and Truth towards God. May we, like them, ever maintain our pledges inviolate. Mr. William T. Johnson, a member of the Masonic fraternity, being called upon, gave the respective chosen mottoes of Odd-Fellowship and Masonry. Friendship, Love and Truth-Faith, Hope and Charity. They lead to a common destiny; may the peculiar disciples of each never cross the path of the other. By Br. L. D. Moore, R. H. S.-N. G. The Declaration of Independence, and the I. O. of O. F. Constitution and Bye-Laws.-As the first was signed by good men and true, so is the latter by good Odd-Fellows-may we by our exemplary conduct, and the promulgation of Love, Friendship and Truth show to the world that we can and will maintain the principles of the latter, as by the sword and bayonet, our forefathers maintained the principles of the former. By Br. I. Snell, Jr., P. S., Sabattis Lodge. Mr. President:-In our enthusiastic cheers of Father Adam, the first Odd-Fellow, our mother Eve seems to have been overlooked in a manner scarce consistent with the gallantry of Odd-Fellows. I will give you Eve. The worthy mother of more worthy daughters; she lost Eden to Adam-her daughters make earth a Heaven to us. By Br. Hiram Stevens, N. G. Natahnis Lodge, Friendship, Love and Truth—a motto written upon every true Odd-Fellow's heart. May it never be effaced. By Br. F. P. Theobald, P. G. Natahnis Lodge. The mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters of Odd-Fellows.-Their cooperation is necessary to the successful issue of every good work. By Bro. F. Davis, Grand Marshall. The Ladies. Their beauty, their virtue, and their delicacy will ever be protected by the heart and arm of every good Odd-Fellow. By Bro. V. Bonney, Sabattis Lodge. The Day we Celebrate-is our nation's jubilee. On this day our fathers made a covenant with the great builder and architect of heaven and earth. They sealed it with the best blood of the noblest hearts that ever beat in the bosoms of Odd-Fellows. By a strict fulfilment on their part of the articles of this compact they obtained the help of God. He was their shield and their buckler. He brought them out, with a strong arm, from under the yoke of bondage, and gave them this land for their heritage, which now flows with milk and honey. We can retain and possess it on no other condition than by being good Odd-Fellows. By Bro. Wm. Mathews, P. S. Natahnis Lodge. Odd Fellows' Charity.-Though it "begins at home," it does not end there. As they "have opportunity," they "do good unto all men, especially unto those who are of the household of faith." By Br. I. Snell, Jr. Friendship, Love and Truth.-The three great pillars of our Order.May our actions ever indicate Friendship toward Brethren, Love for woman, Truth to God. By Br. S. Lancaster, Sabattis Lodge. The Orator of the day. ciples of Odd Fellowship. The able and eloquent expounder of the prin- ples, as taught by him this day, universally adopted and acted upon by Odd-Fellows. By Br. I. Snell, Jr. Odd Fellowship!-Its principles are to the character of man, what Eve was to Eden-the one thing needful to its perfection. By Br. W. N. Stratton, Sabattis Lodge. Odd-Fellowship.-Founded upon the broad basis of human Brotherhood; may its principles become so generally diffused that there shall be nothing odd about it. By Prof. Ingraham, R. H. S. S. Cushnoc Lodge. The President of the day!-We miss neither Madeira nor Champaigne upon our board while his sparkling wit and piquant puns enliven our festivities. The foregoing were, we believe, all the toasts delivered on the occasion. They were drunk in the genuine Washingtonian beverage, "pure water from the crystal well." The whole affair passed off in the most joyful manner; indeed, we never before attended a public festival where all the company appeared to enjoy so much of the "feast of reason and flow of soul." The toasts and speeches were received with loud and enthusiastic cheers of applause, prolonged in many instances to three and even four times three. The music, the sentiment, and the song flowed freely as the air of heaven; bright eyes and fair faces beamed with delight at more than realized anticipations, and nothing occurred to mar the harmony, or disturb the gayety of the social festival. It was indeed a choice gathering of kindred spirits, who had forgotten the jealousies of political and religious feeling, and met together on a common ground where they could love and respect each other as brothers despite the differences that divided them. The company broke up at about 5 o'clock, making the pavilion ring with "three times three" cheers for "OUR COUNTRY," and all retired quietly to their homes, rejoicing at the manner in which they had spent the day-not the less so that the voice of reveling and intoxication had not been heard during the festival. May the influence of the occasion long be felt upon their minds and hearts! EDITOR'S TABLE. Grand Lodge of Virginia.-We are indebted to the Independent OddFellow for an abstract of the proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Virginia, we acknowledge also our obligation to the same authority for extracts from the annual reports of the Grand Master of the State of Pennsylvania, not having ourselves the pleasure of having received these documents from the proper authorities of the respective States. The report of the Grand Officers of Pennsylvania from which we subjoin extracts are full of interest to the Brethren at large, and will well repay their attentive perusal. The proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Virginia exhibit the decision of that body upon the following interrogatory propounded by Jefferson Lodge of that jurisdiction. "Are P. G.'s who are in good standing in Subordinate Lodges entitled to the yearly T. P. W?" the decision of the Lodge is in the following words: "Resolved, as the opinion of this Grand Lodge that the N. G.'s of Subordinate Lodges have not the right to withhold the T. P. W. from any P. G. in good standing who may demand the same. The opinion here expressed upon a very important point of our jurisprudence by a body of high authority may be at variance with the opinion and practice in other States, hence the subject is one that should be settled by the Grand Lodge of the United States. Want of uniformity in practice and construction of law written or unwritten in our Order is much to be regretted, and the Grand Lodge of the United States could not render a more essential service to the brotherhood than by reducing to a code all the regulations of the Order, thus rendering clear and intelligible the proper system and discipline of Odd Fellowship. The term "ancient usage" is extremely vague, and we doubt very much whether much unity of opinion will be found among the elder members of our family in their definition of "ancient usage.' When we were initiated the practice in Maryland was to require on the part of the brother applying for the A. T. P. W. evidence that he was about to travel, by the exhibit of his card, drawn from his Lodge, when the T. P. W. was given to him by the Warden of the Lodge, sitting P. G. or N. G.