combined action, accumulated labor, associated talent and energy. Eve ry monument of genius and art of past times-all those amusing triumphs of man over nature in our own day, proclaim the great truth, that the strength, the security, the dignity of man, is in union. To this principle are we indebted for all that has been and is doing for the elevation of our species. In the humble but commendable cause of benevolence and charity-in the important and interesting work of moral reform, we have availed ourselves of this principle of association. We hope by contributing a portion of our means, and concentrating our action, to do that for our fellow-creatures which governments do not undertake to perform, and with which it would be unwise in them to concern themselves.

Such is an imperfect outline of the nature, principles and designs of our Order. Disturbing none of our relations to society, interfering with no interest of government or religion-proclaiming "peace on earth and good will towards all men," its object (and is it not a great, a glorious one?) is to liberate man from the dominion of his low and grovelling passions, inspire him with elevated conceptions of his nature and destiny, and make him contented and happy, by teaching him to live true to himself, his neighbor, his country, and God. Who is not ready to admit, that the doctrines of peace it encourages, and the precepts of morality it inculcates, are admirably calculated to add to any man's usefulness and respectability as a member of society. That man's condition must be hopeless, his heart must be obdurate indeed, who "can mingle in its ceremonies and participate in its acts of practical benificence" without exhibiting in some particular, and to some extent, its happy, chastening influ

ence.

What true friend of humanity can withhold his sanction from an institution so pure in its principles, so harmless in its means, so ennobling in its objects? To the mere moralist, who conceives true happiness to depend on the dissemination of honest principles and the performance of honest deeds, it opens a field where he may not only indulge, but practically carry out his cherished opinions. The philanthropist, full of kindness for his species, and most happy when most useful, may refresh himself at its fountain of love, and contemplate in its happiest aspect, the beauty and grandeur of benevolence. And the Christian, rejoicing in his escape from the contamination of sin, should supplicate blessings in its behalf; for the banner of Christ can only waive in true triumph over a peaceable, industrious, sober, benevolent, and charitable people.

It is gratifying to find, that opposition to our Order is fast yielding to the light of truth, and the unanswerable argument furnished in the conduct and character of Odd-Fellows, wherever they have established themselves. Every where its prospects are flattering and encouraging, and though in its infancy, its fruits have already won for it the praise and admiration of the good and virtuous. A few months since, some eight or ten of our number assembled for the purpose of establishing a lodge in our town. Behold to-day their success!! In due season, we too shall offer our fruits for public approval. So far it has accomplished all that could have been anticipated. It has broken through the feeble barriers which society has erected between man and man, and obliterated the unjust prejudices excited by the miserable struggles of party. It has caused us to regard each other with more affection, and feel a deeper interest in

each other's welfare. It has realized to us the fact, that true worth, genuine integrity of character, may be as readily found in the humbler as in the higher walks of society. It has brought our minds to meditate on the noble principles it hopes to promote and perpetuate, and I trust all have resolved to conform to them.

The ladies who have honored and graced the occasion with their presence, will accept our most heartfelt thanks. We ask your smiles, your encouragements, in behalf of our institution, as having for its end, objects the most lofty that ever engaged the attention or aroused the energies of men. Think us not selfish nor wanting in true gallantry, because we exclude you from our union. Nature has fashioned you in her fairest, softest, brightest mould. You need not the redeeming influence of Odd-Fellowship, to make you what you are-the most beautiful, the most lovely, the most pure of God's creation. She has given us rougher tempers and colder hearts, and our pursuits tend to make them more so. To soften this asperity of our sex and make us more loveable, are among the objects of our Order. Cheer us on then, in the good work we have undertaken, and in return, we promise you better husbands and better lovers.

And now, brothers, a word to you, and my task is finished. You have buckled on your armor and are entered for the good fight. Stand by your colors, and victory will be yours. How great the prize!! The triumph of man over himself-of morality over vice-reason over error-innocence over crime. Watch each other closely-advise each other with perfect candor, but in all kindness. If, unhappily, any one prove recreant to your principles and false to his own honor, cast him out, lest yourselves be contaminated. Live daily under a sense of the "serious, solemn, and binding obligations" you have taken upon yourselves. Let no other ambition animate you but the noble one of striving to outdo each other in acts of benevolence and charity. Let peace and harmony preside over all your deliberations. Let Friendship, Love and Truth, guide all your steps through life, and as the reward of Odd-Fellowship, "may you live long and die good-fellows;" and "when the last trump shall announce the sad catastrophe of nature," may you reap, in a better world, the reward of well-spent lives.

