Washington telegraph., 1843-09-06
oDDFELLows IN GREAT BRITAIN.

ODDFELLOWS IN GREAT BRITAIN.
At a recent meeting of the Society Of "Odd
Fellows" in Greenock, Scotland, in aid of the
Mieows and Orphans Find s7,s eps Sf .I shs mem
I. Inc origin of The order Of Odd Fellows is IF
very great antiquity 1t was first established
by the Roman soldiers IN the camp during the
reign Of Nero, in the year fifty i've At that
time they were lied Fellow Citizens The
present name given by Titus Cesar ,in the
year seven y-nrneI from the singularity of
their noting and from their knowing each other
by night or by day. and by their fidelity to him
and their country, he not only gave them the
name Of Odd Fellows, bot al the same time, as
pledge Of friendship, presented them with a
dispensation engraved on plate of gold, bear
ing different embems, such as The sun. moon,
star, the lamb, the lion, the dove, and other
emblems Of morality
The FIRST account of be order being spread
IN other countries, ID in the fifth century, when
II was established in the Spanish dominions,
and IN the sixth century, by King Henry in
Portugal, and in the twelfth century it was
established in France. and afterwards BY John
de Neville in England, attended BY five knights
from France, who formed Loyal Grand
Lodge in London, which order remained until
the eighteenth century Cn the reign of George
the 1hird,l when part of them began TO form
themselves INTO union. and a portion of their
remain up TO this day. The Lodges which
now remain are very numerous throughout The
world, and call themselves the Loyal Ancient
Odd Fellows, being portion of the original
body. The Manchester unity is of more recent
date, although there is no doubt of its emana-
tiEg from the same source. Its first introduce
tion into Manchester was about the wear 1900,
by few individuals from the union in London
who formed themselves into Lodge, and con-
tinued in connection with hem for sumo time,
when some difference caused them to declare
themselves Independent They have kept
their word--lndependen they have been since.
They have progressed in number, in talent
and respectabilIy-and now the fig of Odd
Fellowship proudly foas in many cline, wa
wing over the ruins OF poverty and sadness.
The genius OF Benevolence may be seen poin-
ting The way where sorrows may be solaced,
and poverty ameliorated. Look 10 the increas-
ing number IN Great BritEin-the United States
where it has stood the blast OF twenty years
and upwerds-IIolland. Germany, Spain, New
South Wales. Gibraltar, Malta, in short, from
the burning rays Of the Torrld Zone, TO the
cherries sky Of the Fngid zcne, an odd fel-
low msy find brother who has inspired the
same fraternal principles. The increase du-
ring the past year hiss been more than one
hundred per day. (Sundays excep'ed) The
aggregate number is now two hundred and
fJrty thousand Ii has been calculated that if
this vast body were 10 form a procession two
and two, and yard asunder, that the line
would extend sixty-seven miles, or fiom Gree
mock TO Ednburg, walking at the rate OF three
miles per hour, would require twenty-three
| hours 10 pass from first TO last-so that ten
thousand iour hundred and seventy FIVE would
pass before standard observer per hour-and
among this great and fgi eesble multitude,
| would be found admirals, generals, senators,
acknowledgement and gentlemen of every
RANK and title, and last, though not least, the
humble and indus r.ous srt'zan.
Such spectacle, seen through medium Of
the Imagination, will form some faint idea of
the nnmber, the responsibility, the talent of
| the Order, and in proof, need only to refer
you 10 those sronnd me. The speaker then
| gave leng ihened and Interesting detail Of the
principles and government of the Order, and
| sdveried TO the same basis on which il was
| founded, ard gave luminous description Of the
woi king Of system in relieving the sick and
the afflicted, and stated that should brothers.
illness be Of such a nature that he fingers
long OIL bed OF sickness, his aliment is not
reduced, and instanced case where bro
iher had ben i'll Tor five years, had received
the enormous sum OF one hundred and fifty -one
pounds two shIllIngs and seven pence-(ap-
| plause)- land that the sum of one hundred and
twenty-five Thousand and four hundred pounds.
was paid by the Order last year for the sick
and distressed. This announcement was re.
ceived with great cheering.)
Nor do confine ourselves to orr own
brethren in Pirticular. In every town where
Odd Fellowship has raised its head. you will
end donations TO some benevolent institutions
and at the general procession Of the deaf and
dumb in Manchester, in 1897. for the benefit
OF that institution. the Odd Fellows came for
ward with the sum OF four hundred Gnd sIx
pounds, eighteen shillings four and quarter
pence, which caus d one Of the committee to
exclaim: IF contributing TO the charity the
handsome sum Of near five hundred pounds
WINS symptom OF Odd Fellows I can say
wish there may ba more Odd Fellows in the
world" (Cheers) And what will weigh
more in the opinion Of the public generally Is,
that out Of twenty thousand applications
Tor relief TO the 2oor-law guardians Of Leeds,
not one was from an Odd Fellow. (Tremen-
dous applaudIng)