Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1896-05-21

dill llSditIl-DOFD HSGlGuLlOnS TO man de-
string to be oil some service to his fell
lows. 1t inculcates a widening fra
ternity: it teaches the pure lessor of
faithful friendship; it stands as shield
and bulwark to it's members
Our lives are not given to us to be
spent in selfishness and the great pur-
suit of gain. In the beautiful Ian
guage of Festus-
eve live in deeds. not years.
In thoughts, not breaths, in feelings.
Not in figures on a dial
We should count time by heart
throbs,
He most lives who thinks most,
Feels the noblest, acts the BEST
The skeptic may doubt and the
cynic may sneer, but the immutable
and unchanging truth remains. that
he lives the noblest life who recog-
nizes the claims of humanity and who
stretches out hs hand to aid and
strengthen his brother in this worlds
broad field of battle, this bivouac of
life.
Odd-Fellowship knows no dividing
lines between the nations of the
world. 1t is broad, tolerant, patri-
otic, cosmopolitan in it's struc-
ture and policy. With the circle of
the order sectionalism is forgotten
and nationalities obliterated, and vet
it teaches the highest patriotism, the
controlling obligation due from a citi-
zen to his government, for q true Odd
Fellow must be as we'll faithful to his
country as fraternal to his fellow
man.
The Order has always stood for
peace and reconciliation. 1t was the
first organization in this broad land
to declare the war between the States
had not severed the fraternal rela-|
organization, social, commercial, DO
litical, religious or fraternal to meet
in joint assembly and bury the bloody
past, and bury it forever, saving, of
course, those glories of the conflict
that are to-day the common heritage
of the American people. That COM
ing together in Septem ber, 1865, the
session of the then Grand Lodge of
the United States at Baltimore, was a
declaration to the world that in Odd
Fellowship there was mutual for
giveness and common brotherhood
that have survived the shock of war
and conquered the bitterness of the
strife, and to-day that blessed session,
by the shining light of
divine and supreme fraternity, stands
as pregnant lesson to all of us who
would imbibe the full spirit that
guides and guards American Odd Eel
lowship.
Odd Fellowship is the essence and
perfection of earthly wisdom as a hui
manitarian agency. To a man recog-
nizing his obligations to his fellows,
desiring to perform the primal duties
he owes to them about him, the or
der presents a field of labor, broad,
catholic and enduring. 1t stands for
love of humanity, for faith in God,
for devotion to wife and children and
home, for love of liberty, for patriot
ism, for vitalized and abounding
charity. 1t is the measure and the
pledge of friendship, the simple creed
of humanity incarnated and system
atiZed. 1t is permeated with that
great fraternal conception that is the
germ and the development of all true
and earnest human endeavOr 1t is |
the vigilant and tireless foe of ignor-
ance and vice and human selfishness, |
and pressing ever forward it treads |
the pathway of its sacred mission, |
seeking to elevate human character
and mitigate human misfortune. Its |
groth is the wonder of |
the century, and like the monument |
on Plymouth Rock, resting upon its |
impel ishable and abiding base, it !
stands ''four square to all the winds /
that blow girt about with Freedom,
Morality, Education and Law This |
is the Odd Fellowship which | love |
and of which Ispeak.
And this cornerstone, just laid,
is the beginning and the evidence |
of the building so soon to arise, is the |
outward and visible sign, the mani
festatiOn in brick and mortar of the |
principles we declare, and the duties |
we inculcate. This Orphan Asylum
shows to the world that we practice
in reality the benevolence that we
teach, that our promises are not illu- |
sorry, empty words signifying moth !
ing, but are the pledges of earnest,
faithful men and made, not to be
broken or forgotten, but fulfilled.
1t is gratifying to note that through
out the land, in almost every juris-
diction these Odd Fellows Homes are
being built, some for orphan chill
dren, and some for aged and INDECENT
brothers. They do not stand as char
tiles of the Order. The discharge of
a sacred obligation is not a charitable
gift. They are the evidences of our
the simple proofs of our
faithfulness,, and they show the
strength of the order. Far better than
ceremonial splendors, more beautiful
than ritualistic glitter is the giving of
bread to the orphan, fitting him by
moral and intellectual training to
grapple with the problems and dan
gers of life and overcome them.
Let us cherish this noble Institution
as the chief treasure of North Caro-
lima Odd Fellowship, giving to it our
substance as God has given to us,
and upholding with sympathetic en-
deavor the hands of those who are
specially charged with it's oversight
and care. Let US, in this regard, hold
fast to the faith that is in us, re-
membering always that faith without
works is dead. Let us mingle here
our loyalty to our commonwealth
and to our Order, justly proud of this
children'S home as Odd Fellows and
as North Carolinians. Let us feel
that it is privilege to keep inviolate
our obligations to our brothers who
have passed into the life eternal, by
ministering to the needs of their
children, who are the wards of the
Order, and of right the inheritors of
its constant and vigilant protection.
And may God give us strength to
do our duty and may He keep these
little ones in the hollow of His hand,
and underneath them, the everlasting
arms.
One more word and have done. 1t
has given me great pleasure to be
with you this day and to participate
in this celebration. l need not ask
you, my brethren, to keep the faith.
Let us gather fresh inspiration here
to-day. Prosperity blesses and
strengthens the Order everywhere.
For more than fifty years North Car
olina Odd Fellows have illustrated it's
beauties and it's virtues: continue the
great work as the years go on
strengthening the bonds of fraternity
| and giving added lustre to the lessons
and history of our mighty Order. Its