dean ,stanley was visiting   
the great scholar1 ,ewald1 in ,dresden1 
and in  the course of the conversation1 
,ewald snatched up a copy of the ,new   
,testament and said1 in his impulsive   
and enthusiastic way1 ,in this  little  
book is contained all the wisdom of the 
world4  ,there is a  sense in which this
 statement is not extravagant4  ,the    
book contains  the highest and fullest  
revelation of truth the world has known4
  ,the  greatest themes man's mind can  
ponder are here presented4  ,the most   
profound problems with which the human  
intellect has ever grappled are  here   

discussed4  ,we maintain that a mastery 
of the contents of this  book will in   
itself provide an intellectual          
discipline no other book  can give4     
,refinement of character1 refinement of 
thought1 refinement  of speech1 all of  
the essential characteristics of the    
intellectual as  well as of the         
spiritual life1 have been found in our  
own church from  the beginning1 among   
those whose only advantages have been a 
personal  religious experience and the  
consequent love and continuous study of 
,god's word as well as among those who  
have had all the advantages of  the     
schools4  ,no man need be afraid of     
exhausting the truth in the  ,bible4    
,no man can ever flatter himself that he
 has got beyond it4  ,whatever his      
intellectual attainments may be1 the    
,bible will still have  further message 
for him4    ,there was a very suggestive
 spectacle on the streets of ,london one
 day1  just after ,elizabeth had become 
,england's ,queen4  ,as she was riding  

by  the little conduit at the upper end 
of ,cheapside an old man came out of    
it1 carrying a scythe and bearing a pair
 of wings4  ,he represented  ,father    
,time coming out of his dark cave to    
greet the young ,queen4  ,he  led by the
 hand a young girl clad in flowing robes
 of white silk1 and  she was his        
daughter1 ,truth4  ,truth held in her   
hands an ,english ,bible1  on which was 
written ,verbum ,veritatis1 and which   
she presented to the  ,queen4  ,it was a
 pageant prepared for the occasion but  
suggestive for  this occasion as well4  
,truth is the daughter of ,time4  ,our  
backs may  be bent and our hair may be  
gray before we can lead ,bible truth    
forth  by the hand4  ,we may be old     
before we know much2 our intellectual   
life  may be matured in fullest measure 
and we still can know more2 we must     
grow a pair of wings before we know it  
all--even if we do then4    ,the ,bible 
is the conquering book4  ,it has already
 dominated ,english  literature1 so that

 almost the whole of its text from      
,genesis to  ,revelation might1 if all  
the copies of the ,bible were suddenly  
lost  from the world1 be restored in    
piecemeal fragments gathered out of the 
books in which the ,book has been       
quoted1 ,then1 besides1 there are the   
,bible thoughts that have indirectly1 we
 might almost say insidiously1          
permeated the literature of ,europe and 
,america4  ,more than that1 the  ,bible 
has been industriously for years        
securing its own translation  into      
hundreds of tongues and dialects of the 
globe4  ,the ,koran does not  take pains
 to translate itself1 and1 indeed1      
refuses to be translated2  but in       
contradistinction with such apathy of   
false faiths1 the ,bible  courts        
transcription into foreign tongues1     
loses nothing in the  process1 but      
thereby gains for itself the homage of  
multitudes who1 on  reading it for the  
first time1 cry1 ,this is the book we   
long have  sought1 that finds us out in 

the deepest recesses of our being and   
satisfies the profoundest cravings of   
our souls4  ,the ,bible is the          
comforting book4  ,there is no volume   
like it for consolation4  ,it is  the   
only sure and steady staff for pilgrim  
spirits to lean upon1 and  the only book
 that is quoted at the bedside of the   
sick4  ,it is a book  to wear next the  
heart in life1 and upon which to pillow 
the head in  death4  ,no other so-called
 scriptures of the world say the things 
that the ,bible says1 or supply the     
hopes that its promises afford4  ,the   
,bible is not simply a book2 it is ,the 
,book4  ,it is the best book of any     
kind that we have4  ,we can not do      
without it1 either here or hereafter4   
,there are many books in the world1 but 
there is only one book4  ,the  ,bible is
 unique4  ,it is in a class by itself4  
,it seeks to control  everything1 but it
 co-ordinates itself with nothing4  ,it 
sets forth  imitable examples of        
character1 but it is not itself         

imitable4  ,no one  has ever written or 
ever will write a second ,bible4  ,the  
very phrase  which every one uses1 ,the 
,bible1 signifies the uniqueness of this
  book4  ,it is a whole library in      
itself1 and yet it is more than a       
simple collection of books4  ,there is a
 homogeneity and consistency to  the    
whole which lead us to speak of         
scripture as being a single story1  not 
many revelations4  ,the ,bible is the   
exhaustless book4  ,it may  sometimes   
prove exhausting to its light-minded    
readers1 but it never  exhausts itself4 
,it is the wonder of the ,bible1        
observes ,dr4 ,joseph  ,parker1 who has 
preached more than twenty-five volumes  
of sermons upon  scriptural subjects1   
that you never get through it4  ,you get
 through  all other books1 but you never
 get through the ,bible4  ,on the basis 
of  a rationalistic criticism1 this     
quality of exhaustlessness is really    
inexplicable4  ,and when we come to     
realize that1 after all has been  said  

as to scrolls and tablets and styluses  
and human factors and  copyists1 ,god   
wrote the ,bible1 we understand why it  
is that scripture  is so rich in        
treasures of wisdom4  ,we see that we   
can not exhaust the  ,bible because we  
can not exhaust ,god4  ,the ,bible      
wields an influence  that can not be    
estimated4  ,the spoken word is         
powerful1 the printed  word surpasses   
it4  ,the one is temporal1 the other is 
eternal2 the one  is circumscribed1 the 
other is unlimited4  ,the spoken sermon 
of today  is forgotten tomorrow2 the    
written word of thousands of years ago  
still  sways the masses of today4       
,the whole civilized world bows down    
with reverence before the book of  all  
books1 the ,bible4  ,the ,roman sword1  
the ,grecian palette and chisel1  have  
indeed rendered noble service to the    
cause of civilization1 yet  even their  
proudest claims dwindle into            
insignificance when compared  with the  
benefits which the ,bible has wrought4  

,it has penetrated into  realms where   
the names of ,greece and ,rome have     
never resounded4  ,it has  illumined    
empires and ennobled peoples1 which     
,roman war and ,grecian art  had left   
dark and barbarous4  ,where one man is  
charmed by the ,odyssey1  tens and      
hundreds of thousands are delighted by  
the ,pentateuch2 where  one man is      
enthused by the ,philippics of          
,demosthenes1 millions are  enthused by 
the orations of ,isaiah2 where one man  
is inspired by the  valor of ,horatious1
 tens of millions are inspired by the   
bravery of  ,david2 where one man's life
 is ennobled by the art in the          
,parthenon1  scores of millions of lives
 are ennobled by the art in the         
sanctuary3  where one man's life is     
guided by the moral maxims of ,marcus   
,aurelius1  hundreds of millions find   
their law of right and their rule for   
action  in the ,bible4  ,it is read in  
more than two hundred and fifty         
languages1  by four hundred millions of 

people living in every clime and zone of
  the globe4  ,it constitutes the only  
literature1 the only code of law  and   
ethics1 of many peoples and tribes4     
,for thousands of years it has  gone    
hand in hand with civilization1 has led 
the way towards the moral  and          
intellectual development of human kind1 
and despite the hatred of  its enemies  
and the still more dangerous            
misinterpretations of its  friends1 its 
moral law still maintains its firm hold 
upon the hearts  and minds of the       
people1 its power is still supreme for  
kindling a love  of right and duty1 of  
justice and morality1 within the hearts 
of the  overwhelming masses4  ,were it  
possible to annihilate the ,bible1 and  
with it all the influence it has        
exercised1 the pillars upon which       
civilization rests would be knocked from
 under it1 and1 as if with one  thrust  
of the fatal knife1 we would deal the   
death blow to our  morality1 to our     
domestic happiness1 to our commercial   

integrity1 to  our peaceful             
relationships1 to our educational and   
chart-table  institutions4    ,there are
 wives and mothers1 who stand with      
lacerated hearts at the  open grave and 
see the light of their life extinguished
 beneath the  cruel clods1 and yet1 they
 bear up bravely1 resting their bent    
forms  and supporting their tottering   
feet on the staff of hope and trust     
which the ,bible affords4  ,take that   
solace from them1 and you may soon  have
 occasion to bury the wife next to her  
husband1 and the mother next  to her    
child4  ,there are husbands who1 when   
sitting lonely1 dependent1  in the      
circle of their motherless1 weeping     
children1 find the good old  ,book the  
only comforter2 take it from them and   
you drive them to the  madhouse or to   
suicide4  ,there are maidens grieving1  
pining1 their  hearts broken1 their     
lives blighted1 their career            
irretrievably  blasted2 take the solace 
from them which this book breathes into 

their  withered hearts1 the solace that 
suffering innocence will be             
recompensed1 that a ,god of justice     
rules1 take that solace from them  and  
you have taken all that makes life      
bearable4  ,there are millions of       
people pining in bondage1 toiling in    
obscurity1 suffering physically  and    
mentally for no crime of their own1 sick
 and hungry1 friendless and  hopeless2  
take the book from them that teaches    
them the lesson of  patient endurance1  
and you may write the word ,finis1 and  
close the  records of civilization      
forevermore4  ,it is the one book that  
has a  balm for every wound1 a comfort  
for every tear1 a ray of light for      
every darkness4    ,its language all    
people can understand1 its spirit all   
minds can grasp1  its moral laws all    
people can obey1 its truths appeal not  
only to the  lowly and simple1 but also 
to the highest intellect1 they win the  
spontaneous approval1 not only of the   
pious1 but also of the most  skeptical4 

,at a literary gathering at the house of
 the ,baron von  ,holbach1 where the    
most celebrated atheists of the age used
 to  assemble1 the gentlemen present    
were one day commenting on the absurd   
and foolish things with which the ,bible
 abounds4  ,the ,french  encyclopedist1 
,diderat1 a materialist himself1        
startled his friends by  his little     
speech3 ,but it is wonderful1 gentlemen1
 it is wonderful4  ,i  know of no man   
who can speak or write with such        
ability4  ,i do not  believe that any of
 you could compose such narratives1 or  
could have  laid down such sublime moral
 laws1 so simple1 yet so elevating1     
exerting so wide an influence for good1 
and awakening such deep and  such       
reverential feelings1 as does the       
,bible4  ,diderat spoke the  truth4     
,place the most celebrated systems of   
philosophies or the most  famous code of
 ethics1 into the hands of the masses1  
and see whether  the subtleties of their
 learning1 the elegance of their diction

 will  touch their hearts as deeply as  
does the ,bible4  ,all the genius and   
learning of the ancient world1 all the  
penetration of the profoundest          
philosophers1 have never been able to   
produce a book that was as widely  read1
 as voluminously commented on1 as dearly
 loved1 as this book1  neither have all 
the law-givers of all the lands1 and of 
all ages1 been  able to produce a code  
of law and ethics that was universally  
and as  implicitly followed as that of  
the law-giver1 ,moses4    ,the ,bible is
 an emblem of ,odd-,fellowship1 because 
it is the  ,odd-,fellows' text-book4    
,here we get our doctrines for faith and
 our  rules for practice in all the     
relations of life4  ,as ,odd-,fellows1  
we  believe the ,bible is the word of   
,god1 because in their enmity humanity  
has never been able to destroy it or rob
 it of its power2 nor have any  who     
reject it given us a book to take its   
place4  ,the intellect and  culture of  
our day can not improve the teachings of

 ,christ1 nor set  before us a nobler   
ideal life4  ,as ,odd-,fellows1 we      
believe in this  beautiful emblem1      
because our hearts attest its truth4    
,we need not be  told that the landscape
 is beautiful1 or that the song of birds
 is  sweet4  ,when we see the one and   
hear the other1 we know it4  ,as the eye
  discerns the beautiful1 and the ear   
discerns sweet sounds1 so the heart  of 
man discerns the divineness of the      
,bible teachings and sets its seal  to  
their truth4  ,as ,odd-,fellows1 we     
believe in the scriptures1 because  the 
experiences of all true believers1 of   
whatever name1 or age1 or  country1     
prove it to be the bread of life and the
 water of life to  a needy and suffering
 world4  ,age by age the evidence of    
experience is  accumulating1 and growing
 stronger1 and for a soul to distrust   
the  revelations made unto it1 and the  
divine leading of the human race1 is  as
 though the eye should disbelieve in the
 sun shining at mid-day4  ,we  recognize

 the ,bible as a precious boon to man1  
the gift of the ,great  ,father above4  
,it is a light to our feet and a lamp to
 our path4  ,it  is a compass whose     
never-failing needle directs us safely  
across the  desert sands of life1 and   
through the dark labyrinths of an evil  
world1  and its precious promises gives 
us comfort while we bear the burdens    
and endure the sorrows1 pain and anguish
 incident to human life4    ,since our  
organization is founded on the ,bible1  
we should1 as  ,odd-,fellows1 become    
more conversant with it4  ,many evils   
creep into our  lodges that could be    
avoided if we used the ,bible more in   
our talks for  the good of the order4   
,intemperance is an evil that does us   
much harm4  ,what does the ,bible say in
 regard to it8  ,proverbs1 xx1 #a1 says3
 ,wine  is a mocker1 strong drink is    
raging1 and whosoever is deceived       
thereby  is not wise4  ,proverbs1 xxi1  
#ag3 ,he that loveth pleasure shall be a
  poor man2 he that loveth wine and oil 

shall not be rich4  ,ah me6 what  dead  
courage1 what piles of bleached bones   
that was once the  concentration of all 
that was great and lofty and true4      
,what  aspirations1 ambitions1          
enterprise and resolutions--what genius1
  integrity and all that belongs to true
 manhood--have been swept from  the     
tablets of time into oblivion by ,king  
,alcohol and his horrid half  brothers1 
the gambling hell and the brothel4    ,a
 few years ago a noted wild-beast tamer 
gave a performance with his  pets in one
 of the leading theatres4  ,he put his  
lions1 tigers1  leopards and hyenas     
through their part of the entertainment1
 awing the  audience by his awful nerve 
and his control over them4  ,as a       
closing  act to the performance1 he was 
to introduce an enormous                
boa-constrictor1 thirty feet long4  ,he 
had bought it when it was only  two days
 old1 and for twenty years he handled it
 daily1 so that it was  considered      
perfectly harmless and completely under 

his control4  ,he had  seen it grow from
 a tiny reptile1 which he often carried 
in his bosom1  into a fearful monster4  
,the curtain rose upon an ,indian       
woodland  scene4  ,the wild1 weird      
strains of an oriental band steal       
through the  trees4  ,a rustling noise  
is heard1 and a huge serpent is seen    
winding  its way through the            
undergrowth4  ,it stops4  ,its head is  
erect4  ,its  bright eyes sparkle4  ,its
 whole body seems animated4  ,a man     
emerges  from the heavy foliage4  ,their
 eyes meet4  ,the serpent quails before 
the man--man is victor4  ,the serpent is
 under control of a master4  ,under his 
guidance and direction it performs a    
series of fearful feats4  ,at a signal  
from the man it slowly approaches him   
and begins to coil  its heavy folds     
around him4  ,higher and higher do they 
rise1 until man  and serpent seem       
blended into one4  ,its hideous head is 
reared above  the mass4  ,the man gives 
a little scream1 and the audience unite 

in a  thunderous burst of applause1 but 
it freezes upon their lips4  ,the       
trainer's scream was a wail of death    
agony4  ,those cold1 slimy folds  had   
embraced him for the last time4  ,they  
crushed the life out of him1  and the   
horror-stricken audience heard bone     
after bone crack as those  powerful     
folds tightened upon him4  ,man's       
playful thing had become his  master4   
,his slave for twenty years had now     
enslaved him4    ,the following is a    
will left by a drunkard of ,oswego1 ,new
 ,york ,state3  ,i leave to society a   
ruined character and a wretched example4
  ,i leave  to my parents as much sorrow
 as they can1 in their feeble state1    
bear4  ,i leave to my brothers and      
sisters as much shame and mortification 
as ,i  could bring on them4  ,i leave to
 my wife1 a broken heart--a life of     
shame4  ,i leave to each of my children1
 poverty1 ignorance1 a low  character1  
and the remembrance that their father   
filled a drunkard's  grave4  ,it        

behooves us as ,odd-,fellows to ponder  
well the lessons  taught by our order4  
,unless the principles that are laid    
down are  fully carried out1 we can     
never be ,odd-,fellows in spirit and in 
truth4  ,today is our opportunity2 act  
now4  ,have you ever seen those marble  
statues fashioned into a fountain1 with 
the clear water flowing out  from the   
marble lips or the hand1 on and on      
forever8  ,the marble stands  there1    
passive1 cold1 making no effort to      
arrest the gliding water4  ,so  it is   
that time flows through the hands of    
men1 swift1 never pausing  until it has 
run itself out1 and the man seems       
petrified into a marble  sleep1 not     
feeling what it is that is passing away 
forever4  ,and the  destiny of nine men 
out of ten accomplishes itself before   
they realize  it slipping away from     
them1 aimless1 useless1 until it is too 
late4  ,be such a man1 live such a life1
 that if every man were such as you1    
and every life a life like yours1 this  

earth would be ,god's ,paradise4        
,remember that no good the humblest of  
us has wrought ever dies4  ,there  is   
one long1 unerring memory in the        
universe1 out of which nothing  dies4   
,a chill autumn wind1 blowing over a    
sterile plain1 bore within  its arms a  
little seed1 torn with ruthless force   
from its matrix on a  lofty tree1 and   
dropped the seed upon the sand to       
perish4  ,a bright  winged beetle1 weary
 with flight and languid with the chilly
 air1  rested for a moment on the arid  
plain4  ,the little seed dropped ,aeolus
  served to satisfy the hunger of the   
beetle1 which presently winged its      
flight to the margin of a swift running 
stream that had sprung from the         
mountain side1 and cleaving a bed       
through rocks of granite1 went gaily    
laughing upon its cheery way down to the
 ever rolling sea4  ,sipping a  drop of 
the crystal flood1 the beetle crawled   
within a protecting  ledge1 and1 folding
 its wings1 lay down to pleasant dreams4

  ,the ,ice  ,king passed along and     
touched the insect in its sleep4  ,its  
mission was  fulfilled2 but the conflict
 of the seasons continued until the     
white  destroyer melted in the breath of
 balmy spring4  ,and then a sunbeam     
sped to the chink wherein the body of   
the insect lay1 and searching for  the  
little seed entombed1 but not destroyed1
 invited it to join the  ,jubilee of    
returning life and hope4  ,under the    
soft wooing of the  peopled ray1 the    
little seed began to swell with joy1    
tiny rootlets  were developed within the
 body of the protecting beetle1 a minute
 stem  shot out of its gaping mouth1 and
 lo6 a mighty tree had been carried     
from the desert1 saved from the frosts  
of winter1 nurtured and started  upon   
its mission of life and usefulness by an
 humble insect that had  perished with  
the flowers4  ,the agent had passed     
away1 but1 building  better than he     
knew1 the wide-spreading tree remained  
by the margin of  the life-giving       

stream1 a shelter and a rest to the     
weary traveler upon  life's great       
highway through many fretful centuries4 
,a child abandoned by its mother to     
perish in an ,egyptian marsh may  become
 the instrument to deliver a nation from
 bondage1 and an  unostentatious man1   
unknown to fortune and to fame1 may     
become the  agent of a mighty work      
destined to benefit the human race as   
long as it  may last upon the earth4    
,george ,eliot says1 ,our deeds are like
  children that are born to us2 they    
live and act apart from our own  will4  
,nay1 children may be strangled1 but    
deeds never2 they have an               
indestructible life1 both in and out of 
our consciousness4    ,no man has come  
to true greatness who has not felt in   
some degree that  his life belongs to   
his race1 and that what ,god gives him  
he gives him  for mankind4  ,the        
different degrees of consciousness are  
really what  make the different degrees 
of greatness in men4    ,while          

,odd-,fellowship does not claim to be a 
religious institution1 yet  so closely  
is it allied to ,christianity that we   
deem it proper to  discuss these        
questions4  ,i quote from ,dr4 ,lyman   
,abbott's lecture on  ,christianity and 
,orientalism1 as follows3 ,religion as a
 thought has  four questions to answer3 
,first1 ,what is ,god8  ,second1 ,what  
is man8  ,third1 ,what is the relation  
between ,god and man8  ,fourth1 ,what is
 the  life which man is to live when he 
understands and enters into that        
relation8  ,there is no other question2 
there is nothing left4  ,what is  ,god8 
,what is man8  ,and how are men to live 
when they have entered into  that       
relationship8  ,now1 ,christianity has  
its answer to each one of  those four   
questions4  ,god--one true1 righteous1  
loving1 helpful ,father  of the whole   
human race4  ,god--love4  ,and love1    
what is that8  ,such a  life as ,jesus  
,christ lived on the earth4  ,what is   
man8  ,man is in the  image of ,god4    

