Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1906-05-10

ing in the individual man and making
him believe that his individual SOU
has in it the keeping of the country
| in which he lives. 1t stands for the
upbuilding of the Christian church; ii
stands for the upbuilding of Chris
| tian state, and so it behooves every
man who believes in himself, who be-
lieves in his neighbor, and who be
lieves in his land, to encourage such
enterprises as this.
Some of you remember, perhaps
| some of you may have had the pleas
ure of listening to the Chinese minis
| ter to the United States, probably one
of the most cultured representatives
one of the most learned men who have
come out of the East; and you remem-
Der he went up and down this land,
in our great cities, before our col
lege societies and in our social gather
ings, preaching the religion of his
faith, because he said he wanted us to
know what his religion stood for. And
he compared it with our Christian
faith. And when you get through his
eloquence and charm of speech it all
comes to this: "Mohammedanism is
the perfect living faith, because he
was a man, because he lived his life
and set standards to the followers of
his belief, and what man has done
every man can do, and therefore every
follower of Mohammed can become
a Mohammed and can become a per-
feet symbol of the faith. But no man
can become a second Christ in his life
and character, so that every follower
of Him is but following an ideal. He
is reaching after something he can not
achieve; he is looking forward to a
mark he cannot reach, no matter
what he may be. There you have not
practical religion That is the sum
and substance of the whole contention.
That is probably so, so far as it goes.
Some of you gentlemen who have liv-
ed in the country towns, if your mothers
do as our mothers do in Massach1-
setts, along about this time of the
year she plants the morning glory
seed by the kitchen porch, drives a
stick in the ground and ties string to
the top of that and runs it up to the
caves of the porch. Then, as you see
the green leaves, buds and tendrils
come out and as the warm winds and
days come and strike them they bud
into flower and stretch out in all di-
rections, having something to support
them till they reach the top of the
porch, always growing and always
reaching higher and higher.
1 put it to you, my friends, whether
you want to belong to an Order that
climbs to the top and stops or to the
Order in which you strive higher and
higher, even if in your own life you
cannot reach the skies to which you
climb? 1t is the expression of the
human soul which leads man to a /
purer life. Not by accomplishment, |
but by seeking after things step by
step. we gain the throne not cnly OF
our labors, but of those who are to
follow after us.
But. my friends, we are living in a
utilitarian age. We are living in an
age when people believe in practical
things, and in practical men and wom
en-. And l want to ask you in this
flush of times when this land is going
forward with leaps and bounds, as you
dedicate this temple of our Order, i
want to ask you what is on the lips Of
every American citizen when he goes
into an enterprise? Does it pay?'
1 want to ask if American Odd Fellow
ship pays for the time and energy ex-
pended in it's behalf? When you put
a dollar into a business enterprise,
you expect more than dollar to come
back to you in return. When ten,
fifty or a hundred men pool their
money into great corporation, a mill
or railroad, they expect from the
laying of the rails and from the sing
ing of the spindle something back in
the way of dividends on the invest
ment, and if they do not have it back
you are apt to call it failure.
There is little need, judging from
the few men l have met in Carolina
Odd Fellowship, to say anything
servant written in the book of Mat
thew, for l suppose you are familiar
with it. But you remember how, when
the Master gave to his servants GER
tain sums, he afterward called them
to account. To one He gave five tai
ents and he invested it and returned
that with five talents more; to one
He gave two talents, and he returned
that with two talents more; and to one
was given one talent and he, afraid Of
losing it, buried it and returned it in
tact but not increased. And the re
suit: those who brought back more
than they had were rewarded and her
aided as rulers over many things, but
he who returned unincreased the one
talent committed to him was con-
demned as a slothful and unfaithful
of trade: that it is the working, striv-
ing and fruitful man who lives and
thrives and obtains power in the ma
tion. No man ever progressed who
lived upon his grandfathers career,
and no state ever made bit of pro-
gress which stood idly by and saw
other states build up homes, shops
and enterprises.
The practical men who comprise
this Order have clasped hands to solve
the problem of how to make men bet
ter, and you do it by giving your time
and energy to teach men the great
moral precepts that lie at the founda-
ton of this Order. (Applause.)
Has Odd Fellowship paid any divi-
dends upon the time given to it? Why,
these children at my right and left
have an answer to that question.
Thousands of desolate homes all over
this land are saying you have paid
ixy;l1 iYU0CtmPnt