The Van Buren press., 1872-01-30

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YOU were sick, were you neglected
When you needed watchers, did you not
have thepr When you were entitled to
| benefits, were thay not paid your IL
yon have been neglected in any manner,
have YOU made complaint, and has no
remedy been appliedi If so, then we
must acknowledge, you have had some
cause for absenting yourself from the
Lodge But we think few cases OF neg
| lect, snch as these. have ever occurred.
We do not know Of one, and consequent
| ly there must be some other reason for
being absent We hope and trust Broth
ers have not found other places, apart
from their families, where they can spend
their evenings more agreeabls, than
among their Brethren in the Lodge room.
| We would not insinuate such q thing,
but we know there ara many, who mover
come to Lodge, that conid do SO, rs
well as not, and who should attend.
W hat is more discouragirg ia thoss who
always attend, upon whom mainly de.
pends the Lodge business. than to see
thin attendance 1t would oitantlmcs
seem as though but few had any regard
| for the Order; and yet those who do
not attend are generally the first to COM
plain, if they are neglected in sickness, or
fail to receive benefits, when entitled to
| them.
| The sociablity which should always
exist among Odd Fellows, and particu-
/ II. nf tha
Lodge, cannot exist. if they do not meet
once q week in the Lodge-room. These
meetings make us more familiar; We
know each other better, and are more So
eiablo and friendly. When one is sum
moned to watch with a sick Brother, and
he goes to the house of one he has not
met in the Lodge for year, does ha feel
like watching with Brother Z Does the
sick Brother feel as though Odd Fellows
were with him Certainly not, TO the
extent he would, il they had met weekly
in the Lodge croom.
Aside from this, there are many other
reasons to be urged in favor ota general
attendance on the meeting OF the Lodge.
Our Lodges are del,berative assemblies.
and the business they transact, is, | ap
prehcnd, of more importance than many
Of the members imagine The reception
Of members, the disposition Of the funds,
and all the immediate and direct opera
tions of the institution, is the work Of
the subordinate Lodges. The entire
character, standing and success or the
Order, depend in a great degree, on the
manner in which the business of these
Eodges is conducted.
lftho meetings OF subordinate Lodges
are neglected by the members, tho bnsi
ness hay be transacted in u careless,
loose or injudiciousifnot ia an unlawful
manner; and in such an event, .nsBlL
eence will be apt to mark all ~ opera.
tons, the inevitable consequences cf
81 shish msst BE-, that ssoaa sa!! waas lss
didates, bad men viii obtain admittance,
the funds will be squandered, or msap-
piled to improper uses, and the Lodge
ultimately ruined, and an injury inflicted
upon the character and interests, OF the
institution generally, 1t is therefore
the duty OF every member to attend the
meetings Of his Lodge, AZ often as cir
cumstances will permit He should not
neglect them for iriiiing causes. The
interests of the Institution and of his
Lodge, which it is his duty to watch over,
and labor to promote, and to guard
against abuse, demand it. His own in
terests in case of sickness, when he Is
travelling, or in distress, and the inter
ests Of his family, in case Of bis decease,
demand it.
An Odd. Fellow, must necessarily be
a gentleman The world once thought,
as a few seem yet to suppose, that to be
an Odd-Fellow, a man must be "a jolly
registering blade, - full of "qnirps, and
jcsts, ready to crack his Joke, or sing his
song, or play OIL some rude trick on a
stranger, or engage in drinking bout,
or gormandizing feast--~and though
very few among us, may furnish some
faint shadow for such an opinion, how
widely different, is the requirement oil
every part aud portion of all our lectures
and charges. Yes, Odd Fellows should
all and aiuayS be gentemen--and by this
term, ] mean precisely, what the word it.
self means: men OF kind, gentle, aflec
tonate hearts--conjoined, if possible,
with refined tastes and cultivated minds,
with courteous speech and easy manners.
But let the mental qualifications and out
ward appearance, be what they may, the
heayk must be right-that right and the
man, will be gentlcman-one ofnature's
making.
Honesty, that primal qualification,
without which, no man can be an Odd
Fellow, absolutely requires, that Fra
ternty, whose notices are :" in God we
trust" and Friendship, Love and
Truth, and whose work, is the dlilu-
sion Of the principles of benevolence and
charity" and whose duties are to visit
the sick, " " to relieve the. distressed, "
"to bury the dead, y" to educate the or
phan, 'to aid the widow and "to ex
ercise over each other fratcrnal watch,
care and moral discipline, should in all
their intercourse with the world at large,
and with each other, Especially in the
Lodge room), illustrate those notices,
diause thos principles and perform those