The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1900-04-27

Originality of the thoughts express
oa' but acknowledge my indebted.
Hess 10 various writer's and speakers.
There is a legend which says Odd
Fellowship originated among the
homans, and that an organization
was llr,t established among tho Ro-
man soldiers the bravcst of mon--.
IN the year of grace 80, during the
reign Of that bloodicst Of tyrants
Nero. The order was then known
as II 'llCw Citizens" 1t grow, and
III tho year - It's name was changed
by illus from "Fellow Citizens" to
"odd Fcllows.' This namo WAS
gwen for two reasons. First, because
OF thor deeds Of love and morcy they
were indeed odd from the bloo i.
thirsty souls Of that age, their deeds
OF light being odd IN that day of
darkOcss. Tho second reason was
that they could tell each other in the
dark as we'll as in tho light, and that,
too, made the namo "Odd Fellows'
appropriate. Titus not only gave
them this new name, but he slso gayc
to them now charter, written on n
plate Of solid gold, with tho sun for
tho Noble Gra!d, the moon for the
Vice Grand, the lamb for the Secro-
tary, tho lion for tho Guardian, and
the dove for the Warden.
A my th, you say? Grant you that,
Lam going to tax" stronger grounds
as to the antiquity Of our principles
not organ z"tion, but principles-and
say they originated, not among the
Roman soldiers, but with God as re-
yea?cd IN his eternal word. Our prin-
ciples are Friendship, Truth, Love.
The Bible says God is love" and
truth, and it is Gods revealed truth.
In it wo find most illustrious exam
pies Of friendship.
Friendship p between God and man
the highest compliment over paid
man-was by the Bible in this Ian
guag,: "Abraham was called the
friend Of God" The friendship
between man and man, as ex-
listed between David and Jonathan
was stronger than he bore his father.
How enduring was tho covenant!
"Tho Lord watch between mo and
thee forever" The parable Of our
Saviour is familiar to all Bible
readers, especially to Odd Eel
lows. We remember how a traveller
was robbed and left to die was found
by Samaritan, his wounds dressed,
bound up and after being placed
upon his own beast, carried him to
an inn, nursed him through all his
severe sniferings, left money with
tho innkoeper for further expenses
should any bo incurred.
Who knows but that that Samar-
itan was an Odd Fellow? Certainly
ho was odd from tho Priest and Le
vlte, who passed by on the other
side without giving him the much
needed assistance. I'm certain at
loast of this, that the spirit dis} l4yed
there Is the true spirit of Odd Eel
lowship today.
Oh! how narrow and contracted
arc our lives, unless wo carry sun
shine and gladness into other lives
and homes. But this takes effort
and money. 1t required an effort on
your part to leave your homes and
como to our city in the behalf of the
principles we represent, and it also
required an outlay Of money. But
no man has over expended dollar
on Odd Fellowship but has been re.
paid thousand fold. We have
mono Of the spirit of the fellow who
breathed through his nose to keep
his breath from wearing out his false
teeth, and his brother, who is said to
have used big wart on the back OF
his neck in place Of a collar button
when bone buttons are 5 cents hall
hundred.
Friendship is flower that blooms
in all seasons--in adversity as vel
as prosperity. Some one has said
"No one can bo happy without
friend, and no ono can know wha