To touch the sword with conscientious awe, The influence which this association exercises upon the social and political condition of its members, is too striking to be omitted in this defence of our Order. The great artificial tendency of our race, is to be found in the spirit of selfishness, which has unfortunately become too prominent a characteristic of the age in which we live; and the great corrective of this, is in the frequency with which we are all brought to investigate and sympathize with the sufferings of those who are living around us. In every bosom, there is a natural feeling of kindness, but in many will the circumstances of life roll the stone that will stifle the outpouring of this beautiful spring, and choke the flow that would fructify the bosom whence it would issue. Like prudent travellers in the desert, we seek in each brother this spring: with tender hands we clear away the rubbish and weeds that in life have checked it, and nurse again into a wholesome stream, the polluted and stagnant water of life. We teach the doctrine of perfect equality; we engrave upon the mind and heart, that the strongest of our race is but a breath of wind, and that no condition in life can fortify mortal man against the "arrows of outrageous fortune." Removing thus from the hearts of our brotherhood the artificial evils of life, and teaching each, in the eloquent examples of touching distress, the necessity for the dependance which we all must have on each other, we teach at the same time, that the charities we practice, are the appointed instruments with which we have been furnished by our Creator to work upwards our way to the highest summit in the rock of life. That these charities are beneficial, because they have been given to us by the God who made us. Their mild beauty which shines out from the rough surface of our character, like the diamond in the rock, are the faint images of that excellence which is infinite in its goodness. Through these pure and uncontaminated helps, we lift the minds of our brothers to the contemplation of the latter end that will overtake us all, and in the mercy we practice, imitate that infinite mercy of the great Judge, whose seat is at the end of the pathway of time. From the contentions of the worldfrom the heart-burnings of malice and envy-from the discord of rivalry -from the strife and anger of life—we direct his heart to the consideration of the devotion that is due to the Great Master of the order of Infinite Mercy and Goodness. "Then with uplifted hands and eyes devout, A dewy cloud, and in the cloud, a bow, Betokening peace from God and covenant new." But these qualities, so eminently social, unless in their effects they would make the subjects of their influence useful to the country under whose laws they live, would want the highest evidence of excellence to man. Yet the proof that in these is to be found the strong safeguards which our country shall have for devotion to her interests, is too evident to be even sketched. If it be true, that no one can be a wise statesman who is not a virtuous statesman, most certain it is, that no people are firmly jealous of their rights, when no sense of duty is coupled with their support, and no intelligence deprives them of the full appreciation of their advantages. Where, in all classes, a sense of the general good flows with an even course, aggression is met with resistance, and supineness chased with reproof. The familiar view which we are obliged to take of the natural dependance of man on man, teaches us that the greatest good of the greatest number, is the end, and the great end, of all political institutions. While the glorious example of the mild government of nature, where the smallest blade of grass is obedient to the law of its ruler, teaches us the virtue of obedience to law, and the supremacy that lawful government is entitled to receive from all. In our own Order, we verify the harmony which system gives to all, and perceive the necessity of laws to govern, and a minister to execute. While thus we trust the principles we profess are well calculated to make us, in our reverence for law and order, useful citizens of the republic, we feel that the obligations which men owe to society, at times will assume that fearful importance, that will require even life itself to discharge it fully. The hand we reach towards our suffering brother, would be lifted against him who would displace the least particle from that pure and towering pillar, on which is written in living characters, the legacy of freedom to our land. With feelings excited in the liveliest sympathy towards all men, we feel that submission to voluntary degradation, is debasing the image of God, after whose fashion we were formed; and to preserve untarnished the sacred heritage we have, is to obey the highest law of God to man. Thus do we prepare ourselves for the duty we owe to our race, our country, and our God. Purified in the spirit which binds us to our brother, we bring to the cause of our country the devotion of religious duty: and when occasion shall call on us to peril life and fortune in the cause of the land from whose bosom we have drawn the pleasures and supports of life, it will not be said that the hand of any brother shall strike feebly in support of her laws and her honor, because it has grasped in holy fellowship the hand of his neighbor, or because it has been raised in grateful thanksgiving to the throne of grace and mercy. The curtain which has been raised, in order that all men, even the uninitiated, should know what are the principles we practice, must now again for another year, exclude us from the view of men: yet we shall carry with us in our seclusion no feelings save those of hope and pleasure. In every portion of our hall, the eye will rest on Friendship, Love, Truth, Faith, Hope and Charity; and under their hallowed influence, again shall we set forth upon the pleasant journeyings, to relieve the miseries of life. Though yet compelled to struggle with the disadvantages of a new undertaking, no one falters in his course, or turns his hand from the plough. Each day makes us stronger in the work, until a plentiful harvest will smile on our efforts, and the good seed we have sowed produce tenfold increase to fill the granaries we build. We cannot but feel, that in so good a cause the eye of heaven smiles upon us. What though the ways of life be like the tempest-tost sea-the hand that raises the storm, can subdue its force, and make the now raging winds lie tamed and obedient on the highest wave, like summer's