The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1916-07-20
Odd Fellows Memorial Service
In Searsport, With Address by Grand Mas
ter Bunker.

Hon. John E. Bunker, Secretary of
State, for thesecond time within the past
| few weeks visited Searsport, Sunday,
July 9th, in his official capacity as Grand
! Master of the Odd Fellows of Maine,
and delivered the memorial address to
! the members of the Searsport lodges.
| Mr.. Bunker attended the district meet
ing at Searsport in June and received
| very urgent request from the Searsport
I lodge to deliver their memorial address,
| and arrangements were made TO hold the
| services on Sunday, July 9th. All of
| the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs gathered
! at the hall at 2 80 p. M, and wearing the
| regaIia of the orders marched to the
church, which they entered, following
Grand Master Bunker and Rev. James
! Alnslee, pastor OF the Methodist church.
All We're seated in the seats reserved in
| the center Of the church, while the side
| peWs of the church were we'll filled with
those not members of the order who
/ gathered to hear the distinguished speak
er of the afternoon. A the opening of
the service the choir rendered an appr0-
pirate selection. which was followed by
prayer by Mr. Anslee A solo was then
very delightfully."- sung by Mrs. P4rry.
MIR. Ainslee read the scriptures and in a
few well chosen words introduced Grand
Master Bunker. but said he believed
that he needed no introduction to any
Odd Fellow in Maine.
Mr. Bunker began by drawing a com
parISon between memorial services of the
order and the national memorial day so
recently passed. He mentioned the fact
that in the national memorial day eXer-
clses the storehouse OF rhetoric has been
nf re- trao TO +o1i
of the glorious deeds, and awful suffer
ings of valiant heroes of the Civil war,
While the members of the order were
now bringing back to memory those
whose chivalry in peace, whose devotion
to the tenets of the order and whose I'M
timely death entities them to have their
names on the tablets of the deepest
memories of their brothers and sisters.
He dWelt at length on the character
building, which should be uppermost in
the minds of all the members of the order;
spoke feelingly of those who hadpass
ed to the great beyond, and said that
their faults should be forgotten, while
their many kind deeds and manly acts
should be an inspiration for those who
live after. The speaker then 10 1ched
briefly upon the history of the order and
at the close of his remarks dwelt upon
the fact that the order was of human
origin while the church is of the divine.
He drew vivid comparison between the
two, saying that the lodge was neither
substitute nor equivalent for religion.
1t only deals with man stemporal welfare,
seeking to improve and elevate his char
acter while he is on earth, quitting him
at the threshold Of the grave. He stated
that the order was in no wise antagonis-
tic to the church, but on the other hand
taught those principles which underlie
the whole structure of Christianity. 1t
was indeed an able and mastery COM
parison which the Grand Master gave in
regard to the teachings of the order and
of the church and did not leave doubt
In the minds of any present but both the
order and the church have their mission
to perform.
AT the close of the services Mr.. Aims
lee expressed himself as greatly pleased
with this portion of the address, as he
had spent much time when preparing for
I the clergy of addresses on similar occa-
slons in trying to solve this one question
and show the relation of the order to the
church of God. He felt that it was in
deed an honor for the Odd Fellows lodge