This world is beautiful, and it is full of priceless sympathies.  All creation is glorious with melody.  The morning stars, saith the Bible, sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy when it was made.  The universe of stars, and suns, and planets and globes, swing harmoniously through space.  Not a sparrow falleth to the ground without our Father’s notice; not a soul yearns, or sorrows, or rejoices, but He knoweth it.  He hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell together on the face of the earth.  We are bound to each other by indissoluble ties.  It is a law of nature that we must all work for each other.  Though ten thousand miles apart; though oceans roll between us and continents divide us, we labor not for ourselves alone.  You plow the furrow in California and sow the wheat for your brother in Louisiana, while he plants the cane and cotton for you.  The good Siberian is this day roaming over snows and ice, hunting the otter and gathering furs, that you may be warm.  Men are diving in the Persian gulf for pearls to grace your wives and daughters.  The silkworm of India and China may have spun the threads of your dress, the Frenchman may have woven it; the hardy mariner braved the seas to bring it here.  Truly, we are brothers.  A common Father brought us all into this world, and to a common Father we all go.  Let us, then, help one another, in money (if need be), in education, in sympathy.

There is one feature of the order we desire to emphasize, and that is its full sympathy with those that labor and toil.  No reference would do justice to the order that did not emphasize this fact.  It is its pride and glory.  It is from this class its membership is chiefly drawn.  It was with this class it originated, the first lodge in the United States having been organized by half a dozen humble mechanics; Thomas Wildey, their leader, was a blacksmith.  You see it had no aristocratic origin, and its broad and catholic sympathy, its popularity with this class is explained.  They know its value, and have seen its active charity and experienced its beneficence.  A man who has no sympathy with the humble and the lowly, a man of mean and narrow heart, will find no congenial dwelling place in our lodges.  The true Odd-Fellow is a man of heart; his hand is open to every worthy appeal of the needy, and he is honest and upright in his life.  It enforces no religious or political tests; in these every member is free; but it does teach and urge its members to be grateful to their Creator and loyal to their country.  In conclusion, let me urge upon the living, fidelity to the teachings of Odd-Fellowship.  If these are respected it will make you better citizens, better husbands, better fathers, better men.  It is a cultivation of the heart and the better feelings, and expands our humanity.  If you are poor, it will come to you, or your family, sometimes as a benefaction.  If you are rich, you can afford to give, and with a good Odd-Fellow that is more blessed than to receive.