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THE MANCHESTER UNITY 
 
 or 
 
 (^UfsUow^ gxmA\^ §mt(\t ^ami^, 
 
 BEING 
 
 AN EXPLANATION OF THE PRINCIPLES, GOVERNMENT AND 
 
 SYSTEM OF WORKING ADOPTED BY THE GREAT 
 
 FRIENDLY SOCIETIES OR MUTUAL INSURANCE 
 
 CLUBS OF THE PROVIDENT ARTIZAN 
 
 CLASS OF ENGLAND. 
 
 PUBLISHED WITH A VIEW OF EXTENDING THE ORDER AMONG THE THINKINO 
 PORTION OF THE WORKING CLASSES OF THIS COMMUNITY. 
 
 BT 
 
 JNO. ERVIN, Jr. 
 
 CORRESPONDING SECRETARY, HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA DISTRICT. 
 
 L^4 
 
 Z. S. HALL, 
 
 ARMY AND KAVV BOOKSELLER AND STATIONER, HALIFAX. 
 
 1870. 
 
 . :jiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiilliik 
 
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 iu!^!»*""' ' " '."iijw'fw^rwiiinifp' 
 
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 A 
 
 TO THE 
 
 HONOURABLE SIR WILLIAM YOUNG, Knt., 
 
 CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT 
 OF NOVA SCOTIA, 
 > THE ENLIGHTENED AND LEARNED JUDGE, 
 
 ^f TO WHOM THE CITIZENS OF HALIFAX ARE INDEBTED FOR 
 
 THE ONLY PUBLIC LIBRARY THEY POSSESS, 
 
 THIS EFFORT TO INTRODUCE THE GREAT PRINCIPLE OF 
 
 MUTUAL INSURANCE AND FRIENDLY BENEFIT CLUBS 
 
 AMONG THE 
 PROVIDENT MEMBERS OF THIS COMMUNITY, 
 IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 
 if A BY 
 
 it THE AUTHOR. 
 
 \ 
 
i 
 
 diiteuMiiSiiSK 
 
 Ai 
 
< 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 As MANY of those into whose hands this httle hrochurc 
 may fall have no doubt often enquired " What is Odd- 
 fellowship ? " ill the same spirit as they have asked what 
 is " Masonry," I deem it necessary to enter into a brief 
 description of the second largest and certainly the richest 
 
 \ society of the kind in the world, " The Manchester 
 
 i Unity of Oddfellows." 
 
 j Many suppose it, like the honorable and ancient frater- 
 
 nity of free and accepted Masons, to have been founded 
 in antiquity and reared in mystery. A greater mistake 
 could not exist. The name is certainly ancient, and the 
 order is said to have existed in past ages, coeval in fact 
 with the Jewish and Roman periods, particularly with the 
 
 ' former. But modern Oddfellowship lays no claim to 
 
 respect on the score of antiquity. As for mystery, it is 
 unknown to it ; and the principles it professes are 
 familiar as household words in every christian land, — 
 Friendship, Love and Truth. In those three words 
 consist all its mystery, and the j)ractice of the principles 
 they represent has been the grand secret of its success. 
 What then, may be asked, is Oddfellowship ? I answer, 
 X. it is simply a benefit society, orginated some fifty years 
 
 ago in a town of England by a few poor Artizans, 
 desirous of obtaining for themselves relief in time of 
 
 1 
 
6 
 
 need, in sickaess and old age, from thence it has sprung 
 with amazing rapidity until its branches or Lodges are 
 established wherever the English tongue is spoken, 
 possessing an accumulated capital of several million dol- 
 lars. Though founded for the benefit, and consisting 
 principally of workingmen, it numbers among its mem- 
 bers many of the higher classes, who think it an honor to 
 belong to it. Its roll of honorary members includes the 
 names of several of the leading gentry of England. 
 It is not long since a distinguished clergyman of the 
 Church of England occupied the Grand Master's chair, 
 and presided over the dehberations of the Board of 
 Directors. It has performed what no other society of 
 the kind has attempted, taken and published the expe- 
 rience of 1,006,272 years of life, of the sickness and 
 mortality of its members ; the cost of preparing and 
 publishing wliich amounted to $17,500.00, and upon 
 the information thus gained it has founded safe tables of 
 rates of contributions^ the adhering to which has preserv- 
 ed the solvency of the society, and contributed to its 
 greatness. 
 
