Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1851-11-06
Brothers Of The Mustic Tie

cred pledge from Woman Of her con-
| fidence in our Order, in the form oI
this Holy Bible. To day is a marked
era in the career Of this Lodge. II
is but a few months since a few
brothers Joined here in this fraternal
compact. 1t is but a few months
since they took upon themselves the
obligations OF our friendly laws, and
pledged themselves TO be the faithful
guardians Of Friendship, Love and
Truth. Ii is but little more than one
year since they surrounded them
selves with the symbols OF our Order
to remind them Of the principles
on which it rests, and their duties to
each other. Your prosperity since
that time, so far as the acquisition Of
members to the Lodge is concerned,
has been as great, perhaps, as the
health and peTmanencY Of the in
stitution will permit. You have
grown in numbers, il may be, fast
enough. You haveincreased in size,
all that your safety demands. Mush-
rooms that grow in a night, die in a
day. Boys that reach the size Of
men at an early age, are destitute Of
the strength Of men. Riches OBJ
tanned in an hour have no guaranty
Of safety, but are most likely TO be
lost as soon. Societies formed in a
week, waste away like the passing of
a breath. So Of every association.
So Of everything else. Permanency,
solidily, lasting worth, enduring vir-
tue, time-deiYing value, are acquired
by slow degrees. Pyramids are built
in centuries. Great monuments,
powerful nations, mighty Institutions
count their growth by revolving ages.
This is law of nature, law Of the
universe, law Of God. Hence, /
say your numbers have increased as
fast as your safety will permit. Il
we would have our institution per-
manent, if we would have it lasting,
have it stand as a monument TO the
sacred and imperishable principles it
inculcates, for unborn generations to
admire, love and cherish, its progress,
its growth, must be, not principally
in its numbers, but in the hearts Of its
members. II must plant itself there
as the only enduring foundation. 1t
must write its principles on the tab
lets Of the heart, on the pages of inn
mortal mind, on that which is kindred
and co-eternal with God, and thus
they will never be erased. Nothing
is enduring but mind, truth and vir-
tue. Everything else is changing.
feeting, volatile. "The things which
are seen are temporal; but The things
which are not seen are eternal" says
the guide which we have just recei-
we'd. -t---
II rightly understand Odd Eel
lowship, il grounds itself upon i'm
mutable truth; not upon that about
which there is dispute; not upon that
which some men regard as true, and
others as false, but upon that which
every healthy mind receives as undis-
puted truth; which all politicians, all
moralists, all religionists agree in re-
garding as the basis of all human
prosperity and happiness. 1t begins
so to speak at the bottom OF humani-
ty, takes its universally acknowledge
ed truths, and lays them for its fouh-
dation; and upon this it seeks and
hopes to build a wide and glorious
ISuperstructure, a grand and beautiful
ltemple in which may be offered to
jGod and humanity the sweet incense
Of Friendship and Love. Then it
builds no narrow, contracted temple,
fitted only for the offerings Of few
cramped, chained, handcuffed souls.
1t establishes no meagre kingdom in
which few silly sons of aristocratic
pride and wealth may be pampered
into bloated mass OF evil. No: its
grandest element is its universally.
In its beauty and majesty it ex>
claims,
"No pent up Utica contracts our powers;
] The whole boundless continent is ours.'
1t traverses the whole range Of moral
truth, stretches over the whole realm
of mind. sweeps the vast field OF
duty, and invites its subjects TO go
with it, and grow and expand into
the realization of its grand objects.
This, then, l regard as the first ele-
ment of Odd Fellowship, its splendid
generalization of all truth and righ-
teous principle, which adapts it to
the wants of all mankind, and fits it
TO be the grand asylum for suffering
humanity. Starting as it does with
principles of universal reception and
belief, it shuts the door upon confu-
sion; puts an end to strife; kills the
quarrelsome spirit which is the devil
in the heart OF man, and sings re.
quinn over its dishonored grave
Men Of all sects, all schools, all par
ties, can come here and dwell and
llabor together in peace and love, for
tha1acalvae and hl1nnanitv.s hacauee