Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1870-07-23

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t perhaps viii not b
out Of place.
Whaser may have been the or.
Of Odd Fellowship, how early
history. or from what peculiag
ooIations Il may have sprung,
81 e this countryis concerned,
story ean easily be traced. It's
legends d notpretend to be linked
win the dim past It lie not sue
cessor Of the ancient mysteries,
nor has tin charge great truths in
science or religion. It is Society,
formed for purposes of mutual
good, aid and improvement. Frien-
ship, Love and Truth, are its motto
Brotherhood, affection and recti-
tude, are its texts; the golden rule
u -itscommandment, and the prac-
tee Of charity its constant ser
mon while its songs Of praise
ere ever heard in the relief of af-
Fiction, In the house Of suffering,
and in the gratitude Of the widow
and the orphan. Deriving its meth
Cd Of intoxicating its teachings
nom the Holy Writings, it makes
no pgetensions to the learning of
The Egyptians, or to solve the
meaning Of the doctrines which
the Greeks derived from the land
Of the pyramids, and the caves Of
Elephanta. It takes man as he is;
= social, gregarious creature; de.
irving great capability for either
good or evil, from association with
his kind.
Association indeed seems to be
part Of the essence of humanity;
and Odd Fellowship has seized
upon this instinct Of the race, to
make it effective in the cause Of
charity and tho principle Of broth
erhood. Were man unstained by
~; were selfshness and cruelty
no portion Of his nature; we're
IfalsehoOd and crime unknown,
there would have been no need Of
associations. But such Is not his
present nature. The sickness,
want, penury, suffering and crime
everywhere around, show how
ALLEN man is from his first estate;
and the very desire he has for as
ISOLATION, the encouragement he
derives from numbers, the long
Ing he has for combined effort
how much is wasted. when
nan tries to do the work Of relief
md charity alone.
The value of Odd Fellowship is
certainly not in any supposed an
Equity, but in its practical benevo.
ence. It is not the time.mossed
.runk Of the tree that we admire
n the Order, but it is the beauty
II the leaf, the richness of the
Ifuik the luxuriance Of its shade.
In the latter part: of the 18th
century, there existed in the city
" London, and a few years subse.
lueniy the city Of Manchester,
.crtain Unions or Unities, as they
we're called, associated under the
.ame Of Odd Fellows. In 1906
.llcmpts we're made, and partially
lnecesaful, to establish a Lodge Of
s. Kind, deriving its sanction
om the English Unions, in the
Of New York. It iourished
few years, but seems to have
sen organized more for pleas
nc association than for the objects
i charity and brOtherly kindness
8 4hlch It Is now devoted. In
sptember, 1918, a young me.
hanio from England came to Bal. !
more. Maryland, to establish {
lmself in business. His name {
IS Thomas sWildey. He had
an made an Odd Fellow in Bath, !
glnnd, in 1906. One of his first q
auirles in bis new home was for 4
Lodges Of the Order he had long 0
|sed There was none. Alone n
De stranger, he felt deeply the a
walton Ofthe sympathy to which q
had been accustomed. A few n
afterwards accident found b
hila smother brother similarly p,
They made further in. 4
lies published notices, and on Il
ia s. 1sle, at a humble tavern 81
Baltimore, i've brethren met and N
anizea WashlngtOn Lodge No. w
Mavpnnk 6o~ So ouTod.. Al