reflect credit to the Order, and convey satisfaction to ourselves. We must, by unity, not only constitute a great number, but a great one. We must be united both in common interests and reciprocal esteem. Such an union, however, is, alas! to many unknown, by some misunderstood, and by most, utterly and injuriously disregarded. How is it then, to be made perceptible to all, but by a discipline, which will not only render us assiduity in framing a combination, but by furthering its perpetuity when framed? I do not here stay to expatiate on the false and profligate notions which are entertained in connection with unity, but simply to recall them to your attention, in order to show how needful for the accomplishment of a real union, is an unrelaxing system of discipline. In the absence of this unity we have attained but a very meagre participation in Odd Fellowship, and are wasting our energies in reciprocal resistance and embittering contests; how much more, too, might be done with regard to the extension of our common cause, were a spirit of true and hearty confidence and esteem to be diffused; for who does not in his daily intercourse find the evils of divisions, and the necessity of unanimity? All of which are only attributable to the slow and wavering exercise of discipline. A steady and constant maintenance of discipline, then, is not only necessary but beneficial. In the third place I purposed to express my ideas of the duty of one member towards another. It will occur to you, that every one should feel and display a deep interest in the prosperity of the Society in which he has a part. Its interests are his interests-he, too, is a professed supporter of its objects-he is, as far as his abilities go, responsible for its proceedings; he will naturally feel delight when its actions prove the means of adding disciples-he will actively concern himself for the faithful preservation of its tenets-he will rejoice in its peaceful state of activity. This only is to be accomplished by a continued affability and familiarity of manner towards those among whom he associates; austerity, pride and pedantry, are the three greatest enemies to such a consummation; do not, therefore, by exercising an undue degree of the baneful tendency of self-opinion, destroy that fellow feeling, so requisite among all who enter a Lodge-room. Let no degree of slight, originate between us, because the individual who sits next you has, by his ordinary avocation, a more grimsy dye upon his features, or the shallowness of his purse causes his coat to be made of a coarser material than your own; his interests in the Lodge are conjointly formed with yours, consequently, so long as the principles of the Order are held in deference and esteem by him, he deserves the same mark of respect from you, which, perchance, is due from you to others of a higher caste. Again, let not the latter party imagine a slight where none is meant. His fellow member's carriage and deportment in common life may seem to rank nigh to pedantry, or his style of language and general comportment seem like affectation; still, however dissonant it may be to your own feelings, he may hold good the principles of Odd Fellowship, and condemnation of his demeanour is not justifiable without sufficient proof to his prejudice. On either hand we must withhold judgment until experience has bade "look for Othello's visage in his mind." Particularities should have very little to do with the Order, which is noble and plastic, is meant for the world, and is adapted for man in all his diversified circumstances; equality and brotherhood should be our greatest aim. In all our dealings, all our discussional points, let us not assume a loftier degree of superiority, than the most well-founded pretensions can warrant; neither let us lack spirit enough to think ourselves inferior to those, who by dint of pleasing though powerful language may carry an argument, when the smallest iota of sound reason may tell us we excel them. To dwell on our own distinctive points, or those of other parties, has an alienating and divisive tendency. The very nature of things tell us that arrogant pretensions enkindle resistance, -that ascendency generates discontent-that insolence awakens scorn. Again, fear produces contempt-truculence strengthens authority-adulation confines pride. To enjoy more fully the desirable connection which our frequent intercourse affords, we should ever grace our conduct to each other with mildness, and generosity, and frankness, and confidence; always open to advice when needful, whether it emanates from those whom we may consider a grade below us, or from those in a station superior to our own, and ever ready to perform the same office to others, as far as in us lies, with. out pride and arrogance, always remembering, that cordial affability generally begets esteem. Under any other system social kindness dies away, and jealousy, resentment, and envy usurp its place. But what need be said more than this-"we are member: us. one of another," and we should ever nourish a feeling of brotherly love to all who join The law of love" is the rule of christian intercourse-let not a perversion of its principles be shewn amongst Odd Fellows. To every one we should stand ready to exercise kindness, gentleness, forbearance, fidelity. To any that are erring from the strict path of rectitude, we should be assiduous in imparting warning, reproof, and instruction; thereby cementing more firmly the bonds which endear us. To the afflicted we should administer, as far as ability will admit, to their comfort; at the same time manifest our sympathy. By thus bringing together our good intentions, and combining their influences, every individual will partake of the general energy. Our scattered light will thus be concentrated into one orb, shedding a lustrous halo on all around. Towards those who are elected our officers, let us exercise a beseeming degree of respect and deference, that they may find we do not set an idle value upon the offices they fill. By our own voice they preside over us, and, consequently, we virtually engage to accept their instruction in all that pertaineth to the good of the Order.Hence members of the Order are expected to welcome official admonition, reproof, and advice. I mean no slavish, mental, or bodily fear or adulation-no sacrifice of conscience or judgment; but I mean a readiness to hear the inculcation of the different principles of the Order; I mean an uniform obedience to its laws, however apparently disagreeable. This is a duty we solemnly promise when we enter a Lodge, and to swerve from such duty is a gross violation of honour as a man, and throws contempt upon the Order as an Odd Fellow. I cannot resign my purpose without observing that Odd Fellowship is, in my sincere opinion, founded on the strictest principles of piety; and we must perceive, in its social regulations, that the happiness of an individual member must rise or fall in proportion to the interest he feels in the welfare of his fellow-members, and for the preservation of the Order in common. Like