ing scene and who will say that we must fail in our holy enterprize, when the comprehensive energies of Faith, the ceaseless encouragement and excitement of Hope, and the sweet influences of heaven-born Charity, guide and cheer and sustain us on our way? If stubborn and ignorant prejudice-if ungenerous and spiteful opposition-if foolish caprice, or the scorn and ridicule of an unkind and unhappy world: yea moree-if the vanity of the human heart, and the pride of human philosophy, or the high conceits of an ostentatious, and too often self-confident reason, for a while impede us in our career of philanthropy, of benevolence and charity, there shall soon go out from these walls, which we are now consecrating, a mighty, conquering spirit of truth, which shall achieve for Odd-Fellows, a peaceful triumph over every obstacle, and, winning the hearts, and convincing the judgments of the good and the just, establish our cherished Order upon foundations of rock, permanently and forever.

I have said that the votaries of science and the arts, and of ambitious war, have their temples and their altars, their sacrifices and their priests; I should have added, that the holy religion of the Cross, has likewise its temples and its altars, its sacrifices and consecrated ministers. Throughout the world, myriads of temples, dedicated to the worship of the Great Supreme, shoot their spires to the skies, and open wide their doors to receive the followers of the Eternal Son. It is by the side of these temples of our holy religion, that we desire to see rising up, those other temples dedicated by our Order, to the only less holy cause of Friendship, Love and Truth. These are the lovely sisters of religion, healing where she heals, blessing where she blesses, conquering where she conquers, and throwing upon the dark mass of our corrupt natures, a light which, next to her light, chastens its passions, sanctifies its feelings, invades and subJues its stubborn depravity, and purifies and renovates the whole moral constitution. Next to the religion of the Cross, the chastening influences of benevolence, of charity and truth, render the heart a fit temple for the living God to dwell in; and to some extent, these sentiments occupied the mind of man before Calvary's scene transpired. Certainly they originated in heaven; and although it would be impious idolatry to apotheosise them, and fall down and worship them, yet it cannot be displeasing to the Deity, to see their influence advanced by associations like ours, and in halls solemnly and sacredly dedicated as we to-day dedicate this.

The impression which the imposing ceremony now transpiring, produces upon the mind and the heart, is vastly deepened by the participation in it of the holy Ministers of Religion, in their most lovely office. In beautifully appropriate phrase, the light of heaven has been asked for our guidance, and the blessings of Jehovah invoked upon our Order. The pious voice of our Chaplain, following the sweet voice of song, has been uttered in sounds of prayer; the key which unlocks the portals of the sky, has been turned by his hand, and the moral sublimity of this scene has been wonderfully increased by the interposition of the holy offices with which he is invested. From the circumstance of members of the sacerdotal order being members of our Order, we might reasonably ask the world to draw assurance of the purity, the excellence and benevolence of its purposes. If the "holy anointed" be not defiled by association with us, surely around these altars the unshriven and the wicked may hope for amendment and reformation; and while the divine virtues of the atonement,

may alone be efficacious in cleansing our fallen nature from its dark leprosy, the purifying influences of the Odd-Fellows' school of moral discipline, may aid in dressing the soul for the immortal feasts of heaven.

