“How is’t the sons of men are sad,
    Oppressed with grief and care? 
  How is’t that some of this world’s goods,
    Have such a scanty share? 
  Why should the orphan’s piercing cry,
    Assail so oft our ear,
  And thousands find the world to be
    All desolate and drear?

  “We do not solve the mystery
    Of woes, the lot of man,
  But in the lodge we all unite
    To do the good we can. 
  ’Tis there we learn the pleasing task
    To soothe the troubled breast,
  To educate the orphan child,
    And succor the distressed.

  “Our motto—­Friendship, Love and Truth—­
    These e’er shall be our guide,
  Our aim shall be, of misery
    To stop the running tide.”

  We ask not what’s a brother’s faith,
    What country gave him birth;
  But open the door to every creed
    And nation of the earth.

  Hail, Charity!  Odd-Fellows all
    Bow down before thy shrine;
  They raise no altar, make no vow,
    That is not wholly thine.

LOVE SUPREME.

Love is the key to the human heart.  If we want to have power with God and man, we must cultivate love.  It is love that burns truth into the hearts of people.  A man may be a good lawyer without love.  There may be a good surgeon without love.  A man may be a good merchant without love.  But a man can not be a good Odd-Fellow or Christian without love.  I would rather have my heart full of love than be even a prophet.  If a man is full of love, Paul says, “he is greater than a prophet.”  A wife would rather live in a cabin with the love of her husband, than to live in a palace without it.  If I love a man I will not cheat him or slander him or envy him.  I pity people who are constantly looking out for slights.  It is better to look on the bright side rather than the dark side of life.  Love will lead us to look on the bright side.  Some persons are always magnifying the faults of others.  They use a magnifying glass in this business.  If you want power with persons, speak as well as you can of them.  Self-control is a great thing.  This comes and stays through love.  How many dwarfs there are in God’s church now.  They have not grown one inch spiritually in twenty years.  If our hearts are full of love, we are bound to grow.  Many other graces pass away, but love is eternal.  The most selfish man is the most miserable man.  A man may be miserly with his money, but no man can be miserly with love.  Love creates love.  The more we love, the more we will be loved.  Love must show itself.  Love demonstrates its presence by action.  Our lives, after all, are mere echoes.  I speak harsh to a man, and he will speak harsh to me.  If a man has bad neighbors it his own fault.  If a woman has bad servants it is her own fault.  If we make others happy we will be happy ourselves.  If you are not happy,