The Opelousas patriot. [volume] (Opelousas, Parish of St. Landry, La.) 1855-1863, 1855-06-02
oPELoUsAs, MORNING. JUNE 2,

pilgrim fathers, and the other ON those newer
shores towards the setting sun, watered by
streams
Whose foam is amber, and whose sands are gold.'
Under its. lofty arch, millions of happy hearts
are this day beating in unison with ours, their
joyous jubilees of Charity.
What are the means by which these imposing
results have been accomplished
At the present period, and more particularly
in the United States, the principle of associa-
tion is the great lever of success. Organized
combinations of mind, industry and capital,
constitute striking characteristic of the age.
Our government itself operates upon this prn-
ciple !; and when its army or navy is brought
into action, it carries with it the combined
power of twenty-five millions Of frcemen.
Through the agency Of associations, science has
been applied to the practical purposes Of life,
and results have been achieved, which have
startled the civilized world. Agriculture. Com
merce, the Arts, have assumed more gigantic
proportions. Proud temples and churches and
splendid fabrics of architectural Skill have
arisen to embellish the growing cities Of our I'm
ion. The vast area Of our contederacy has been
intersected with canals and rcticulated with rail-
roads. The very tightening has been snatched
from the sky; and robbed Of all its terrors, it
has become subservient to the uses of man, and
rendered the obedient messenger of his will
The same principle which has accomplished
these siupendous results, has been seized upon
by Odd Fellowship to achieve its great work
of benefcence. 1t presents an association ii
more than two hundred thousand men, acting
harmoniously together using their common en-
ertions, their common appliances, and their
common treasury, in Offices of kindness and fra-
ternity. ...I.,. .5.'4'.=..4
The principles which it inculcates claim the
approval of every yirtuous mind. The relief
of its own members was not the single purpose
for which it was organized. Its laws command
us to visit the sick, relieve the distressed bury
the dead, educate the orphan. 1t seeks to in.-
press us with the fact that the world is repetc
with objects of charity that human misery
needs alienation and that in our ministmtions
of benevolence we should never forget tha!
there is an all-sceing eye above us, to whom the
innermost feelings Of the heart are visible, as
though it were laid open in the hollow of the
hand. Its object is to elevate the character, to
eniighten the mind and enlarge the sphere Of
the affections. 1t holds no fellowship with the
c!assitications and distinctions of society. With
in the sanctuary of Lodge, the rich and the
poor, the honored and the obscure, meet us
members of a common family, united in the
bonds of brotherly love. The heart, the soul
the affections, irrespective of oil Fictitious dis
tinctions. are attuned to the same benevolent
harmonies. Tt teaches us to shun vice, and to
the promotion of good, Friendship prompts the
contest, Love supplies the weapons, and Truth
consecrates the effort.
Goldsmith asks:
What Is friendship but q name,
song that lnls to sleep,
A shade that follows wealth or fame
But lcaUes the aoretch to tceep?"
The poets Interpretation of this noble senti-
ment how appropriate soever it may be to the
ordinary relations OF life, is repelled by every
Odd Fellow who istrue to his obligations and his
covenant. Where ordinary friendships cease
his begins. In the sunshine Of life, in the daz-
zling blaze OF prosperity, friends press around
us with their batteries and caresses. Rank,
position, wealth, attract them with their intiu-
ence as naturally as perfumed flowers attract
whole swarms OF bees. But when the hour of
trial comes, when gloom and darkness and dis
appointment overtake us, the friends Of our
sunshine too often leave the wretch to Weep"
But the Odd Fellows friendship shines brighter
in the day of adversely. The depth of his at
tachment is exhibited in his abandonment of
ease, his sacrifice Of self, his ministratfons in
sickness, and his readiness to part with his
goods, or to peril his life for his friend This
is the ennobling sentiment daily taught, under
the name of friendship, within the sanctuary of
our lodges.
Love is the kindred virtue which we are
taught to wear as a jewel in our hearts-not
the love of passion but the purifying and eleva-
ting principle that bound Jonathan and David
together-the love that goes behind the distinc-
tiolis of sect or parly,--that recognizes all men
us brethren of the same common family, and
bids us do unto others us we would that they
should do unto us.
Truth is the imperial virtue, which mingles
its unclouded perceptions with the generous
grasp Of Friendship and the sympathizing voice
Of Love. 1t is the treasure for which the can
did mind ever seeks the consummation for
which we apply in all our Investigations
Without it, all other virtues would be like the
day without its sun, or the night without its
stars.
These noble sentiments, and the virtues that
follow in their train, constitute the broad ioun-
dations of our order, and are repeatedly incul
Gated under the most solemn and impressive
circumstances. AT the recurrence of each meet
ing Of the Lodge, the brother is reminded, by
its mystic ceremonies, by its signs, its tokens
its embiems all full Of meaning to him-of th'
intrinsic beauty of virtue, of his relations to his
Creator and his duty to his fellow man. N
passing through 1he various gradations Of th'
order, his moral conceptions are purified ant
expanded. On being initiated into the frater
nifty, he learns memorable and impressive les
son. lie realizes that man, on his march from
the cradle to the grave often passes through
darkness and chains, and that his sorrows ma.
be aileviated by kindness and fraternity Il
receiving the Degrees, lie cannot fail to be i'm
pressed with lofty sentiments, to feel, for TN
moment, oil that is exalted in virtue or sublim
in language He can imagine himself ascend