ANTHEM.

Sung at the celebration of Palmetto Lodge, No. 5, Columbia, S. C., December 9, 1842.

WHEN meek-eyed Mercy from her kindred sky,
A timid Messenger to Earth drew nigh,
How sunk her soul, our ruined race to view!

Sad was the sight-and pure as Heaven's own dew,
The trembling tear-drop glistened in her eye,
As thus she hailed the Majesty on high:

"Oh! Father! wilt thou save thy servants dear?
Teach them to sooth each other's woes, the tear
Of suff'ring nature to kiss off, and heal

The woes that sorrow's children still must feel?
As brethren let them live in friendship here,
The sick still succour, and the drooping cheer."

Sweet Missioner!-her own resplendent smile
Beamed generous warmth on erring man,—and while
She looked to Heaven for power to bless,
Became herself the source of happiness;

Bade each poor suff'rer smile again, and know,
The power of God can sooth the deepest woe.

Beneath her influence we meet to-day,
And willing subjects would her laws obey;
The sick we succor-the distressed we save-
We cheer the downward passage to the grave!
Nay, point beyond it, to that brighter home,
Where sickness and distress can never come!

ADDRESS.

BY BRO. J. D. TRADEWELL.*

WORTHY AND RESPECTED BROTHERS:

If the more imposing and masculine task of conceiving and deliv. ering an Oration in exposition of the origin and progress, the purposes and principles of the Order to which we belong, has been most justly assigned to the higher abilities of brother Adams, a task perhaps more pleasing and delicate has been delineated for myself. I approach the performance of it under the influence of unaffected diffidence, entirely conscious that the honor conferred upon me might more appropriately have illustrated the character of some worthier Odd-Fellow. Be that as it may, I have accepted the honor and assumed the responsibility; the occasion for its discharge has arrived, and our society, with this assemblage of grave and se.. date wisdom, and of gay and joyous beauty, await the pronunciation of my Address in dedication of Odd-Fellows' Hall. While I am at no loss for a theme of sufficiently deep and thrilling interest to seduce the attention of the grave, or catch the restless fancy of the more volatile, yet I confess I am at a loss how I shall treat of the subject appropriate to this celebration; if, however, the mind be dull and sluggish, the sacred inspiration of the

Delivered before Palmetto Lodge, No. 5, on the opening of Odd-Fellows' Hall, in Columbia, S. C., December 9th, 1842. Published by request of the lodge.

theme will impart to it activity and fire and enthusiasm. Friendship, Love, and Truth,-Faith, Hope, and Charity;-these are sentiments born of God-" emanations of the all beauteous mind;-these constitute the burden of the songs of angels, and while the dulcet sounds of the voices of cherubim and seraphim fall upon the ears of saints, mortals such as we, made a little lower than the angels, are permitted to echo the heavenly music and fling back the strains to the "blue ethereal sky." If the advancement of the great principles and the achievement of the glorious purposes of Friendship, Love and Truth, under the guidance of Faith, Hope and Charity, be the amiable and fascinating design of our association, it is not unworthy of us to dedicate these walls in decent pomp and comely pageant to the cause of Odd-Fellowship. If the God be worthy of worship, surely it is fitting that there should be a temple and an altar where the serene devotions of his followers may be paid, undistracted by the scenes, unmoved by the turbulence, unshaken by the violent strifes and collisions which dash this living world to and fro. We are brothers in Friendship, Love and Truth, in Faith, Hope and Charity. Is it not appropriate then that there should be a common temple in which our communion may be held, and a common altar, around which our homage may be rendered? Distracted by the "ills which flesh is heir to," our bosoms lacerated by the woes of disappointment in the prosecution of our schemes of wealth, in our plans of ambition and struggles for renown, it may be perhaps in our dreams of love, it is a holy pleasure to have a common temple of refuge like this to fly to, where lessons of submission to the inscrutable decrees of Providence may be taught-where the raging tempests of human passion may be quieted, the intellect enlightened, the heart made better, and the whole moral constitution of man, his heart, his mind, his imagination, with all its deep and mighty emotions and impulses, bounding and restrainless energies, lofty and tameless dreams, may be chastened and purified, under the influence of the divine principles which form the basis of our Order.