-one of the officers usually examined all visitors, and were instructed in the T. P. W. if not in possession of it. The practice we learn has varied much, and at present is extremely loose in many States. Among the proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Virginia, we observe a detailed report of a committee upon the subject of the "Covenant and Official Magazine" published by the Grand Lodge of the United States, which concludes with a resolution instructing the Grand Representatives of the State "to use all proper means to discontinue the publication of the Covenant under the proprietorship of the Grand Lodge of the United States." Upon this subject we beg to offer a few remarks, premising what we have to say with the observation, that to us personally the continuance or discontinuance of that work is a matter of little moment, as will abundantly appear before we close this article to all who will examine the "quiddam honorarium" which enures to the corps editorial of the official-but as members of the great family of Odd-Fellows, profoundly anxious for the well being of the Order and the thorough dissemination of its benign principles, we confess that we should regard the discontinuance of the Covenant as a great loss to the Order, assured as we are, that it has been a valuable agent in the hands of the Grand Lodge of the United States of elevating the character and of advancing the cause of Odd-Fellowship. We publish the entire report of the Committee of the Grand Lodge of Virginia on the subject, to enable our readers to weigh for themselves the force of the arguments and reasoning addressed to that body, which we presume led to the adoption of the resolution of instructions. We regret, sincerely regret that this proceeding has taken place, first because it will be apparent in the sequel, that the respected committee and the Grand Lodge have acted without correct information, and secondly because the Representatives one of whom is known to us personally, and the other familiar to us and to every other Odd-Fellow in the country who takes any interest in the Order, by the force and beauty of his writings in behalf of our common brotherhood, are trammelled by instructions, which forbid the exercise of their judgments when the facts in the case are presented to their consideration free from misrepresentation. Upon the argument of the committee we have no comment to offer, based as it is in part upon a statement of figures, which are far astray from the facts in the case-a simple statement of the truth, as it really exists will make manifest the error of this proceeding of the Grand Lodge of Virginia. "It may be supposed" say the committee, that the prospects of the future was more cheering than a review of the past. We will see! Following the report as our guide, there are according to that report 1,100 subscribers to the Covenant; these subscriptions, (two dollars per copy) all collected, will amount to $2,200 as the revenue of the paper, for its future support, on the collection of this amount 20 per cent. is allowed to the Agent which will produce the sum of $440; this deducted from the revenue will leave a balance of $1,760. This will exhibit an income of $1,760 00 $1,000 00 2,448 00 3,448 00 $1,688 00 1,200 69 $2,888 69 Leaving a debt for the present year's expenses of Creates a debt of, If this Committee of the Grand Lodge of Virginia had taken the trouble to examine carefully the report of the Committee of the Grand Lodge of the United States, which they profess to have taken as their guide, they would have found on page 555, printed Journal, McGowan and Tread. well's edition, the following resolution. "That the Editor of the Official Magazine be constituted general Agent of the same that he shall make out and keep a full list of all subscribers and accurate accounts of the expenses and receipts of the work, that he shall receive 25 per cent on all outstanding debts collected by him and 20 per cent on all new subscriptions which shall include all expenses of collection." Now we have read this resolution over and again, and for the life of us, we cannot read out of it the sum of $1,000, Editor's Salary, which makes up a large item charged against the Covenant in the statement of the Virginia Committee in their report to the Grand Lodge of that State. It is apparent from the resolution of the Grand Lodge of the United States to which we have referred that the Covenant and Official Magazine was continued upon specific terms, to wit, the union of the offices of Editor and Agent and the substitution of a compensation in the form of commission in lieu of salary. The argument of the Committee in the report preceding this resolution indeed is plain and comprehensive on this point. The truth is that there is no salary paid to the Editors, and should there be $2,200 collected by the Editors and Agent upon subscriptions as is presumed by the Virginia Committee, then the commission of 20 per cent. would pay them $440, and should there be but $1,000 collected their commission would amount to $200. Our Brethren of the Virginia Committee are equally unfortunate in the item of printing ($2448)—the estimate of the committee was for an edition of 3000 copies no such edition having been printed, as a matter of course this charge against the Covenant is essentially too great. If therefore we take the sum of $1,000 Editor's salary and the sum of $500 in the cost of printing from the account what will become of the figures and conclusions of the committee? Let us see: Income per statement of the report, $1,760 00 Omit Editor's Salary $1,000, no such allowance being authoriseddeduct $500 in cost of printing for the year 1843-4, leaving, 1,948 00 And we have instead of $1,688 deficit for 1843-4 stated by the report the sum of $188-difference between the Virginia figures and the facts in the case $1,500-this is truly a difference of some moment in a matter of three or four thousand dollars. We wish to be distinctly understood how. ever; we do not desire to convey the idea that such is the actual state of the affairs of the Covenant, we take only as the committee have done, the report of the Committee of the Grand Lodge of the United States as our guide and from such data, present our figures and facts. At the proper time the operations of the Covenant for 1843-4 will be officially made known to the Grand Representatives, meanwhile we may be allowed to say, that notwithstanding the continued illness of the junior Editor during the year, and the withdrawal of the Travelling Agent, on account of the meagreness of his compensation, we presume, the work has been regular |