That event was the dividing line between the ancient and the modern
era; between the rule of "brute force" and the "mild dominion of love
and charity." The mission of Odd-Fellowship, like that of the lowly
Nazarene, is to replace the rule of might with the gentle influence of
love, and to teach a universal fraternity in the family of man. To
meet and satisfy and better keep alive the nobler elements of man's
nature. Many orders have been instituted, but none can challenge
greater admiration from men, or deserve more blessings from heaven,
than the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows. Looking back along the
pathway of the century behind us we behold the wrecks of many orders.
The morning of their life was beautiful and full of glorious promise,
but the evening came and they had perished. Rich costumes, impressive
ceremonies, beautiful degrees and magnificent effects, all lie buried
and forgotten. It was not because their founders lacked energy or
enthusiasm, not because their members were less susceptible to the
beauty and poetry of tradition and ceremony, but because success and
perpetuity come not from human effort, but are the outgrowth of a
life-giving principle. The sculptor fashions from the marble a form of
surpassing loveliness, its lines are those of grace and beauty. We
stand before it charmed, whispering our admiration, but the impression
on the heart is only passing. The poet sings of home, of mother and of
love; the meter may be faulty and the words may charm not, but the
sentiment is true and touches our hearts. The experience it recites is
common to humanity, and wherever its sweet tones are heard it softens
men's natures and makes them better, truer and nobler. Who among us
would be willing to exchange the influence of the immortal song "Home
Sweet Home," or be willing to forget the Christian's "Nearer My God to
Thee," for all the inanimate beauty of art? One charms the eye, the
other touches and calls to life the best and sweetest emotions of the
human heart. So it is with fraternal societies. Flashing swords,