There is a delightful beauty discerned in our Order, when viewed in its relation to, and connection with, the moral government of the world.— Without well designed and aptly constructed machinery, the operations, neither of the material, political or moral world, would attract the admiration of man, or disclose the wisdom of the Deity. This machinery is controlled by eternal laws, which regulate the movements of planets, the revolutions of politics, and the powers and passions of the immortal mind. Without the influence of these laws, perpetual jarring and confusion, discordant violence and collision, would distract and unsettle the whole universe, material, political and moral. One of these laws may be traced in that just and appropriate combination and concert, which prevail throughout all the works of God. To illustrate without combination and concert, there would be neither harmony nor certainty in the operations of the planetary system, while, by their influence, the movements of the most diminutive star, and the evolutions of the greatest light which throws its beams upon the planet of our habitation, are regulated and controlled.— The same law, (the law of combination and concert,) which leads from heaven to earth the lustrous beams of the star, which, night after night, illumes the world, after the lapse of a thousand years, throws upon us from its far off orbit, the wild and brilliant gleamings of the stranger comet. In a word, without the influence of this law, the whole physical world would be thrown into disorganization, presenting an alarming scene of chaotic confusion and collision. It is, then, in perfect coincidence with this eternal law of combination and concert, governing alike the material, political and moral world, that our association has been formed. The same divine energy which created the material world, the sun, the moon, the stars, this great globe, with all its diversified phenomena, imparted to this perishable clay, the imperishable MIND; and as the harmony of the operations, and the certainty of the results of the former, flow from the agency of combined, concerted and concentrated power-that power which brings alternate day and night, sunshine and storm-that power which to-day chains down the violence of the raging volcano, and to-morrow rolls its thunders, and emits its fires towards the heavens,-so, also, do the triumphs of the intellect, the glories of the sense immortal, the carrying forward its schemes of Benevolence and Charity and Truth, depend upon the association, concert and concentration of all its powers and faculties. The moral instincts of our nature indicate this combination of minds, and energy of hearts, as a means of achieving intellectual and moral triumphs, and thus is traced out the reason of the institution of colleges, where the powers of different minds, associated and combined, advance the interests of science, and of societies such as ours, where the concentrated affections, instincts and sympathies of many hearts, subserve the beautiful purposes of Philanthropy, Benevolence and Charity.

I have said that the whole universe of God is governed by machinery, all the parts of which depend upon the whole for strength and harmony, and the whole upon all the parts. This is evident to the least observant. Loosen a rivet, or unwind a screw, so to speak, and the material world would be thrown into confusion and collision, while the stars, which now

sing together of the glories of the Lord, and charm a listening world with their silent melodies, would dash off from their orbits in wild disorder, and in the mad irregularities of their journeyings, alarm the inhabitants of the varied spheres. By the laws of gravitation, of attraction and repulsion, however, this whirling world upon which we dwell, and yonder bright and glorious world upon which we gaze, move harmoniously in their respective orbits; and a lovely scene of universal order in the operations of physical nature, is presented for our contemplation. If infinite wisdom has thus ordained laws of concert and combination, by which the physical world, the lesser glory, is governed, can it be doubted that He has been equally careful in the construction of suitable machinery, by which to govern the moral and intellectual, the greater glory? To move forward the cause of Christianity-to win the victories of the Cross, and to establish in the hearts of mankind universally, the mild and gentle dominion of our holy religion, machinery has been constructed and consecrated. As I have said, she has her temples, her altars, her imposing sacraments, her chastened ceremonials, and her anointed priests, and through these channels her light radiates the whole moral system.

As part of the vast machinery by which the moral world is upheld and controlled, we commend to ourselves and to mankind, the Order to which we belong; to the pure purposes of which we are now dedicating this Hall. If benevolence is to be inculcated, or friendship encouraged, or truth defended, or morality vindicated, or patriotism roused, or the tender sympathies of the heart excited in behalf of the desolate widow and orphan, it is in associations like ours, in our association, that the scattered and diversified energies of the intellect, its reason, its imagination, its powers of persuasion, its beauties of enthusiasm, united to the softly and tender sympathies, commanding and majestic passions of the soul, are made available in their behalf, and combined and concentrated, are arrayed in glorious strength against the selfishness, the ignorance, and the prejudice of our perverted nature.

Then, brothers, let me repeat, that this shall be the Temple of OddFellowship-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.

ANTHEM.

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

THE spheres have ceased their joyous chime,

Primeval chaos re-appears,

And Heaven and Earth, and ancient Time,

Grown hoary with the lapse of years,

Sink to the tomb-while over all,

Tired Nature spreads her funeral pall.

Lo! 'mid the deep sepulchral gloom,

A form with pearly radiance bright,
Gilds with soft rays creation's tomb,

As Heaven's own stars adorn the night;
And through the circling darkness shine
The snowy robes of Charity divine.

Fresh as the breath of dewy morn,
Ambrosial odors 'round her spread,
And golden hues-celestial boon-

Waive in mild halo 'round her head,
While in her steps, and heavenly mien,
The beauteous, meek-eyed nymph is seen.