,if he is not1 if he fails in that1 he  
fails being a man4  ,he is in the image 
of ,god1 and not until he has come to be
 in the  image1 of ,god will he be a    
man4  ,what is a statue8  ,i can see a  
nose1 a  mouth1 appearing out of the    
marble block4  ,no1 it is not a statue1 
it  is a half-done statue4  ,wait until 
the sculptor is through1 then you  will 
see the statue4  ,not till ,god is done 
will you see a man1 and you  never saw  
one except as you saw him in ,jesus of  
,nazareth4  ,and what is  the relation  
between this ,god and this man8  ,it is 
the relationship of  the most intimate  
fellowship that the human soul can      
conceive2 one life  dwelling in the     
other life1 and filling the other life  
full of ,his own  fullness4  ,you can   
not get any closer relationship to ,god 
than that4  ,when this fullness has been
 realized1 when you and ,i have the     
fullness  of ,god in us1 when ,god has  
finished1 the man life will result4     
,just  such a life as ,christ lived1    

with all the splendor of self-sacrifice1
  with all the glory of service1 with   
all the magnificent heroism1 with  all  
the enduring patience4                  
,,brother ,,underwood',s ,,dream4       
,being invited some time since to       
deliver an address before a benevolent  
institution1 and being pressed amid the 
daily business cares which  surrounded1 
,i was fearful ,i should not be able to 
command sufficient  time for preparation
 of the task4  ,returning home1 ,i      
retired to my bed1  my thoughts still   
keeping themselves in active motion in  
their endeavor  to think out what ,i    
should say4  ,in this state of mind ,i  
fell asleep1  and soon was in dreamland4
  ,i dreamed that death had taken place1
 and  as ,i approached the gates of the 
unseen world1 ,i was met by an angel1   
who kindly tendered his services in     
escorting me through the realms of      
,heaven4  ,being a stranger there1 ,i   
gladly and gracefully accepted his  kind
 invitation4  ,proceeding along the     

pearly streets1 enraptured with  the    
beauties which surrounded me1 ,i saw a  
multitude of people1 the  number of whom
 figures fail to compute2 but ,i noticed
 there were  dividing lines1 and they   
were gathered in companies4  ,observing 
a  beautiful body of water in the       
distance1 and a gathering of one company
  by its banks1 ,i inquired of my escort
 who they were4  ,he replied they  were 
,baptists1 and said they always keep    
near the water's edge4  ,just  beyond   
was another company1 which my faithful  
attendant informed me was  a            
,presbyterian band1 and that their      
infant baptism views still clinging  to 
them was one of the causes of their     
corralling together4  ,just  then we    
heard loud and prolonged shouting and   
singing of the hymn  ,shall we gather at
 the river1 and1 pointing to the spot   
from whence  it came1 near a beautiful  
stream not far off1 the angel said3     
,those  are the ,methodists4  ,they     
never cease shouting1 and so loud are   

they at  times that they annoy the      
,episcopalians1 whom you see on the     
opposite  side of the stream1 in their  
discussion of the doctrine of apostolic 
succession4  ,seeing still other        
gatherings farther on1 ,i was anxious   
to go thither and mingle with them2 but 
my guide remonstrated1 saying3  ,you can
 see from this standpoint the           
representatives of all churches4        
,there1 said he1 are the ,catholics and 
the ,jews1 the ,universalists and  the  
,congregationalists1 the ,unitarians and
 the ,moravians1 all with  their varied 
'creeds1' and if you go that way you    
will be surrounded by  them1 each trying
 to prove that you got to ,heaven       
through their  peculiar doctrine or     
faith4    ,turning to the right1 we     
moved on1 only to pass to more gorgeous 
and  beautiful apartments1 where the    
streets were golden4  ,here ,i observed 
another multitude1 but it was one body4 
,this1 said the angel1 is  the gathering
 of the various priests and pastors1    

rectors and rabbis1  and the ministers  
and the elders who are trying to unite  
on some common  ground upon which their 
congregations 7which we had passed7     
might  stand1 where there would be but  
',one ,lord1 one faith1 one baptism4'   
,gal41 iv1 #e4  ,for1 said the angel1   
until then1 they go not up with  their  
churches and creeds to higher seats     
above1 for neither  circumcision        
availeth anything1 nor uncircumcision4  
,gal41 v1 #f4    ,proceeding on our way 
we approached a magnificent archway1    
over the  lintels of which was          
inscribed1 ,the ,christian's ,home in   
,glory4  ,the  grandeur of this new     
apartment exceeded all the rest1 a      
description of  which lies beyond the   
power of words1 ,for eye hath not seen1 
nor the  ear heard1 neither have entered
 into the heart of man the things which 
,god hath prepared for them that love   
him4 ,i ,cor41 ii1 #i4  ,this ,i found  
to be the abode of the apostles1 martyrs
 and ,christians of all ages4  ,here was

 ,paul and ,peter1 and the prophets1 the
 thief on the cross and  ,bunyan1       
,lazarus and ,baxter1 ,stephen and      
,father ,abraham1 ,martha and ,mary  and
 the widow who gave her two mites4      
,pausing1 ,i beheld1 with banners       
above1 an innumerable number marching   
on1 with ,lincoln and ,lovejoy1  ,lyman1
 ,beecher and ,john ,brown in the       
advance1 and on the banners was         
inscribed1 ,these are they which came   
out of great tribulation4 ,rev41  viii1 
#ad4  ,the angel said3 ,that is the     
multitude of poor slaves from  the      
cotton fields of earth1 doing homage to 
their deliverers4  ,they  shall hunger  
no more1 neither thirst any more2       
neither shall the sun  light on them1   
nor any heat4 ,rev41 vii1 #af4  ,here ,i
 also found ,watts  and ,wesley singing1
 while ,bliss 7who had but lately been  
translated  from earth to heaven by way 
of ,ashtabula bridge71 catching the     
inspiration1 was setting the songs of   
,heaven to the music of earth4  ,gazing 

on the many thrones and crowns1 there   
were some of peculiar  brightness4  ,i  
looked on one1 and what was the         
inscription8  ,was it1 ,i  was a        
,methodist8  ,no4  ,i was immersed8     
,no4  ,i was a ,jew8  ,no4  ,but  rather
 this3 ,because ,i delivered the poor   
that cried and fatherless1  and him that
 had none to help him1 the blessing of  
him that was ready  to perish came upon 
me1 and ,i caused the widow's heart to  
sing with  joy4 ,job1 xxix1 #ab1 #ad4   
,and this was the crown of ,job4  ,and  
there was  another just beyond1 and ,i  
read the inscription4  ,was it1 ,i was a
  ,presbyterian8  ,no4  ,i prayed by    
quantity8  ,no4  ,i was a ,universalist8
  ,no4  ,but ,pure religion and         
undefiled before ,god and the ,father is
  this1 to visit the fatherless and the 
widow in their affliction and to  keep  
himself unspotted from the world4       
,james1 i1 #bg4  ,and while the  memory 
and name of ,peabody1 the               
philanthropist1 is and shall be honored 

and loved for ages to come in two       
hemispheres1 his crown of glory in      
heaven is second to none4  ,but there   
was still another4  ,it was worn by  one
 of queenly beauty1 and she sat upon her
 throne2 the splendor of her  robe and  
the brilliancy of her apparel dimmed my 
vision4  ,i read her  inscription1 set1 
as it was1 in ,heaven's choicest        
diamonds4  ,was it1 ,i  was an          
,episcopalian8  ,no4  ,i was baptized8  
,no4  ,i was a ,catholic8  ,no4  ,but   
thus3 ,i was an hungered1 and ye gave me
 meat2 ,i was thirsty1 and  ye gave me  
drink2 ,i was a stranger1 and ye took me
 in2 naked1 and ye  clothed me2 ,i was  
sick1 and ye visited me2 ,i was in      
prison1 and ye came  unto me4 ,matt41   
xxv1 #ce1 #cf4  ,and before her throne  
stood thousands  who had come up from   
the battle fields of the ,crimea1 and   
the widows  and orphans1 the lame and   
the halt1 the blind and the deaf from   
the  streets and alleys of ,london1 and 
as they shouted their hallelujahs       

before her1 they carried banners on     
which were emblazoned these words3      
,inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of
 the least of these my  brethren1 ye    
have done it unto me4 ,matt41 xxv1 #dj4 
,and the crown of  ,florence            
,nightingale glistens brightly in       
,heaven4  ,passing on1 and  observing a 
large number of vacant thrones and      
crowns1 ,i naturally  asked1 for whom   
are these8  ,the angel replied3 ,for the
 ,christians of  earth2 the managers of 
the 'homes' for the friendless1 the     
widows and  the orphans1 and those who1 
regardless of their respective church   
creeds and doctrines1 like their ,master
 when he was on earth1 go about  doing  
good4  ,the angel vanished1 and ,i      
awoke4    ,,moral4--,brethren1 in our   
tenacity for church creeds1 let us not  
fail in  the practice of a little daily 
,christianity4  ,finally1 brethren1 if  
there be any virtue and if there be any 
praise1 think on these things4  ,gal41  
iv1 #h4          ,,the ,,imperial       

,,virtue      ,though sophists may      
argue1 or philosophers prate1    ,the   
evils of lying they can not mitigate4   
,our ,god's law is truth6  ,who then    
dares justify    ,a falsehood8          
,remember1 a lie is a lie6    ,let this 
he our motto1 in old age or youth3      
,all lying is sinful1 so1 stick to the  
truth6    ,truth we accept as a cardinal
 virtue1 and require its practice on the
  part of all the votaries of           
,odd-,fellowship while traveling the    
rugged  journey of life in search of    
reward and rest4  ,truth is above all   
things else1 and every ,odd-,fellow     
knows full well that his obligation     
binds him to speak the truth4  ,remember
 a lie is never justifiable4  ,it  does 
the person more harm than that he seeks 
to avoid by telling a  falsehood would  
do4  ,what is truth8  ,this question of 
,pilate is in  the air today4  ,it is   
repeated on every side and in every     
department of  intellectual pursuit4    
,it always pays to tell the truth under 

all  circumstances4  ,abraham came near 
bringing a whole nation into trouble  in
 lying about his wife4  ,be it said to  
the honor of ,president ,grant1  that   
once a visitor called at the ,white     
,house wishing to see him4  ,the        
door-keeper told the servant to tell the
 visitor the president was not  in4     
,general ,grant1 who was very busy1     
heard what was said4  ,he called  out1  
,say no such thing4  ,i don't lie       
myself1 and won't allow anyone to  lie  
for me4  ,tell the truth always4  ,i    
said in my haste all men are  liars4    
,psalms1 cxvi1 #b4    ,it was a very    
sweeping assertion that the ,psalmist   
made1 and one that  incriminates us all4
  ,he probably did not mean that all men
 were liars  in the sense that everybody
 always spoke untruthfully1 but that the
  great majority of people would1 under 
certain stress of circumstances1        
equivocate to suit the conditions of the
 occasion4  ,if that was what he  meant1
 he uttered a sage truth when he said   

very hastily one day3 ,all  men are     
liars4  ,though a hasty utterance1 facts
 seem to prove its  truthfulness4  ,the 
greatest mischief-maker in the world    
today is the  liar4  ,i honestly believe
 that lying causes more real anguish and
  suffering than any other evil4  ,it   
would be effort wasted to spend much    
time in proof of this assertion of      
,david's1 so we will attempt to         
classify briefly1 that each of us may   
know where he belongs4  ,first1  there  
is the deliberate lie4  ,this species   
needs no particular  definition4  ,all  
are acquainted with it1 all have met it1
 some have  uttered it4  ,you all know  
it when you see it2 it is barefaced and 
shameless2 it reeks with the mire of    
falsity and is foul with the slime  of  
the pit infernal4  ,this lie contains   
not an atom of truth1 is  tinctured not 
with a grain of fact1 but is a          
full-blooded1  thoroughbred1 out and out
 lie4  ,then we have the campaign lie4  
,a  large1 open-faced fellow1           

loud-voiced and blatant2 bold1 daring   
and  sweeping2 it claims everything1    
asserts everything1 denies anything4    
,during the campaign this lie is a      
factor4  ,men buy papers to read it1    
and go miles to hear it4  ,the campaign 
lie is the greatest worker in  the      
canvass for votes4  ,he pats the workman
 on the back and promises to  fill his  
pail with sirloin steak and fresh       
salmon1 when1 if the other  man is      
elected1 he will have to carry liver and
 codfish4  ,he grasps the  merchant     
strongly by the hand and promises him   
larger sales and better  profits in case
 his party gets into power2 he enters   
the magnate's  office and promises him  
increased dividends and no strikes2 he  
promises  everything till after         
election1 when he has no more promises  
to make4    ,there is the polite lie1   
too4  ,a very gentle affair this4  ,a   
very  proper lie1 clothed with the      
attire of an elegant etiquette and of   
graceful form4  ,it is never harsh and  

never rude1 but smooth as oil1 as       
gentle as a zephyr4  ,the number of     
polite lies that are told every day  are
 legion4  ,it would be useless to       
attempt to classify them1 worse  than   
useless to try to enumerate them4  ,they
 are of all sizes1 colors1  descriptions
 and shapes4  ,they have much in common1
 but differ widely  in particular4  ,no 
locality is destitute of this venerable 
and classic  falsehood4  ,the ancients  
used it1 the moderns still cling to it2 
the  poor find it handy1 the rich could 
not keep house without it2 it  abounds  
in every clime and thrives in every     
latitude4  ,the polite  hostess says to 
the departing guest3 ,we have been      
delighted by your  visit2 do us the     
favor to come again1 when she sincerely 
hopes that  most any catastrophe may    
overtake her rather than another visit  
from  this same personage4  ,there are  
the every-day expressions1 ',not at     
home1' which the housemaid is instructed
 to give the caller2 and a  score of    

other social lies which in truth deceive
 nobody1 nine times  out of ten4        
,society would lose little and gain much
 if the polite lie  could be banished1  
and every man say what he thought and   
speak as he  felt4    ,another lie ,i   
will notice is the business lie4  ,the  
business lie is a  very matter of fact  
lie4  ,it sounds well4  ,there are some 
genuine  bankrupt sales1 of course2     
there are a few bona fide smoke1 fire   
and  water mark-downs undoubtedly1 but  
there are more advertised in a week     
than there are failures and fires in a  
year4  ,good1 staple merchandise  will  
usually bring its value1 and he who     
advertises an unheard of  bargain has   
generally set a trap for the unwary4    
,one class of goods in  the window      
marked a certain price1 an inferior     
class on the bargain  counter at the    
same figure4  ,you bargain for a piece  
of furniture at a  surprisingly low     
figure2 when it is delivered you have   
every reason to  suppose that it is like

 what you bought in appearance alone4   
,a roll of  cloth marked all wool1 it is
 half cotton1 and the rest shoddy4  ,the
  business lie1 though found so often1  
is never the friend of merchant or      
purchaser4  ,it is the foe of all honest
 transactions4  ,office1  salesroom and 
storehouse would be better without it2  
proprietor1 clerk  and purchaser would  
thrive better if rid of it4    ,the lie 
of gossip4  ,if by some power1 human or 
divine1 the gossiping  tongue could be  
silenced and the tattling mouth         
effectually closed1  half of the evil of
 this world would already be stopped1   
and the other  would commence to        
languish for want of patronage4  ,the   
lie of gossip is  the blackest of them  
all4  ,the blackest of all the black    
horde1 the  very worst of the whole evil
 troop2 insinuating1 sly and crafty1 it 
creeps around with a serpent's stealth1 
and carries beneath its tongue  the     
deadly poison of ten thousand adders4   
,the venom can be extracted  from the   

cobra's fangs1 but no power on earth can
 tame the tongue of an  unprincipled    
gossip4  ,some lies you can kill1 but   
the lie of gossip is  imperishable4     
,you may clip its wings1 but its flight 
is unhindered2  you may cut off its     
head1 but two will grow out in its      
place2 you may  crush it to earth       
beneath the heel of denial4  ,let it    
alone and  possibly the dirty1          
contemptible1 infamous thing will die2  
touch it not  and it may droop and      
languish2 do not chase it and it may    
grow weak for  want of exercise4    ,oh1
 my dear reader1 above all things1 don't
 have your life a lie1 your  career a   
falsehood4  ,be no hypocrite1 live no   
lie1 and the ,god of all  truth will see
 something in you to admire if you live 
truthfully and  honestly before all men4
  ,truth is a sure pledge not impaired1 
a shield  never pierced1 a flower that  
never dieth1 a state that feareth no    
fortune1 and a port that yields no      
danger4  ,we can not build a manly      

character unless we are in possession of
 the imperial virtue1 truth4  ,ah6 truth
 is the diamond for which the candid    
mind ever seeks4  ,it is  the sanction  
of every appeal that is made for the    
good and the right4  ,it may be crushed 
to earth1 it may be long in achieving   
victory1 but it  is omnipotent and must 
triumph at last4  ,christ brought truth 
into the  world4  ,truth1 then1 is a    
personal1 experimental and practical    
thing4  ,it is a thing of the heart1 and
 not mere outward forms2 a living       
principle in the soul1 influencing the  
mind1 employing the affections1  guiding
 the will1 and directing as well as     
enlightening the conscience4  ,it is a  
supreme1 not a subordinate matter1      
demanding and obtaining the  throne of  
the soul-giving law to the whole        
character1 and requiring the  whole man 
and all his conduct to be in            
subordination4  ,truth blends  with     
every occupation4  ,it is noble and     
lofty1 not abject1 servile and          

groveling2 it communes with ,god1 with  
holiness1 with ,heaven1 with  eternity  
and infinity4  ,truth is a happy1 and   
not a melancholy thing1  giving a peace 
that passeth understanding1 and a joy   
that is  unspeakable and full of glory4 
,and it is durable1 not a transient     
thing1 passing with us through life1    
lying down with us on the pillow  of    
death1 rising with us at the last day1  
and dwelling in our souls in  ,heaven as
 the very element of eternal life4      
,such is truth1 the  sublimest thing in 
our world1 sent down to be our comforter
 and  ministering angel on earth4    ,it
 is plainly ,god's intention1 as in     
nature and in history1 that our  human  
life should grow better and more joyous 
as it advances1 and that  the best shall
 not be at the first1 but shall wait    
until we are ready  for it4  ,the       
highest and largest blessings can come  
to men only when  the men are fitted to 
hold and to use them4  ,if you are going
 to give a  man a purse or a diamond you

 can thrust it into his hand in his     
youth1  or on the street1 even when he  
is asleep2 but if you would give to him 
a great truth or virtue1 if you would   
make him a noble character1 you  must   
wait upon the man's growth1 and be      
content if after many years you  see    
only a flash of what you would give him 
appearing4  ,step by step1  through all 
the gradations1 we travel1 and if       
faithful to truth1 ,christ  will make in
 us a perfect manhood1 and of us a      
perfect society4  ,his  gift is so      
great1 vital and complex1 that ,he can  
not bestow it all in  the beginning4    
,he would make our life an increasingly 
joyous life1 and  give us the best of   
its wine at the last of its feast4      
,christ would  have us always           
increasingly hopeful and joyous1 and    
never of sad  countenance4  ,all our    
faculties were designed to minister to  
our joy4  ,all the great world of life  
below is a happy world4  ,the children  
of  the air and the water are all       

baptized into joy4  ,even the solitary  
creatures that carry their narrow houses
 with them have their joys1  which are  
well known to their intimate            
acquaintances4  ,so in the world  of    
adult man we find the joy of life       
disproportionate to condition and       
faculty4  ,in the faces of the men we   
meet on the streets we see many  scars  
and dark lines of storm and care2 only  
seldom do the faces we  meet there wear 
the rainbow4  ,men are without joy      
because they have  violated the laws of 
nature1 they have subordinated their    
manly powers1  reason and conscience to 
their animal instincts2 they have lived 
by  wrong theories and wrong methods1   
and for unmanly ends1 and thus have     
exhausted the joy of life's banquet4    
,a man can have deep and continuous joy 
only if his life is continuously        
rational and progressively manly4  ,he  
must put away childish things and  live 
for truth and right1 for love and       
immortal virtue4  ,if our hearts  sadden

 as our years increase and our thoughts 
widen1 it is because  there has been a  
defect in our vision and a sophistry in 
the logic of  our conduct4  ,if the     
growing corn comes only to the blade and
 to the  ear1 and not to the full golden
 corn in the ear1 we may be sure it is  
because there has been something wrong  
in our gardening4  ,christ comes  into  
our wasting life to give us a new1 a    
higher and a better joy2 to  give us new
 truth1 new faith1 new arguments1 new   
motives1 new impulses  and new joys4    
,christ gives us the ,heavenly ,father1 
and thus lifts us  into the dignity and 
beatitude of a divine nature1           
relationship and  destiny4  ,man is a   
child of the skies1 and can not find    
rest complete  and joy abiding in       
anything less or lower4  ,bearing now   
the image of  the earthly1 we must go on
 to bear the image of the heavenly4  ,to
 have  our manly joy ever increasing we 
must keep the heavenly in sight and     
take our way from it4    ,christ brings 

us into the living alliance with forces 
and personalities  that are spiritual1  
and thus makes us strong to resist all  
animal  temptations and those impulses  
toward greed and wrong which1 if        
indulged1 drain our life of its manly   
felicities4  ,he would have us  lift our
 manly cups to ,god1 and make their rims
 to touch the heavens4  ,christ would   
have us to live for other's welfare and 
to know the joy of  duty and of         
sacrifice4  ,it is the man who is living
 for wife1 and  child1 and neighbor1 who
 has flung himself with all his might   
into the  carrying forward of some great
 cause that blesses his fellow-men1 who 
knows the true and increasing joy of the
 manly life4  ,the happiest  woman in   
the world is the mother who is living   
for her child4  ,it is in  working out  
the salvation of other people that we   
find the true joy of  our own4  ,it is  
this joy that carries the martyr through
 his fiery  tasks with a song and a     
shout4  ,to be able at the end of our   

days to  look up to ,god and say1 ,i    
have finished the work thou gavest me to
  do1 is to have the best wine at the   
last of our feast4  ,we must have  joy2 
it is indispensable4  ,it makes us      
healthy and strong and enables  us to be
 of some use in the world4  ,it is so   
necessary to our best  becoming and     
doing that we must put away everything  
that increases it4  ,we must have the   
joy of truth and virtue1 of duty and    
sacrifice1 of  hope and love1 which is  
the joy of the eternal life4  ,christ   
thus holds  out to us a joy that lasts1 
and one that satisfies forever4         
,jesus was no cynic1 no ascetic1 and no 
fanatic4  ,he loved the great  outward  
world1 and was the friend of all men4   
,he was hated only by the  ,pharisees1  
if to these ,he spoke sharply1 ,his     
words to the children were  sweet as a  
mother's1 and in ,his words about the   
birds and the flowers  you hear the     
tones of a lover4  ,he loved the lakes  
of sweet ,galilee1  her hills1 her      

fields and her olive groves2 and among  
them often took  ,his disciples apart to
 rest awhile4  ,adopt ,christ's views of
 ,god2 of  the future2 ,christianize    
your opinions1 your character and your  
conduct1 and you will have manly joy    
even in the midst of sorrow4  ,christ   
lived much in communion with ,god4  ,he 
lived much out of doors1  in the fields 
and among trees1 the birds and the      
flowers4    ,we must come back to       
nature4  ,happy the man who owns a piece
 of ground  in the country and lives on 
it betimes1 where he can hear the robins
  singing their hymns and the winds     
chanting their litanies2 where he can   
see the sun rise and feel the hush of   
the hills2 where the spirit that  is in 
the beautiful world can touch and bless 
him as it did the blessed  ,christ4     
,brothers1 ,i wish you great joy4  ,live
 in the constant sense of the  ,heavenly
 ,father's loving presence1 and of      
nature's veracity and  friendly         
intention4  ,distrust all doctrines1 all

 opinions and all ways  of living that  
destroy manly joyousness4  ,never lose  
sight of the fact  that a noble life is 
a truthful life4  ,truth is a trust4    
,he who has  discovered any portion of  
useful truth has something in trust for 
mankind4  ,god is the author of truth1  
and when man seeks this imperial  virtue
 and acquires it1 he is in possession of
 great power4    ,this brings us to the 
final practical thought4  ,this power   
must be  appropriated4  ,the cable car  
that is unattached to the cable will    
make  no progress and stand still       
forever1 even though the engines in the 
power house glow with heat1 and the     
cable1 gliding along in the center  of  
the track not two feet away1 is laden   
down with power4  ,the cable  car must  
close its grappling iron and grip the   
cable before progress  can be made4  ,it
 must come in contact with the power4   
,an electric lamp  will swing dark and  
unlighted while all the other lamps     
about it send  forth enlightening rays1 

and all the dynamos in the world may be 
revolving in the engine house1 sending a
 surging current within a few  inches of
 the isolated lamp1 and all in vain     
unless it come in contact  with the     
power4  ,you must turn the switch and   
let the current flow in1  and then the  
lamp will itself shine and will illumine
 its surroundings  like the rest4  ,so1 
in like manner1 if we are to make       
progress in this  life1 we must lay hold
 of the cable4  ,we must come in contact
 with the  ,divine4  ,if we do not1 the 
power of ,god is of no avail to us4  ,if
 we  would be lights in the world1 we   
must come in contact with the ,divine   
spirit1 we must unbar the doors to our  
hearts and let the current of  divine   
power and love flow into our lives and  
illumine them4    ,the great design of  
,odd-,fellowship is to improve the      
morals and manners  of men1 to promote  
their interest1 well being and          
happiness4  ,great  prudence is demanded
 in our daily life and conversation4    

