to the Methodist Episcopal Church, where an Address was delivered by the Rev. bro. A. J. Battle, of the Baptist Church of that place-after which the procession proceeded to the new and spacious Hall, which had been prepared for their future meetings, and was dedicated to the diffusion of the principles of benevolence and truth, as taught by the I. O. of O. F. North Carolina-Extract of a letter from G. M. John Campbell, dated Weldon, January 14, 1843. in consequence of the expected institution of a Grand Lodge in the State, I think it best to apprize you that that event was consummated on the 7th instant, and that the following officers were duly installed: The Annual Communications of the Grand Lodge will be on the second Wednesday of May. South Carolina-Extract of a letter from D. D. G. Sire Albert Case, dated Charleston, November 9, 1842. We are doing finely here-five or six of the great old men are elected, and the lodges are all doing well. Our procession comes off the first Monday in January. Columbia Lodge will have a procession and dedicate their new Hall in December. Mississippi-Extract of a letter from Patriarch Thomas Reed, dated Natchez, November 5, 1842. It affords me gratification to inform you, that Odd-Fellowship in this portion of the United States is still increasing, not only in numbers but in the respect and esteem of the community. The germ which was but recently planted is disseminating its benign influence over the whole southwest, and our beloved institution is assuming that rank in public favor to which it is entitled. Extract of a letter to the Editor of the Columbia South Carolinian, dated Charleston, January 2, 1843. Our city has exhibited quite a lively appearance to-day, in consequence of the annual procession of the Odd-Fellows, which took place this morn ing with great splendor. The procession, numbering about 400, formed at 10 o'clock at the Masonic Hall, corner of King and Wentworth streets, and, accompanied by a Band of Music, moved through Meeting street to the First Presbyterian Church, where, after prayer by the Rev. Mr. FORREST, an appropriate Oration was delivered by A. G. MAGRATH, Esq., in which, I am told, he surpassed the most sanguine expectations even of those who were well aware of his great powers as an orator. The church was crowded almost to suffocation, and many, very many, that went to hear-among whom was your humble servant-were excluded for the want of room. The galleries of the church, appropriated exclusively to the ladies, were filled with a brilliant array of fashion and beauty. The procession certainly surpassed in splendor and beauty any thing of the kind ever witnessed here before. The regalias worn by the members were generally of the most costly kind, especially those of your townsmen (about 70 in number) which seemed to excite general admiration. OFFICE COR. & REC. SECRETARY, Receipts during the month of January, 1843. Oglethorpe Lodge, Savannah-dues, G. Secretary of Maryland-English Mission, $12 00 20 00 114 50 $146 50 The Agents of the Diploma appointed by the Corresponding Secretary, are earnestly requested to make their returns to this office. It is a matter of regret that these officers have been heretofore remiss in this particular. Brother Clarke, at Pittsburgh, is requested to inform us whether he has received from the former agent residing near that city the Diplomas in his hands. From the Charleston Courier of January 18, 1843. MESSRS. EDITORS:-Will you allow me a small corner in your paper for a brief notice of an extract from the visitation charge of the Archdeacon of Durham, which I was surprised to find copied into, and so far endorsed by the January number of the Gospel Messenger, and which I was not surprised to see also transferred into the columns of the Charleston Observer. The Rev. Prelate, with all that horror for every thing which has not received the sanction and express approval of the particular church of which he happens to be a member, indulges with true sectarian prejudice, in grave and heavy charges, against the funeral ceremonies made use of by the association of Odd-Fellows, calling upon the wardens of the church and others to prevent, as far as in them lies, the performance of what he pleases to denominate "a novelty, savoring more of deism than of christian faith." Now, sir, while I distinctly disclaim any particular or overweening partiality for the ceremony, which has so unfortunately fallen under the displeasure of the reverend gentleman, I must nevertheless insist, in its defence, that there is nothing in that service which can, by the most tortuous or ingenuous construction, at all justify the attack which has so gratuitously and unnecessarily been made upon it in the visitation charge. I say unnecessarily, for it must be obvious to every one that the performance of the ceremony within the limits of the church's jurisdiction and control, may very well be prevented without calling into question the orthodoxy of its spirit. The association of Odd-Fellows is one composed of men of every different sect and denomination known to the civilized world, and numbers in its ranks many highly respectable members of the episcopal, as well as every other persuasion. When a man presents himself for membership, he is not catechized with respect to his religious creed, and the only investigation to which he is subjected regards his moral, not his religious character. If he happens to be a pious and exemplary member of any church, of course it is an additional recommendation, and he receives all the benefits and consideration fairly deducible from the circumstance. This scrutiny into his moral fitness and qualifications being undergone, he is admitted into a brotherhood, banded together for the purposes of benevolence and the amelioration of the great family of man. It is by such an association that the service has been adopted, which has been made the subject of Archdeacon Durham's animadversions. Slight indeed must be his confidence, and slender his faith in the principles of the members of his church, if he supposes that they would unite in a ceremony justly obnoxious to such serious charges, or if he apprehends that their orthodoxy