THE spectacle which we this day exhibit, is one entirely new to the community in which we live. Its objects are so far different from those which usually congregate the young, the wise, the beautiful of the land, that I fear any interest we may excite, will be owing entirely to its novelty. We have not assembled under the usual circumstances which here excite the enthusiasm of the young and ardent. No roaring cannon -no spirit-stirring drum, or brazen clarion, ushered in this the morn of our celebration; but the sun, as he rose from his oriental bed, ne'er shone upon a scene more calm or placid. No orator waits to descant upon the merits of those who, in by-gone days, have "conspired to prop the reeling glory of a State;" to depict scenes, in which "Patriots fought or heroes bled, In freedom's troubled morn;" to amuse the antiquarian, by sadly lingering among the tombs of buried empires, minutely tracing out the causes of their decay: or, to excite to admiration or to tears, by telling the story of some disastrous adventure, where romantic youth had sacrificed itself upon the altars of love or ambition. These are scenes which delight the young, the ardent, the enthusiastic. The orator too, delights to pluck his flowers from gardens where "gorgeous palaces" rear their "cloud-capt towers," or from battle fields, where high-souled courage rears its crest above the storin, or where the notes of martial music are wildly sounding its anthems to victory, or chanting a mournful requiem to the dying hero. These are themes that belong not to us. The pages of our history are brightened by the record of no chivalrous adventure. Our course is not *On the influence of Odd Fellowship upon society; delivered before De Kalb Lodge, No. 6, in the Presbyterian Church, Winnsboro', on the 6th of March, 1844, the first anniversary of the Lodge. to be tracked amid the pageantry of ease, of luxury, or of wealth; but where sickness, sorrow and death are, there is our province, and there must we linger. But, although the occasion may seem dull and insipid to others, to us it is fraught with the deepest interest, for we have met to celebrate the day when, actuated by "Faith, Hope and Charity," we linked our hearts together in the sacred bonds of "Friendship, Love and Truth." What "temple" was ever built upon more enduring principles? From what altars have ever burned more sacred fires? Faith, "the evidence of things unseen, the substance of things hoped for,"-"Faith," the very base upon which the noble superstructure of the Christian religion is built; a temple which shall stand and continue to increase age after age, until its foundations shall rest upon the remotest corners of the earth, and its summit be lost amid the heavens.-" Hope," that bright morning star, given to man to lure him onward through life's dark and weary pilgrimage, which, when he is tossed to and fro by the angry waves of adversity, shines ever beautifully upon the storm-lashed ocean, although perhaps it cannot still its waves: "It lures our dim thoughts to heavenly scenes sublime, Beyond the realms of nature and of time, Cold in the dust this perished heart may lie. But that which warmed it once can never die, These shall resist the empire of decay, When time is o'er and worlds have pass'd away." -"Charity," which feeds the hungry and clothes the naked; which, in our intercourse with our fellow-men, is the magic glass through which their faults are seen and diminished, and teaches us to act upon that golden rule, "to do unto others as we would they should do unto us."--" Friendship," the soft cement, which unites soul to soul-the fountain from which all the joys of social life are drawn.-"Love," not only that gentle flame which was first fanned into existence amid Eden's lovely bowers,-which was breathed in soft and melodious strains from the harps of Sappho and Anacreon, whose dying notes were caught up and prolonged in later days. by Erin's and Scotia's loveliest bards, but that more broad and enduring love, which extends itself to all mankind,-which displayed itself in awful grandeur amid the earthquake and the storm, on Calvary's bloody mount, where our Saviour, in agonizing pangs, groaned out the sufferings which were to ransom a lost and ruined world." Truth," the solid adamant upon which society is built-the noblest attribute given by God to man "Truth, ever lovely since the world began, Yes, "Faith, Hope, Charity"-this is the eternal base upon which we stand-" Friendship, Love and Truth," the banner which floats above us. It will no doubt appear strange to many, that an association should be formed for the promotion of mere abstract principles, upon which all good men at any rate profess to act, when perhaps they see no practical good which can result from it. This will bring us to the consideration of the subjects, appropriate to an occasion like the present 1st. The necessity of such an association; 2dly. the practical good which is to result from it; and lastly, to examine some of the objections which have been alledged against it. And here, suffer me to premise that all objects of general good are better promoted by societies than by individuals, in their separate capacities. To prove this, I need but point to the very familiar example of the great Temperance reform, now progressing so rapidly. All men will agree that intemperance is a great evil, and destructive both to the health and happiness of man; yet, how long has this "monster" marched with unfettered steps