,we should be  actuated by a realizing  
sense of our position1 and by example1  
action  and generous thought1 recommend 
our cause to the consideration of       
others4  ,we should persevere for the   
attainment of every commendable  virtue1
 to raise the mind from the degrading   
haunts of intemperance and  folly2 we   
should be distinguished for usefulness  
to society and the  community at large4 
,a good ,odd-,fellow must necessarily be
 an upright  and useful member of the   
community4  ,the precepts inculcated are
  calculated to stimulate to the        
faithful performance of every moral and 
relative duty2 and an individual who    
holds a standing with us1 and is        
careless and negligent of these things1 
is a reproach to the  ,order--they wear 
the livery1 and bow before the same     
shrine1 but in the  heart and practice  
they belie their profession4            
,profanity1  intemperance and every     
species of immorality are rigidly       
discountenanced4  ,we have pledged      

ourselves to aid in diffusing the       
principles of brotherly love throughout 
the world4  ,we have assumed the  office
 of guarding the holy flame which burns 
on the altar of  benevolence1 and we are
 bound to cherish its principles4  ,that
 brother  is recreant to every honorable
 feeling who can trifle with the solemn 
pledge he has taken4    ,a duty we owe  
to the community is to cultivate the    
principle of virtue1  to lend holy      
serenity to the mind1 and shed around a 
halo of light and  glory to direct the  
steps of others in virtue1 to happiness 
and  greatness4  ,the man who treads    
only in virtue's ways1 when every act is
  honest1 acquires the confidence and   
friendship of others1 thus  benefiting  
others1 and thus benefiting the         
community1 which1 also1 the  center of  
another circle1 continues this influence
 to those that  surround it1 purifying  
the thought1 emboldening the idea and   
elevating  the man4  ,how grand is the  
position ,odd-,fellowship now           

occupies--a  world of honesty in a world
 of deceit1 with a character strictly   
virtuous and solely dependent upon its  
members for the perpetuity of  that     
character4    ,it depends upon the      
brethren to be virtuous1 upright1 honest
 and  benevolent1 thus sustaining in its
 purity the noble reputation it now     
enjoys1 which will continue a bright and
 shining star in the  constellation     
until time shall be no more1 when it    
will be perpetuated  in the glorious    
light of eternity4  ,amid the wrecks of 
institutions and  powerful interests    
that were a short time since thought to 
be  impregnable against all assaults1   
the ,independent ,order of ,odd-,fellows
  still maintains its vantage ground1   
and bears its banners proudly up4  ,with
 its doors thrown so widely open to     
applicants for admission1  composed as  
it is of nearly every shade of thought  
or educational  influence1 whether of   
sect or party1 with all the infirmities 
incident  to human nature1 modifying by 

their weakness its true purposes1 or    
retarding its advancement1 its unity and
 moral force1 its stability and         
progress are truly wonderful4  ,its bond
 of cohesion1 so frail and yet  so      
potent1 is seemingly inexplicable4  ,it 
is the recognition of the  principles of
 brotherhood and fraternity1 and the    
practice of their  resultant virtues4   
,to appreciate and practice is to attain
 strength4  ,we are weak and frail4     
,odd-,fellowship is strong1 and its     
principles  are as eternal as the stars4
  ,the history of the past is little but
 a  record of the domination of physical
 force4  ,the law of might was the  law 
of right4  ,violence and strife1        
outrages and wrong1 have been for  ages 
the common heritage of the race4  ,man  
has been the sport and  victim of human 
passions1 and notwithstanding the       
culture and the  progress of the race1  
the earth yet resounds with the tread of
 armed  combatants4  ,weary1 sad-eyed   
toilers groan under the burden of war1  

countless millions are squandered upon  
the maintenance of  non-producing1      
destructive hosts4    ,widows and       
orphans1 nay1 the very angels in heaven1
 if they are  permitted to look down    
upon us from their bright abodes in     
bliss1 must  mourn over the sad result  
of man's semi-barbarism1 and his worship
 of  the world's materialism4  ,long ere
 this mind should have been the         
controlling force in all nations        
claiming to be civilized4  ,pure        
intellect and its struggles1 its        
aspirations for light and truth1  should
 have relegated to the regions of       
barbarism and darkness mere  animal     
contests4  ,not only so1 but            
intellectual supremacy should have  been
 in its turn subordinated1 or crowned by
 true spiritual life4  ,god  is a       
spirit1 and they that worship ,him must 
worship ,him in spirit and  in truth4   
,man would occupy a higher and happier  
position than he at  present fills if he
 had earnestly co-operated with good    

agencies for  the unfolding and         
development of his better nature4       
,the special mission of ,odd-,fellowship
 is to incite and stimulate the  dormant
 moral energies to action1 to rouse the 
lethargic1 encourage the  timid1 and to 
strengthen the aspirations for a nobler 
and a better  life4  ,reaching out its  
helpful hand to the needy and distressed
 upon  the one hand1 and with the other 
battling with selfishness1 intolerance  
and vice--with all that dwarfs man's    
moral nature--it appeals to  something  
within us1 to be earnest advocates of   
its principles1 by  making them a living
 faith and illustrating its beneficent  
purposes4  ,if we make one man purer and
 better1 and that man one's own self1 we
  have done something toward the        
betterment of the world4  ,the voices of
  the past and of the present all speak 
to us today4  ,men and brethren1  let us
 hearken unto them1 and putting our     
trust in ,god1 let us march  onward1    
side by side together1 until the        

standards of our order are  planted upon
 the highest summit of achievement1 and 
as their glorious  folds are illuminated
 by the ,sun of ,righteousness1 may the 
simple yet  the sublime legend          
emblazoned thereon be seen and          
acknowledged by the  nations1 as with   
uplifted eyes and reverent hearts they  
read1 ,god is  our ,father1 and we are  
all brothers4          ,,quiet ,,hour   
,,thoughts4    ,genuine love and        
sympathy are what wins the hearts of our
 fellows4    ,a ,christian ought always 
to wake up in the morning in a good     
humor4    ,remember that sorrow and pain
 soften the heart and sweeten the       
temper4    ,the young man who sees no   
beauty in a flower will make a mean     
husband4    ,if you love young people's 
work you will prove it by laboring and  
sacrificing for it4    ,begin active    
work in your society at once1 and do not
 fail to see that  each one has         
something to do4    ,the fact that ,god 
gives any consideration to mere mites of

 humanity  scattered about the surface  
of this little world of ours is         
conclusive  proof of ,his infinity4     
,what a blessing it is that we can not  
always do what we wish to do1 or  have  
everything our own way4    ,many words  
are no more an indication of depth of   
feeling and heart than  are boiling     
bubbles in a frying pan4    ,there are  
some people who would scorn to keep bad 
company1 but who  think the worst kind  
of thoughts by the hour4    ,do not wait
 for somebody else to put your society  
on the roll of honor4  ,if you want a   
thing well done1 do it yourself4    ,if 
the very hairs of our head are numbered1
 then why should we not  consult the    
,father in regard to all our temporal   
affairs8    ,how the heart of ,god must 
yearn for the record of lives devoted to
  humanity4  ,he asks no higher service 
of man than this4    ,the truly great   
man is that one who is satisfied if he  
is doing to the  utmost limit of his    
capacity the thing which he has at hand4

    ,god would never make the mistake of
 helping any young man or young  woman  
who did not make every possible effort  
to help himself4    ,do not make the    
mistake of thinking you are the biggest 
man in your  society4  ,bigger men than 
you have died and have not been missed  
after  forty-eight hours4    ,the girl  
who is caught by gold-headed canes1     
carried by heads with no  brains on the 
inside and only pasted hair on the      
outside1 has a  pitiable future before  
her4    ,no pain1 no privation1 no      
sacrifice endured for ,christ is a loss1
 but  is rather a gain4  ,christ will   
not forget those who suffered for ,him  
when ,he comes to make up ,his jewels4  
,sunday manners are just like ,sunday   
clothes2 everybody can tell that  you   
put them on for the occasion only1 and  
know that you are not used  to wearing  
them through the week4    ,the devil led
 the ,prodigal ,son away from a good    
home into the gay  society of the world1
 and amused him with the pleasures of   

sin till he  got him down1 then he fed  
him on husks4  ,that is the way he      
works4    ,a good many church members do
 not like to have it known how much they
  give for missions4  ,they remind us of
 the man who said1 when asked  about the
 amount he gave1 ,what ,i give is       
nothing to nobody4    ,the reason why   
some people do not want the preacher to 
preach on  personal sins1 is because    
they are afraid he might say something  
against them4    ,when we see a man     
going to get water at his neighbor's    
well1 we  naturally suppose his own is  
dry4  ,so when we see a ,christian      
seeking  the pleasures of the world1 we 
suppose he no longer finds pleasure in  
religion4    ,to know which way a stream
 of water is flowing1 you must not look 
at  the little eddy1 but at the main    
current1 and to know which way a life   
is tending1 you must not look at a      
single act1 but at the whole trend  of  
the life4    ,satan likes to discourage 
people1 to hinder them in the           

performance of  their ,christian duties1
 but remember that ,christ has said1 ,my
 grace is  sufficient for you4  ,go     
steadily forward in the line of duty and
  success will crown your efforts4      
,the light of a candle can not be seen  
very far in the light of a  noon-day    
sun1 but at night it may be seen for a  
long distance and may  be a guiding star
 to some poor wanderer4  ,and so1 ,god  
sometimes darkens  our way that we may  
shine4    ,the man who prays for the    
conversion of the heathen1 and then     
spends a  great deal more for tobacco   
than he gives to missions1 is certainly 
not  very consistent in his praying and 
giving4    ,thomas ,hood once wrote to  
his wife3 ,i never was anything1        
dearest1  till ,i knew you2 and ,i have 
been a better1 happier1 and more        
prosperous  man ever since4  ,lay by    
that truth in lavender1 sweetest1 and   
remind me  of it when ,i fail4    ,i    
believe one reason why such numerous    
instances of erudition occur  among the 

lower ranks is1 that with the same      
powers of mind the poor  student is     
limited to a narrower circle for        
indulging his passion for  books1 and   
must necessarily make himself master of 
the few he possesses  before he can     
acquire more4--,walter ,scott4          
,christians should not forget that ,god 
uses human agency in the work of        
salvation4  ,the only reason that there 
are not more saved1 is because  the     
people of ,god do not put themselves at 
his disposal for the work4  ,the ,lord  
wants all to be saved1 but they will not
 be saved until the  people of ,god are 
willing to let the ,lord use them to    
bring the lost  unto ,himself4          
,deceit and falsehood1 whatever         
conveniences they may for a time promise
  or produce1 are1 in the sum of life1  
obstacles to happiness4  ,those who     
profit by the cheat distrust the        
deceiver2 and the act by which  kindness
 was sought puts an end to confidence4  
,the judges of the election can not tell

 the difference1 when they are  counting
 the votes1 between the one cast by the 
minister of the gospel  and the one cast
 by the saloon-keeper1 when it has been 
cast for the  same party4  ,vote for    
principle rather than for party4    ,let
 every man1 said ,sydney ,smith1 be     
occupied in the highest  employment of  
which his nature is capable1 and die    
with the  consciousness that he has done
 his best4  ,if the highest employment  
is  not to be found in our avocations1  
let us seek it in our leisure4          
,beware of anger of the tongue2 control 
the tongue4  ,beware of anger of  the   
mind2 control the mind4  ,practice      
virtue with thy tongue and with  thy    
mind4  ,by reflection1 by restraint and 
control1 a wise man can make  himself an
 island which no floods can overwhelm4  
,he who conquers  himself is greater    
than he who in battle conquers a        
thousand men4  ,he  who is tolerant with
 the intolerant1 mild with the          
fault-finders1 and  free from passion   

with the passionate1 him ,i call indeed 
a wise man4    ,brothers1 keep posted in
 what your lodge is doing2 knowing who  
is sick2  inquire if there is not some  
widow in need of help2 some poor orphan 
that should be clothed and provided with
 a home and sent to school4  ,remember  
that the widow was your brother's wife1 
and the children your  brother's4  ,be a
 brother to the widow1 and a kind uncle 
to your  brother's children4  ,there is 
plenty of work for you1 and you agreed  
to  do it4  ,cheer up the care-worn     
traveler on his pilgrimage--help the    
weak and weary1 the lonely and sad ones4
  ,time is passing by1 and we  have none
 too much of it in which to do our work4
  ,remember that if we  expect to       
complete our labor1 now is the time2    
soon all will be over  with us1 and then
 all that we shall leave behind1 by     
which to be  remembered1 will be the    
good or evil we have done4  ,if we have 
done  good it will be emblazoned on many
 hearts1 and our names will be spoken   

of with reverence and love2 but if we   
have done evil1 our names will be       
blotted out of the memory of the good   
and true1 and we despised4      ,how    
is't the sons of men are sad1           
,oppressed with grief and care8    ,how 
is't that some of this world's goods1   
,have such a scanty share8    ,why      
should the orphan's piercing cry1       
,assail so oft our ear1    ,and         
thousands find the world to be      ,all
 desolate and drear8      ,we do not    
solve the mystery      ,of woes1 the lot
 of man1    ,but in the lodge we all    
unite      ,to do the good we can4      
',tis there we learn the pleasing task  
,to soothe the troubled breast1    ,to  
educate the orphan child1      ,and     
succor the distressed4      ,our        
motto--,friendship1 ,love and ,truth--  
,these e'er shall be our guide1    ,our 
aim shall be1 of misery      ,to stop   
the running tide4      ,we ask not      
what's a brother's faith1      ,what    
country gave him birth2    ,but open the

 door to every creed      ,and nation of
 the earth4      ,hail1 ,charity6       
,odd-,fellows all      ,bow down before 
thy shrine2    ,they raise no altar1    
make no vow1      ,that is not wholly   
thine4          ,,love ,,supreme4       
,love is the key to the human heart4    
,if we want to have power with ,god  and
 man1 we must cultivate love4  ,it is   
love that burns truth into the  hearts  
of people4  ,a man may be a good lawyer 
without love4  ,there may  be a good    
surgeon without love4  ,a man may be a  
good merchant without  love4  ,but a man
 can not be a good ,odd-,fellow or      
,christian without  love4  ,i would     
rather have my heart full of love than  
be even a  prophet4  ,if a man is full  
of love1 ,paul says1 he is greater than 
a  prophet4  ,a wife would rather live  
in a cabin with the love of her         
husband1 than to live in a palace       
without it4  ,if ,i love a man ,i will  
not cheat him or slander him or envy    
him4  ,i pity people who are  constantly

 looking out for slights4  ,it is better
 to look on the bright  side rather than
 the dark side of life4  ,love will lead
 us to look on  the bright side4  ,some 
persons are always magnifying the faults
 of  others4  ,they use a magnifying    
glass in this business4  ,if you want   
power with persons1 speak as well as you
 can of them4  ,self-control is  a great
 thing4  ,this comes and stays through  
love4  ,how many dwarfs  there are in   
,god's church now4  ,they have not grown
 one inch  spiritually in twenty years4 
,if our hearts are full of love1 we are 
bound to grow4  ,many other graces pass 
away1 but love is eternal4  ,the  most  
selfish man is the most miserable man4  
,a man may be miserly with  his money1  
but no man can be miserly with love4    
,love creates love4  ,the more we love1 
the more we will be loved4  ,love must  
show itself4  ,love demonstrates its    
presence by action4  ,our lives1 after  
all1 are  mere echoes4  ,i speak harsh  
to a man1 and he will speak harsh to me4

  ,if a man has bad neighbors it his own
 fault4  ,if a woman has bad  servants  
it is her own fault4  ,if we make others
 happy we will be happy  ourselves4  ,if
 you are not happy1 go and buy all the  
poor people near  you a turkey for      
,christmas4  ,he that noticeth others   
shall be noticed  also himself4  ,if you
 want to get your own soul above its own
  troubles1 go and do good to some      
unhappy soul4  ,if we do this work1 ,i  
believe we will have to do it in this   
world4  ,there will be no tears to  wipe
 away1 or sorrows to assuage1 or        
afflictions to remedy in the other      
world4  ,this work is for this world4   
,it is a blessed work4  ,it is the  best
 investment a man can make4  ,it pays an
 hundred fold4  ,labors of  love        
demonstrate better than the church      
membership that we are in the  ,master's
 service4  ,this is the ,master's       
business4  ,though my way  through life 
has often been through graveyards and   
through glooms1 ,i  have loved and ,i   

have been loved1 and ,i know that life  
is worth living4  ,love is the          
fulfilling of the law2 the end of the   
gospel commandment2  the bond of        
perfectness4  ,without it1 whatever be  
our attainments1  professions or        
sacrifices1 we are nothing4  ,love      
obliterates the  differences in         
education1 wealth1 station1 religion1   
politics and  nationality4  ,it is a    
promoter of peace and harmony2 it       
cultivates the  social graces2 it makes 
friends of strangers and brothers of    
acquaintances2 it softens the asperities
 of life2 it worships at the  shrine of 
piety1 and recognizes the omnipotence of
 ,god and the  immortality of man4  ,it 
is religious not sectarian1 patriotic   
but not  partisan4  ,it glows by the    
fireside1 radiant with perpetual joy4   
,it  glorifies ,god in worship and in   
song4  ,it blesses humanity in genial   
mirth and human sympathies4  ,it is a   
perennial fountain at which the  old may
 drink and grow strong4  ,it is a daily 

benediction to its  devotees1 and1 like 
a thing of beauty1 is a joy forever4    
,it stands  like the statue of liberty1 
a beacon light to the tempest-tossed and
  wayfaring mariner and brother1        
pointing him the way to the haven of    
refuge1 to the right living and right   
doing4    ,oh love1 thou mightiest gift 
of ,god2 thou white-winged trust in ,him
 who  doeth all things well2 thou one   
light over ,his darkest providences1    
lingering to cheer when all else has    
passed away1 thy whisper upon the  dull 
ear of night4  ,but alas6 this world was
 made to break hearts in1  while love   
was sent from heaven to heal them4  ,the
 precious balm1  though1 is so scarce   
that many must die for want of it4  ,oh1
 the  might-have-been6  ,what human soul
 has not sung that dirge8  ,verily1 the 
winds come1 howling it by like an       
invisible band of mourners from the     
grave of all things4  ,alas6 is anything
 in this life real1 or are we  indeed   
shadows1 and this world altogether a    

shadowy land1 while the  blackened skies
 above give us only glimpses of a       
far-off better home1  better friends and
 better love8  ,alas6  ,heaven's loudest
 complaint to  mortals is ever for lack 
of love4  ,even ,he who sitteth upon the
 throne  of thrones knoweth what it is  
to stretch out ,his arms in utter       
desertion of no one to love ,him1 no one
 to seek ,him1 and no one to fear       
,him--no1 not one4  ,then as we may best
 show our love to ,him by loving  one   
another1 is it not well that we commence
 loving those around us at  once8  ,ah6 
yes1 and like the ambitious vine1 do    
thou reach out all thy  tendril thoughts
 to what is nearest1 the while aspiring 
to the oak or  the pine of the loftier  
trust1 even the faith of ,abraham that  
was  accounted unto him for             
righteousness4  ,would ,i had some new  
phrase for  love1 some new figure for   
hope6  ,how lonely and weary must that  
life be  without love1 how tasteless all
 its joys1 and how vacant every scene4  

