The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-05-07
THE ORDER OF THREE LINKS.
A Tribute to the Virtues of Odd Eel
IoWship.

Iowship.
One of the most dignihed tributes tc
Odd Fellowship was the address of Cant
! Henry McAlpin at the recent anniversary
celebration of the order. His reference
to the virtues and usefulness of the in
| stitution was in such striking language
| that IL is given in full:
Years are drifting by and with each
| comes the record of the good our order has
done" said Capt McAlpin. "The infant
| enterprise organized four score years ago
has grown to vigorous manhood. whose
| strong arms ably carry into perfect order,
| the purposes and objects OF our organiza-
tion; whose strong hands have lifted many
a weary brother from despair; whose shell
tering arms have protected the innocent
and the suffering; whose gentle voice has
whispered words of sympathy and love to
hearts depressed by trials or grief
Looking back through the long vista
OF centuries We find in the earliest periods.
in every nation, small though they NAV
have been at first bands, brotherhoods
and clans, with varied names and pur-
poses.
In The Greek wars. where hand to hand
conflicts were frequent, it was the Gus
tom for warriors to unite in solemn com
pact to protect each other in moments of
imminent danger These bands or broth
erhoods were always on the alert to render
aid, to heed the signals of alarm or dis
tress, secret signals, known onlytby them,
and frequently above the din of battle, the
watchword was heard and quickly an
swered and brothers saved or liberated
As time wore on and the Gospel became
the theme of warfares, the defenders of the
faith, fighting against the heather races,
formed societies bearing Christian emblems
and names, which became their watch
word, and thus the origin of our order has
been handed down through ages. Frater-
nifty and love are native elements of the
human race. but experience early taught
that friendship without love, and love and
friendship without truth, was simply
selfish emotion with self elevation for its
object
1T was also early learned that in doing
good 10 our fellow men, self-interest, self
promotion, must be dlsregarded, and
brotherly love combined with an honest,
earnest exercise of truth, was better and
more beneficial than personal interest;
. that charity, Christian charity, should be
blended with this trio, in order that the
true fraternity of odd Fellowship should
prompt them to relieve the distressed. visit
the sick, unsought.
lis not CLOuSb tlldN we WIN sorrow
sigh,
That We the wants of pleading men sup
ply,
That we in sympathy with sufferers feel
Nor hear a grief without a wish TO heal.
Not these suffice-to sickness, pain and
woe.
The Christian spirit loves with aid to go
win not be sought, waits not for want to
Plead,
But seeks the duty. nay. prevents the
need.
THUS in our brotherhood of Odd Fell
lowshio, friendship, love, truth, combined
with Christian charity, mellowed, chasten-
ed and cherished by faith and hope. unites
in one grand order, all the best and dear
est elements of life, all that is needed to
soothe, 10 sympathize, to elevate and en-
tighten, from the cradle to the grave.
Life has naught else that may supply
the place. Void is ambition. cold is van
ity, and wealth an empty glitter without
these
How much good our beloved order has
done how much comfort. brought to sad
dened hearts. bowed down by grief OPP
pressed by woe, no record will ever show.
1--WE will never know the comfort and
happiness that comes to those true Odd
Fellows, who, unsought, have relieved the
suffering and distress of some proud
heart. too proud to ask relief, and vet re-
joicing in the comfort and consolation
that Odd Fellowship brings
"A man who is true Odd Fellow who
lives fully up to the teachings of our
order, becomes a loving and gentle hus-
band, a tender and considerats father, a
law-abiding and honest citizen, a God
fearing charitable Christian man.
"Our order is growing daily in size and
strength the world is growing smaller
the miles of territory that once separated
our different lodges are now traversed by
a network of railroads, which bring us in
close contact with the brothers of every
section.
''The ocean, once barrier, traversed
now by ocean greyhounds and spanned by
living wires, puts us in daily touch with
our mother country and other Odd Eel
lows of every cline. From the snow-cIad
hills of frigid zones sparkling in golden
rays of midnight sun or bathed in silvery
moonbeams of continuous night: to lands
where foliage dense and green beneath
the tropic sun and moon, where birds of
gaudy plumage make sweet with music
shady glades, famed by the gentle zeph-
yrs from the sea; and in all the countries
lying in between, will come, the strong
the sweet, the gentle influence of our or
der until at last, its power, its influence
for good. will gather ALL in one universal
brotherhood, and
"They will live in deeds. not years IN
thoughts, not breath;