Science and the arts have their temples, whose walls, looming up in the light of this beautiful day, within our sight, have just been vocal with the sounds of their votaries' tongues, while the full beaming eye of the intellectual father, and the softly tear-suffused eye of the tender mother, have looked upon their cherished boy as he pronounced his eloquent oration in the consecrated college chapel, in favor of the assidious cultivation of the powers of the mind in pursuit of metaphysical, moral, political or natural science. Music and painting have their consecrated halls, their altars, their sacrifices and their priests. The god of war too has his temple and his altar, where his triumphs are celebrated in gorgeous and splendid mode. The car of the victor is advanced by the strength of the rejoicing throng, and the triumphal arch erected by the masculine hand of the sterner sex, has been adorned and beautified by the delicate hand of female loveliness and grace. It is true, no drums nor trumpets, nor sounds of martial music, nor the gorgeous trappings of military pageantry, impart a wild enthusiasm to the victories which we win; and although they may seem appropriate to the present occasion, still ours is a peaceful army, enlisted in the cause of benevolence and charity. The gentle music of hearts attuned to common sympathies-the lovely accord of common affections, common purposes, and aims of kindly charity and love,

these are the inspirations of this day, and sweetly blend us in a holy brotherhood.

How appropriate then, and how comely, that from the midst of the anxious scenes and wild distractions of the world, there should be set apart a place like this, "remote from busy life's bewildered way," unprofaned by revolting ebullitions of wicked passions, or exhibitions of the cold and unfeeling selfishness of the hardened heart, where alone kindness and truth, love and hope prevail, gently distilling on human woes, heavenly healing influences, imparting light and joy and gladness to desponding broken hearts, and enterprise and buoyancy and elasticity to the crushed and crippled spirit.'

This then, shall be the Temple of Odd-Fellowship-these the altars around which our homage shall be paid, while the gentle fires which emanate from Friendship, Love and Truth, from Faith, Hope and Charity, shall chasten and purify the sacrifices we place upon them, and consuming them, float back in holy incense to the skies.

There could not be exhibited to the gaze of the world a lovelier spectacle than that which the associations of Odd-Fellows here and elsewhere present. It is lovely because it is a moral spectacle, attracting the heart, captivating the imagination, engaging the mind, conquering the will, and enkindling the sweetest and softest affections of the human soul. If it be asked in what do the moral beauty and excellence of our Order consist? the interrogatory is most easily answered. The moral beauty and excellence of God himself, result from the immortal virtues inherent in himhis Love-his Truth-his Justice-his boundless Charity and Mercy-his limitless Goodness and Benevolence. Obscure these glorious attributes, and the songs of the redeemed would cease, the harmonies of heaven would swell no more, the eyes of the saints would be averted from the Great Jehovah, and darkness gather about the Eternal Throne. Oh! yes, it is the undying and fadeless virtues of the Deity, his immortal moral attributes, which inspire the songs, compel the praises, win the adoration, and attract the affections of universal Heaven. Nothing is truer than that the feelings and sympathies of the human heart, the ideas of the mind, its thoughts and associations, impart to the scenes of earth their deepest and mightiest interest, moral sublimity, and it is from these sources that beams forth the great glory of the Order of Odd-Fellows. This banner, which for the first time to-day in its original beauty, invited the kisses of the winds and the smiles of the sun; these chaste and imposing symbols, these rich and splendid regalia, this spacious hall, and these gorgeous chairs, with whatever of richer and grander decorations might be added, apart from the associations of the mind, and the sympathies of the heart, possess physical, but no moral beauty. When, however, the bright and glowing words which beam from these chairs, are read, the moral excellence and sublimity of our Order are at once revealed, its signs and tokens become endeared to the heart, and the true sources of our attachment and devotion to it immediately unveiled.

In the dedication of our Hall, then, the mind, absorbed in the contemplation of the high moral purposes we have in view, to accomplish which the admirable machinery of Odd-Fellowship is to be wielded, forgets the pageant of the procession, the array of glorious beauty we gaze upon, the novelty of this occasion, and all the external magnificence of this impos