The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1870-05-19

New Temple at Columbus, Ohio,
Nay 10th, 1870, BY Rev. David
n, Moore.
Mr.. PREsrDENT, BROTHERS OF
THE ORDER, AND FRIESDs!-Odd:
Fellowship rears its three beauti
.ful pillars of Friendship, Love and
Truth, upon the foundation prin-
ciples Of the Fatherhood of God
and the brotherhood of Man.
Unless / believe in the Fatherhood
of God, l cannot be an Odd Fellow;
and i'll believe that men are "the
offspring Of God" certainly can
not escape the other principle
which is its logical conclusion, viz,
the Brotherhood of Man. And it
is ofthis ] propose to speak to-
day.
/. The Fact Of this brotherhood,
is patent to every one who reads in
Gods word that He ''hath made of
one blood all nations of men for to
dwell on ali the face of the earth;"
and who will at all attentiyely con-
slider the conditions of our being,
our common capacity for Joy or
sorrow, for virtue or vice, and the
| influence that each class of society
exerts upon every other. Every
one must have noticed that the
RIGHTEOUSNESS and profligacy of
rulers impose burdens of taxation
upon the subjects, and, by the force
Of. example, lead multitudes into
excessive indulgence. The thrifty
industry of the middle classes
warns society like a sun; but the
squalor, disease and crime of the
lower millions, envelope it in the
chilly folds Of night. We know
too little it may be, what that
squalor and suffering are; but
and perhaps unconsciously, theil
influence reaches us in the fright
full increase of crime, or the ,pesti
lential march of disease. So truly
is the human family one body, eve
ry class consciously or uncon,
sciously affected by the wea
or woe of every other class
realizing on even a larger scale
what the Apostle of the Gen
tiles wrote of the Church, 1--WE
being many are one body, and eve
ry one members one of another"
2. But while the fact is 50 eyi
dent, that rHen wherever found ar,
brethren, we are so far from ad
mitting it, that its practical recog
milton would work the most won
drous change and transformation
in every department of human life
Even its partial recognition woul(
be glorious. For let this though
of the brotherhood of man once en-
ter the mind of slave, and eve,
more he is untitled for bondage
Let it but once be recognized b,
the master, and he is ever more in
capable Of oppression. Entering
the mind of a groyeling laborer, i
leads his thoughts 6ong the lin
of all worthiness up to earth
worthiest ones, and lifts him to
noble erectness as the proud con
sciousness flashes upon him, that h
is brother to the worthiest and tn
best. The very clods upon whic
he tolls are transmitted by the won
drous alchemy of this thought tina
has put gulf between him an
love for the degrading, and joine
him in holiest wedlock to the pur
and ennobling.
Let this thought enter the min
of the aspiring ruler, and it turn
him back and down the lines c
struggling humanity to the lowl
est one Of all, and assures him ths
he has no interests apart fror
his; and that the noblest ambitio
to which man can yield is the an
bition to raise the lowly to a high
er and the suffering to happic
plane of being. Let it enter tn
mind of both lowly and high at tn
same time, and the hand Of tn
struggler reaching upward
grasped by the hand Of the helpe
reaching downward; and the yer
extremes of life are joined in tru
brotherhood of love and lovin
I sympathy.
The universal recognition {
this principle would make servant
faithful and masters mercifu
NJ manufacturer scorn to defrau
consumers, and consumers I
J. wrong manufacturers; the rich
help the poor, and the poor [
r befriend the rich; sectarian bigo
r. = ry to hide itself; nation to respe,
the rights and interests of natiol
crimes to be unknown, and prison
unused; and man everywhere le
honestly to seek and zealously
promote the happiness and well-b
ing of his fellow. And that il
deed, would be the Golden Yea
"when all mems good" would
"Bo each mans rule, and universal Poace