Norwich bulletin., 1919-12-08

predecessors have blazed, will always
 revere the names of that little band of pioneers, who a little less than fifty ] two years ago, founded this great for ganization, whose watchword has ever been Humanity.
 Since the last memorial service one year ago, Death, the great reaper whose sickle never dulls and whose arm never faiters, has garnered his'1 accustomed harvest The toll de- manded from this order was 9115, and | included 314 brothers who had served their respective lodges as exalted ruler with ability and fidelity until the grand exalted ruler of the universe1 called them to their reward on high; brothers whose sterling characters and lovabie dispositions had endeared them to the hearts of all our mem bers brothers who could i'll be spared l to their families, their lodges and their ] friends. For when we lose a faithful
 friend, there is no weight of gold or silver that can countervail the. good ness of their fidelity.
 The names of our departed brothers are called at each of these services. because when all other power of ex- pression has departed from us in our attempts to express our love for another, we can only repeat over and over again the name of the l loved one. Thus the fame and fea- lures of those best known to us come back in our hours of loneliness and | sadness, and we derive some sense of consolation from the very repetition of their names. All of them, by their
 love of humanity. had made the world better and brighter because they had lived, and I can think of no better way I l<-A -.ols, fhov, f4 I for a few moments upon the princi l pies of the order in which they 6rmly believed, and upon the order itself- l which they so dearly loved. These
 principles are, Charity. Justice, l Brotherly Love and Fidelity.
 | Charity.
 l Charity is without question the Il greatest of all the virtues; like the 1 golden sun it brightens everything it
 comes in contact with. The. order of
 Elks teaches and> practices the dis
 pensation of charity without ostenta-
 tion. The annual report of the secre- tary of the grand lodge recently pub
 lished, shows that the order expended
 more than one million dollars for
 charity during the last fiscal year. It
 is quite surprising to some people
 that the B. P. o. Elks invites the pub
 the to some of their ritualistic eXer-
 1 cises on account of it being secret
 society, and I might at this time offer partial explanation. It is true that
 this is a secret society and it's great est secret is in connection with its | charity, and it is this-''The identity of those who are the recipients of its i, bounteous offerings is never dis closed Even the secretaries of SUI
 | I> l1Ic St,- forhiddpr Ito include any names when making their annual reports to- the grane , lodge, and I question if there be on ar ! average, more than four members 1T 5 any lodge that know who has received the money expended by their lodge fol 7 charity.
 This method is quite similar to th' . 1 following lines from the sermon on tn mount. Therefore when thou does 2 an almsdeed, sound not trumpet be , fore Thee But when Thou gives : aims, let not Thy right hand know what the left hand does, that Tn.
 aims may be secret, and Thy Fathe z who sees in secret will repay Thee: ol Justice. a d Justice is defined as practical con 2 formity to the principles of rectitud 9 in the dealing of men with each other | It is the fire of Divine truth. and il | founded upon the Holy Bible. the boo }: of laws. It is never vindictive. alway I tempered with mercy. Its tribunal i r not only in the courts of the order an Il the courts of the cities and states an t nation, for it is also in the conseienc of each individual member. and con Q science is the only court from whicl 2 mo guilty person ever escapes.
 BrotherIy Love.
 e The best exempiification of Brother
 ly Love is in the practice of the Col e den Rule-.Do unto others as yo a lwould have them do unto you. e teaches Us to be kind to all men, t e have unlimited confidence in mankind e even though we may occasionally V imposed upon, and that it is rar e pleasure to experience the joy of hay e ing frightened another mans burden, h also teaches us to write the faults C d our brothers upon the shifting sand
 of forgetfulness, where they Will at quickly washed away, and to deepl ,n engrave their virtues upon the enduI ;e ing tablets of love and memor, 7e Brotherly Love means friendship. an IS 1.-the friendship of this order has fel er equals. There is the love of child fc ,r child, with all it's tenderness an IS purity, that is beautiful to behold TT le love of boy for boy. oftimes showin r. great devotion. The high and ennot l. ling love of man for woman, and VIC .n man for man-the great passion tn; ia for centuries has been the inspiratie of of the poet and the bard; but the loy iii 3of manly man for manly men, is tf
 livery subfmity of affection. Trl -f Brothefiy Love will kindle in u
 fhearts of men kindly warmth ths
 iwill endure, when marble statues al b, tmauseleuHls are erumbling in the fe as gotten hell of time.
 ae Fidelity.
 .n Fidelity is 8 very rare virtue an a- in this order a very important one. IL Insists that we be faithful to the ol ns tligations taken. before that altar al a firmly adhere to the principles al l,- teachings of the order. That. in . ao our transactions and work we mu '. be honest and sincere, not only ,,a' others, but to ourselves. In the wor s of the immortal Shakespeare, (" ss thine own self be true. and it mu ~ follow as the night the day. tn d canst not then be false to any mar
 It is the motto of that station in t he F,lks lodge room. from which is taug re respect for virtue and the love of " he and home ana Irlehas. II teaches C ed Iery memhar that it is his sacred du he to protect and defend the fair nal
 & of every woman and do not belle til 1 that there is any organization of m,
 of that shows more reverence for W CTS man than does the Benevolent a
 to Protective Order of Elks. This soc as, | ty has placed pure weHanhood upol zen high pedestal and surrounded it. as
 protection and safeguard. with the itil spect, esteem and reverence of $50, nd loyal American gentlemen.