Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1870-01-13
An Address

DELIVERED BY r. w. FL. r. HosFORD
GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND
LODGE OF VERMONT, AT THE install.
LATIoN OF OFFICERS OF KILLINGToN
LODGE No. 6, /. o. OF o. F., FRIDAY
EVENING, JAN. 7.
Brothers Of K5ll51sgtOn Lodge Il am
happy to meet you in this your quiet re-
treat and hail you as brothers. 1t en-.
courages my heart to find that Friendship,
Love and Truth, are living elements
among these hills, and in these valleys
that there were few, who had long ago
embraced the principles of Odd Fellow
ship, and in whose hearts lived a senti-
ment of love that could not die, and
though long time appeared to be hidden
from the public eye, yet within one short
year has burst forth with renewed yigor,
and here tonight we behold men, whose
hearts have caught the living fire, and
who now find themselves within the re-
treat of Odd Fellows. And it is here, my
young brothers, you may learn those
lessons that will lead you to virtue and to
God. IT'S here you are taught to love
your fellow man, to relieve the wants OF
the distressed, to bury the dead, to visit
the widows in their affliction, and to show
to them brothers love and interest, by
supplying their wants and educating their
children. And as you progress in the
degrees of our order and its general work,
you will learn more and more of its sub
lime principles; the way will brighten
before you and the dim light will shine
more and more, until you behold the day
star in all its splendor. Go on, then, with
courage bold, and fear not your opposers,
for Odd Fellowship is not confined in q
nutshell its beauties are known far and
wide, its lodges are scattered all over the
land, from Nova Scotia to Mexico, from
Maine to Oregon, its truths stand pre-
eminent. We have to-day $3.50 lodges
with a membership of over 100000 Our
revenue since 1880 amounts to over
thirty-one millions of dollors, and ont of
this rich treasury there has been paid for
relief nearly fifteen millions. How little
injury we have received by raising this
amount in trifiing sums, and how large
an amount of good has been accom-
plishedi Its result are regist cred
in high Heavens own book. The
ito which binds our order caused II
to stand firm through all the struggle of
the late rebellion-its members fill man y
of the highest positions in our land. The
order has become a power for good to ale
viate human suffering and elevate human
character. 1t has kept up with the
growth in knowledge of the present gen.
Grafton, and the development of civiliza-
ton; its pure and holy principles cite men
In immadiata action. When man lifts up
his fellow man and calls him brother,
when we comply with the requirements
of our several obligations, we can expect
naught but the smiles of high Heaven
upon our feeble efforts. How can we
ever feel discouraged or disheartened
when our work goes so bravely on, and
when we have over ten millions of dol
lars in our lodges with which to carry
forward our holy mission. Think you
the sixty thousand Odd Fellows of the
State of Ohio are discouraged Nay, ]
| tell you, | have seen men there whose
heads are frosted Ger with age and whose
crippled limbs and lettering steps tell OF
life of toll, who to-day bright and
shining lights in our beloved order, whc
seem to glory in their knowledge of it.
sublime principles and have in theil
minds as firmly planted the secret work
ings of our order, as school boy his a, b
c.'s. Think you the forty thousand that
were initiated last year feel to-day like
turning back again to the beggarly ele
ments of society Nay, / tell you they
will yet grow up to be the pillars of Odd
Fellowship. Those forty thousand men
may yet control this continent of ours; we
cannot tell. Much remains hidden in the
future. What is man without brother
or brothers friendship? He is like 8
solitary tree upon a barren rock, though
beautiful in form, gracefulness and grand
eur, but soon is shaken by winds, it con
tracts as they die, its roots decay and soon
becomes a lifeless monument of it:
former beauty. When the rebuffs of ad
versity are rushing us earthward
when the clouds look black above
and the muttering thunder of misfortune
growls along the sky, it's then the office
of Friendship to shield us from porten
tious storm. When our frame is palsied
by the skeleton hand of disease, or koul
senses whirlcd III the maelstrom chaos o.
insanity, tits then Friendship comes Il
our relief and quiokens the fainting pulse!
of our sickly frame, or brings back the
wandering star of mind within the at
traction of sympathetic kindness. Wher
our hearts are torn by the recent separa
ton of some beloved object, while oul
tears are yet flowing upon the fresh tur
of departed innocence, It's then Friend
ship alone. can pour the oil of Ipeace int
the yet fostering wound, and deliver thu
aching heart from the object of its bleed
ing affection Brothers, the firm convic
ton that the principles on which our orde
is based are immutable and must triumph
should give us strength and courage t
press on. Our mission is being NOR
widely known throughout the land, ant
many who have never looked upon oul
order with favor, but have stood aloo
from it, as though it was something to b
dreaded, are now seeking admission with
in our council, and their influence ha
been felAthroughout our entire jurisdic
; ton. They are men of intelligence, VIII
see in our order something more than it
. mere pecuniary beneficial feature, an,
who can appreciate its intrinsic excel
; lences. They see that its objects are t
improve and elevate the character of mar
to enlighten his mind and enlarge tn
sphere of his affections. They see, too, b.
our daily ministrations to our suffering
and dying brother, that our order doe
! not consist of professions merely, but tina
it is living reality. We cannot fathon
the mysteries of the future, but sometime
imagination leaps on through coming
years, and we behold this great brother
hood of ours, with its constant, careful
: ceaseless toll, carrying out the great prin
: ciples of its holy, glorious mission. Re
joicing that the day has at last arrived
when all the members of the human fam
lily are bound together in one vast broth
: erhood-the effects of which is beautiful,
described by the glowing pen of Isaiah, Th
wilderness and the solitary place shall b
glad for them and the desert shall rejoice
and blossom as the rose. We stand to
day prominent among all similar institu
tions in our reports for the past three o
four years. Our prosperity seems unparal
leled, and it is the result of our fdelit!
to the duties we. enjoin. Oddfellowshil
is no longer mere sound, it is accePtet
by the good and true hearted, regardless