,if we have the spirit of love we will  
live for others4  ,auguste ,comte       
inscribed on the first page of his work1
 ,politique ,positive1 wherein  he      
depicted in systematic form1 life that  
had been forming itself  throughout     
human history1 these words3 ,order and  
progress--live for  others4  ,the force 
of this thought is1 in accord with      
,odd-,fellowship1  which teaches love of
 our kind1 love of right1 zeal for the  
good4    ,man's happiness consists in   
living as a social being1 living for    
self  in order to more truly live for   
others4  ,this is summed up in the word 
humanity4  ,but affection1 as the true  
motor force of life1 must have a        
foundation1 must stir us not only to the
 right things1 but to the right  means2 
in other words1 action must be guided by
 knowledge4  ,improvement  must be the  
aim of social life1 as it is the        
incentive to individual  effort4  ,it is
 not enough to desire the good1 or to   
know how to achieve  it1 we must labor  

for it4  ,associated effort gives the   
opportunity for  gaining grander results
 than centuries of divided activity4    
,the  conception of humanity has grown  
nobler4  ,the good of the vast human    
whole is now acknowledged as the end of 
all social union4  ,humanity  embodies  
love2 the object of our activity2 the   
source of what we have2  the ruler of   
the life under whose span we work1 and  
suffer and enjoy4    ,all religions1 all
 social systems worthy of the name1 have
 sought to  regulate human nature and   
perfect the organization of society by  
proclaiming as their principles the     
cultivation of some grand social        
sentiments4  ,philosophers1 moralists1  
preachers have united in saying3  ,base 
your life upon a noble feeling1 if you  
are to live aright2 base  the state upon
 a generous devotion of its members to  
some great ideal1  if it is to prosper  
and be strong4  ,all have agreed that   
the  difference of life could only be   
harmonized by placing action under the  

stimulus of high unselfish passion4     
,odd-,fellowship has grown strong  under
 this governing law4  ,the banner it    
bears aloft proclaims  sentiments that  
are attractive to all the nations of the
 earth4  ,we are  strong in as far as we
 truly interpret1 for the good of       
humanity1 this  elevated aim1 this      
devotion to fraternal ends4    ,compte  
defines religion as consisting of three 
parts--a belief1 a  worship1 and a rule 
of life--of which all three are equal1  
and each as  necessary as any other4    
,as is truly said1 ,society can not be  
touched  without knowledge2 and the     
knowledge of social organization of     
humanity  is a vast and perplexing      
science4  ,the race1 like every one of  
us1 is  dependent on the laws of life1  
and the study of life is a mighty field 
to master4  ,enthusiasm of humanity     
would be but shallow did it not  impel  
us to efforts to learn how to           
serve--demanding the best of  conduct1  
brain and heart4  ,the power of         

,odd-,fellowship lies in its            
fraternity4  ,it goes forward with      
irresistible magnetism when its         
fraternal principles are truly          
interpreted4  ,it furnishes to men a    
strong union1 where general             
intelligence1 by attrition1 is          
increased2  it provides a high moral    
standard2 its objective action is such  
as  touches the common heart of         
humanity2 and by its grand co-operative 
system it gives the finest means of     
securing those advantages that tend  to 
the securement of material comfort and  
mental and spiritual peace  and         
happiness4    ,drummond says3 ,love is  
the greatest thing in the world4  ,read 
what  ,paul says about it in ,i ,cor41  
xiii3 ,though ,i speak with the tongues 
of  men and of angels1 and have not     
love1 ,i am become as sounding brass1 or
  a tinkling cymbal4  ,and though ,i    
have the gift of prophecy1 and          
understand all mysteries1 and all       
knowledge2 and though ,i have all       

faith1 so that ,i could remove          
mountains1 and have not love1 ,i am     
nothing4  ,and though ,i bestow all my  
goods to feed the poor1 and though  ,i  
give my body to be burned1 and have not 
love1 it profiteth me  nothing4  ,love  
suffereth long1 and is kind2 love       
envieth not2 love  vaunteth not itself1 
is not puffed up3 ,doth not behave      
itself unseemly2  ,seeketh not her own4 
,is not easily provoked4  ,thinketh no  
evil2  rejoiceth not in iniquity1 but   
rejoiceth in the truth2 beareth all     
things1 believeth all things1 hopeth all
 things1 endureth all things4  ,love    
never faileth2 but whether there be     
prophecies1 they shall fail2  whether   
there be tongues1 they shall cease2     
whether there be knowledge1  it shall   
vanish away4  ,for we know in part1 and 
we prophesy in part4  ,but when that    
which is perfect is come1 then that     
which is in part  shall be done away4   
,when ,i was a child1 ,i spake as a     
child2 but when ,i  became a man1 ,i put

 away childish things4  ,for now we see 
through a  glass1 darkly2 but then face 
to face2 now ,i know in part2 but then  
shall ,i know even as also ,i am known4 
,and now abideth faith1 hope1  love1    
these three1 but the greatest of these  
is love4    ,the more ,i study          
,odd-,fellowship1 the more ,i become    
convinced that ,i  have just crossed the
 threshold1 and that new truths and     
sublime  lessons await me1 of which ,i  
never dreamed4  ,brothers1 there is     
hidden  treasure in our order for which 
we must dig4  ,it must be brought to the
  surface4  ,we must know more of the   
beauties of this great organization  of 
ours4  ,the greatest thing1 says some   
one1 a man can do for his  ,heavenly    
,father is to be kind to some of ,his   
other children4  ,i  wonder why it is   
that we are not all kinder than we are8 
,how much the  world needs it4  ,how    
easily it is done4  ,how instantaneously
 it acts4  ,how infallibly it is        
remembered4  ,how super-abundantly it   

pays itself  back--for there is no      
debtor in the world so honorable1 so    
superbly  honorable1 as love4  ,love is 
success4  ,love is happiness4  ,love is 
life4  ,where love is1 ,god is4  ,he    
that dwelleth in love dwelleth in  ,god4
  ,god is love4  ,therefore love4       
,without distinction1 without           
calculation1 without procrastination1   
love4  ,lavish it upon the poor1  where 
it is very easy2 especially upon the    
rich1 who often need it  most2 most of  
all upon our equals1 where it is very   
difficult1 and for  whom perhaps we each
 do least of all4  ,there is a          
difference between  trying to please and
 giving pleasure4  ,give pleasure4      
,lose no chance  of giving pleasure4    
,for that is the ceaseless and anonymous
 triumph of  a truly loving spirit4  ,i 
shall pass through this world but once4 
,any  good things that ,i can do1 or any
 kindness that ,i can show to any human 
being1 let me do it now4  ,let me not   
defer it or neglect it1 for ,i  shall   

not pass this way again4  ,we can be    
,odd-,fellows only while we act  like   
honest men4    ,every ,odd-,fellow ought
 to be a gentleman4  ,do you know the   
meaning of  the word gentleman8  ,it    
means a gentleman--a man who does things
  gently1 with love4  ,and that is the  
whole art and mystery of it4  ,the      
gentleman can not in the nature of      
things do an ungentle1 an  ungentlemanly
 thing4  ,love doth not behave itself   
unseemly4  ,life is  full of            
opportunities for learning love4  ,every
 man and woman every day  has a thousand
 of them4  ,there is an eternal lesson  
for us all1 how  better we can love4    
,what makes a good artist1 a good       
sculptor1 a good  musician8  ,practice4 
,what makes a man a good man1 a man of  
love8  ,practice4  ,nothing else4  ,if a
 man does not exercise his arm he       
develops no biceps muscle2 and if a man 
does not exercise his soul1 he  acquires
 no muscle in his soul1 no strength of  
character1 no vigor of  moral fibre1 nor

 beauty of spiritual growth4  ,love is  
not a thing of  enthusiastic emotion4   
,it is a rich1 strong1 manly1 vigorous  
expression  of the whole round          
,christian character--the ,christ-like  
nature in its  fullest development4     
,and the constituents of this great     
character are  only to be built up by   
ceaseless practice4  ,to love abundantly
 is to  live abundantly1 and to love    
forever is to live forever4  ,we want to
  live forever for the same reason that 
we want to live tomorrow4  ,why do  you 
want to live tomorrow8  ,it is because  
there is some one who loves  you1 and   
whom you want to see tomorrow1 and be   
with1 and love back4  ,there is no other
 reason why we should live on than that 
we love and  are beloved4  ,it is when a
 man has no one to love him that he     
commits  suicide4  ,the reason why1 in  
the nature of things1 love should be the
  supreme thing--because it is going to 
last2 because in the nature of  things  
it is an eternal life4  ,it is a thing  

that we are living now1  not that we get
 when we die2 that we shall have a poor 
chance of  getting when we die unless we
 are living now4    ,no worse fate can  
befall a man in this world than to live 
and grow old  alone1 unloving and       
unloved4  ,at any cost cultivate a      
loving nature4  ,then you will find as  
you look back upon your life that the   
moments  when you have really lived are 
the moments when you have done things in
  a spirit of love4  ,as memory scans   
the past1 above and beyond all the      
transitory pleasures of life1 there leap
 forward those supreme hours  when you  
have been enabled to do unnoticed       
kindnesses to those around  about you1  
things too trifling to speak about1 but 
which you feel have  entered into your  
eternal life4  ,i have seen almost all  
the beautiful  things ,god has made2 ,i 
have enjoyed almost every pleasure that 
,he has  planned for man2 and yet as ,i 
look back ,i see standing out above all 
the life that has gone1 four or five    

short experiences when the love of  ,god
 reflected itself in some poor          
imitation1 some small act of love of    
mine1 and these seem to be the things   
which alone of all one's life  abide4   
,everything else in all our lives is    
transitory4  ,every other  good is      
visionary4  ,but the acts of love which 
no man knows about1 or  can ever know   
about--they fail not4                   
,odd-,fellowship ought to grow4  ,the   
kinship of the human race--how          
beautiful a thought6  ,without mutual   
aid the race would perish4  ,think  of  
it4  ,throughout life you are dependent 
upon your fellow-man4  ,who  can live   
without a friend8  ,when you have no    
money and no home1 where1  brothers1    
will you find food and shelter8  ,when  
low with fever1 the  tongue parched1 the
 brain wandering1 who will give you     
water1 bathe  your throbbing temples1   
and watch over you lest you die8  ,see  
the old  man4  ,the frosts of seventy   
winters have whitened his head2 his eye 

is  dim2 his limbs tremble2 reason and  
memory fail2 he is an infant again4  ,he
 goes down to the valley of the shadow  
of death4  ,who shall lead him  and     
comfort his weary soul8  ,who lay his   
body gently and reverently in  the      
grave1 and sod it over with green grass8
  ,so with us all4  ,a man  alone in the
 world1 without a human being who cares 
whether he live or  die6  ,not a hand to
 touch1 nor a voice to hear1 nor a smile
 to receive6  ,human affections forever 
sealed to him2 no fireside2 no home with
  father1 mother1 brothers1 sisters2 no 
little children1 no son to be  proud of2
 no daughters to caress2 no good night2 
no good morning4  ,who could bear it8   
,the sun could not warm such a man4     
,the brightest  days and the greenest   
fields could not give him pleasure4     
,better chain  him on a rock in         
mid-ocean and leave him to the vultures1
 than thus rob  him of his kinship with 
the human race4    ,this world is       
beautiful1 and it is full of priceless  

sympathies4  ,all  creation is glorious 
with melody4  ,the morning stars1 saith 
the ,bible1  sang together1 and all the 
sons of ,god shouted for joy when it was
  made4  ,the universe of stars1 and    
suns1 and planets and globes1 swing     
harmoniously through space4  ,not a     
sparrow falleth to the ground  without  
our ,father's notice2 not a soul yearns1
 or sorrows1 or  rejoices1 but ,he      
knoweth it4  ,he hath made of one blood 
all nations of  men to dwell together on
 the face of the earth4  ,we are bound  
to each  other by indissoluble ties4    
,it is a law of nature that we must all 
work for each other4  ,though ten       
thousand miles apart2 though oceans     
roll between us and continents divide   
us1 we labor not for ourselves  alone4  
,you plow the furrow in ,california and 
sow the wheat for your  brother in      
,louisiana1 while he plants the cane and
 cotton for you4  ,the  good ,siberian  
is this day roaming over snows and ice1 
hunting the otter  and gathering furs1  

that you may be warm4  ,men are diving  
in the  ,persian gulf for pearls to     
grace your wives and daughters4  ,the   
silkworm of ,india and ,china may have  
spun the threads of your dress1  the    
,frenchman may have woven it2 the hardy 
mariner braved the seas to  bring it    
here4  ,truly1 we are brothers4  ,a     
common ,father brought us all  into this
 world1 and to a common ,father we all  
go4  ,let us1 then1 help  one another1  
in money 7if need be71 in education1 in 
sympathy4    ,there is one feature of   
the order we desire to emphasize1 and   
that is  its full sympathy with those   
that labor and toil4  ,no reference     
would  do justice to the order that did 
not emphasize this fact4  ,it is its    
pride and glory4  ,it is from this class
 its membership is chiefly  drawn4  ,it 
was with this class it originated1 the  
first lodge in the  ,united ,states     
having been organized by half a dozen   
humble mechanics2  ,thomas ,wildey1     
their leader1 was a blacksmith4  ,you   

see it had no  aristocratic origin1 and 
its broad and catholic sympathy1 its    
popularity with this class is explained4
  ,they know its value1 and have  seen  
its active charity and experienced its  
beneficence4  ,a man who has  no        
sympathy with the humble and the lowly1 
a man of mean and narrow  heart1 will   
find no congenial dwelling place in our 
lodges4  ,the true  ,odd-,fellow is a   
man of heart2 his hand is open to every 
worthy appeal  of the needy1 and he is  
honest and upright in his life4  ,it    
enforces no  religious or political     
tests2 in these every member is free2   
but it  does teach and urge its members 
to be grateful to their ,creator and    
loyal to their country4  ,in conclusion1
 let me urge upon the living1  fidelity 
to the teachings of ,odd-,fellowship4   
,if these are respected it  will make   
you better citizens1 better husbands1   
better fathers1 better  men4  ,it is a  
cultivation of the heart and the better 
feelings1 and  expands our humanity4    

,if you are poor1 it will come to you1  
or your  family1 sometimes as a         
benefaction4  ,if you are rich1 you can 
afford to  give1 and with a good        
,odd-,fellow that is more blessed than  
to receive4    ,i want to say here what 
,i have often said in the lodge-room4   
,i love  ,odd-,fellowship1 above all1   
for the heart there is in it4  ,for its 
display on the street and its pageantry 
,i care but little4  ,i shrink  from it 
rather than follow it4  ,but its        
benevolence1 its active  charity1 and   
its mission of good will1 ,i admire4    
,when death's  unwelcome presence rests 
within our portals1 and obedient to his 
call a  loved one has gone hence1 we    
should give the mortal remains of the   
departed brother a decent sepulture2    
fondly cherish the remembrance of  his  
virtues1 and bury his frailties beneath 
the clods which rest upon  his bosom4   
,we should then direct our thoughts and 
cares to the  desolate home1 where the  
widow1 clad in the robes of grief1 her  

heart  cords broken and bleeding1 is    
weeping over earth's only idol1 now lost
  to earth forever4  ,then1 too1 should 
we extend the helping hand to the       
fatherless children1 and endeavor to so 
direct their steps that their  paths may
 be paths of usefulness and honor4      
,these are the imperative  duties4  ,but
 our ministrations of charity and       
benevolence should by no  means be      
confined exclusively within the pale of 
the order4  ,this  crowded world1 with  
its eager millions1 maddened with       
ambition's  unquenchable fires1         
trampling under foot and well-nigh      
smothering each  other in the great rush
 of competitive strife1 is full of poor 
unfortunates1 daily appealing for       
generous sympathy and assistance4       
,though not members1 it may be1 of our  
peculiar family1 yet the poorest1  the  
humblest1 the most wretched1 is a human 
being--the master-piece of  ,his        
handiwork--and1 as such1 demands our aid
 and comfort as far as  practicable4    

,life has been compared to a river4     
,aye1 and beneath its  murky waters lurk
 countless reefs and shoals4  ,many a   
beautiful bark1  sailing1 seemingly1    
under the very star of hope1 dashes upon
 them1 and  is lost4  ,all along its    
shores are scattered the wrecks of      
stranded  vessels1 once laden with      
joyous hopes and brilliant prospects4   
,odd-,fellowship renders the passage of 
this river safe by a bridge of  mystic  
form1      ,on one side is friendship   
planted--      ,truth upon the other    
shore2    ,love1 the arch that spans the
 current1      ,bears each brother      
safely o'er4    ,it should be the most  
pleasing duty of ,odd-,fellows to point 
our  fellow-travelers to this beautiful 
and stately arch2 to lead  thitherward  
their weary steps4  ,such would be      
assistance more permanent  than can be  
rendered by silver or gold4  ,the time  
is certain to come  when every young man
 is thrown back upon himself--must leave
 the  tranquil security of the parental 

home1 and seek a refuge among           
strangers4  ,when beyond the reach of   
family influence--beyond the reach  of  
that tender providence which so         
carefully guarded him from vice1 and    
soothed his griefs and sympathized with 
all his youthful aspirations  and       
pleasures--when this influence ceases to
 surround him1 what will  continue its  
ministry of love8  ,what will be to him 
father1 mother1  brother1 sister--home8 
,will society8  ,no6  ,society to its   
deepest core  is selfish1 corrupt1      
unnatural and unloving8  ,society will  
not1 and can  not4  ,he is in the great 
world--allurements and temptations are  
rife  around him--he is sick and in     
distress1 and must suffer alone1 with no
  one to console him with a word of     
comfort1 sympathy1 or love2 he has no   
attention but such as money will        
purchase--he dies1 and the cold eyes  of
 strangers only look upon the grave1 if1
 indeed1 a grave he has4  ,this is a    
life picture1 and it is at this point   

the beauty and utility  of              
,odd-,fellowship is seen1 for the order 
is a vast family circle1  spread        
throughout the community2 always        
powerful and efficient to  preserve     
those who are brought within the sphere 
of its influence4  ,he  who is a member 
of this fraternity may go where his     
father's counsel  and his mother's care 
can not reach him1 but he can not go    
beyond the  reach of that larger family 
to which he belongs6  ,silently and     
invisibly1 yet with unslumbering        
assiduity1 ,odd-,fellowship watches over
  him1 and by its wise counsels1 its    
tender sympathies and rational          
restraints1 saves him from the ways of  
vice4    ,mythic story tells us that the
 ancient gods invisibly and secretly    
followed their favorites in all their   
wanderings1 and when exposed to  danger1
 or threatened with destruction1 would  
unveil themselves in  their awful beauty
 and power1 and stand forth to preserve 
them from  harm or to avenge their      

wrongs4  ,odd-,fellowship realizes this 
myth of  the pagan gods2 she surrounds  
all her children with her preserving    
presence1 and reveals herself always in 
the hour of peril1 sickness or          
distress4  ,nowhere in our country can a
 true ,odd-,fellow feel himself  alone1 
friendless or forsaken4  ,the invisible1
 but helpful arms of our  order surround
 him wherever he may be4  ,and should he
 be overtaken by  illness or misfortune1
 be he in any part of the country1 and  
never so  poor1 he will1 if he makes his
 wants known1 receive as a right the    
necessary assistance1 and friends to    
watch over him with fraternal           
solicitude4  ,and should he fall a      
victim to disease1 the brothers of      
charity will be there to close his eyes1
 and with solemn1 yet hopeful1          
heaven-born rites1 consign his body to  
the repose of the silent tomb4          
,odd-,fellowship is an embodiment of    
family love and affection1 and is  the  
only substitute for home influence1 and 

the only green spot in the  dreary waste
 of life which binds these brothers to  
the tender practice  of every           
virtue--guides in prosperity and health1
 and as a ministering  angel bends over 
them with tenderest pity in their       
chamber of  suffering4  ,true1 there are
 sorrows which it can not reach--there  
are  griefs which it can not remove2    
notwithstanding1 it still pursues its   
way1 imparts its healthful influence1   
and accomplishes its beautiful  and holy
 ministry of benevolence and charity4   
,if it can not heal the  wounds of      
misfortune1 it administers the balm of  
sympathy1 friendship  and love4  ,my    
dear reader1 learn to give encouragement
 to those around  you4    ,everybody    
feels the need of encouragement1 from   
the humblest artisan to  the king on his
 throne4  ,we hear of the choice spirits
 who have been  the world's idols1 how  
they came up through terrible trials    
alone and  almost unaided1 setting aside
 obstacles that would have crushed      

others1  and fighting their way to the  
very pinnacle of fame4  ,aye6 but great 
as  they were1 they needed and received 
encouragement4  ,in some part of  their 
poor home they saw the smile that spoke 
the hearty appreciation  of the genius1 
though1 perhaps1 the lips said nothing4 
,even ,west left  on record1 my mother's
 smile made me a painter4  ,the         
encouragement of  a little child will   
send the blood more warmly to the heart1
 and even  the appreciation of a poor   
dumb brute is worth its gaining4  ,give 
encouragement4  ,everybody needs        
it--men1 women and even children4  ,oh6 
how many a dear little heart has been   
chilled into ice when the coarse  laugh 
has greeted its rude hieroglyphics in   
the first attempt to  portray its ideal4
  ,the child sees warm visions of       
sunlight and beauty  in those uncouth   
angles4  ,whole minds of thought lie    
concealed under  those strange shapes4  
,to the young mind's eye they are       
wonders1 and  the tiny fingers have     

built monuments that deserve not to be  
thrown  down so rudely1 when a smile    
that costs nothing would have left them 
standing to be finished into finer shape
 and more classical proportions  in the 
years that are to come4  ,you do a      
positive injury to the dullest  child   
when you reward his little efforts with 
contempt4  ,it is a wrong  that can     
never be repaired1 for the disheartment 
that strikes the happy  spirit1 flushed 
with the consciousness of having        
achieved something new  and great1 comes
 up in after time with the very same    
vividness at every  trivial             
disappointment4  ,give encouragement4   
,you men of business1 who  know so well 
what a good1 hearty go ahead1 coupled   
with a frank1  merry face1 will do in   
your own case--give encouragement to the
 young  beginner1 who starts nervously  
at the bottom of the race1 and who1     
though he may put a bold outside on1    
quakes at the center of his being  with 
the dread that among so many competitors

 he shall always be left  in the rear4  
,hold out your hand to him as if you    
thought the world was  really large     
enough for two1 and bid him ,god-speed4 
,tell him to come  to you if he feels   
the need of a friend to advise with him4
  ,don't  emulate your sign in          
overshadowing him4  ,out upon these     
mean1 cringing  souls who would grudge  
,god's sunlight if it shone upon a piece
 of  merchandise as good as their own4  
,they are poor1 barren wretches1 who    
plow furrows only in their own cheeks1  
and plant wrinkles on their  brows4     
,above all things1 if you have any      
tenderness or compassion1  encourage    
your pastor1 your physician1 and your   
editor4  ,suppose1 once  in a while1    
they do1 in expressing their own honest 
views1 say  something that conflicts a  
little with your own starved or         
plethoric  notions4  ,suppose they do   
dare to tell you the truth sometimes in 
a way  that makes you cringe1 and you   
say to yourself1 he has no business to  

be personal1 when the poor man never    
thought that his homely coats  would    
fit2 don't grow cold1 and cast sheep's  
eyes1 and nudge somebody's  elbow in a  
corner1 and whisper all around1 and say 
complacently1 ,yes1  ,brother ,a4 is a  
good man--but--    ,those buts and ifs  
ought to be christened intellectual     
revolvers1  for they kill more          
reputations than any other two words in 
the ,english  language4  ,we have known 
instances where pastors and editors and 
others  have felt weary of living1 from 
having to encounter the spirit of       
discouragement among their brethren2 and
 oh6 how many wives1 husbands  and      
children1 are dying deaths daily from   
this same prolific source of  suffering4
  ,give encouragement1 then1 wherever   
and whenever you can1  and you will find
 that you have not lived in vain4  ,if  
,god blesses  those who offer but a cup 
of cold water in charity1 how much more 
will  ,he regard the kind heart that has
 refreshed a weary spirit fainting by   

the way4  ,death quickens recollections 
painfully4  ,the grave can not  hide the
 white faces of those who sleep4  ,the  
coffin and the green  mound are cruel   
magnets4  ,they draw us farther than we 
would go4  ,they  force us to remember4 
,a man never sees so far into human life
 as when  he looks over a wife's or     
mother's grave4  ,his eyes get wondrous 
clear  then1 and he sees as never before
 what it is to love and to be loved2    
what it is to injure the feelings of the
 loved4    ,let us deal gently with     
those around us4  ,remember every day a 
flower  is plucked from some sunny home2
 a breach made in some happy circle2 a  
jewel stolen from some treasury of love2
 each day from summer fields of  life   
some harvester disappears--yea1 every   
hour some sentinel falls  from his post 
and is thrown from the ramparts of time 
into the surging  waters of eternity4   
,even as ,i write1 the funeral of one   
who died  yesterday winds like a winter 
shadow along some silent street4        