gentlest breath. What if our Order be yet struggling with adverse circumstances, and we still tost in the tide of time, far from land-is there no one, who has shuddered at shipwreck, when no light or hope was near; when the sea grew mad in its eagerness to devour, and the strained bark lay helpless, moaning the fate to which it seemed hourly approaching; yet the storm has passed away, and the glad ship sports again like the sea-bird of the ocean, and dances on the wave that threatened to engulph. Let us never forget that unity is our being. We have here no selfish purposes to advance: he who is with us, without having deeply written on his memory the solemn vows he has taken, is no brother of the Order; and while he cherishes the feeling of selfishness, is breaking the highest obligation that man can take. In one thing only should we be rivals: in whatever way the interests of our Order may be promoted; in whatever way we can benefit our fellow-men; let us be generous rivals. Let us feel that this is the great work we have been sent here to perform, and that to him who labors most faithfully in the cause shall high reward be given. Let our hands be ready to succour him who is near to us, and our hearts ever taught to feel, that he who cherishes love for his fellow-man, pays the highest tribute and adoration to his God. And now, when the "pomp, pride, and circumstance" of this day have faded from the sight of the spectators-when our banners are hung in our halls, and putting off the regalia of our Order, we come again as citizens of our land, without badge or distinction-let us not forget that we have exposed those principles as governing our Order, which, to neglect, would be vile and dishonorable. We have ventured to advocate the correctness of the principles which unite us; and it will be our shame and our disgrace, if the profession of the principle be but the mockery of its practice. We stand before the eyes of our fellow-men, united in the highest and holiest purposes of existence. Frail and erring mortals, we have ventured to imitate the most beautiful of the qualities of our God. In love and mercy to all, in him infinite and all-powerful, we have dared to exercise and cultivate their happy influences towards our brethren. Sincere zeal and honesty of purpose will crown our attempt with signal success; and the day may come, when in all quarters of the civilized globe, the mystic and invisible tie of our Order, shall gladden the hearts and unite the hands of all classes and conditions of men. Then will the great end of our Order be obtained: then will the hearts of all, purified by Friendship, and cemented by Love, become the grand reservoirs of life, from which, in clear and wholesome streams, charities shall flow and fertilize creation; and millions of voices shall raise the chant of praise to the author of our being the Father of Faith and Hope-the eternal Master of the Order of Infinite Mercy and Sublime Truth. TO EULALIA. BY MRS. C. M. SAWYER. My early friend! upon whose matron brow Time hath sped onward-many a sun hath set, Sweet to my heart it is, as erst, to trace Come sing to me!-my spirit yearns once more A farewell strain? Well, be it so! for fast Ah, soon, Eulalia, from each other's side, Will mountains sever us, and seas divide! Now fare thee well! I do not ask thy stay, But only thy remembrance when away! Though round thy heart new hopes, new ties are spun, Oh, be its earlier ones not all undone! Forget me not 'mid scenes and pleasures new My early friend-Eulalia, love—adieu ! ORATION. BY BRO. J. H. ADAMS.* WORTHY AND RESPECTED BROTHERS: THE Occasion that calls us together is one of no common occurrence, and has for its object the accomplishment of ends of no ordinary importance. We meet not to commemorate the lives and characters of the illustrious of present or by-gone times-we come not to celebrate the bloody triumphs of arms, nor the brilliant achievements of genius-we are here to offer no tribute to feats of heroism, or deeds of patriotism, emanating, it is true, from impulses of the human heart we all admire, and which, when rightfully directed, contribute greatly to the sum of human happiness. Less imposing, less captivating, less dazzling, perhaps, to many, but we, at least, feel that we are assembled for purer, higher, holier purposes. We meet to proclaim our devotion to the sacred and sublime principles of Charity-we are here gathered as the advocates of a cause that has for its end the mental elevation and moral purification of our fellowbeings we bow before an altar that bears the simple but expressive motto of Benevolence-we rally around a standard on whose folds are inscribed, in no doubtful meaning, Friendship, Love and Truth. In a word, brothers, we are here linked together by the strongest ties, in support of principles co-existent with man himself, and essential alike to his security, peace and happiness. I do not know that I can better fulfil the object of the appointment which your kindness has imposed on me, than by attempting briefly to trace the origin of our Order, explain the principles on which it is based, and illustrate the beneficial influence it is calculated to exert in directing and regulating human conduct. This seems to be due, not only to ourselves, that our motives may not be misconceived, and our objects misapprehended, but to the community, who are likely to be affected to some extent by our Order, and therefore entitled to know enough of its principles and purposes to be able to determine whether we are entitled to public confidence and encouragement or not. I regret this task has not been assigned to one more capable of doing that justice to the subject which its own importance and the interest of the Order demand. If, however, during the few moments I shall claim your attention, I shall satisfy the un informed that we deserve the countenance of the good-if I shall be able to answer some of the objections, and dispel some of the prejudices that are unjustly and ungenerously indulged against it-if, failing in this, I still shall succeed in confirming the members of the Order in the true faith, and impart new zeal to the praise-worthy enthusiasm with which they have enlisted in the noble cause of humanity, I shall feel that I have not labored in vain, and that the occasion will not be without its benefits. * Delivered before Palmetto Lodge, No. 5, in defence of the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, at the dedication of their Hall in Columbia, S. C., December 9, 1842. Published by request of the Lodge. |