 There are at present about six thousand Lodges, num- 
 bering over half a million of members. In New Zea- 
 land there are over two thousand members. In Canada, 
 including our own province, eleven Lodges have been 
 established with a membership of between five and six 
 hundred. As its name imports, it is a unity of the closest 
 nature ; every Lodge, no matter how distant from the 
 centre, acknowledging but one head, the Grand Master 
 and Board of Directors, who meet quarterly in the city 
 of Manchester for the transaction of business. 
 
For the purposes of government, and the ensuring of its 
 stability, the Society is divided into districts, and districts 
 into Lodges. Lodges consist of an unlimited number of 
 members presided over by three elective officers called the 
 Noble Grand, Vice Grand and Secretary. Districts con- 
 sist of an unlimited number of Lodges, governed by three 
 officers who are elected annually, viz. : District Grand 
 Master, Deputy Grand Master and Corresponding Secre- 
 tary. The business of the district is conducted by the 
 three last mentioned officers, and deputies from each 
 Lodge, chosen fi'om either past or present elective officers. 
 
 The object of a district is to unite the Lodges in each 
 district for the purpose of spreading the payments or 
 liabilities for funeral donations, and where provided for 
 the sickness over a greater number, with a view to the 
 better security of the members, and better government of 
 the Lodges. 
 
 A general meeting of the society is held annually, 
 commencing at 9 o'clock on Whit-Monday in each year, 
 in some town of England which may have been decided 
 upon by ballot at the previous annual meeting. This 
 meeting, called the Annual Moveable Committee, may be 
 considered as the parliament of the order, being com- 
 posed of the Grand Master, Deputy Grand Master, and 
 corresponding Secretary, and deputies appointed by dis- 
 tricts according to the number of members. Each dis- 
 trict has the privilege of sending one deputy. Every 
 district having one thousand or more members, two 
 deputies, and for every additional thousand members, or 
 any part thereof, one deputy. 
 
 -u.a- 
 
8 
 
 At this meeting, which generally sits for five or six 
 days, or longer if business requires, are made, altered or 
 rescinded the g(meral laws or rules "vvliich govern the 
 whole Unity. To it submitted the accounts of the 
 past year, wnth a report from the Board of Directors, 
 showing the position in which the society then stands 
 and the progress it has made during the year. 
 
 The (irand Master and Deputy Grand ]\Iaster are 
 elected annually by this meeting, the Head Secretary of 
 the order, called the Corresponding Secretaiy, is elected 
 during pleasure. It will no doubt surprise some of my 
 readers, to be informed that this officer, who is constantly 
 employed, receives a salary nearly equal to the Honorable 
 Treasurer of the Province of Nova Scotia. At each 
 annual meeting nine deputies are elected as an executive 
 government, called the Board of Directors. Their duty 
 is to conduct the business of the society from one annual 
 meeting to another. This Board meets quarterly, or 
 oftener if required, at Manchester, England, and is pre- 
 sided over by the Grand Master, Deputy Grand Master, 
 and the Corresponding Secretaiy. To the Directors are 
 referred all appeals from the decisions of District Meet- 
 ings, or District officers. They issue every quarter a re- 
 port to each Lodge in the Unity, containing a list of ex- 
 pulsions for violations of law, notice of Lodges opened, 
 suspended and seceeded during the past quarter, and a 
 statement shewing the income and expenditure of the 
 society for the same period. Under their sanction is 
 published a quarterly magazine, devoted to the interest 
 of the order. In the April report of each year is pub- 
 
 J. 
 
/ 
 
 9 
 
 lished a Balance Sheet of the general fund of tho order, 
 together with the returns from all the districts, she"sving 
 the number of members and amount of funds in each dis- 
 trict. Every second year a directory of tlie Avhole order 
 is published, shewing the name, numb(»r and k)cality of 
 each Lodge, Avitli the address of all Lodge and District 
 Secretaries, and containing l)eside a yast amount of use- 
 ful information regarding the order. 
 
