e vultures, than thus rob
him of his kinship with the human race.

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