,daily1  when we rise from the bivouac  
to stand at our posts1 we miss some     
brother soldier whose cheering cry in   
the sieges and struggles of the  past   
has been as fire from heaven upon our   
hearts4  ,each day some pearl  drops    
from the jeweled thread of              
friendship--some harp to which we have  
listened has been hushed forever4       
,love1 however1 annihilates death  even2
 blots away all record of time and      
creates the world it lives in2  conjures
 back arms to embrace1 lips to kiss1 and
 eyes to smile1  whispers its own       
praises and breathes its own names of   
endearment4  ,thus1 love maketh the     
light to our dreams and planteth hope in
 the  midst of our sorrow4  ,in darkness
 and in danger1 too1 love cometh to us  
ever1 ever1 now warning1 now chiding1   
now blessing1 and always safely         
guarding4  ,love lightens labor1        
shortens distance and quickens time4    
,love teaches us to forgive1 helps us to
 forget and whitens the memory  of all  

things4  ,love paints every hope1       
brightens every scene and  maketh       
beautiful whatsoever it shines on4      
,love is wisdom4  ,love is  high4  ,love
 is holy4  ,love is ,god4  ,love gloweth
 in the hearts of the  angels1 wreathes 
the smiles on their brows and melts the 
kisses on  their lips4  ,love is the    
light of the beautiful beyond4          
,,gems ,,of ,,beauty    ,more hopeful   
than all wisdom is one draught of human 
pity that will not  forsake us4         
,laughing is one of the products of     
civilization4  ,in the uncivilized      
tribes laughter is entirely unknown4    
,let him who neglects to raise the      
fallen fear lest1 when he falls1 no  one
 will stretch out his hand to lift him  
up4    ,time is a species of wealth     
which it is impossible for us to hoard1 
but  which we may spend to good         
advantage4    ,character is the eternal 
temple that each one begins to rear1 yet
 death  can only complete it4  ,the     
finer the architecture1 the more fit for

 the  indwelling of angels4    ,it is   
only by labor that thought can be made  
healthy1 and only by  thought that labor
 can be made happy2 and the two can not 
be separated  with impunity4--,john     
,ruskin4    ,don't moralize to a man who
 is on his back4  ,help him up1 set him 
firmly on his feet1 and then give him   
advice and means4    ,there is a        
pleasure in contemplating good2 there is
 a greater pleasure  in receiving good2 
but the greatest pleasure of all is in  
doing good1  which comprehends the rest4
    ,morality without religion is only a
 kind of dead reckoning--an endeavor  to
 navigate a cloudy sea by measuring the 
distance we have to run1 but  without   
observation of the heavenly bodies4     
,most people keep too strong a hold of  
their personality to be able to  forget 
themselves in their subject2 they carry 
an unacknowledged  self-consciousness   
along with them4  ,if to be             
single-minded is to have  an undivided  
interest in things1 they are not        

single-minded4    ,real affection is    
independent4  ,a woman may passionately 
love a man who  does not care for her1  
and men have gone mad for the sake of   
women who  were indifferent to them4    
,that affection which survives coldness 
or  even contempt on the part of the    
subject is a stronger proof of its      
strength than jealousy1 however well    
founded4    ,to have a respect for      
ourselves guides our morals1 and to have
 a  deference for others governs our    
manners4    ,if you want to be          
miserable1 think about yourself1 about  
what you want1  what you like1 what     
respect people pay you1 and what people 
think of  you4    ,one great impediment 
to the rapid dissemination of new truths
 is that a  knowledge of them would     
convict many sage professors of having  
long  promulgated error4    ,the leaves 
that give out the sweetest fragrance are
 those that are the  most cruelly       
crushed2 so the hearts of those who have
 suffered most can  feel for others'    

woes4    ,each of us can so believe in  
humanity in general as to contribute to 
that pressure which constantly levers up
 the race2 can surround  ourselves with 
an atmosphere optimistic rather than the
  contrary4--,selected4    ,he who has  
more knowledge than good works is like a
 tree with many  branches and few roots1
 which the first wind throws on its     
face2 while  he who does more than he   
says is like a tree with strong roots   
and few  branches1 which all the winds  
can not uproot4--,talmud4    ,if we     
waited until it was perfectly           
convenient1 half of the good  actions of
 life would never be accomplished1 and  
very few of its  successes4    ,a       
helping word to one in trouble is often 
like a switch on a railroad  track1 but 
one inch between wreck and smooth       
rolling prosperity4    ,prayer is the   
key of day and lock of the night2 and we
 should every day  begin and end1 bid   
ourselves good morrow and good night1   
with prayer4    ,in order to love       

mankind1 expect but little from them2 in
 order to view  their faults without    
bitterness1 pardon them4  ,the wisest   
men have  always been the most          
indulgent4    ,there are souls which    
fall from heaven like flowers1 but ere  
the pure  and fresh buds can open they  
are trodden in the dust of the earth1   
and  lie soiled and crushed under the   
foul tread of some brutal hoof4    ,many
 of the men we calmly set down as       
failures may have been doing as  much as
 those who have made ten times as much  
noise in the world4  ,a  great deal of  
the best work in the world is anonymous1
 if we do not  confine the term to      
writing4    ,to a man of brave          
sentiments midnight is as bright as     
noonday1 for the  illumination is       
within4    ,that man who lives in vain  
lives worse than vain4  ,he who lives to
 no  purpose lives to a bad             
purpose4--,nevins4    ,labor is the law 
of the world1 and he who lives by other 
men's means is  of less value to the    

world than the buzzing1 busy insect4    
,deep is the sea1 and deep is hell1 but 
pride runneth deeper2 it is  coiled as a
 poisonous worm about the foundation of 
the soul4--,tupper4    ,the integrity of
 the heart1 when it is strengthened by  
reason1 is the  principal source of     
justice and wit2 an honest man thinks   
nearly always  justly4    ,be firm1 but 
be not too hasty to decide2 weigh well  
before you act1  but1 having weighed1   
act promptly1 and abide the result4     
,this is the  test of judgment4    ,wit 
loses its respect with the good when    
seen in company with malice2  and to    
smile at the jest which plants a thorn  
in another's breast is to  become a     
principal in the mischief4    ,success  
never did1 never will come to that young
 man who knows  everything--in his own  
opinion4    ,in love1 as in everything  
else1 truth is the strongest of all     
things1  and frankness is but another   
name for truth4    ,frequent            
disappointment teaches us to mistrust   

our own inclination1 and  shrink even   
from vows our hearts may prompt4    ,for
 children there is no leave-taking1 for 
they acknowledge no past1  only the     
present1 that to them is full of the    
future4    ,to love1 in order to be     
loved in return1 is man1 but to love for
 the  pure sake of loving1 is almost the
 characteristic of an angel4    ,fond as
 a man is of sight-seeing1 life is the  
great show for every  man--the show     
always wonderful and new to the         
thoughtful4    ,the sweetest book in all
 the world1 if properly read1 is the    
,bible4  ,its leaves are as fragrant as 
a bed of violets in full bloom4    ,pity
 gilds mortality with rays of immortal  
light1 and through faith  enables its   
possessor to triumph over sin1 sorrow1  
tribulation and  death4    ,if we can   
not live so as to be happy1 let us at   
least live so as to  deserve            
happiness4--,fichte4    ,little by      
little fortunes are accumulated2 little 
by little knowledge  is gained2 little  

by little character and reputation are  
achieved4    ,don't rely for success    
upon empty praise4  ,the swimmer upon   
the stream  of life must be able to keep
 afloat without the aid of bladders4    
,industry--,in seeking a situation1     
remember that the right kind of men  are
 always in demand1 and that industry and
 capacity rarely go  empty-handed4      
,frankness is the child of honesty and  
courage4  ,say just what you mean  to do
 on every occasion1 and take it for     
granted that you mean to do  what is    
right4    ,to be always intending to    
lead a new life1 but never to find time 
to  set about it1 is as if a man should 
put off eating from one day to  another 
till he is starved4    ,a man loved by a
 beautiful and virtuous woman carries a 
talisman that  renders him invulnerable2
 every one feels that such a one's life 
has a  higher value than that of others4
    ,the great beauty of charity is     
privacy2 there is a sweet force1 even in
  an anonymous penny4    ,every heart   

has its secret sorrows1 and oftentimes  
we call a man cold  when he was only    
sad4    ,a promise should be given with 
caution1 and kept with care2 it should  
be made with the heart and kept with the
 head4    ,the mind of a young creature1
 says ,berkely1 can not remain empty2 if
  you do not put into it that which is  
good1 it will be sure to use even  that 
which is bad4    ,we all see at sunset  
the beautiful colors streaming all over 
the  western sky1 but no eyes can behold
 the hand that overturns the urns       
whence these streams are poured4    ,we 
often live under a cloud1 and it is well
 for us that we should do  so4          
,uninterrupted sunshine would parch our 
hearts4  ,we want shade and  rain to    
cool and refresh them4    ,poverty is   
very terrible to you1 and kills the soul
 in you sometimes2  but it is the north 
wind that lashed men into vikings2 it is
 the soft1  luscious south wind that    
lulls to lotus dreams4    ,there is     
nothing so valuable1 and yet so cheap1  

as civility2 you can  almost buy land   
with it4    ,it has been justly said    
nothing in man is so ,godlike as doing  
good to  our fellows4--,selected4       
,contentment swells a mite into a       
talent1 and makes even the poor richer  
than the ,indies4--,addison4    ,never  
was a sincere word utterly lost1 never a
 magnanimity fell to the  ground2 there 
is some heart always to greet and accept
 it unexpectedly4    ,there are people  
who often talk of the humbleness of     
their origin1 when  they are really     
ashamed of it1 though vain of the talent
 which enabled  them to emerge from it4 
,a witty old deacon put it thus3 ,now1  
brethren1 let us get up a supper  and   
eat ourselves rich4  ,buy your food1    
then give it to the church2  then go and
 buy it back again2 then eat it up1 and 
your church debt is  paid4              
,self-sacrifice is the essential mark of
 the ,christian1 and the absence  of it 
is sufficient at once to condemn the man
 who calls himself by  that name and yet

 has it not1 and to declare that he has 
no right to  it4--,bolton4    ,there are
 many comfortable people in the world1  
but to call any man  perfectly happy is 
an insult4    ,women often make light of
 ruin4  ,give them but the beloved      
objects1 and  poverty is but a trifling 
sorrow to bear4--,thackeray1            
,independence is a name for what no man 
possesses2 nothing in the  animate or   
inanimate world is more dependent than  
man4    ,wealth is to be used only as an
 instrument of action1 not as the       
representative of civil honors and moral
 excellence4--,jane ,porter4    ,there  
is nothing purer1 nothing warmer than   
our first friendship1 our  first love1  
our first striving after truth1 our     
first feeling for  nature4--,jean ,paul 
,richter4    ,shakespeare is as much out
 of the category of eminent authors as  
he is  out of the crowd4  ,he is        
inconceivably wise2 the others          
conceivably4--,representative ,men4     
,a smooth sea never made a skillful     

mariner4  ,neither do uninterrupted     
prosperity and success qualify a man for
 usefulness and happiness4  ,the  storms
 of adversity1 like the storms of the   
ocean1 arouse the faculties  and excite 
the invention1 prudence1 skill and      
fortitude of the voyager4    ,it is not 
work that hurts men4  ,it is the        
corrosion of uncertainty2 it  is the    
anticipation of trouble2 it is living in
 a state of painful  apprehension4      
,therefore we should endeavor to rise   
out of the  atmosphere of gloomy        
forebodings4  ,the man who is lifted    
above fear and  its whole brood of      
mischief can go through twice as much   
trouble as a  man who is subject to its 
influence4    ,he that looks out upon   
life from a sour or severe disposition1 
with  hard and stringent notions1 is ill
 prepared to meet the experiences of    
the world2 but he who has the sweetness 
of hope1 he who has an  imagination lit 
up with cheerfulness1 he who has the    
sense of humor  which softens all       

things--he who has this atmosphere of   
the mind--has  made himself superior to 
accident4  ,as the angel described by   
,milton1  who was smitten by the sword1 
and whose wounds healed as soon as the  
sword was withdrawn1 so ought man to be2
 and when he receives a spear  thrust in
 life1 no sooner should the spear be    
withdrawn than his flesh  ought to close
 and be itself again4    ,a married man 
falling into misfortune is more apt to  
retrieve his  situation in the world    
than a single one1 chiefly because his  
spirits  are soothed and retrieved by   
domestic endearments1 and his           
self-respect  kept alive by finding     
that1 although all abroad is darkness   
and  humiliation1 yet there is a little 
world of love at home over which he  is 
monarch4          ,,husband ,,and       
,,father    ,miss ,frances ,power ,cobb 
is right1 and she is wrong1 when she    
says3 ,it  is a woman1 and only a       
woman--a woman all by herself1 if she   
likes1 and  without any man to help     

her--who can turn a house into a home4  
,she is  unquestionably right in her    
judgment1 that it is a woman who can1 if
  she will1 turn a house into a home1   
but she is much in the wrong in her     
assertion that it is a woman all by     
herself1 without any man to help  her1  
who can effect such a beneficial        
transformation4  ,woman possesses       
magical powers in the way of building up
 a home2 but home naturally  implies the
 presence and protection of man--and it 
is man himself1 if  he likes1 and       
without any woman to help him1 who can  
give that home a  semblance of that     
place where1 as some people believe1 the
 wicked  suffer after they have shuffled
 off this mortal coil4  ,the husband    
can never make the home1 but he can     
succeed most admirably1 if so he        
choose1 to unmake it1 to banish its     
happiness and comfort1 to exile  from it
 its ministering angels of peace and    
content1 to shatter woman's  sweet and  
blessed work to its very foundation4    

,let the wife  concentrate1 all day     
long1 all her care and ingenuity and    
love upon  building up her little       
paradise at home1 let her hands be ever 
so busy  in strewing fresh flowers      
around the domestic hearth1 let her     
heart be  ever so happy throughout the  
day in the discharge of her domestic    
duties1 let her countenance be ever so  
beaming in her sweet  anticipation of   
the happy smile of appreciation1 of the 
kind word of  sympathy and              
encouragement1 which shall be her reward
 when her husband  returns2 and then see
 this star in her domestic firmament    
enter1  sulking and surly1 blind to all 
that her busy hands have so lovingly    
prepared1 grim and gruff to her and the 
little ones1 who have been  fitted up in
 their neatest and cleanest1 in which to
 welcome their  father's return1 and    
then see whether you can agree with     
,miss ,cobb's  assertion that it is a   
woman1 and only a woman--a woman all by 
herself1 if she likes1 and without any  

man to help her--who can turn a  house  
into a home4  ,see how her heart sinks1 
how her voice1 full of  mirth and glee  
and music before his coming1 dies in her
 throat1 how the  little ones1 full of  
merriment all day long1 tremblingly hide
 in the  corner1 or withdraw from the   
room2 see how the intrusion of this grim
  spectre of malcontent shuts the door  
upon domestic peace and happiness1  and 
withers every pious resolve to make home
 the dearest1 sweetest1  most contented 
and most sacred spot on earth1 and then 
calculate how  long1 under such         
disheartening surroundings1 woman will  
be able all by  herself1 and without any
 man to help her1 to prevent her house  
from  becoming anything and everything  
except a home4    ,while studying       
language1 ,i observed that most of my   
mistakes in grammar  occurred in the    
feminine gender1 and thinking over the  
cause of it1 it  dawned upon me that1   
belonging to the masculine sex1 ,i was  
in the habit  of thinking in that       

gender1 and that my teachers were men1  
and that my  text-books and grammars had
 been written by men1 and that the      
masculine  gender predominated so       
strongly in the exercises1 that it was  
but  natural for me to make the greatest
 number of mistakes in the gender to    
which the least attention had been      
given4  ,when dealing with the social   
and domestic question1 the unbiased     
among us can not but observe a  similar 
failing4  ,many a serious mistake has   
been made by man when  speaking or      
writing concerning women1 because our   
speakers and writers  and preachers and 
teachers belonged from the very         
beginning of  civilization1 almost      
exclusively to the masculine sex1 a sex 
which has  never tired in exalting      
itself at the expense of the weaker sex1
 in  emphasizing woman's inferiority to 
man1 in asserting its rights1 and in    
complaining about its wrongs1 and as    
woman did not write or speak for        
herself1 we have heard but little of her

 side of the story1 know next  to       
nothing of her just rights and of her   
grievous wrongs1 seldom dream  that she1
 too1 has rights that must be respected1
 and suffers wrongs  that must be       
corrected4    ,the universities1        
colleges and all great institutions of  
learning of  this and other lands       
refused1 until quite recently1 to       
recognize woman  as a human being       
possessing a mind in need of training1  
and therefore  excluded her from their  
privileges1 and the order of            
,odd-,fellows  partook of the same      
spirit and excluded the better half of  
the human  race from its lodge-rooms4   
,man had ever been a selfish1 conceited1
  cowardly tyrant from the day in which 
our father ,adam disgraced his sex  by  
taking without question the forbidden   
fruit2 and1 after eating it1  crying    
with selfish1 pusillanimous cowardice3  
,the woman thou gavest to  be with me   
gave me of the tree and ,i did eat1 and 
he has always sought  to make and keep  

woman an inferior1 dependent1 submissive
 slave4  ,to  this end he has striven to
 keep her in ignorance1 exclude her from
 all  the avenues of knowledge1 and     
then1 because she did not possess the   
knowledge that he had forbidden her1    
proclaimed throughout the world  that   
she was mentally inferior to man1 and in
 consequence unfit to be  admitted to   
the various institutions and            
associations in which men  sought to    
improve their minds4    ,the object of  
,odd-,fellowship is to improve and      
elevate the character of  man1 to       
enlighten his mind and enlarge the      
sphere of his affections1  and of course
 woman1 as being mentally weak and      
naturally inferior to  man1 was excluded
 from its sacred precincts4  ,now1      
however1 things are  changed2 nearly all
 educational institutions worthy of     
mention admit  women1 and the ,rebekah  
of today1 emulating the ,rebekah of old1
 will be  hand in hand with her brothers
 in all good works4  ,she will accompany

  him on his errands of mercy1 watch    
beside the bedside of anguish1          
foregoing pleasure to follow in the path
 of duty4    ,i would have every man    
know--who has a wife--that mutual       
benefit from  harmonious partnership    
work is an axiom in as full a sense as  
in  union there is strength4    ,there  
are two sides to every question1 and in 
this article ,i shall deal  with the    
woman's side4  ,i want to present       
especially the wife's side of  the      
question to every ,odd-,fellow1 hoping  
that it will be of lasting  benefit in  
many ways4  ,i know full well that only 
one accustomed to  deal with high and   
holy things1 one whose glance is ever at
 sacred  things1 one who1 as it were1   
administers the treasures of the kingdom
  of ,god1 can fittingly touch this     
subject4  ,it would be easy for me to   
be a cheap wit1 to rake up the old      
scandal of ,mother ,eve1 to even        
declaim with windy volubility that a    
woman betrayed the capital1 that a      

woman lost ,mark ,anthony the world and 
left old ,troy in ashes4  ,but far  be  
it from me6  ,rather would ,i assume a  
loftier mood2 rather would ,i  strike a 
loftier note1 and1 with blind ,homer1   
beg for an unwearied  tongue to chant   
the praise of woman4  ,it is true ,eve  
lost us ,eden1 but  in that garden of   
monotonous delight1 had we been born    
there1 we would  never have truly known 
what woman is4  ,o1 ,felix ,culpa6  ,o1 
happy fault6  that has shown the world  
the mines of rich affection of woman's  
heart1  that else would never have been 
discovered4  ,o1 happy fault1 that has  
shown the world a wealth of woman's     
nature1 her capability for love1  the   
radiance of her tenderness1 her infinite
 pity1 her unswerving  devotion1 the    
solace of her presence in sickness and  
sorrow1 the depth  and sweetness of her 
mercy4    ,a river of pure delight      
flowed through paradise1 but blind ,adam
 never  saw it1 never dreamed of it     
until the flaming sword cut him off     

forever2 but he has since drank of it1  
and so has every man who has  ever      
tasted the sacramental wine of woman's  
true affection4  ,the seamy  side of    
life has been laid bare to me4  ,its    
sorrows and its anguishes  have ,i often
 witnessed1 but into that pool of       
,bethesida of the world's  anguish1 with
 healing do ,i see ever come an angel1 a
 pitying woman4  ,the influence of wife 
and mother is ever near me2 their faces 
are the  most lovely2 their hearts the  
most tender of all in this world--my    
mother and my wife4  ,and for their     
sake1 and for the sake of all the       
mothers1 wives1 sisters and daughters1  
whom ,i daily meet doing good1 ,i  long 
and ,i earnestly yearn for the eloquence
 and grace to half express  the thoughts
 that rise within me of what the world  
owes woman4    ,to me every good woman  
is the fair fulfillment of dreamed      
delight4  ,she  is the first at the     
cross and the last at the grave4  ,all  
that is  highest and best in the world  

is nurtured and fed by the milk of her  
nobility4  ,the ,christ of all greatness
 and hope was born of a woman4  ,the    
noble women of the world6  ,o1 would    
that the days of chivalry were  not     
past1 that ,i might unsheath a lance in 
their name1 for their glory6  ,but in   
our more prosaic days1 what can ,i do   
but let the will suffice  for the deed1 
and say to the woman1 ,god bless you4   
,i propose to let  her speak for herself
 today4  ,i propose to accept her       
invitation to  accompany her through the
 various spheres of her domestic life1  
and see  whether she alone is           
responsible for that vice and crime and 
misfortune  which moralists and         
superintendents of penal and charity    
institutes  trace back to neglects at   
home2 whether it is always the wife and 
mother that is responsible for          
unhappiness in marriage and for the     
increase of divorces2 whether the       
husbands and fathers are always the     
saints and martyrs1 or whether they are 

not very1 very often the root  of the   
whole evil themselves4    ,we retrace   
our steps and begin with our            
observations of the husband and  father 
a few months prior to that solemn day1  
on which he plighted his  vows of       
protection and faithfulness1 on which he
 took into his care and  trust a woman's
 life and happiness1 on which he        
sacredly promised1 in  the name of ,god1
 and in the presence of witnesses1 to   
love her1 to  honor and cherish her1 to 
provide for her1 to be faithful to her  
in all  his obligations as husband1 in  
youth and in old age1 in sunshine and in
  darkness1 in prosperity and in        
adversity4  ,we make first his          
acquaintance in the happy days of his   
courtship4  ,he is burning with  love4  
,he is the facsimile of ,shakespeare's  
lover1 sighing like a  furnace4  ,her   
praises are on his lips always4  ,he    
avows himself her  slave and worships   
her as a goddess4  ,it is in her company
 alone that  he can find happiness4     