 Provision is also made whereby if a Lodge closes from 
 want of funds, secedes, breaks up, or divides its funds, 
 and beconu's expended ; those members of a lodge in such 
 case not being party to such secession or division of funds 
 «f J may place themselves on the funds of the order. They 
 
 are then called unity members, and pay into the general 
 fund of the order, the same amount of contributions they 
 may have pidd into the lodge to which they belonged, 
 and in the event of sickness or death, secure the same 
 benefits. By this means members who have joined never 
 lose the benefit of the money they have paid, provided 
 they abide by the rules of the society. 
 
 Having thus traced a brief outline of the working of 
 the order, I now proceed to describe its 
 
 OBJECTS, 
 which, as stated in the general laws of the Society, are to 
 raise a fund by entrance fees, subscriptions of the mem- 
 bers, fines and donations, and by interest on capital, for 
 insuring a sum of money to be paid on the death of a 
 member, to the widow or cliildren, or executors or ad- 
 ministrators or assigns of such member, or for defraying 
 the funeral expenses of a member, and also for insuiing 
 
10 
 
 a sum of money to be paid to a member on the death of 
 his wife, for the relief of members in sickness and old 
 age, for providing proper medicine and medical attend- 
 ance for members, for granting assistance to the widows 
 and childi'en of deceased members, for providing mem- 
 bers with assistance when travelling in search of employ- 
 ment, and for assisting members in distressed circumstan- 
 ces. 
 
 Observe that the word charity does not occur in any 
 of the above objects. Charity in its common acceptation, 
 as applied to the relief granted by societies, is unknown 
 among us. No member receives relief as charity, it is 
 what he has paid for, or rather, insured. It would be 
 absurd to state that the merchant who receives an amount 
 insured on the loss of his vessel or merchandize, received 
 it as an act of charity, and in the same light may be re- 
 garded the relief granted to a member upon any of the 
 above contingencies. By the payment of a few cents 
 weekly he insures a certain benefit to himself and family 
 in sickness and at death. 
 
 The order therefore cannot bo regarded in any light 
 as a charitable institution. Its true definition is "a 
 mutual benefit Society," indeed, it is to render the work- 
 ing man independent of either public or private charity, in 
 sickness or old age, that the Order is designed. To be 
 independent of parochial or charitable relief is surely an 
 object worthy the emulation of any man, and such I 
 claim to be the sole and only object for which oui* soci- 
 ety labors. 
 
 In this country the principle of mutual benefit insur- 
 
 / 'V 
 
11 
 
 ance societies, as they exit in England, is new and has 
 not yet become engrafted on the public sentiment of the 
 community, but I confidently trust the day is not far 
 distant when every provident workingman who desires 
 to be independent of the visiscitudes which a long and 
 protracted illness often entails upon himself and family, 
 will be a member of some benefit or friendly club or 
 society, established upon and governed by the principles I 
 have attempted to explain. 
 
 This however leads me to another and veiy important 
 branch of my subject, viz : — 
 
 THE BENEFITS WHICH A WORKING MAN DERIVES FROM 
 
 BEING A MEMBER OF THE MANCHESTER UNITY 
 
 OF ODDFELLOWS FRIENDLY SOCIETY. 
 
 I speak not now of the amount of sick gifts or funeral 
 donations, as that is left to the decision of the majority of 
 the members in each district, and maybe from $2.00 up 
 to $5.00 per week, and from fifty to four hundred dollai's 
 at death. I shall deal with that subject more closely when 
 I explain the method of securing benefits as practised in 
 our society. My present purpose is to point out to the 
 honest and thinking portion of the working classes of 
 this community, the great advantages they may secure by 
 forming themselves into benefit clubs or societies, founded 
 upon the same principle as the Manchester Unity, and I 
 cannot better do so, than by comparing the position of a 
 member of a benefit society with that of a non-member. 
 Shoulc a member of the Manchester unity fall sick, or 
 be unable to follow his usual employment from an acci- 
 dent, or by any other means, not the result of careless- 
 