the heavenly bodies which are preserved in their relative position to each other by their common attraction to the sun, Odd Fellows are kept in unison with each other by their attachment to principles which directly govern them. Those who cannot heartily perform the social duties of Odd Fellowship, want an essential mark of fellow-feeling to mankind in general. What other proof need be afforded of the efficacy and moral tendency of the Order, than the increasing, and rapid, and astonishing progress it has made throughout the universe within the last ten years? As the light of intellect improves, Odd Fellowship will acquire adherents and keep pace with it. Already, with a gigantic stride, has it crossed the Atlantic; and anong the shrewd and perceptible inhabitants of the New World it has met with a hearty and enthusiastic welcome. Wherever it once becomes known, its benign influences are embraced, and no excitement is needed to blazon forth its precepts to accumulate disciples. Opposition has been made to it, is likely to be made, by the base, the self-sufficient, and the unworthy; but its purity has ever stood the fiery ordeal, and come forth in more vivid colours-its pristine brightness untarnished, unsullied. Let us, then, persist in the glorious work we have commenced with vigour and unflinching stability; let our bark, while sailing on the extensive ocean of fellowship, be guided by the compass of justice; and, if I may continue the metaphor, let us perseveringly pursue the tract its needle indicates; that, when arrived at our destined haven, we may, with a pure consciousness of having supported to the utmost our purpose of benevolence and charity, securely recline our heads on the satisfactory pillow of contentment, and indulge in the aspiring hope, that when summoned from this sublunary sphere, we may meet with an eternal welcome in that "angel land" where "sorrow intrudes not"-where "the weary are at rest, and the wicked cease from troubling." With a sincere and undisguised attachment to the Order, and my every wish for its lengthened continuance and increasing prosperity, in a peaceful state of activityalso that promptness, zeal, and alacrity, in the exercise of its various arrangements, may be prominently displayed in the actions of all who rank under its inestimable peace-making and sacred banners, I am, GENTLEMEN, Feeling most truly the solemnity of the often abused phrase, Chillington Lodge, Wolverhampton, May 1, 1837. J. CLARKE. VOL. 4-No. 7-2 Y. THE SPRING. THE winter has passed over our heads. The blasts of the wind, and the keen frosts of the evening, have again subsided. The boughs that have so long been naked, and the hedges that have appeared so forlorn, are bursting forth into beauty. The lovely warblers in the vale and on the hill, are as so many harbingers, singing sweetly around and loudly exclaiming,-"The winter is past." The bud swelleth on the bough. The little flowers peep above the surface, as if to beautify the carpet of Nature for man, the lord of Nature, to walk or recline upon. The black clouds, and the thick atmosphere, disappear quickly before the rising sun. The young lambs innocently skip over the plains, bidding those who behold them to rejoice. The seed which the husbandman scattered in the earth, and which has been laid through the season, begins to spring forth; his hopes to brighten, and his fears to die. We begin to throw our robes aside with which we have been blest, and are anxiously expecting, and fervently hoping for, a pleasant and prosperous summer. Let us remember that though then there is no frost to nip the bud, or the blossom, or the leaves of our trees-that though all may be in beauty and splendour, and we in strengthyet, yet there is a winter, the harbingers of which are in our bodies; there is a density and thickness which will shortly overshadow us, that no sun, but that which illuminateth every sun, can dispense; there is a gloom and a dark valley through which all must pass where serpents hiss-where caverns yawn-where demons yell; and all those cry to man, against the time he shall pass through it, "Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live." Summer doth not always continue. Winter doth not abide ever. Life is a summer, and may be made to produce much fruit, which will obtain a great reward; but if-if not improved, remember that after life is death; after death natural, either death eternal, or life eternal, must be our portion. "Think on your ways, oh! ye children of men, and be wise." BETA. THE WIND. THE velocity of the wind varies from nothing up to 100 miles in an hour; but the maximum is variously stated by different authors. According to Smeaton, a gentle breeze moves between four and five miles per hour, and has a force of about two ounces on a foot; a brisk pleasant gale moves from ten to fifteen miles, with a force of twelve ounces; a high wind, thirty to thirty-five miles, with a force of five or six pounds; a hurricane bearing along trees, houses, &c. has a velocity of 100 miles, and a force of forty-nine pounds on the square foot.-Murray's Encyclopædia of Geography. TO THE EDITOR AND COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT OF THE GENTLEMEN, MAGAZINE. RUMINATING a short time ago on the state of the General Fund of the Order, it occurred to me that a very large portion of the members must be unacquainted with its exact position; and being convinced that much good would accrue from an improvement in that Fund, which might be easily effected, were the minds of our brethren set right upon the subject. I am induced to request the favour of a space in your next number, for the insertion of a few statements and observations thereon, which, unless precluded by more valuable matter, will, I doubt not, prove interesting to some of your numerous readers; and if they effect no good, may lead to some, by arresting the attention of some more qualified financer in Odd Fellowship. I shall commence by giving a sort of analis of the Fund, for the last five years, that being the extent of my acquaintance with this department, having never paid any attention to it previous. On the 2nd of May, 1831, the worth of the Fund in cash, stock, and debts, was £1402. 12s. 74d.; and the following table will shew the increase, and from what source, each year following, to April, 1836. OBSERVATION. In consequence of the practice ous consequences to the Fund By this account it appears that since May, 1831, the increase in the worth of the And let any person examine the foot note on General Fund is £1748. 11s. 11 d., and of this £770. 5s. 6d. is from the profits on goods sold; after deducting rent, salary, gifts, and all incidental expences, being an average of £154. 1s. 1d. per year. This, if it were probable that it would be maintained, would, no doubt, be sufficient to meet any contingencies which might be supposed would arise. But examine the last two years on the table, and you will find that the increase in the Fund, from the sale of goods, is only £157. 14. 43d.; of this £102. 2s. 4 d. is expended in fixtures. |