The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1871-05-13

you delivered on Wednesday evening. the Goth
of April. on the occasion of celebrating the in
stitution of the Order in the United States and
also that a copy of the same be respectfully re-
quested from you for publication in the local
papers, Yours, very truly.
Jxo. 5. SMIrHIEs, Sec,y.
Right Wortby District Deputy Grand M1Ster.
Noble Grand. Ladies and Gentlemen:
We meet here this evening to commemorate,
in a modest manner, the Fifty-second Anniver-
sary of the introduction of the L. o. of o.. F..
into the United States. and as we might say, the
foundation of the Order as it now exists. On
the evening OF the Goth of April, 1919. in an
obscure building on a back street in the City of
Baltimore. met five hardy mechanics who. re-
membering the Brotherhood called the Manches-
ter Unity of Odd Fellows ia their mother coun-
try. and yearning to meet again in the Lodge as
brethren, as they had done in the land of their
nativity, instituted the first Lodge in the United
States.
From this Lodge. although it. as we'll as those
which Immediately followed it. worked under the
| special rites of the Manchester Unity for a con-
siderable time, has sprung the powerful organiza-
ton of Odd Fellowship, as it now exists in
America.
Little did that devoted band dream at their
first effort that the Order would. in half a cen
turv. assume such gigantic proportions as 1t has
assumed that the seed that they were then
planting would spring up into a gigantic tree
whose shade should Overspread the land, invigOr-
! ating and blessing all who should take refuge
under its beneficent influence; that within this
time should spring a membership from those five,
which should be numbered 10y the hundred
thousand. whose protection of the sick. the OPP
messed. the widow and the orphan, should glad
den. yearly, thousands OF homes which would
otherwise have been desnlate from poverty and
/ suffering. The chill winds of winter have been
tempered to many by its influence it has been a
staff to the lame and eyes 10 the blind it has
given consolation to the afflicted healing balms
to the sick food to the hungry. and they may
be counted 10y thousands who have been rescued
from lives of sin and Indebtedness by the timely
influence of those who have followed the less
than half a dozen sturdy men who met on that
evening ~hfty-twO years ago.
The Chief Of that little band lived to see the
Order extend throughout the country, and still
extending its branches 10 other laDds-himself
the most revered and hOnOred, of those revered
and honored brethren, who had been called to
preside over the destinies OF the United Broth
erhood.
1t is not necessary for me on this occasion to
trace the gradual innovations which finally led to
the entire independence of the Order in america.
In about twenty years after the first meeting in
Baltimore. the Order already become powerful
for good. declared Its separation from the Man
/ cneSIef O0lIH. dUu Il clIC SOuIluuEd W AlCld
! its influence as an independent organization. 1t
now embraces within its membership the good
and charitable of all classes. TO him who holds
the second official position in the United States,
the ladies owe the possibility of becoming men,
bers. and participating III the benefits OF the
Order as members OF 1t. Schuyler CoHaX. Vice
President of the United States. is the author OF
the beautiful degree of Rebecca. Those who
have received that degree, wherever they may be,
if there is to be found an Odd Fellow-and they
are to be found in every town and hamlet in the
United States and here-will find an honorable
and a faithful friend.
Excelsior Lodge. now working under the juris-
diction of the Grand Lodge of California, may
boast herself as the pioneer of Odd Fellowship
west of the Rocky Mountains. This is the only
Lodge in the Pacific Ocean. and the oldest Of
any of the Lodges in the jurisdiction, having
been instituted in December. 1876. A few
brethren who had seen the working of the Order
in the East, and who loved its principles. founded
the Lodge, and struggled for years to bring it
into that state of health and strength which
should insure its permanence and prosperity.
That we meet here to night in a Hall owned by
the Lodge. is sufficient proof that the efforts OF
those brethren have been crowned with sue
cess. Now, under the jurisdiction OF the Grand
Lodge of California, are more than 100 Lodges.
with q membership of nearly $4,000, a property
distributed among the Lodges of nearly three
quarters of q million of dollars, an income of
over a hundred and fifty thousand a year. of
which over eighty thousand is yearly expended
for the relief Of the sick and destitute. the widow
and orphan. Certainly, Excelsior Lodge may be
proud of her position as the pioneer OF this great
branch of the organization.
1t is sometimes the practice on occasions like
this to boast of the antiquity of this Order to
say that although changes may have been made,
still the foundation of the Order was laid in the
far ages of the past. Enthusiastic orators are
prone, darkly, to refer to the early days of the
civilization of Egypt and Syria, and claim that
from those early times are derived the rites of
the Odd Fellowship of to-day. For my part, j
do not feel disposed to claim any great antiquity
for the Order, bnt rather am lncllrei to look
upon it as the child of II much later civilization.
All the antiquity l can claim for it is that en-
bodied in its teachings. and in the practice OF
every good Odd Fellow, are the wisdom, virtue,
and honor which have been taught by the good
and ~virtuons of all ages. | have no doubt but
that Joseph. for his honor and faithfulneSs, his
forgiveness of the brethren who had so cruelty
wronged him. his wise precautions in providing
for the fearful drought which was about to make
Egypt as a desert that Moses. for his care OF
his brethren of the children OF Abraham that
Joshua. for that constancy which permitted him
to be one of the two exceptions, who. among
those escaping from the bondage OF Egypt. were
to see and tread upon the sacred promised land
and above all, BoaZ. who permitted the poor
widow to CLEAN his field. and afterwards married
her to make sure that she should be comfortable:
and a host of Others of the worthless OF antiquity,
would have made excellent Odd Fellows, and
would at once. l have no doubt, have applied for
admission into the Order if there bad been any
Lodges. but alas l fear there were no Lodges in
those days. Joseph and the rest OF them did
their good deeds simply from their own sense oil
Justice and right, and Of the higher sense of the
will of that Mysterious Being whose commands
and inspirations they obeyed whose teachings
and commands are to-day the foundation upon
which Odd Fellowship rests. No, Odd Fellow
ship. as [ look upon it. is rather the sum of the
teachings Of the wise and good of all time, prac-
tically interpreted and made effective by the light
of the civilization Of the 18th Century. 1t is
the sum of the teachings of the good, the wise.
and the phiIanthropic of all ages, refined and
elevated by the light of modern Interpretation.
Then l say. brethren. let US give up the idea. Of
any ever had it, that we are the direct heirs OF
the wisdom of all time rather let US profit by
it, in taking it as the rest of the world does. 1t
is the teachings and commands Of that Being