The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1869-12-07 00:00:00

ODDFELLOWS' ANNIVERSARY.

The twelftlianniversary supper of the Loyal " Bud
of Hope" Lodge of i lthifellowa established In Dor-
chester, took place on Monday evening, at the Royal
Oak Inn, and leveed of most imecessfully and agree-
ably, under the presidency of Dr. .1. P. Aldridge.
Mr. Councillor G.. 1. G. Gregory occupied the vice.
chair, and the company tomile-red about a hundred,
including Mr. fr. I', Western, correspooding
secretary of the district and a member of the Board
of the Directors . 4 the Manchester Unity, Mr. J.
Clench (Pool.), Mr. t• ,uneillor P. Bennett, Mr. IL
Hazel, Mr. J. Robinson, Mr. Wallis, Mr. W. H.
Dean, and several visitors from other friendly
societies in the town. At the upper end of tho room
wu placed the handeome silk banner of the lodge,
brilliant with its emblematic repreementattons of
" friend.hip, love, and truth," while string courses.
wreathe, and garland, of greenery interspersed with
dowers nicely adorned the room. A capital supper
was provided by Mr. and Mrs. Read, and the
kindnees of our horou4h member, Colonel Napier
Start, in mending • splendid haunch of venison for
the festival, was hiohly apprectated. The presence
of • glee party, under Os., direction of Mr. Joseph
Robinson, afforded much gratification by their
excellent perferruancea. After the supper,
The Cu.tlitMAte pr posed "The Queen,' and the
toast was drunk with the usual deinuastratiotui of
loyalty.
In giving "The l'rince and Princess of Wales,"
the Chairman mentioned a pleasing incident relative
to His Royal Highness. One of our townsmen, and
a patient of his (the Doctor's) had recently been to
St. Bartholemew's Hospital to undergo an unusual
operation. The Prince is • Governor of that insti.
tutien, and a day or two previous to the return of
the patient His Royal Highness visited him in the
ward, showed great interest in his case, and con-
versed with him in the kindest manner possible,
manifesting those qualities of heart which distinguish
the man end the Chrediao—(applause). At the time
the patient had no id, s that it wu the Prince to
whom he was talking,
" The Army, Nsry. and Volunteers" was the next
toast

--P.:v(l. Bro. Hunt replied on behalf of the army.
lie thanked the people of Dorchester oc behalf of
the E battery B brigade for the kind reception they
had experienced in this town, and hoped the battery
would continue to merit their respect.
Gilour-Sergeant flitti:oev acknowledged the cont.
ph ment on behalf of the volunteers.
The CH A I Rid A?C then ka Ye the Bishop and
Clergy, and Ministers of all denominations."
The next toast wsi" The Manchester Unity" of
Oddfellows, which ill the grand association of the
order, governing in essential particulars all the
lodges connected therewith. The CLI•IRMAN
eloquently dilated on the Christianity of it. basis,
the noblity of its aims, the vastness of its operations,
and the success of it. efforts, asd gave with very
great pleasure increased prosperity and moms to
this noble institution.
Bro. G. R. WILSTERN, whose name was coupled
with the toast, said that he had often beard the
toast of the Manchester Cuity given, but he did not
remember hearing it given with more enthusiasm,
or proposed with greater emphasis than on the
present occasion—(hear, bear). He might have
expected it, however, horn the Dorchester bretheu,
because he knew them, and wee aware it was their
custom so to receive this tout. He knew that u
Oddfellows they had &heap, done their duty, and,
therefore, that when they felt it to be a duty to
dnek that tout, he was sure they would do it well.
They Ind done so. With regard to the origin and
objects of the Manchester Unity he need say
but little, because the Chairman had already done
that, in remarks running in the same channel in
which his own thoughts had been directed. And
he would not enter into details except on one or
two points. and that would be in reference to mat-
ters of very @swam importance, and which he hoped
they would bear strictly in mind, for, unless they
did, this greet society of which they were members,
and of which they boasted and thought so highly,
would not long ramie; great society. He wished
to direct their attention to thls subject because, as a
director of the Manchester 174itv, he had the mis-
fortune to have it brought before him in • very
lamentable manner. It was this—that at the pre-
sent time, although they thought so highly of the
Manchester Unity, there were a great number of
tbe lodges that could not afford to pay their mem-
bers anything in the shape of sick pay. It might
be very disagreeable to hear such a fact, but he told
it them that they might avoid coming to that
position. There were a great number of lodges
appealing to the sympathies of the Manchester Unity
for assistance at their last A. M.C. atSunderland, par-
ticularly from the Slatichenter district —they prayed
to be relieved from the general body of Oddlellows of
giving sick pay, because they had not the means.
How had it been brought about? At the beginning
those lodges had all the noble feelings and brotherly
sympathies which the Chairmen had spoken of, they
were kind to their brethren, not only in sickness, but
in distress, and they took from their funds large
sums to make presents. He begged to say that he
liked presents. to be given to proper objects, provided
they were "given," and not taken from the fends of
the institution—(spplause). But those lodges to
which he referred took them out of their funds,
thus speudieg in a few years thousands of pounds.
For lack of knowledge of vital statietics, they
thought they should always have enough to meet the
alaims of their members, yet now they were in want.
They were too sanguine and too liberal. But it
was years ago, and they must not be too much
blamed for it, because at that time even the most
clever moo in the land did not understand the lewe
of vital statistics, for they had no data on which to
F,5.. their calculations. He was very sorry that
parties now—educated men, 'well up,, in other
maws, ventured to give opinion," reepootaig