through our land, fattening upon the ruin of his victims, bringing them either to untimely graves, or rendering them objects of sorrow, derision and contempt? Was it that no effort was made to stem the torrent of destruction which was devastating our land? Have not the voices of the "holy heralds" of God been heard ascending from a thousand temples, pleading with man to flee from its ruins, and warning him of the shoals and quicksands upon which his hopes and fortunes would surely be wrecked? Has not the strong arm of the law been thrust forward, and quietly withdrawn, on account of the tremendous political convulsions its interference was about to create? And what has arrested the progress of the growing evil? What has caused the hearts of so many wretched wives to leap with joy? What has sowed the seeds of happiness and plenty where nought but misery and starvation reigned? What has caused the standard of peace, harmony and good order, to wave o'er the very scenes where but a few months since were heard the lewd sounds of "Bacchanalian orgies," celebrated in midnight revelries? Not the separate, but united exertions of the good and wise, by forming associations to influence public opinion. This striking reform, while it covers with glory its noble promoters, exhibits the powerful influence which can be effected by asso ciated exertions. Now, although Odd-Fellowship has for its object the promotion of all the ennobling principles I have enumerated, yet its leading object is Charity. This great principle, which might be extended so as to cover all the rest, requires not only the heart to dictate, but the means to bestow the charity; and who can doubt but that a greater amount of good can be done by associated wealth, than by individual contributions? First, from the fact that our laws require that we should look to the condition of our brothers, and real objects of charity would thus be found out, and when discovered, the aggregate means, made up of the small contributions of individuals, would be adequate to the relief of any distress which might occur. Again, there is nothing more galling to our pride, than to accept alms from an individual. The obligation under which it places us, is too great for a proud heart to brook. Yet, when we accept them from the Order to which we belong, there is not the slightest feeling of humiliation; for our funds are made up of initiation fees, and small weekly taxes, (so small that even the poorest cannot feel them,) to which all equally contribute; in which all have an equal interest; to which all have an equal right. Without pretending to desecrate the sacred feeling which first prompted this means of alleviation of human wants, by comparing it to a mere business transaction; yet, when we receive its benefits, the humiliation of doing so is entirely relieved by viewing it as such. It is, so to speak, a sort of mutual insurance company, against misfortune and want. In other words, each member purchases and pays for a right to the charity of the Order, which is as much his property as any thing else he pos sesses. In some countries, there is an actual necessity for our Order, to relieve the real physical wants of the community. It is heart-rending to the philanthropist, even to read the accounts of squalid misery of the poorer classes in the populous cities of the old world. How much more so to be an eye-witness to the sufferings of aged men, turned out into the streets, with no friendly roof to protect them from the peltings of the pitiless storm: with scarcely rags to defend them from the chilling blasts of northern winters, to hear, from the deep abyss of wretchedness and despair into which they are plunged, the low and melancholy moanings of women, reduced to the very brink of the grave by poverty and disease, mingled with the cries of starving children, raising their bony hands in humble suppli cation for only bread enough to sustain their miserable existence. Who among us, with heart so cold as not to be touched by the deepest emotions of pity, by scenes like these? Who would not extend his arm to rescue a fellow-being from starvation? Yet, in the cities where they do occur, so familiarized are men to them, that the wealthy and powerful roll on in luxury and ease, either unconscious of the misery around them, or unheeding the piteous cries wrung from suffering humanity. It is not alone the vicious, the idle, the profligate, that are subject to the ills of extreme poverty-(if it were so, it would be but a just punishment for their crimes)-but frequently, the industrious laborer, worn out in the employment of his lordly master; or e'en the poor soldier, wounded in the defence of an ungrateful country, are its undeserved victims. It was to guard against the miseries of extreme poverty, to which the laboring classes were subjected, by being thrown out of employment, or by sickness, that the Order of Odd-Fellows was renewed in modern times. To this class it was chiefly confined in the old world. Lately it has travelled across the ocean, and found in our own country a genial soil, in which it can grow and flourish; embracing all classes, conditions and sects of men, who come forward to make their common offerings upon the altars of Be nevolence. Here,† thanks to the glorious laws under which we live, but I have designedly avoided touching upon the history of Odd Fellowship. Some of our brothers have traced its origin to a great antiquity I am in possession of no authentie historical facts