ok--that
precious presager of immortal life beyond the river--that divine guide
to faith and practice, can by no means fail in the ultimate working out
of its sublime purposes.

In the ranks of Odd-Fellowship there are many of the truest, noblest,
sharpest and most holy men in the civilized world. None of these have
been able to make that "Godless and selfish" discovery. This brilliant
achievement is reserved for those favored mortals that never saw the
inside of an Odd-Fellow's lodge, and are entirely ignorant of its
character and practical workings. The order has increased largely in
wealth, power and influence. Large cities and towns, which formerly
paid little or no attention to us, now eagerly welcome us to their
hospitalities.

Judges and governors vie with each other in doing us honor, and well
may we be proud of the position the order has attained. Just think of
it a moment: when you clasp hands with an Odd-Fellow here in your own
home, you are really clasping hands with one million men who have
obligated themselves to stay with you through every trial and
misfortune. Wonder no longer, then, at the growth and stability of
this great fraternity, or that its votaries cling to it with such
unshaken and unswerving fidelity. Ah! it is no light matter, no small
privilege, to be admitted to membership in such an organization--so
freeing one's self from the surgings of self-seeking and selfish
considerations--free from the trammels of prevailing prejudice and
passion--free from the false educational influences that warp the mind
and drive charity from the heart.

Our order's emblem is the three links,

FRIENDSHIP, LOVE AND TRUTH.

Friendship, love, truth--golden links these, that not only bind
together their obligated votaries, but that recognize and embrace,
because of worthiness and plighted faith, that behind the back as well
as face to face, have a defensive, kindly word and a brother's generous
deed; that, amid the upheavals of communities and the crumbling of
nations, systems and governments, swerve not from their course, and are
corralled by no arbitrary bounds, and that, whatever the dialect, the
nationality or the religion of men, read upon humanity's brow the
inscription written by the finger of infinite love--a man and a
brother, a woman and a sister.

A faithful and true friend is a living treasure, estimable in
possession and deeply to be lamented when gone. Nothing is more common
than to t