,whether at home or in society1 he is   
always at  her side4  ,life is dreary   
where she is not4  ,he wonders how he   
could  have lived so long1 or how he    
could continue existence1 without her4  
,how regular and how punctual he is in  
his calls1 and how he scowls at  the    
clock for running away with time so     
fast6  ,not a wish does she  express1 no
 matter how unreasonable and            
extravagant1 but he eagerly  gratifies  
it4  ,how numerous his little attentions
 and his kind  remembrances6  ,how      
thoughtful of her birthday1 and how     
lavish in floral  tributes and costly   
presents6  ,how numerous and how lengthy
 his letters  when separated6  ,how     
sweet their moonlight walks and talks6  
,how bright  her future1 which he maps  
out6  ,how many the pledges which he    
breathes  forth between his ardent      
kisses2 never a harsh word shall break  
on her  ear1 never a wish of hers shall 
be ungratified1 never a trouble shall   
mar her happiness2 such a love as his   

has never been before1 and will  never  
be again2 he only lives for her         
happiness2 his affection will  never    
cool1 he will be a lover all his life2  
their whole wedded life  will be one    
never-waning honeymoon4    ,in the drama
 the plot usually ends with marriage4   
,at the instant when  it is reached1    
when all obstacles are removed1 the     
curtain falls1 and  the young people    
have no further existence for us4  ,but 
in the  practical world the play goes   
on4  ,the curtain rises again1 the same 
personages reappear1 only they          
frequently play different parts1 and    
what was before a comedy or a melo-drama
 often changes into a tragedy4  ,sad and
 tearful scenes are often enacted by    
them4  ,the misery and pain  are no     
longer inflicted by their former enemy1 
but by their own hands4  ,he1 who prior 
to marriage overcame almost             
insurmountable obstacles to  make his   
lady fair his happy wife1 now moves     
heaven and earth to make  that wife as  

miserable as possible4    ,a number of  
years have passed since last we observed
 the lover4  ,he is  husband and father 
now1 but what a change these few years  
have wrought  in him6  ,forgotten are   
the lover's vows4  ,she that once his   
goddess  was1 is now his slave4  ,the   
fulsome flatterer of former times has   
degenerated into a chronic fault-finder4
  ,with the change of her name  has     
begun his change of treatment of her4   
,cast aside are the many  courtesies and
 expressions of endearment that marked  
his conduct to her  prior to marriage1  
and which were the thousand golden      
threads that day  by day throughout     
their courtship wove their hearts       
closely into one4  ,no bouquets and no  
costly gifts any more4  ,the anniversary
 of her birth  and of their wedding day 
passes by unnoticed by him4  ,his former
  efforts to entertain her1 to make     
himself agreeable to her1 have          
altogether ceased4  ,rarer1 and ever    
rarer1 become his parting and his       

coming kiss1 his good-bye1 dear1 and his
 good evening1 darling4  ,fewer and     
fewer become his words of praise4       
,irksome becomes the task  of staying at
 home4  ,he1 who once upon a time found 
life dreary where  she was not1 who     
vowed that in her company alone he found
 happiness1  who could not await the    
evening that would bring him to her1 who
  declared that his affection would     
never cool1 and their whole wedded  life
 would be one continuous honeymoon1 now 
finds her company tedious1  her home    
unattractive4  ,he looks upon his home  
as his boarding and  lodging-house1 upon
 his wife as the kitchen scullion1 or as
 the nurse  of his children1 for which  
services he generally allows her so many
  dollars a week4  ,at the breakfast    
table his face is buried in the  morning
 paper4  ,he rises without interchanging
 a word with wife and  child4  ,absent  
from home all day long1 he is absent    
still1 even when  home in the evening4  
,no sooner has he swallowed his meal1   

when he  buries himself in the newspaper
 for the rest of the evening1 or dozes  
on the sofa till bedtime1 or he has an  
important business engagement  down     
town1 or some meeting to attend1 or an  
important engagement brings  other      
husbands to his house1 where they       
transact any amount of business  in the 
exchange of diamonds for hearts1 and    
clubs for spades4    ,all day long she  
has been toiling hard in her home1      
toiling with hand  and brain4  ,she has 
been preacher and teacher1 physician and
 druggist1  provider and manager1 cook  
and laundress4  ,the children had to be 
attended to1 purchases had to be made1  
the meals had to be provided1  the      
servants to be looked after1 the house  
to be gotten in order2 there  was       
mending and sewing and baking and       
cleaning and scrubbing and  scouring1   
which had to be done2 there were the    
children's lessons1 and  practicings    
that had to be looked after2 there were 
the children's  ailments that had to be 

cured1 and there were the hundred other 
things  the husband never dreams of1 and
 which tax a woman's nerves and         
strength as much1 and often more1 than  
his occupation taxes him4  ,but  not a  
word of appreciation1 not a look of     
sympathy and encouragement  from him1   
who never tired to sing her praises     
before they were married1  who vowed    
that never a harsh word should remotely 
break on her ear1  never a trouble      
should mar her happiness4  ,on the      
contrary1 he has no  end of faults to   
find1 and she is doomed to listen to the
 same old  harangue on economy and      
saving4  ,she has been saving and       
stinting until  she can save and stint  
no more4  ,she has patched and mended   
and turned  and altered until she could 
patch and mend and alter no more1 and   
still  the same complaints2 the table   
costs too much1 the dry goods store     
bills are too long1 the seamstress comes
 into the house too often1 the          
physician is consulted too much1 and of 

such as these many more4  ,not a  word  
does he say about the expensive cigars  
he smokes1 the wines he  drinks2 about  
his frequent visits to the sample-room1 
and about the  liberality with which he 
treats his friends there2 about the     
sumptuous  dinners he takes at noon in  
the down-town restaurant1 while wife and
  children content themselves at home   
with a frugal lunch2 about the  money he
 loses at the card table1 or in his bets
 on the games and races  and politics4  
,and of the children he takes but little
 notice4  ,he has  not seen them all day
 long1 and he is too tired to be        
bothered with  them in the evening4  ,he
 must have his rest and quiet4  ,the    
mother  worried with them all day long1 
she may worry with them in the evening1 
too4  ,it is enough for him to supply   
her with the means wherewith to  care   
for their wants1 further obligations he 
has none2 these are a  mother's duties1 
but not a father's4    ,they tell a     
story of a learned preacher who had     

isolated himself from  his children on  
account of his dislike to their noise4  
,one day1 while  taking a walk1 he was  
attracted by the beauty and wonderful   
intelligence of a little boy4           
,inquiring of the nurse whose child it  
was1 she answered1 much astonished3     
,your own1 reverend sir1 your own4      
,judging from the attention that some   
fathers bestow on their children1  ,i am
 inclined to believe that this learned  
preacher has many an  imitator among his
 sex1 for whom not even the inexcusable 
excuse of  absorption in studies can be 
set up4  ,i have read of a business man1
  who one day thanked ,god that a       
commercial crisis had thrown him into   
bankruptcy4  ,he said it afforded him an
 opportunity to stay at home for        
awhile1 and get acquainted with his own 
family1 and that for the first  time he 
learned to know the true worth of his   
wife1 and that he found  his children   
the sweetest and dearest creatures that 
ever lived1 and  not for all the        

business of the world would he again    
deprive himself of  their sweet         
association4  ,prior to his misfortune1 
or rather good  fortune1 his business   
had so absorbed him that he had         
altogether  forgotten that there were   
sacred claims at home that demanded his 
interest and his service4    ,not all   
our orphaned children are in our orphan 
asylums1 or under the  supervision of   
,the ,orphans' ,guardians4  ,there are  
more of them at  home with their fathers
 and mothers1 and especially among our  
well-to-do families4  ,there are        
children growing up who scarcely know   
anything else of their father except    
that he is referred to during the  day  
by their mother when they are bad1 as   
that dread personage who  would inflict 
a severe chastisement on them when he   
returns1 or whose  presence silences    
their fun and makes their own absence   
agreeable4  ,he  makes no effort to     
entertain them1 takes no interest in    
their  pleasures1 in their progress at  

school4  ,he is simply their punisher1  
but not their friend1 and it is not at  
all surprising to see children  growing 
up with a conception of their father    
such as that little boy  had1 who1 when 
told by a minister of heaven1 and of the
 meeting of the  departed there1 asked3 
,and will father be there8  ,on being   
told that  of course he would be there1 
he at once replied1 ,then ,i don't want 
to go4  ,occasionally wife and husband  
spend an evening out1 or they  entertain
 company at home1 and oh1 what a        
transformation she observes  in him4    
,in other people's homes1 or when other 
people are present1 his  stock of       
material for conversation is unlimited4 
,then and there he is  full of fun1     
bright and cheerful2 when alone with his
 wife he has  scarcely a word to say2 he
 moves about the house with the lofty   
indifference of a lord1 and with a      
heartless disregard of every member  of 
the household4  ,at home he is cold and 
cross and boorish1 in other  women's    

parlors he is polite and considerate and
 engaging4  ,he has a  smile and a      
compliment for other women1 none for his
 wife4  ,if they  attend an evening     
reception1 he brings his wife there1 and
 he takes her  home2 during the interval
 she has little1 if any1 of his company4
  ,she  may be shy1 she may be a        
stranger1 she may not be much accustomed
 to  society life1 she may feel herself 
out of place in the gay assemblage1  she
 may be unentertained or bored or       
annoyed1 it matters not to him as  long 
as he is having a good time with the    
boys1 or is encircled by the  ladies    
fair1 who unanimously think him the most
 gallant of men1  unrivaled in his wit  
and wisdom and conversational powers1   
and who  secretly sigh if but their     
husbands were like him4    ,to such an  
extent is this wife-neglect carried on  
that a lady not long  ago made a wager  
that1 in nine cases out of ten1 she     
would distinguish  between married and  
unmarried couples4  ,she won the wager4 

,when asked  to explain her method of   
discrimination1 she said3 ,when you see 
a  gentleman and a lady walking in      
silence side by side1 it is a married   
couple2 when their conversation is      
continuous and animated1 and            
smile-and-laugh-provoking1 they are     
single4  ,when a gentleman sits next  to
 a lady in the theatre1 and never keeps 
his opera glass away from the  boxes and
 galleries and stage1 he is her husband2
 when his eyes rest  more on her than on
 the stage1 it is her lover4  ,when a   
lady1 who sits  at the side of a        
gentleman1 drops her glove1 and she     
stoops to hunt it1  it is a married     
couple2 if he stoops quickly to pick it 
up it is an  unmarried couple4  ,when a 
lady plays1 and a gentleman stands near 
her1  and does not turn for her the     
pages of the music book1 it is her      
husband2 when you see his fingers in    
eager readiness to turn the leaf1  it is
 not her husband4    ,there is in every 
true woman a spark of divinity1 which   

glows in her  heart1 and blazes into a  
most luminous light when a husband's    
love and  respect and sympathy and      
appreciation and encouragement fan that 
spark  into activity4  ,but woe to the  
home where cruel hands quench that      
flame4  ,the sun is the heater and      
illuminator of our whole solar  system4 
,the vast supplies which it sends forth 
daily must be  compensated1 or else it  
would soon expend itself1 and our world 
would  go to ruin4  ,nature1 therefore1 
hurls millions of meteors every second  
into the sun's fiery furnace to keep up 
the supply of heat and light4  ,the wife
 is the sun of the household4  ,her     
womanly attributes give the  light and  
warmth and happiness of the home to all 
who cluster around  her4  ,but a wife's 
love and self-sacrifice for her home are
 not  infinite4  ,they soon exhaust     
themselves1 where love is unreturned1   
where a husband is a tyrant1 where      
self-sacrifice is unappreciated1  where 
faithful and prudent industry is        

accepted as a labor of duty1 and  not as
 a labor of love1 where she is simply   
regarded as his  housekeeper1 and not as
 his devoted helpmate1 where his        
presence alone  is sufficient to cast   
gloom and fear over the entire          
household4  ,woman  was made to bless   
mankind1 but also to be blessed in      
return2 to make  society better for     
forming a part thereof1 but also to     
receive some  recognition for her work4 
,endurance is woman's prerogative4      
,suffering is her heirloom4  ,disasters1
 which would crush the spirit of man1   
often turn her heart to  steel1 and she 
performs deeds grand and heroic4        
,disheartened by  continuous neglect1   
she will make heroic efforts to throw   
her influence  all the more             
affectionately over her home4  ,wounded 
deeper and ever  deeper1 she will toil  
on1 hiding from the world the pangs of  
wounded  affection1 as the wounded dove 
will clasp its wings to its side and    
cover and conceal the arrow that is     

preying on its vitals4  ,but the  shafts
 of continuous neglect will pierce her  
heart at last--a husband's  continuous  
neglect extinguish1 at last1 the sacred 
flame upon the  domestic hearth4  ,she1 
too1 finds home irksome4  ,she1 too1    
learns to  find more pleasure abroad    
than in her home4  ,she1 too1 thinks    
light of  liberties and indiscretions4  
,the grown children learn to emulate    
their  parents' example1 and seek their 
pleasures also abroad4  ,the little     
children are left to servants to finish 
the corruption begun by  parents4  ,and 
so the home1 the very spot designed by  
,god to become the  chief school of     
human virtue1 the seminary of social    
affections1 the  keystone of the whole  
fabric of society1 the germ-cell of     
civilization1  becomes a hotbed of      
corruption1 and almost as often on      
account of a  husband's neglect and     
sins1 as on account of a wife's         
ignorance or  frailties or failings4    
,our stock of advice to wives and       

mothers seems  inexhaustible4  ,almost  
every one of the stronger sex has his   
fling at  woman1 and his remedy to      
offer1 which1 if immediately followed1  
will at  once eradicate unhappiness in  
marriage1 decrease the number of        
divorces1 and lessen vice and crime in  
society4    ,might not a little advice  
be also profitable to man8  ,is there   
not room  for improvement in the        
stronger sex as well as in the weaker8  
,reform  in the one sex will be of      
little benefit unless there is reform in
 the  other sex as well4  ,our husbands 
and our fathers1 too1 need reforming1   
and that reform must begin very early in
 their lives1 before yet they  enter    
into marriage1 before yet they enter    
upon the days of their  courtship4  ,our
 young men need curbing4  ,youthful     
precocity must be  checked4  ,cito      
maturum cito putridum says the ,latin1  
soon ripe1  soon rotten4  ,we allow our 
young men1 some of them exceedingly     
young1  too many liberties4  ,we allow  

them to sow too many wild oats4  ,if    
their  intention is some day to take    
unto their care and keeping a woman's   
life and happiness1 to pluck from out a 
comfortable and contented home1  and    
from the embrace of devoted parents1 a  
pure and happy and trusting  young      
woman1 who has never felt the wrench and
 shock of life's storms1  nor the cold  
shoulder of neglect1 nor the gnawing    
tooth of want1 then  let them see to it 
in time that they may bring to her a    
heart as pure  and mind as uncorrupted1 
and character as unpolluted as they     
expect  from her4    ,the law of        
heredity1 of transmission of ancestral  
poison1 is as  operative in the male sex
 as in the female4  ,a pure and healthy 
offspring must be preceded by a pure and
 healthy parentage4  ,a  rottening tree 
never produces luscious fruit4  ,like   
begets like4  ,an  enfeebled father     
means not only feebleness in the next   
generation1 but  also perpetuated misery
 and vice and crime4  ,marriage is      

sacred and  necessary and obligatory1   
but not all marriages are so4  ,there   
are some  marriages from which woman    
should recoil as much as she would from 
death itself4  ,rather that death would 
woo her than a man--if ,i may be        
permitted to honor him with that        
name--whose constitution is  undermined1
 whose strength is sapped1 and whose    
marrow and blood are  poisoned4  ,rather
 an old maid than a profligate's nurse4 
,rather a life  of single blessedness   
than the housekeeper of a wreck of a    
husband4  ,rather single and happy and  
stainless and conscience-free than a    
mother  of an unfortunate offspring1    
that have the sins of their father      
visited  upon them1 and that shall one  
day curse their parents for having given
  existence to them4  ,another remedy   
for unhappy marriages will be found  in 
the cessation1 of the anxiety on the    
part of so many parents to get  their   
daughters married off4  ,it is but      
natural that this constant  anxiety     

should make the daughter feel that she  
would like to lessen her  parents'      
dread1 and cease being a trouble to     
them1 especially when  there are younger
 sisters crowding fast upon her1 and so 
she says  ,yes1 even when the word      
almost chokes in her throat1 even though
 she  knows in her heart that he is not 
her ideal1 nor the man that will make   
her happy4  ,it is not true that any    
husband1 who can support a wife1 is     
better than no husband4  ,marriage means
 more to a sensible woman than  an      
alliance with a husband for the sake of 
being clothed and fed and  housed4  ,she
 has a heart and soul and mind that have
 their wants1 and  if they be starved1  
unhappy marriage1 if nothing worse1 is  
the result4    ,mothers and fathers6    
,have you watched over your daughter    
from the day  of her birth2 have you    
guarded her from infancy to girlhood1   
and from  girlhood to womanhood2 have   
you suffered for her sake2 have you     
surrendered comforts and sacrificed     

pleasures for her sake2 have you  toiled
 and stinted and saved for her sake2    
have you afforded her the  best         
education and all the pleasures and     
opportunities that your means  will     
allow1 and all to wish yourselves rid of
 her2 to think that any  husband1 who   
can support your daughter--sometimes not
 even so much is  expected from him--no 
matter how old1 how uncultured1 how     
unsuitable to  her tastes and wants1 is 
better than no husband8  ,a father's    
personal  attention to the training of  
his children will in time reduce        
materially unhappy marriages1 and       
greatly lessen the miseries and vices   
of society4  ,he owes his children more 
than support and chastisement4  ,society
 holds him responsible for their        
character4  ,the duties of  training    
devolve upon the father as much as on   
the mother4  ,a father's  wider         
experience and worldly wisdom prove     
valuable contributions to the  mother's 
simpler knowledge in the raising of     

their children4  ,a  father's continuous
 absence1 or neglects1 or severity1 or  
unkindness1  or heartlessness1 has made 
more reprobates and scamps and criminals
 in  this world than all the failings of
 women combined4  ,think less of your   
dignity and more of your duty4  ,rather 
that your child should love you  than   
fear you4  ,you can maintain your       
authority and dignity by love and       
gentleness as well as by frowns and     
threats and chastisements4  ,you may    
walk and talk and study and play with   
them1 and yet have their full  respect4 
,the great and warlike ,agesilaus did   
not think it beneath him  to entertain  
his children during his leisure hours1  
to join them in all  their merry sports1
 and permit himself to crawl on his     
fours with his  little child upon his   
back4  ,if you would raise good children
 let your  example at home be           
accordingly4  ,as you will teach them so
 they will  act4  ,if you are a devil   
they will scarcely be angels4  ,children

 are  keen observers4  ,an old proverb  
says that a father is a looking-glass   
by which children dress themselves4     
,see to it1 fathers1 that the glass  be 
clean1 so that your children's morals   
may be pure4    ,a little more memory on
 the part of the husband will prove a   
powerful  remedy for the eradication of 
unhappy marriages and for the lessening 
of divorces4  ,she is the same woman    
after marriage that she was during  the 
days of your courtship1 and a good deal 
better4  ,why so forgetful  of all the  
sacred vows and solemn pledges which you
 plighted then8  ,why  so constant then 
and so inconstant now8  ,why so affable 
and faithful  and loving and attentive  
then1 and why so inattentive and bitter 
and  sullen and neglectful now8  ,why   
such a profuseness then in your         
courtesies and smiles and flowers and   
gifts and kisses1 and why such a  lack  
of them now8  ,is it because of         
wrinkles8  ,is it because of her  faded 
beauty8  ,she has lost it in your       