to justify such a conclusion. In fact, it is a matter of little mom nt when or where it originated. We find it amongst us, and the great matter is, to examine its principles, and not its history. There can be no doubt but that for the benevolent purposes of alleviating human misery in every form it may occur, and more especially when it comes in the form of p verty and want, our Order is most admirably adapted. Yet, I think that those who have defended it entirely upon this ground in the Southern country, have not presented it in its most favorable aspect. There is no doubt of its actual n cessay, to put even bread in the mouths of thous ands in the larger cities of the old world and our Northern States. We have no such n cesity. The few isolated in-tances of beggare amongst us can be promptly relieved by indivi dual charity We, who are so highly favored can appropriate is to higher purposes-to the exercise and cultivation of charity, and benevolence of thought and feeling. Our fund can be appropriated to the education of the orphans of our deceased brothers, or to the relief of our fellow-men in other climes. Nor do I think that I am wrong in attributing the vast üzeriority of our condition exclusively to the institution of slavery. It is in the eternal nature of things, that there must be a laboring class in every country, and that the majority of that class must be a pauper one; and is it not much better that this class should be distinguished by the broad line of color, and be exclusively and entirely under the control of masters, whose intelligence can so associate their labor as to give them always the comforts of life-provide for more especially to our most abused, but most cherished institution, we can never witness these appalling scenes of misery and degradation. Our only paupers are our slaves. Not only interest and humanity, but the very laws which secure them to us as property, compel us to care and provide for them in sickness and old age. The same physical necessity therefore, does not exist for our Order here, as in countries less favored than our's. But we can devote it to higher and nobler purposes-to the improvement of the moral condition of our race. Let us enquire if there is not a necessity for this, and if its tendencies are not to its promotion. He has been but an inattentive observer of human nature, who has not discovered, that of all the motives which impel to action, by far the most powerful is a love of popular applause. All men, however great may be their fancied independence, or pretended contempt for the opinion of their fellow-men, are far more influenced by it than any thing else. Even the philosopher, while delving into the rich and varied mines of knowledge, though his feeble frame is fast sinking beneath the intensity of his mental labors; though his vital energy is faintly flickering in its socket, likė the midnight taper o'er which he leans, is urged on in his laborious pursuit, not only by his love of the rich gems for which he is seeking, but far more by the inspiring thought, that long after he has "shuffled off this mortal coil," his name will be registered in the temple of fame. The po et, while revelling in the wild luxuriance and gorgeous imagery of his own creation, anticipates with delight the plaudits which will be sung to his name-the homage paid to his genius. The statesman, too, is far more influ enced in his conduct by the probable effects his actions will produce up. on the minds of his countrymen, than by that stern integrity, that "amor patriæ" which should be his most prominent characteristic. I am very far from saying that this influence ought to exist: I only assert that it does exist. Men should love virtue for its own sake; but where this is weighed in the scales with a love of popular applause, few have moral strength enough to preserve the proper balance. Since, then, we see that all our public actions are referable to this standard, does it not follow, that virtue or vice will exist precisely in proportion to the reward offered for each? If virtue always met with its just reward, and vice its condign punishment from public opinion, it would produce a far more beneficial effect upon society, than all the laws which the wisdom of legislators could suggest. Yet, so far from this being the case, from some strange perversity of our nature, men are frequently found to applaud those who have rendered themselves the greatest scourges to our race, and pass unnoticed those who have proved themselves its real benefactors. The laurels of the military chieftain, "Blood-nursed, and watered by a widow's tears," them in old age, and take care of their children. Notwithstanding the mawkish sentimentalities of the Abolitionist at the miserable condition of our slaves, there is no doubt but that many of their own neighbors would gladly change conditions with them, or would beg to be fed out of the abundance of the comforts with which they are supplied by humane and feel. ing masters. For a triumphant vindication of our moval right to this institution, I refer the reader to a treatise written by Dr CARTWRIGHT, of Mississippi I also refer the reader to a Memoir on Slavery, from the able pen of Chancellor HARPER. No unprejudiced person can peruse this unanswerable argument, without being thoroughly convinced of the admirable adaptation of this institution to the state of man, and the rich blessings it confers upon society en which the slave himself is perhaps the greatest partaker. |