The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1859-05-14

! Dut Win thtln enuOWcu, ne can over
, come the bitterness OF tine first fruit" Is,
, Faith, he feels and knows all that is goo.
in man. and lays hold OF the promise o
his Fathers happier home; by Hope Ia,
bears the present Ills of life looking ano
working for the coming good on earth, and
for better and more ennobling existenc,
hereafter; by Charity he is enabled 10 Sc,
himself and his brother man, and God
sees poor fallen Mature These tlIre,
words are As dear to the trae Odd Fellow a.
u the professor OF religion
And here allow me to diverce for few
moments, to correct all error. There l. an
opinion prevalent, and especially III thi.
community, that Odd Fellowship y and reli,
gion are opposed to each other This is an
egregious error obtained through prcju-
dice on ignorance. and calculated to cir
cum>crIbe the good influences of both. As
Well might You Say the rIeht hand and
the left are opposed. as well say the heart
and lunyS are opposed 50 far As man :
mental, moral and physical advancement
Is concerned, Odd Fellowship aud Religion
hold the saine doctrines and teach the
| same lessons. Here odd FelIowship stops.
/ Religion goes beyond. takes hold OF man ;
inner spiritual nature and train, him Tor
the secret councils Of the Alni4ht Their
! events are different Oar Order attend,
more to the physical wants of man, Re
ii5iou t. hie spiritual Old Fellowship has
( bat one article OF iath Religion has many
There is not one reason why an Odd Eel
. low and Christian should not he one and
the same, hut ma;.y reasons why they
/ should Ice. This error has obtained foot
/ Ine5, first because many professor, are oI,-
posed 10 secret societies. Tins object on 4,
/ simply ridiculous, all who are worthy. if
: they choose, can D,'cDlne acquainted with
these secrets Many think that the obi
cations administered III the Lodge may
I run counter 10 the dictate, Of conscience.
or to the tcnets ot then church. OF be con
/ triry IL i correct religious life An Odd
Fellow con.cienc. /, a. free as hi, own
soul, and u correct rcli- i-iou> lie becomes
/ han truly. They think OUr forms and Ger
. EN- Jni,- are Heathcn!>u and DruIItcal and
our Ilte, opposed to the spirit of rcli .iOn.
Inl- - an error They are 40 more heath
en!sil than the cnuuc!;.t on Of the DecaloEue
from Mount S.nai. i'll all tie terrible pomp
and grandeur betting the presence Of
4 God No more opposed 10 the spirit O:
religion (not acctar.ani7Iu) tilan ws,- the
; song ui Peace On earth. and good Will to
man. when angel brought heavens own
Uri5htEe~, down. They think the time
spent III II, meetings aud business, Will III
tertore wiki tl,,ir dutic, IL the church.
. Tins too /, All error Inc obligations to
attend the me-tiE., Of ti,e lodge ar, no
greater than Itst, Oh tne professor II at
tend the prayer uieet.'-- aud other -.--Vi-
ce- OF has church. ine>c meetings are
bat the training tOr tae cyln.uL baltic
the Furnishing o! arms, auI the siren 9Th
eu!uE OF the VII, and souls Tn. bu.i-
lies, Of Al odd Fellow i, u visit the sick
relieve the distressed, bury the dead and
educate the orphan. l. not ihis too the bus
ines, Of the cAl-t,ini When can he DO
!!l- Master viii better than by bcinz eilca-
geo III thi- d.ty2 Where better than by
the ued-,i,le ot the DYING. can he speak the
word ul PROMISE ILcI-thcn with :,
brother right with "a brother heart. and
ia affection dr.gr-t tones he can WHISPER
: hope u the dvjng car. and point the glI1
iur eye - the GianI Lodge above
/ lhry s.y. you 10 not recognize Christ in
f, your prayer, N--ti.cr /, II recognized IN
F. that iull, Iree comprehensive PRAYER oar
. Father which ant IL Heaven 1t j said
Nc limit our duties and benefit u the
Brotherhood this Is true 10 some extent
Some limit their iat.-s 10 them families
some Il th. church - which they heiJns
tut - all whose heart, are aGi-At thc IN
mediate iult,i.uIrnt OIL duty 10 family.
church or Old Fellowship only enlarge
tll,t heat 10 do IL duty 10 The whole race.
Some have sad. YOU are In!,tcl- THIS
sweeping char-e ~, once made III luv
hearing 3ly answer Wa, ti,-l. ma; b..
>olue amongst Us, ior a, We ale not !, re
iigious sect, there axe both iuf.d,-.s and
/ christians III all Lodges: that We have
/ some true consistent Christians in ON
/ Lodge, and II enough Christians should
! JOIN u> 10 form Lodge, OF course there
would be no in.ide.- amongst them
! The error Oh the part OF Odd Fellows
arises more from Prejudice than ignorance.
| They feel that individual professor, church
{ e. and 10 SOME extent whole ecclesiastical
. bodies have denounced them, and refused
| connection with them, and have Insisted
! upon a complete withdrawal of the nI,m
| bcrs Thus all antaGonism Of feeling, not
of principle, ia, arisen until odd Follows
! begin to let alone. avoid, and then escape
Religion, and al last really look opon the
Lodge a their Church, and it, princip pies
a. their religion, which u many, i, a fatal
/ error, odd Fellowship gathers many
within its folds whom the Church cannot
/ influence and if such make good Old Eel
! lows. they perform u large share of the du
! ties enioined upon them by their Creator
and Will more readily obey the highest law
| OF duty. If Religion and odd Fellowship
| would Join together heart and hand in the
work of reIeemng this world then indeed
| would the truth OF the motto, III union
there is strength, be Seen and felt.
| | feel deeply Interested in this part OF
NV subject This Misunderstanding ha,
weighed on my soul Had | the same
f, amount of intellect that have of desire
had | the same amount of eloquence that
. have Of feeling, l would crush out this
error; l would WARM every heart of this
assembly; aye, III the world, into living,
acting sense Of this truth, that odd fel-
lowship i, "A foe to all that curses man, and
a friend to all that blesses him Bat TO
resume the thread OF ny discourse:
These three pillars, Faith, Hope and
Charity, are of the intellect Friendship
Love and Truth, of the heart
This Faith is three-iold; Faith in man.
Faith in ourselves, and Faith in God
| Faith in man, that there is principl.
which however small, or deeply hidden
away down in the ce>S-pools OF the heart
or however dim its glimmering i'll the soul
is still there; Is still susceptible OF lif.
and action that will renovate the whole
man. ii right influences are brought to
bear upon him-if the light and heat and
gentle dews of Friendship, Love, an,!
Truth are allowed to search 1t out e>
believe me. if men would open up then
hearts to these Influences; II they would
not crowd down and cover up these good
principles, if they would not only seek to
receive but also to impar,, and have faith
in each other, then would that better tim.
come. This want Of Faith, which has been
reciprocal, and has grown and strengthen
ed for ages, has become an impossible bar
rier. deep based and rising high, OF mis-
trust, suspicion, deceit, and hate, univers:.
and ever watching.
Faith in ourself, in that deep laid pow
or within; mot the self su!ficirpcy of nhy