service4  ,she has come honestly  by her
 wrinkles4  ,she got them in the        
sick-bed1 in the kitchen1 in the        
nursery1 by the bed of your sick        
children1 by the grave of your child1   
by painful night-watches and overtaxing 
day toils1 by your harsh words1  and by 
your heartless treatment4  ,this is all 
she has in return for her  beauty and   
youth and cheerful mind and happy       
disposition1 which she  laid at your    
feet when you asked her to join her     
destiny with yours4  ,a  little         
courtesy1 a kind attention1 a bouquet of
 flowers1 a small token1  a word of     
appreciation and of encouragement is not
 much to you1 but it  is a world to your
 wife4  ,your smile is all the reward   
she craves4  ,her  heart thirsts for it1
 and when given1 its effect upon her    
soul is as  the refreshing dew upon the 
withered grass4  ,it is a mistake to    
believe  that she can draw in her       
married life on your love-deposits      
during  courtship4  ,if love is to      

prosper1 the supply must be ever fresh4 
,the  love of the past will never       
satisfy the need of the present4  ,love 
constantly and carefully cultivated will
 increase its blessings as  fruit trees 
double their bearing under the hand of  
the gardener4  ,it  will be killed1 as  
will the fruit tree1 if the gardener's  
hand grows  neglectful and noxious      
influences are permitted to impede its  
growth4  ,let your wife be your helpmate
 and not your housekeeper4  ,she shares 
your sorrows1 your defeats1 let her also
 share your thoughts and plans4         
,unbosom your thoughts to her4  ,lay    
open to her your heart and soul4  ,trust
 her with your confidence1 she trusts   
you with hers4  ,the men who  succeed   
are those who make confidants of their  
wives4  ,the marriages  that are happy  
are those where husbands and wives have 
no thoughts  apart4  ,the children that 
are well raised are those that have had 
the  example of loving and confiding    
parents before them4  ,proud of your    

confidence1 she will labor to deserve   
it4  ,she will study to please  you4    
,in your prosperity she will be your    
delight2 your stay and  comfort in your 
adversity4  ,she will return your       
confidence and  affection in full       
measure4  ,gloom will vanish from the   
hearth1 and  happiness will hold        
dominion within the home4  ,her children
 will rise  up before her and call her  
happy2 and her husband will sing aloud  
her  praises4    ,marriage is1 perhaps1 
the only game of chance ever invented at
 which it  is possible for both players 
to lose4  ,too often1 after many        
sugar-coated words1 and several         
premeditated misdeals on both sides1    
one draws a blank and the other a booby4
  ,after patiently angling in  the      
matrimonial pool1 one draws a sunfish   
and the other a minnow4  ,one  expects  
to capture a demigod1 who hits the earth
 only in high places1  but when she has 
thoroughly analyzed him1 she finds      
nothing genuine1  only a wilted         

chrysanthemum and a pair of patent      
leather shoes1 while  he in return      
expected to wed a wingless angel who    
would make his ,edenic  bower one long  
drawn out sigh of aesthetic bliss4  ,the
 result is very  often that he is tied  
to a slattern1 who slouches around the  
house with  her hair in tins1 a dime    
novel in her hand1 with a temper like   
aqua  fortis and a voice like a cat     
fight--a voice that would make a cub    
wolf  climb a tree2 a fashionable       
butterfly1 whose heart is in her finery 
and  her feathers2 who neglects her home
 to train with a lot of intellectual    
birds2 whose glory is small talk2 who   
saves her sweetest smiles for  society  
and her ill temper for her family altar4
  ,if ,i were tied to  such a female as 
that1 do you know what ,i would do8     
,you don't1 eh8  ,well1 neither do ,i4  
,there was a time1 we are told1 when to 
be a ,roman  was to be greater than to  
be a king2 yet there came a time when to
 be a  ,roman was to be a vassal or a   

slave4  ,change is the order of the     
universe1 and nothing stands4  ,we must 
go forward1 or we must go  backward4    
,we must press on to grander heights1 to
 greater glory1 or  see the laurels     
already won turned to ashes upon our    
brow4  ,we may  sometimes slip2 shadows 
may obscure our paths2 the boulders may 
bruise  our feet2 there may be months of
 mourning and days of agony2 but        
however dark the night1 hope1 a poising 
eagle1 will ever burn above the  unrisen
 tomorrow4  ,trials we may have1 and    
tribulations sore1 but ,i say  unto you1
 ,o1 brothers mine1 that while ,god     
reigns and the human family  endures1   
this nation1 born of our father's blood1
 and sanctified by our  mother's tears1 
shall not pass away1 and under heaven1  
for this great  boon1 this great        
blessing1 we'll be indebted to the women
 of  ,america--,god bless them4         
,finally1 brethren1 be serious while ,i 
impart  this concluding lesson3         
,she--was--a--good--wife--to--me4  ,a   

good wife1  ,god bless her6  ,the words 
were spoken in trembling accents over a 
coffin-lid4  ,the woman asleep there had
 borne the heat and burden of  life's   
long day1 and no one had ever heard her 
murmur2 her hand was  quick to reach out
 in helping grasp to those who fell by  
the wayside1  and her feet were swift on
 errands of mercy2 the heart of her     
husband  had trusted in her2 he had left
 her to long hours of solitude1 while he
  amused himself in scenes in which she 
had no part4  ,when boon  companions    
deserted him1 when fickle affection     
selfishly departed1 when  pleasure      
palled1 he went home and found her      
waiting for him4      ,come from your   
long1 long roving1      ,on life's sea  
so bleak and rough2    ,come to me      
tender and loving1      ,and ,i shall be
 blest enough4    ,that hath been her   
long song1 always on her lips or in her 
heart4  ,children had been born to them4
  ,she had reared them almost           
alone--they  were gone6  ,her hand had  

led them to the uttermost edge of the   
morning  that has no noon4  ,then she   
had comforted him1 and sent him out     
strong  and whole-hearted while she     
stayed at home and--cried4  ,what can a 
woman do but cry and trust8  ,well1 she 
is at rest now4  ,but she could  not die
 until he had promised to bear up1 not  
fret1 but to remember  how happy they   
had been4  ,they8  ,yes1 it was even so4
    ,it was an equal partnership1 after 
all4  ,she--was--a--good--wife--to--me4 
,oh1 man6 man6  ,why not have told  her 
so when her ears were not dulled by     
death8  ,why wait to say these  words   
over a coffin wherein lies a wasted1    
weary1 gray-haired woman1  whose eyes   
have so long held that pathetic story of
 loss and suffering  and patient        
yearning1 which so many women's eyes    
reveal to those who  weep8  ,why not    
have made the wilderness in her heart   
blossom like the  rose with the         
prodigality of your love8  ,now you     
would give worlds1  were they yours to  

give1 to see the tears of joy your words
 would have  once caused1 bejeweling the
 closed windows of her soul4  ,it is too
 late4      ,we have careful thoughts   
for the stranger1      ,and smiles for  
the sometime guest1          ,but oft   
for own1          ,the bitter tone1     
,though we love our own the best4       
,,odd-,,fellowship ,,and ,,the ,,future 
,there is infinite and perennial        
fascination in the contemplation of the 
future4  ,the past is a fixed province1 
the finished result of an  ever-moving  
present4  ,the future is the province of
 the poet1 the  prophet and the seer4   
,the past is adamant1 the future is     
plastic clay4  ,the past is with ,god   
alone2 the future is with ,god and man4 
,we toil  for it2 dream of it2 look to  
it2 and all seek so to        99 99 99  
,forecast the years1    ,as find in loss
 a gain to match1    ,or reach a hand   
through time to catch      ,the far-off 
interest of tears4    ,let us consider  
the future as a field and               

,odd-,fellowship as a force4  ,the      
future is a field1 billowing with the   
ripening harvest of golden              
possibilities4  ,it is as wide as the   
world1 for the world is the field4  ,it 
comprises every zone and clime2 every   
nation and tribe2 every island  of the  
seas4  ,wherever we find one of our     
fellow-men in darkness and in  chains1  
there is our field4  ,it is as long as  
from now to the coming of  ,christ4  ,a 
moment's survey of the field will       
convince us that the  greatest conquests
 are yet to be made4  ,there is battle  
ahead1 great  interests to be gained1   
great incentives to heroic effort4  ,the
 times  call for men--broad-browed1     
clear-eyed1 strong-hearted1 swift-footed
  men4  ,odd-,fellows1 not behind you   
but before you1 not in the past but  in 
the future1 lies the widest and richest 
field of ,odd-,fellowship's             
possibility4  ,turn your faces1 not     
toward the waning light of  yesterday1  
but toward the growing radiance of a    

better morning4  ,the  force is         
commensurate with the field4  ,the cry  
of every true ,odd-,fellow  ought to be 
the cry that leaped from the heart of   
,isaiah when his lips  were touched with
 the coal from off the altar3 ,here am  
,i1 ,lord1 send  me4  ,our order is no  
longer a puny and helpless infant1 but a
 lusty  giant1 panoplied in the armor of
 truth and clad in the strength of      
perpetual youth4  ,we have riches       
untold4  ,we have institutions for the  
care of the old1 and the orphan1 the    
equal of any of which the world  can    
boast4  ,we have a grasp on the sympathy
 and confidence of the  masses which is 
immeasurable4  ,we stand for principles 
that are the  incarnation of ,god's     
infinite thought and throbbing love4    
,we are  equipped for conquest4  ,what  
answer shall the force make to the cry  
from the field8  ,as loyal              
,odd-,fellows1 let us take our answer   
from the  ,great ,commander4  ,what     
answer did ,he make to a dying world8   

,what did  he come to do8  ,he came to  
lift fallen humanity4  ,he came to bind 
up  the wounds of those who were bruised
 and bleeding4  ,he came to speak  words
 of cheer and sympathy to hearts bowed  
in sorrow4  ,he came to  break the      
chains of bondage and restore mankind to
 its former beauty  and greatness4  ,our
 mission is identical with ,his4  ,our  
work is  identical with ,his work4  ,we 
are ,his representatives4  ,our highest 
destiny is the working out of ,his      
purposes4  ,the world with all its      
boasted progress has not advanced beyond
 the need of a ,savior4  ,it is  the    
same at heart now as it was when the    
blessed feet of ,christ trod  its hills 
and valleys4  ,men change1 but man      
changes not4  ,the same  problems are   
confronting us as confronted them4  ,it 
may be trite1 but  it is tremendously   
true1 that our primary and ever-present 
duty is to  seek and save the lost4  ,we
 are to win them to faith in high and   
noble  ends1 and having won them to     

faith in our mission is not enough4     
,they  are to be instructed1 cultured1  
enlarged1 inspired1 ennobled1 until man 
looking in the face of man shall see the
 face of ,christ shining  through4  ,he 
is to be the accepted ,lord and         
law-giver in every realm of  human      
thought and activity4  ,he is to rule in
 the family4  ,he is to  rule in        
business4  ,he is to rule until the     
demon of hate1 malice and  injustice has
 been throttled4  ,he must rule in the  
affairs of state4  ,he must rule in     
society1 until the watchers at the gate 
shall announce  to ,him who sitteth upon
 the throne3 ,thy kingdom has come and  
thy will  is done in earth as it is in  
heaven4  ,christ is the solution of     
man's  most difficult problems4  ,he    
came to save men4  ,how did ,he go about
 the  task8  ,he gave himself4  ,we can 
accomplish our task only as in burning  
earnestness we give ourselves4  ,what   
depth of humiliation1 what              
self-devotion1 what unmeasured          

sacrifices1 what unspeakable suffering1 
what unfathomable anguish1 what toil and
 anxiety1 what love and pity1  what     
loneliness and sorrow1 are crowded into 
those three words1 ,he  gave himself4   
,if we as an order would give ourselves 
to the principles taught by our         
institution1 we could win the world in  
the next half century4  ,if we  are to  
be truest to the future1 we must stand  
by the side of the ,great  ,teacher and 
proclaim a complete and perfect truth4  
,our platform should  be neither broader
 nor narrower than ,his4  ,if there is  
one truth in  revelation that we can not
 give its proper setting and due        
emphasis1  then we are not the keepers  
of ,god's truth4  ,to my thinking1 there
 are  no organizations formed by man    
that can appeal more confidently to the 
,word of ,god for confirmation than the 
,odd-,fellows4  ,we appeal to sane      
reason and common sense4  ,no           
organization can hold up a higher ideal 
of  individual freedom and worth4  ,but 

there is a danger that we become        
narrow1 that we violate the maxims of   
sane reason and common sense1  that we  
lose the balance between individual     
prerogative and the claims  of a united 
brotherhood4  ,we can not accomplish the
 aims of our order  by onesidedness4    
,we are to become all things to all men4
  ,we are not  to be prisms breaking up 
the rays of light and declaring that    
this or  that color is the most         
important4  ,we as ,odd-,fellows are to 
be lenses1  converging the rays and     
bringing them to a focus upon the hearts
 of men  as the white light of ,god's   
eternal truth4    ,this is a practical  
age1 and if we are to win we must       
demonstrate the  superiority of our     
faith and practice over that of other   
claimants1 not  only in terms of the    
,written ,word1 but also in terms of    
manhood4  ,odd-,fellowship is standing  
upon the golden dawn of a new morning4  
,it  is to be a day of battle and       
conquest4  ,it is truth blazoned upon   

the  page of history1 that if we as     
,odd-,fellows are true to our standard1 
to  our possibilities and to our ,maker1
 he will lay the suffering of a         
throbbing world in our arms that we may 
lay it at the feet of ,him who  died to 
redeem it4  ,let us cherish high hopes1 
noble aims1 and lofty  ideals4  ,never  
since the world was peopled has mankind 
stood in such  anxious expectancy1      
awaiting the outcome of the immediate   
future1 as in  these closing years of   
the nineteenth century4  ,men are       
wistfully  trying to peer through the   
portals of the year nineteen            
hundred--marveling1 as the effects and  
forces of applied science is  unfolded  
to our comprehension1 and discovery     
moves on1 each invention  leading in    
another1 in stately procession2 we1 all 
the while rapt in  wonder1 are straining
 in hope and fear to catch the coming   
word1 and to  comprehend its import4    
,never was speculation so rife1 never   
was the  field of human observation so  

unobstructed and expanded1 nor the      
ascertainment and sifting of facts so   
facile4  ,never were opinions more      
diverse1 nor was it ever so obviously   
important to detect and assert  the     
philosophical principle1 in recognition 
and obedience to which the  laws of     
human government may be preserved and   
kept in view1 and the  retrocession of  
mankind prevented4  ,at no stage of     
history was it more  important to call  
to mind the great principle that        
government is a  means1 and not an end1 
and is instituted to maintain those     
general  liberties which are essential  
for human happiness and progress4  ,at  
this time1 ,odd-,fellowship looks toward
 the future with longing eyes1  and its 
followers lift high their banner1 on    
which is inscribed that  beautiful      
motto1 ,friendship1 ,love and ,truth4   
,after all1 what lives in this world8   
,is it thought pulsations alone or      
deeds done8  ,if thought alone1 then the
 lowest thought coordinated in  the     

brain of man would live4  ,something    
must be combined with thought  in order 
to have a lasting effect4  ,there must  
be thought and deeds and  sentiment4    
,sentiment must go to the very existence
 of the race4  ,on  these forces may be 
built up structures that live and       
breathe a  benediction on all mankind4  
,i ask you to cast your eye over the    
world  and note the permanency of such  
institutions as have come down to us1   
and are alive1 and such as we say will  
live4  ,i venture your first  question  
will be3 ,what is the foundation on     
which they rest8  ,why1  through the    
slow1 revolving years have these        
institutions lived and  thrived and     
grown8  ,have they lived on greed1 or a 
desire for pelf or  power1 or out of    
human desire for adulation and praise8  
,or have they  lived because of man's   
needs1 and out of human wants8  ,if we  
probe to  the bottom we will find this  
the corner-stone of all laudable        
ambitions1 because man needs man1 and   

needs help into a higher plane of       
usefulness and activities4    ,we find  
institutions coming down to us from a   
date which the memory of  man runs not  
to the contrary2 indeed1 some so old    
that the musty  volumes of the long ago 
reveal not their origin4  ,but simply   
the need  of man for man would not      
entirely account for the duration of    
society  in its ancient form4   ,there  
must be still other underlying          
principles4  ,there must be love and the
 acknowledgment of the brotherhood of   
man all  along the way of life1 or the  
family would go to ruin1 society would  
dissolve1 citizenship would not exist1  
states and principalities1  kingdoms and
 powers would exist only as an idea in  
the brain4  ,there  would be no command 
to be our brother's keeper1 no plighted 
vow that  ,the ,lord be between thee and
 me1 and between my seed and thy seed   
forever4  ,man would1 as an individual1 
stand absolutely alone1 like an  atom   
dropped from the abyssmal depths onto   

this earth of ours4  ,the  little wild  
flower struggles through leafy mold1    
endures the  tempestuous blast of       
winter1 that when spring comes it may   
bloom to  gladden the earth and scatter 
sweet incense all around4  ,but without 
the cementing influence that runs like a
 thread all through society1  man would 
not1 could not1 cast a sweet odor even  
on his own life1 and  dying would leave 
no benediction on the lives of others4  
,and here the  command comes1 ,gather   
into thy quiver the lives and           
aspirations of  others1 that fitted to  
thy bow they may go forth scattering    
blessings  by your help and by your     
kindly influence4  ,so all great        
achievements  have been based on great  
fundamental principles1 and each        
principle has  for its object the       
betterment of the conditions of mankind4
    ,truth is said to be eternal4  ,it  
was just as true at the dawn of         
creation that the square described on   
the hypotenuse of a right-angle         

triangle is equal to the square         
described on the other two sides1 as it 
was when ,pythagoras enunciated the     
theorem4  ,thou shall not kill1 is  a   
law written by the ,divine hand amid    
tempest and fire1 but it stands4  ,thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself1     
rings from the portals of  heaven       
through the gates of humanity and its   
command will not go  unheeded4  ,they   
are all great fundamental truths4  ,do  
you observe that  they live8  ,give heed
 also to the fact that they stand for a 
better  condition among men1 for more   
helpfulness and higher elevations4      
,truths enunciated1 whether old or new1 
that live1 only have one  tendency1     
viz41 to raise man to better conditions4
  ,since the dawn of  creation there has
 been a constant tendency to arise from 
a lower to a  higher estate4            
,self-preservation1 self-helps1         
self-culture have been  the trend of    
thought and action4  ,and this has not  
been altogether an  effort in the       

individual for his own personal         
advancement1 but for the  advancement of
 the race4  ,men have undergone         
sacrifices1 humbled and  almost debased 
themselves1 that the succeeding         
generation might live on  a higher      
plane1 physically1 morally and          
spiritually1 than they  themselves      
enjoyed4  ,i do not know of any act of  
humanity that calls  forth louder praise
 than to so act and speak and do as that
 humanity  shall not only catch the     
inspiration1 but shall make material    
progress  on a better understanding of  
surrounding conditions4                 
,odd-,fellowship1  in its essence1 is no
 new institution4  ,its principles1     
practices and  precepts have existed    
from the beginning of the race4    ,when
 ,abraham stood with the churlish ,lot  
on the line dividing the  plains and    
highlands and said1 ,i pray thee let    
there be no contention  between thee and
 me1 if thou goest to the right hand ,i 
will go to the  left1 or1 if thou goest 

to the left hand ,i will go to the      
right1 he  breathed the pure essence of 
unselfish devotion to the founder of a  
race4  ,the acts of kindness shown by   
the traveler as the caravan plods  its  
tortuous way across the sands of the    
desert2 the mission of the  wise men    
from the east in search of a ,redeemer1 
all show forth that  trait that you and 
,i1 my brother1 try to emphasize while  
vowing  devotion to the triple links4   
,i said a moment ago that               
,odd-,fellowship1  in its essence1 was  
no new institution1 and so it is not4   
,as we know  it in reality we have      
simply crystalized its workings4        
,instead of  humanity1 by its individual
 exertion1 seeking to perform the task1 
we1  as an organized band1 have taken up
 the subject4  ,what was paramount  with
 individuals has become a living force  
with the multitude4  ,what  was before  
an invitation to duty has now become a  
command4    ,in seeking after friendship
 we do not court the beasts of the      

fields  and the fowls of the air as the 
hermit does1 but we seek man2 not man1  
but men2 not this little society or     
faction1 but embrace all mankind in  the
 issue4  ,if we seek for love it is not 
love for pelf or power1 but  love for   
man and ,god4  ,in truth we do not      
depend on the right conduct  of         
individuals1 but accept truth as it is  
written in nature's open  book1         
emblazoned on the sky of hope that bends
 over us1 and speaks in  all the higher 
attributes of life4  ,time was when the 
inclination of  men was to withdraw into
 clans4  ,ishmael stood in the desert by
 himself  with his hand against every   
man4  ,his true descendant1 the ,arabian
  sheik1 draws his mantle about him1 and
 surrounded by his little band          
withdraws within his own circle1 and woe
 betide him who attempts to  break      
through4  ,but in this came no          
advancement1 no progress4  ,the         
,ishmaelite of old is the same today4   
,wherever progress and advancement  has 

shown itself it is found that true      
regard for all mankind has been  the    
cardinal doctrine4  ,thou shalt love thy
 neighbor as thyself4  ,soon a broad    
catholicity of ideas seizes the         
multitude and man no more  lives for    
himself than he lives for others4  ,he  
who lives closest to  the true heart of 
humanity lives nearest to ,god4  ,show  
me a man who  lives for himself alone1  
and you will present almost a social    
outcast4  ,society tolerates him no     
more4  ,in all the plans and            
calculations of  life he is not         
numbered4    ,for two thousand years the
 command has come stronger and stronger 
for a  closer unity on social lines and 
fraternal regard4  ,not to segregate    
but to crystalize and raise the status4 
,the conditions of our social  life are 
such that we can not live entirely to   
ourselves4  ,the monk may  withdraw     
himself from the gaze of the world1 the 
anchorite may seek a  hiding place in   
caves and dens1 but they ignore entirely

