The Arkansas banner., 1849-05-22


 Fellowship. That is, zee Hthe Odd FeiEows do so' do ihs datss which the hws snd ussgss of OCT osde' require of our members, as weii as the members o
 he church disehsrge the duties that the dscipiiD. Of lheir deaOminst'Sa and the gospel require Bu
 in pallsassn Of the feet that we have come bed met among ns, lei us look at The means we employ tc Keep bad men out. lst. We require man 10 gel some member tO recommend him as suitable per. son 10 be ipitiated into caT society sd The rFopc 'iiion IS referred to committee of ihree neither whom shall be the resommender. and it is their duty
 to investigate the character snd qualification o ths applicant, and two of taem must agree with hi. reeommeRder, that he is suitable person to become membeE. aad so report to tbe Lodge |" favorable ' To hts admission. 3d, He must then pass the test Of ballot, with balls. and if there are two black balls the candidate is absolutely rejected"
 In this way hundreds have been denied admission who have desired ii greatly. But that we have no special liking for l. bad men may be proved hy the provisions We have made for the charge. trial and expHlsion of our members if found guilty Any 1 member may charge another with a crime. and . trial take place. and if he shall sustain he charge, may demand the punishment of the offender against our laws. know it is sometimes said that we dare not expel our members nr fear that they will beiray our secrets By reference to the statistical tables of the last year it will be found tha this power has been exercised in less than seven hundred and hfy-One instances, and al proper time the names and offence Of each will be published for the inlor. nation of sil concerned. IL is true that lodges no, as strict in their government they should be, but in most cases where we have unworthy members retained in the Order It is with the hope of reformation. for ii is principle that we should never ent oil | member until every effort has been made 10 reclaim the wsnderer. therefore ask what more could we do to keep bad men out, and getting them with all our preesusion. what more could we do than " turn them out ," But this objection is urged against us tboe yh we are all bad men. We would remind our opponents that we have great many good men among us-some whose characters are not only unimpesched but unin- peaehable-nen who in their church are the s,rik- ing exempIi6eaiion of practical pie,y-men whose moral integrity. well trained judgment, and high in. telectual ataDmeRts cattle them to ihe confidence ani esteem of all who know them.
 Finally, we are opposed because of the aIledged 'uPerhuity of our RegaIis, EmbIems. and Lodge fixtures. We use our Regalia as marks of our grade m the Order The eoloFs are significant of the degree taken. and its seniiment the white. purity. the red or scarlet. love; the green, remembrance; blue. friendship Aside iiom these symbolic designs of our Tegaa, there is a moral influence in 1t that must strike the mind of every honest person ,ha, views it. Who has ever witnessed a procession or Odd Fellows without being impressed with the appearance and beauty of the regalia-wilh its simplicity amidst all its gorgeousness and richness Where is the Odd Fellow that ever looks upon the regalia he is entitled tn without remembering with interest and pleasure the responsibilities of the degrees he has received And especially is this true if the person has attained io the highest degrees of the Order. What Past Grand can look upon his regais without remembering the responsibilities il places its weaSer under, Where the Patriarch who ever wears his clothing of "purple and gold" |" without remembering the len conmandments, the golden rule. hospitality 10 the stranger toeration in religion and politics. and the vanity and perplexty of the pursuits of this present world, This, then, is the mystic effect and design of our regalia. Who dare gainsay our usngit!
 Our Emhlens supply equally as valuable place m ong Order as the Fegaa. These all teach ns some great moral sentiment, some truthful, beautiful motto Of forcible effect. An example in explana- ton may not be improper just here. presume no single emblem ofour Order has excited more inaniry and speculation on the part of the uninitiated than ihe Rams Horns. have frequently heard il made | the subject of many curious inquiry by person. who have looked on procc ssions of our Order. Yet this same emblem of the Rams Horns is one of the most beautiful ot emblens. IL is an emblem that 1 exhibits the power Of faith. "rhey remind us of the safety connected with the horns of the Altar of God-the success which followed the blowing ofthe rsm's horn'. when the priests walked around the city ot Jericho. carrying with them ihe Altar ol God, and moving by ihe direction of Heaven. And { they admonsh us to beware oG every departure from Gods service. and illustrate the important doctrine that The prosperity of Order aa be per pe'naed only while We snPpo.t the institutions of Religion"
 ! All oar smblems s'e equally gnl6c ant and in- strueiive. The objeetor may ask why have you selected such singular embIems tc express your moral sentiments and mottoes To this we reply, Ist Because they are scriPtuTai, therefore proper we have noneebut seriptussi embleras) ed. Beeaase they are curious. and ,as will beset inqary, and inquiry must always prece'ie instruction.
 itis useless Ior se here fo attempt sxpianasion ! of all our emblems. This has siresdy been done and published m the AFk-pAge l75. vol. 3d. 1 The beautifully appointed adornments of our Lodge rooms have also good edect upon oar mem bers Our neat and tidy rooms inspire us with that srlf-rsspect that every nan owes to himself And ,t ought to give our enemies good opinion of us and 1t would do SO it they would only think Sup pose we met in Iooms without any convenience or eomloT,s-our opponents wouid say. then. their Lodge rooms look like ~ bar room, :" "gros sbop v and thus they would complain, but seeing we ha ve avoided iha obJectoh, another has suggested itself that We have too much saPerfuiiy in our Lodge q L..