Norwich bulletin., 1915-05-10
PASTOR FIDDLE PREACHED
 TO FRATERNAL SOCIETIES..
Annual Sermon Upon the Principles of the Order, Unity, Concord and Fraternity.

At the evening service at the Mc- Einley Avenue A M. E. Zion church on Sunday, the pastor, Rev. E. George Riddle, delivered the annual sermon to Rose of New England lodge, No. 2S64, G. U. O. of O. F., and the Household of Ruth. The lodge members march ed to the church in a body and were seated in a section of the pews reserv- ed for them.
 Pastor Riddle spoke in part as fol- lows upon the theme The Blessings of Unity, Concord and Fraternity, and the text Psa. 133:
 There is no book in all the world so full of indictments and encouragements to unity and fraternity as the Bible, and in all the Bible there is nothing more sumblime than these three verses of this beautiful Psalm.
 Over seventy years ago Odd Fellow ship was introduced into this country among our people by Peter Ogden, noble specimen of our race; as the fathers of our church weer refused de- cent treatment by the church of their day, so in Ogden's day they were re- pulsed when they sought admission into the order in this country. Brother Ogden was a steward on a sailing vessel between New York and Liverpool, and with four or five other colored men, members of the English lodge, he had promised his brethren in New York that he would make ap-
 
 recognition, ad says oe of your his- torians: 'I can hear his trembling voice making his eloquent appeal, and can hear the grand master as he an swers: honor you for your fearless and deep devotion.' His petition was granted and he returned to New York and launched your noble order. With the exception of the Grand Army of the Republic, I think all the | secret orders in this country have the color line. This makes it necessary | for us to have Odd Fellowship of our | own, even as it is also unfortunately necessary for us to have our own | churches.
 The order has wonderfully grown in | these seventy odd years, and hundreds of thousands of dollars have been paid | out for sick benefits, for widows and I orphans. The property valuation is | over two millions of dollars This Is a | splendid showing for the negro's busi- ness ability. What good you have been able to do locally and in the country at large should be an incentive to press onward and upward, that our Rose of New England may do her part in the onward and upward march of events. Unity among the fraternities of our city should be a chief characteristic; there is no order among us better Grand United Order of Odd Fellows Unity, concord, friendship should be the keynote of Odd Fellowship; here and now is a splendid opportunity fol you to lead. Your lodge and youl unity club should be a blessing not only socially but in every way.
 Let it be known that Odd Fellowship means loyalty to the Bible, rugged manliness after the pattern of Jesus Christ, a real genuine friendship, lovt and truth, and your order thus grow l ing will outlast the ravages of time 1 and with all other mundane things permeated with divine principle vii be carried over into the realms of the eternal verities and become a part O. the eternal kingdom of righteousness: ! and truth.