would be endangered by a participation in a ceremony, instituted and designed as a last tribute of respect to a departed brother. It is charitable to suppose, that a misconception has given rise to his declaration; that this service was intended to supersede that of the church, usual on such solemn occasions. So far from the truth is this, that a clergyman of the particular church of which the deceased brother was a member, or of which he was an attendant during life, is always expected to officiate, and the funeral services of the O. F. always follow those of the attending clergyman. I have not time, sir, to pursue this subject further at present, and have merely thrown out these few observations in order to disabuse the public mind, and to prevent, if possible, the erroneous impressions and fallacious inferences which such a charge is well calculated to produce. HOWARD. IN former days, when the renown of the warrior eclipsed the labor of the philanthropist, gorgeous displays heralded the return of the victor, and costly monuments chronicled his prowess. The rude manners of nations were wont to obtain the gradual refinement of civilization, which like the faint streaks of light herald the advent of day, even from the blood-stained triumphs which emblazoned the car of the conqueror. And the applause and admiration of mankind were lavished upon him who passed with head uncovered beneath the canopy of shouts, and lived the hero who had won his glory in the slaughter of thousands of his fellow-beings. The traveller who passes over the land where colossal grandeur and magnificence live still in the pillar that rears itself proudly to the memory of the warrior prince, finds himself also among the ruins of the palace, that marked its epoch in the destruction of the human family. War was then the game of kings; and the authority which power gives even to the most licentious counsels of the ruler, lent to each community the influence of its evil spirit. Philosophy would sometimes raise her voice, and steal her way amid the hordes of armed men who revelled in the wild license of the camp, yet the noise of strife would often drown her quiet tones. Although her mild spirit was breathed through the grove of the Academy, and would persuade the youth to lay aside for a time the shield and sword, and seek the sage of Tusculum, or him who had left his own clas * Delivered in the First Presbyterian Church, before the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, on the 2d day of January, 1843, the anniversary of the introduction of the Order into South Carolina. sic land to tread the soil of the stranger and barbarian, searching a home, when the fire of the spoiler had driven him from his own birth-place; yet its influence was sparingly felt. The power of knowledge had not then obtained the mastery of the mind, which time in its wondrous course, has made. The pent-up fury of nature would often burst forth into a revolution, when the phrenzy of the savage would predominate over the intellect of the scholar, and the rage of a populace commend with shouts the hemlock to the lips of the philosopher. The hate of a tyrant could only be sated with the blood of the orator, whose intellect had mastered the weakness of a physical structure; and who, in the denunciation of the conspirator, and the tranquil dignity with which he welcomed death, immortalized by his example the virtue he had illustrated by his precept. Nor are we permitted in our retrospect soon to pass from these dark shadows. Through ages are we doomed to wander in these scarce pathworn forests, where no dawn of day escapes from the thick shadows so fully concealing the light, that after a time was to break upon the view and illuminate the dangerous pathway through which our race had travelled to safety. Although letters were gradually imparting an influence to the social condition of man, its marks were still few and imperfect. True it is, that woman was emerging from the obscurity in which she had been placed, and was rising upon the horizon like the evening star, to soothe into quiet the warring passions of a sterner sex; and though we hail this as the harbinger of a bright hope, in vain do we seek in those days for the bright excellencies which centre now around her-the lesser stars that at once borrow and lend a rich light to the brilliant luminary around which they play. Poetry had indeed commenced to tune the strings of her lyre, and celebrate the virtues of the fairer sex,-yet the hand that struck the chord was unhonored, unless ready to sacrifice the life of another to its idolatrous devotion. And the gage that adorned the breast of beauty, and dropped from the balustrade to the bold knight of the ring, was the guerdon to encourage the contest and commemorate the victory of blood. The miracle had not yet been performed, when the soft influence of woman was to be felt alone supreme in the social circle, and the mild teaching of religion would bind nations in the bonds of peace, and sit the blessed halcyon upon the troubled waters of life. In the dark ages of the world, we seek in vain for even the traces of those virtues in the horizon of life, that span the space between heaven and earth, and in their shadowy links draw them nearer to each other. True it is, that the manly qualities which make up fortitude and courage, were much cherished, and deeds of noble daring were justly celebrated by the bard of the warrior; yet mercy could not raise her meek voice above the loud din of the wassail of the board, and would plead in vain, however dulcet was the plaint, if it was to check the thirst for blood and spoil. Learning had not worked its way, like light through the thick casement: the highest noble could not write his name, and the Book of Light and Life was sealed eternally to his eye. The morning sun lighted him to deeds of rapine and violence, and the shade of evening seemed made but to hide from humanity the excesses in which he would drown the voice of conscience. Religion, now the staff by which, like the pilgrims of other days, we travel the arid and cheerless desert of life,-was struggling for existence. The high devotion of its followers had made |