Faith shall depart with Time's dark night,
And Hope her rosy pinions fold,

But Charity, enrobed in light,

And blest with youth that grows not old,

Resurgent o'er the general doom,

Shall smile through Heaven's perpetual bloom.

From Graham's Magazine.

THE END OF THE WORLD.

A VISION.

BY JAMES K. PAULDING, ESQ.

HAPPENING, the other day, to meet with an account of a mighty gathering of the disciples of a certain great prophet, who, I believe, has, in spite of the proverb, rather more honor in his own country than any other, I fell upon a train of reflections on the probability of this world coming to an end the first of April next, as predicted by that venerable seer. That it will come to an end, some time or other, is certain, for nothing created can last for ever; and that this event may happen to-morrow, is, for aught we know, just as likely as that it will take place an hundred or a thousand years hence. The precise hour is, however, wisely hidden from all but the eyes of our inspired prophet, and the first of April is quite as probable as any other, although, for the credit of the prediction, I could wish it had been fixed for some other day than that so specially consecrated to making fools.

It appeared to me, however, on due consideration, that there were many startling indications that this world of ours was pretty well worn threadbare, and that it was high time to lay it aside, or get rid of it altogether, by a summary process, like the Bankrupt Law. Nor am I alone, among very discreet reflecting persons, in this opinion. I was lately conversing

with an old gentleman, of great experience and sagacity, who has predicted several hard winters, and who assured me he did not see how it was possible for this world to last much longer. "In the first place," said he, "it has grown a great deal too wise to be honest, and common sense, like a specie currency, become the most uncommon of all commodities. Now, I maintain that, without the ballast of common sense, the world must in evitably turn upside down, or, at least, fall on its beam-ends, and all the passengers tumble overboard. In the second place, it is perfectly apparent that the balance-wheel which regulates the machine, and keeps all its functions in equilibrium, is almost worn out, if not entirely destroyed. There is now no medium in any thing. The love of money has become a raging passion, a mania equally destructive to morals and happiness. So with every other pursuit and passion of our nature. Every man is "like a beggar on horseback," and the old proverb will tell where he rides. All spur away, until they break down, ride over a precipice, or tumble into the mire. If a man, as every man does now-a-days, pines for riches, instead of seeking them in the good old fashioned way of industry, prudence and economy, he plunges heels over head in mad, extravagant and visionary schemes, that lead inevitably, not only to his own ruin, but that of others, and in all probability, in the end, leave him as destitute of character as of fortune. Or, if he is smitten with a desire to benefit his fellow-creatures, he carries his philanthropy into the camp of the enemy, that is, to the opposite extreme of vice. His sympathies for one class of human suffering entirely shut his eyes and his heart to the claims and rights of others, and he would sacrifice the world to an atom. His pity for the guilty degenerates into the encouragement of crime, and instead of an avenger, he becomes an accomplice. No man, it would seem, in this most enlightened of all ages, appears to be aware of what is irrefragably true, that an honest abhorrence of guilt is one of the most powerful preservatives of human virtue; and that one of the most effectual modes of engendering vice in our hearts, is to accustom ourselves to view it merely as an object of pity and forgiveness. It seems to be a growing opinion, that the punishment of crime is an usurpation of society, a despotic exercise of power over individuals, and, in short, 'a relic of the dark ages.'

My excellent old friend is a great talker, when he gets on a favorite subject-though he rails by the hour at members of Congress for their long speeches and proceeded, after stopping to take breath, as follows:"There are other pregnant indications of this world being on its last legs, in the fashionable cant"- -so my friend called it, most irreverently-"of ascribing almost all the great conservative principles of the social state to 'the dark ages.' The laws, indispensable to the security of property, the restraint of imprudence and extravagance, the safety of persons, and the punishment of their transgressors-those laws, in short, that constitute the great pillars of society, and without which barbarity and violence would again overrun the world, are, forsooth, traced by the advocates of 'progress' to those very dark ages, whose ignorance and barbarism they contributed more than all other causes to dissipate and destroy. An honest man who resorts to those laws which are founded in the first principles of justice, for the recovery of that which is necessary to his comfort, perhaps his very existence, or for the purpose of punishing some profligate spendthrift for defrauding him, is now denounced by philanthropic legislators,