 the demands of  society upon them4  ,if
 ,i were the only person in the world   
there would  be no social problem4  ,i  
would commune with myself and ,god and  
nature  about me1 without reference to  
my surroundings4  ,there would be no    
social environment2 no one to please1 no
 one to whom ,i am indebted by  nature  
or acquired obligation1 and so ,i would 
remain4  ,but we do not  find the       
conditions to so exist4  ,we must look  
squarely in the face the  facts as they 
are4  ,on all sides we are surrounded by
 a multitude who  rightly make demands  
of us and which we can not ignore4  ,if 
,i were  alone1 ,i would do as the      
patriarchs of old did1 erect a little   
altar of  stone1 rude and unsightly1 and
 bow myself down before it and commune  
with ,deity4  ,but here we find that    
different types of men have  different  
religious views1 and different spiritual
 aspirations1 and so  churches must be  
erected2 and while all tend to the same 
end1 each  hopes to reach it by a       

different route4  ,i must respect all   
these  views4  ,only one can be my view1
 but my social surroundings are such    
that all have rights which ,i am bound  
to yield some obedience to4    ,again1  
if ,i were alone there would be no need 
of law1 because both good  and bad would
 be represented in my personality4      
,there could be no  murder1 no crime1 no
 punishment2 but with all the manifold  
people with  different tendencies1 there
 must be law1 or the social fabric would
 go  to pieces by the strong trampling  
on the weak4  ,hence ,i must stand with 
reference to the law on the right side  
or the wrong side1 and all  humanity    
regardful of each other's rights must   
line up on one side or  the other4  ,in 
addition to our churchly ties and       
duties1 we have family  duties1 and     
there begins the first of duty1 first of
 government1 first  of obligations as   
citizens4  ,and so ,i say we live in    
relation to those  who surround us1 and 
we can not live unmindful of them4  ,we 

are touched  by humanity everywhere1 and
 walk elbow to elbow down the vale of   
life1  supporting or destroying1 and    
whether our pilgrimage be long or short 
we can not destroy the facts as they    
exist4    ,it must be seen with only a  
hasty glance that with the varying      
conditions of men1 with their different 
mental dispositions1 moral  ideas and   
social status1 that a crying demand     
comes all the time for  some            
organization where men can unite on a   
common level--some place  where a       
divergence of political or moral views  
do not bar an entrance1  where the      
family ties remain sacred1 and more     
sacred because of the  organization4    
,it seems that men groped about for just
 such an  organization1 and men's wants 
are necessities1 and social and civil   
status might be brought to a common     
level with all who might be brought     
into the assembly4  ,it is believed by  
,odd-,fellows that our organization     
furnishes just this want4  ,all the life

 that a man wants outside of his        
spiritual life has its food here1 and   
society and family and man's  relations 
to man have been helped by it4  ,i state
 it without fear of  contradiction1 that
 no order has been more potent for good 
than ours4  ,it has been the hand-maiden
 of civilization wherever it has        
established  itself2 it has smoothed out
 the asperities of life for many1 many  
individuals2 it has defended character1 
protected life and limb1 and  stood as  
champion of all good between man and man
 and between ,god and  man4    ,every   
agency by which men are advanced1       
socially and morally1 is an  agency that
 guides government and state and        
individual up to a higher  plane of     
development4  ,odd-,fellowship and      
,christianity go hand in hand4  ,there  
is not a tenet of the order in any      
department that is repugnant  to the    
highest development of ,christianity4   
,indeed1 it could not be  so1 for any   
lesson that is drawn from the three     

pillars of our order1  ,faith ,hope and 
,charity1 is a lesson pointing to the   
better life here  and hereafter4    ,in 
the eighty years1 last past1 who can    
estimate the benign influence  of the   
lives and actions of men1 yea1 on their 
eternal destinies1 of  the oft-repeated 
utterances pointing to the ,fatherhood  
of ,god and the  brotherhood of man--a  
sermon that has been painted on the bow 
of ,god's  eternal promise since ,paul  
stood on the ,mars ,hill and preached   
this  everlasting1 unchangeable doctrine
 to the heathen world4  ,when ,i think  
that since #ahcj there has been expended
 for the relief of the members  of this 
order and their families millions of    
dollars1 in all right  undertakings1 and
 know that many hearts have ceased to   
ache1 many cold  feet covered1 many a   
tear dried up1 many a naked person      
clothed and  many a hungry mouth fed1 it
 rejoices my heart4  ,i know also that  
such  love could not spring from the    
hearts that were kindled by no spark of 

the ,divine1 but the lesson comes to you
 and to me1 my brother and my  sister1  
that he who opens not only the granary  
of earthly substance1  but opens also   
the portals of the heart1 and lets the  
,divine spark  kindle into a blaze1 will
 be thrice blessed in that day when the 
jewels  of the eternity are made up4  ,i
 do not desire to convey the impression 
that all our civilization is the        
outgrowth of ,odd-,fellowship4  ,we are 
too much inclined on such occasions as  
these to become mutual  admiration      
societies and think that all the good   
things that we enjoy  could not have    
been possible if our particular order   
had not existed4  ,i do not wish to     
convey that impression4  ,i only desire 
it to be  understood that this order has
 been helpful in all right undertakings1
  and constantly endeavors to espouse   
the right and discard the wrong4  ,it   
does not take the place of the church or
 the ,sunday school or the              
prayer-meeting4  ,it does not invade the

 pulpit1 but only stands as an          
auxiliary to all these institutions that
 touch the better side of our  natures4 
,it inveighs against no religion or     
creed1 and has no  religious belief     
other than that we are brothers2 nor    
does it encroach  upon the domain of the
 politician4  ,if ,odd-,fellowship had  
more in it  than the social and         
restraining influence one meets and is  
subjected to  in the lodge-room1 it     
would be sufficient inducement to       
organize and  perpetuate lodges4  ,no   
true ,odd-,fellow crosses the threshold 
of his  lodge-room but he feels he is   
treading on more sacred ground than the 
busy marts of trade1 or in the office or
 counting house2 he feels that  he is   
coming home where dwells the purest     
principles of  humanity--friendship1    
love and truth4    ,but there is more in
 the workings of this order than the    
social4  ,its  object is to touch       
humanity in all its phases4  ,to rejoice
 with those  that rejoice1 and weep with

 those that weep4  ,it sustains the     
living  with friendship2 causes man to  
stand firm in his integrity by the truth
  it teaches1 and embrace the whole     
world with charity4  ,the three links   
of friendship1 love and truth mark the  
fuller and better development of  this  
life1 reaches beyond the grave1 reaches 
beyond the vision1 extends  into the    
portals of the other and the better     
life4  ,we may profess  friendship1 but 
that is an empty profession2 our        
membership in a lodge  is fruitless and 
our meetings produce no good results    
unless we have  charity4  ,it is but a  
small part that we should perform our   
mystic  rights1 typifying friendship1   
love and truth1 but that we should so   
live them and act them that the touch of
 a member is the touch of a  brother    
whose words sweeten the asperities of   
life and whose last  offering is a      
tribute at the grave4  ,we may be rudely
 brought back to  the world with its    
pomp and show1 its pageantry and vanity1

 by an  emblem of mortality presented to
 us1 but should we not ever have the    
spectre of mortality before our eyes8   
,in the mad rush through life we  forget
 the kinship of man to man4  ,we are too
 often forgetful that the  hand of a    
brother is reaching upward for succor4  
,we forget that we are  mortal1 and the 
heart grows cold2 our sympathies extend 
only to those  around and nearest to us1
 forgetful that all mankind is our      
brother1  and that he is especially our 
brother and friend who has mercy4  ,but 
in  this mad rush in life we are        
suddenly and almost rudely brought back 
to  a full realization of our mortality1
 our helplessness1 our emptiness1  our  
nothingness1 when we stand at the grave 
of our departed brother and  reflect    
that here lies one who was born and had 
ambitions and died as  we must die4     
,his ambitions and hopes all went in the
 grave with him4  ,the little grassy    
mound and the little marble slab is all 
that remains  visible to tell us that he

 was our brother4  ,life would hardly be
 worth  living2 its struggles would be  
disastrous1 its triumphs vain1 empty    
bubbles1 if the clods that fall upon the
 coffin and the sprig of  evergreen tell
 the whole story of an ,odd-,fellow4    
,no1 the very fact  that we bury our    
departed brother teaches us that the    
grave is not the  end of all4  ,though  
our brother dies he shall live in our   
hearts1 in  the flowers that we cast1 in
 the precious memories that forever     
cluster  around the links1 the heart and
 the hand1 the altar and the hour glass4
  ,when the supreme moment comes and the
 brother gathers his arrows into  his   
quiver and fades from sight into the    
grave1 we know that he has  passed the  
portal into the land of the eternal1 but
 the quiver and the  arrows will ever   
stand as the badge of friendship4  ,the 
heart may cease  to beat1 and the hand  
fall listless in death1 yet the heart   
and hand  will ever be emblems of love1 
and denote that when the hand of an     

,odd-,fellow is extended his heart goes 
with it4    ,the good ,odd-,fellow has  
constantly before his mind the book of  
books4  ,his first sight into a         
lodge-room catches sight of that divine 
missive  to man4  ,it is his solace in  
life1 and its precepts his consolation  
in  death4  ,it ever stands to him as an
 exhaustless fountain of truth4  ,on    
these three cardinal principles he lives
 and dies1 and in the constancy  of that
 life we venerate his memory and do him 
kindly offices4  ,it is  the nature of a
 man to be communistic4  ,it is only the
 anchorite that  withdraws himself from 
the societies of man and communes with  
himself  and his ,god4  ,all            
right-thinking men desire and enjoy the 
society of  their kind and kindred      
spirits4  ,you had as well lock the sane
 man in  the felon's cell as to doom him
 to live without the society of his     
fellows4  ,the family is the first and  
best society4  ,perhaps the church  is  
next1 which is only the human family on 

a larger scale1 fitting and  preparing  
the members for a community in that     
house not made by hands4  ,next to my   
church ,i prize the secret organization 
to which ,i belong1  where the cardinal 
principles of our holy ,christianity are
 taught4  ,the  deathless friendship of 
,david and ,jonathan teaches me that    
though ,i may  live in the king's       
palace1 be clothed in purple and fine   
linen every  day1 be in the line of     
regal succession1 yet ,i do not live to 
myself4    ,i would herald broadcast    
that tenet of our order1 that we do for 
others as we would have others do for   
us1 and that if ,i find my brother  in  
distress1 ,i must bind up his wounds1   
lift him from the quagmire of  despond  
and set him on his feet4  ,if any lesson
 stands out boldly  before the mind of  
the ,odd-,fellow it is truth4  ,he finds
 it on his  banner wherever he goes4    
,friendship is ephemeral4  ,it lasts    
only  through life4  ,it may die1 it    
will die4  ,the grave ends it all4  ,the

  silent messenger that comes to king   
and peasant alike1 and causes the       
scepter of the monarch to be laid by the
 crook of the shepherd1 ends  our       
friendship4  ,love comes from ,god4     
,god is love4  ,it touches us at  every 
point of our lives4  ,from the cradle to
 the grave1 every moment  of our lives  
we are the objects of love to some one1 
and we love in  turn4  ,but human love  
must end4  ,after life's fitful dream1  
the cares  and vanities1 the vexations  
and pleasures of life have no terror or 
concern for us1 the love that thrilled  
our whole being will return to  the     
source from whence it came4  ,but truth 
will never die4  ,it is the  imperial   
virtue4  ,the heart may fail2 it will   
fail1 and the hand fall  listless by the
 side4  ,the arrow will fall after being
 shot into the  air and never return1   
and the bow will be broken2 the altar   
will be  thrown down2 the sand1 grain by
 grain1 run through the hour-glass1 and 
the glass be shattered2 the eye grow    

dim2 the world roll up as a scroll  and 
pass away2 the hills may crumble and the
 pyramids melt with fervent  heat2 all  
the friendships will die and the love   
return to the ,father  that begat it1   
but truth will stand4  ,it is indeed the
 imperial and the  imperishable virtue4 
,there1 above the chaos and the         
confusion of time1  it will stand to    
warn men from the wrong1 and beckon them
 to do right4    ,despite the glamor of 
the world that secret societies         
propagate a  secresy of men's actions at
 the expense of truth and justice1 it   
can  not obtain in a lodge of this      
order4  ,no man ever took upon himself  
the  vows and studied the underlying    
motives1 and practiced the lessons of   
the order1 but he becomes a better      
citizen4  ,if he has become a good      
husband and father1 he becomes better in
 his domestic relations4  ,if he  has   
been charitable before1 he becomes more 
so now4  ,men's weaknesses  he looks    
upon as human frailties1 until time and 

sense teach him that  frailties have    
degenerated into positive perversity of 
character and  baseness of heart4  ,he  
will condemn falsehood and hypocrisy    
wherever  found4    ,the object of      
religious organizations is to make men  
better and fit  them for the life       
immortal4  ,the object of government and
 its laws is  to make and protect good  
citizens and repress vice4  ,the object 
of this  secret organization is to bind 
men more firmly together for mutual     
protection1 for help and sustenance1 to 
look after their families1 and  to be in
 a broad sense our brother's keeper4  ,i
 would not be understood  as placing a  
secret organization in place of the     
church1 or in the  place of a political 
government4  ,by no means4  ,each has   
its own proper  and particular sphere of
 action4  ,no one in its actions and    
endeavors  is inimical to the actions of
 the others4  ,each rests on its own    
peculiar foundation1 but all dovetail   
together1 and all make a  harmonious    

whole4  ,the man who is a good          
,christian is better by being a  good   
,odd-,fellow4  ,if both a good          
,christian and a good ,odd-,fellow1 he  
comes nearer being the typical citizen4 
,if man reveres the law of this  order1 
he will have more devotion to his       
church1 his home1 his flag and  his     
country4  ,i have no fault to find with 
those who do not believe in  uniting    
with a secret organization1 but ,i do   
object to any man  inveighing against   
the objects and purposes1 the ends and  
aims1 of our  order when he knows       
nothing about it4  ,i do not expect     
every man to  belong to my church1 for  
men in their constitution and mental    
make-up  can not see alike              
theologically4  ,but ,i do accord to    
every member of  every church the hope  
of getting to heaven if he lives up to  
the  teachings of this particular sect4 
,i believe in justification by faith    
and good works1 but ,i have no use for a
 man who decries this doctrine  when he 

never exercised a particle of faith nor 
did a good deed in his  life4  ,and so  
,i would say to any one who thinks he   
stands on some lofty  pinnacle and      
scents danger to the family tie1 or     
church1 or state1 or  society1 because  
of the existence of secret orders1 that 
he thinks and  talks of something he    
knows nothing about4  ,if ,i should     
desire to draw  comparisons1 ,i could   
say truthfully that during the last year
 this  order gave more in charity and   
benefits to its members in ,illinois    
than  any religious denomination in the 
state4  ,look around your own  community
 and see if it be not so4  ,think of the
 widow with  tear-stained cheek1 from   
whose door the wolf has been kept1      
because the  charitable hand of our     
order was upon her4  ,count the orphan  
children  of members of our order who   
have had shoes put on their feet1       
clothes  put on their backs and food in 
their mouths4  ,enumerate the sufferers 
on beds of anguish1 racked with pain and

 scorched with fever1 who have  had the 
nightly vigil of ,odd-,fellows to smooth
 their pillows1 dampen  their parched   
lips and moisten their feverish brows4  
,watch the funeral  pageant with its    
long train of mourners1 brothers1       
dropping the  evergreen in the grave1   
and doing the last sad offices1 and then
 croak  no more that secret societies   
are baneful to our civilization4  ,he   
who  thus sustains and soothes and      
encourages will be reckoned as twice    
blessed in that day when the secrets of 
all hearts are disclosed1 and  men are  
rewarded according to the deeds done in 
the body4    99,some years ago ,i stood 
out on the great plains this side of    
,denver4  ,to the north1 the south and  
the east was one vast stretch of plains1
  the eye interrupted only by the       
horizon4  ,i turned and looked to the   
west1 and clearly outlined in the       
distance was the chain of the ,rocky    
,mountains--the backbone of the         
continent4  ,there ,i saw ,long's ,peak1

  ,pike's ,peak1 and the ,spanish       
,peaks1 as mighty sentinels--watch      
towers--that had served as landmarks to 
many a weary traveler on the  ,santa ,fe
 trail4  ,they stood as the             
manifestation of the might of an        
,omnipotent ,power4  ,so ,i turn to the 
record made by this order in the  last  
eighty years1 and find colossal sums of 
money--not hoarded1 but  collected to   
relieve humanity1 to educate the orphan1
 to bury the dead  and to befriend the  
widow4  ,i see arising1 as if by magic1 
asylums for  our needy4  ,i see a great 
host1 one million strong1 advancing1    
shoulder  to shoulder1 elbow touching   
elbow1 all bent on deeds of mercy and   
acts  of love4  ,are not these also     
mighty sentinels erected amid this      
surging1 striving throng of humanity to 
serve to guide man in the road  to a    
higher and better life8  ,these peaks of
 the ,rockies may crumble  and pass     
away1 but a force for good once set in  
motion never loses its  force4  ,it is  

eternal4  ,to beautify1 to strengthen1  
to adorn and to  expand our order and   
more fully present its magnificence to  
the world1  we have the department of   
,patriarchs ,militant4  ,it depicts as  
gallant a  band as ever marched to the  
sound of martial music or deployed for  
battle4  ,as the knights under ,richard 
,couer de ,leon or ,peter the ,hermit   
marched forth to rescue the ,holy       
,sepulcher from the hand of the infidel 
and guard its sacred entablatures1 so   
will our chevaliers as bravely  guard   
our ritual1 our mystic rights1 our      
honor1 the honor of our  mothers wives  
and sisters1 as a sacred trust4    ,and 
so our order moves forward to greater   
conquests4  ,in the past it  has worked 
marvels for humanity4  ,may we not1 for 
the future1 predict  better and more    
highly wrought out achievements8        
,humanity has been  taken as it is and  
in the progress of refinement has been  
raised to a  higher standard4  ,it is   
the hand-maiden of civilization that    

works  under even yoke for the best     
sides of humanity4  ,while it does not  
displace or attempt to displace the     
church1 it aids4  ,it has  friendship1  
love and truth as the three human       
graces1 and clings to  faith1 hope and  
charity as the ,christian virtues4  ,it 
is now like the  city that is set upon  
the hill4  ,it can not be hid4  ,out    
upon a rocky  point of the ocean's shore
 at ,minot's ledge is a great           
light-house1  erected by the fostering  
care of the government to protect the   
mariners  on the high seas4  ,its great 
light swings around1 now flashing on the
  land and now sending its rays far out 
across the billowy ocean4  ,it is  a    
grateful act of a great government4     
,many a bewildered seaman has  caught   
its rays and sheared the prow of his    
ship further out to sea to  avoid the   
dangerous shoals4    ,so we1 imitating  
the kind of example of the generous     
government1 and  measuring our acts by  
the example of the blessed ,master1 have

 erected a  light-house here for the    
protection of humanity from its ills4   
,now it  shines on us as mortals        
hastening to a final consummation of    
things2  again it throws its beams out  
across the illimitable sea of hope1     
where  sooner or later we all may ride1 
and by the light here given we may      
steer our bark into a haven of final    
rest4  ,today we are on the  tempestuous
 ocean of life4  ,we who feel that we   
are on the deck1 let us  throw the      
life-line and the life-preservers to him
 who is about to  sink4  ,let us make   
this order even a greater light-house   
than our  fathers ever dreamed of4  ,it 
can be done1 because it is so ordained4 
,what ,god in his good providence orders
 can be1 will be accomplished4  ,with   
thankful hearts we have passed over more
 than three quarters of a  century of   
existence as an organization4  ,we are  
speeding onward to the  century mark1   
and whether we remain to see its        
wonderful processes or  not1 humanity   

will be here demanding just what we have
 done in the  past4  ,let us lay the    
work strong today and transmit it in    
higher  forms1 so that the end of the   
century of our existence as an order    
shall see better life1 better hope and  
higher aspirations4  ,let the           
,subordinates1 ,patriarchs1 ,rebekahs   
and ,chevaliers all form a cordon       
around the altar of our beloved order1  
where the fires shall never be          
extinguished while friendship1 love and 
truth endures1 and faith1 hope  and     
charity are necessities4    ,grand as   
has been the record of ,odd-,fellowship 
from #ahai to the  present1 it is but   
the sunbeams from the birth of the day  
that will  develop grandly into a       
magnificence that shall combine all the 
charms  of the morning1 the glare of the
 noontide1 and the blaze of a sunset    
splendor in an endless panorama of glory
 and grandeur4  ,and if1 with  such a   
picture before our eyes1 painted by a   
faith founded upon the  achievements of 

eighty years1 and our intimate knowledge
 of the vast  practical benevolence that
 begins at the cradle and ends only at  
the  gate of heaven1 the ,odd-,fellow is
 not dazzled by the sublimity of        
,odd-,fellowship and awed into a        
reverence for its work and character1   
there is a lamentable defect in his     
appreciation of the beautiful1 and  an  
utter failure to read the joys and      
dignity and influence of a  properly    
developed and appreciative ,odd-,fellow4
  ,let it never be  forgotten that there
 is nothing groveling in                
,odd-,fellowship4  ,mutual  relief1 it  
is true1 is a leading office in our     
affiliation1 but  ,odd-,fellowship seeks
 to elevate the character of man1 make  
him what ,god  intended him to be2 and  
while such a helpful influence is       
extended to  each one of us who have    
chosen to come within its holy power1   
may we  endeavor to lift ourselves up to
 the high standard of the order of      
which we are a part1 faithfully         

discharging our duties to ourselves and 
to the world2 shedding its benign       
influence and hallowed inspiration      
alike in the palace with its draped     
windows and velvet laden floors and  in 
the cottage nestling among the flowers  
of the humble dooryard2  glowing with   
the same peerless luster in halls of    
learning and in  workshop and factory2  
kissing with the same tender1 holy touch
 the  rough hand that guides the        
implement of industry1 and the soft hand
  that guides the pen2 making character 
the test of merit and the heart  the    
bond of friendship1 and recognizing the 
equality and holy influence  of noble   
womanhood4  ,odd-,fellowship is the     
unerring1 resplendent  guiding star to  
that grand development of human nature  
to which hope  looks forward with such  
ardent joy1 when one law shall bind all 
nations1 tongues and kindred1 and that  
law will be the law of universal        
brotherhood4      99,extract from       
address delivered by ,hon4 ,e4 ,g4      

,hogate4