In life's rugged path to those that fall
Speak the true words, I've enough for both;
Nor wear ye the robes of pride and sloth.
Nothing to do! there are sick that lie,
Watching the shadow of thy passing by;
There are foes to meet within and without;
There are evils to conquer, strong and stout.
Nothing to do! there are men to teach

The simplest form of Friendship's speech;
There are hearts to lure with Love's sweet wile,
And cleanse with Truth dark sin's defile.
When toils are o'er in the tents of Love,
We'll rest in the Encampments above;
But until then, in our journey through,
We'll cry, Go on! there is much to do.

-Lewis Silber, P. G. P. of Wis.

THE age in which we live is one of ceaseless activities. The sluggard finds no fitting place in its rapid onward march. To stop, but for a moment, is to find ourselves left behind. No matter what the difficulties in the way, though like the Red Sea that placed a seemingly impassable barrier to the progress of Moses and the choice children of the Almighty One, the command that came to them sounds down to us through the ages, and the unceasing cry is "Go Forward," and until our labors shall have been completed, and we have gone to our long home, and others have stepped in to fill our places, let there be no loitering by the wayside, but let our watchword ever be "Go on."

There's a something in those words "Go on "
That seems to ask of us what we have done

In the years already past.

Have we answered to the wail-the cry

Of the widow and orphan, as we passed them by
On life's tempestuous stream?

Have we stood by the bed of the sick and dying,
Supplying their wants-with each other vieing
The greatest of good to do?

Have we aided each other in the battle of life?

Have we banished from our hearts all envy and strife,
Like brothers good and true?

Or have we sat idly folding our hands,

Caring for self while the golden sands

Of life are passing away?

Have we slackened our labors? then let us now
Arouse us to duty, and most fervently vow
The future years to improve.

Let "on" be the watchword, "go on" be the cry,
Till no orphan shall weep, no widow shall sigh,

And God will reward us above.

-D. Whitton, P. G. P. of Wis.

SIGN OF DISTRESS.

THE mariner, whose ship but yesterday was tight, staunch, and strong, with hatches well calked and covered, well officered and well manned, with every sail, mast, and spar in order, to-day floats like a waif upon the angry waves, without binnacle, galley, or forecastle; with no compass to guide the helm, no good cook to serve the food of life, no canopy to shelter from the wild and roaring. gale; the waters of the ocean crazy, and gathering in fearful violence, break and tumble from their dazzling crests, and completely shut out the horizon from the vision of the castaway; when hope of safe deliverance is flickering in its socket, a sail perchance is descried with the pennant of

Odd Fellowship streaming from the mast head, and his heart leaps for joy, for he knows it is the ark of his salvation. His signal will be recognized-it is recognized and his thanks and gratitude never cease to the mighty God of storms that he was deemed worthy by the fraternity to be intrusted with their grand hailing sign of distress. And when, in after years, he finds himself in a snug harbor, and sends ships to sea on his own account, no order or instruction will be more readily given to the master than this: not the hazard of deviation when your brother salutes with the sign of distress."— W. L. G. Smith, P. G. M. of New York.

OUR DUTIES.

"Fear

THE statistics of the growth, strength, and material usefulness of the Order, striking and important as they are, should not be allowed to occupy the highest place in our estimation, for well do we know that they are insignificant and shrink into nothingness when compared with the great moral powers that are connected with Odd Fellowship, and that make the receptive, appreciative, co-operative Odd Fellow a constant benefactor to the human family, inspired as he is with gratitude to his creator, fidelity to his country, and love to his fellow-man. Our Order is not a mere beneficial society, nor is it in any just sense a selfish institution. It calls upon all men, irrespective of their country, party, or creed, to unite together in offices of human benefaction and of moral growth. It promulgates in the most solemn manner the great cardinal

doctrine of charity, in its broadest and most compreIn multitudinous channels are the

hensive sense.

benign influences of our Order permeating society, undermining the barriers that divide and isolate man from his fellow-man, bringing representative men face to face, hand to hand, heart to heart together as coworkers in the grand mission of love to humanity. Upon its foundation stones are inscribed the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man; its intelligent disciples are laboring to erect thereon a temple wherein not only the citizens of a State but the nations of the earth may worship in concord and in peace. No wonder, with such objects in view, that the edifice has been rudely assailed, upon the one hand, nor upon the other, that it has triumphantly withstood all attacks made upon it. It is the fraternal, concrete, vital principles of Odd Fellowship that constitute its power, that commend themselves to the judgment, warm the generous hearts, and excite the noble, self-sacrificing enthusiasm of tens of thousands of its disciples. Those principles no human power can destroy. Its antagonists are prejudices, passions, and vices, and against these, the arch-enemies of the human race, the battle-cry of our Order will continue to resound until intolerance and bigotry, selfishness and vice are overcome, and there reign over the earth in their stead Friendship toward man, Love toward God, with Truth finally victorious. With our eye ever upon the high goal of a true, noble manhood, and our hearts burning with lofty hopes of the future progress of our race in its material, intellectual and moral struggles, let us not,

however, overlook the pressing needs of the present, but ever hear and reverently obey the supreme injunction of the Order, "We command you to visit the sick, relieve the distressed, to bury the dead, and to educate the orphan."-Jas. B. Nicholson, P. G. Sire.

WE must be prompt and punctual in our attendance upon the stated meetings of the Lodge, because it is essential to a thorough acquaintance with the teachings and principles of Odd Fellowship. Now, this is so apparent that it should need no argument at my hands to convince the most unthinking of its truth. We all know that much of Odd Fellowship is unwritten, and can, therefore, be learned nowhere else than in the Lodge-room. And all that is written, for reasons known to us and good in themselves, can be learned nowhere else so quickly or so well as in the Lodge-room. And is there one who will for a moment insist that we can be Odd Fellows in deed and in truth without a thorough acquaintance with its principles and teachings? Does the student who desires to become a scholar content himself with matriculation at his chosen university? Does the man who wishes to become a successful merchant content himself with becoming the nominal partner or clerk in some mercantile house? Does the brave and stout-hearted youth who wishes to become master of some trade or profession content himself with a simple apprenticeship to some one who is a leader in that chosen trade or profession? Nay, verily. Much less should we content ourselves with a mere nominal connection with an