12 
 
 ness or criminal conduct, he has in the first instance 
 medical attendance and medicine supphed free. During 
 the first year's sickness he receives a stated amount every 
 week, and for any continued sickness after that period 
 one half of the amount granted during the first twelve 
 months. The medical attendance and medicine are con- 
 tinued during the whole term of sickness or disability, if 
 required. Consider the case of a person, who by reason 
 of sickness or accident, is deprived of the means of earn- 
 ing a livelihood. Few of the artizan class, even by the 
 practice of the utmost economy, can do more than make 
 both ends meet, even while earning fan* or average 
 wages. The prospect of a severe illness to such, with 
 a young and helpless family, with nothing coming in, 
 and everything, so to speak, going out, is truly aiDpalling, 
 and must infinitely increase the pangs of sickness. If 
 medical attendance and medicine are required, they can 
 only be procured by running in debt, as whatever little 
 savings may have been laid by, must now be consumed 
 for necessary food and nourishment. Thus the future 
 earnings of the mechanic, if he recovers, ai'e mortgaged 
 to pay ofi" debts contracted during a few months' sickness. 
 But how infinitely greater is the suffering consequent 
 upon a long and protracted illness, or perhaps a total 
 disability to earn a livelihood. For such a one, private 
 charity, or worse still, the public almshouse, is the only 
 prospect. But why dilate ; it must be obvious that the 
 position of a member of a Benefit Club is fai* preferable 
 to that of a non-member. The aid he receives is unac- 
 companied by the degrading sense of dependence upon 
 
 \ 
 
 ^ 
 
f 
 
 15 
 
 charity; thus v/hile he receives help, his self respect is 
 not lessened, and his independence remains intact, 
 secured by (he knowledge that for every doUai' he re- 
 ceives from his society, it was his prudence and fore- 
 thought in uniting with others for the common good 
 of all that insured it to him, and not the charity of his 
 fellow-man. 
 
 I think I have fully demonstrated the great utility in 
 a member of the working population uniting himself with 
 a friendly or benefit society. It remains for me now to 
 describe the 
 
 PRINCIPLE UPON WHICH THEY ARE CONDUCTED AND 
 BY WHICH THEIR USEFULNESS AND SOL- 
 VENCY ARE PRESERVED. 
 
 It was many years after the formation of friendly 
 societies among the provident poor of the mother coun- 
 try, that the principle of a graduated payment according 
 to age at joining became recognized as the only safe 
 method upon which to conduct them. In the absence 
 of a knowledge of the science of vital statistics, an equal 
 contribution from each member was exacted. The uni- 
 versal experience of these societies was one unvarying 
 round of failure and prematui'e decay. Lodges and 
 clubs which at first were in the most flourishing con- 
 dition, became insolvent and were compelled to close 
 from want of funds, and members who had joined at an 
 early age discovered that after having paid into the funds 
 for a number of years, their hard earned savings were 
 annihilated by the claims of members who had joined at 
 a more advanced age and contributed less than them- 
 
14 
 
 selves. Mistrust and doubt of the efficacy of such 
 societies to secure the purpose for which they were 
 formed, followed in the path of failuie. Though the 
 object for which they were designed was one of the noblest 
 that mankind can labor, to achieve, the principle upon 
 which they were conducted was inefficient to secure that 
 object. To the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows belongs 
 the honor of having first introduced into practice the gradu- 
 ated system of payment which has made these friendly 
 societies considered among the great Institutions for 
 the amelioration of the distress of mankind, to -which 
 the humanity of the nineteenth century has given birth. 
 
 But to return, many of the societies at present existing 
 in Halifax, with which a gi*eat portion of our working 
 population have connected themselves, and in which they 
 have the most experience, have professed to grant a 
 weekly benefit of thi-ee doUai's per week in sickness. This 
 sum has been seldom or ever demanded or bestowed, ex- 
 cept in cases of extreme distress, and then it comes in the 
 form of charity, the recipient considering himself indebted 
 for the favor, and not as if he were receiving a just claim. 
 In the great majority of cases, however, the funds have 
 been unable to meet the demands of even the few claims 
 arising from sickness, and this has occurred in societies 
 with larger membership, and which have existed for a 
 great many years. Take for instance the Sons of Tem- 
 perance, some of the Divisions have been in existence 
 over twenty years, with an average membership of one 
 hundred. In the absence of any published report of the 
 state of their funds, I am unable to say in what position 
 
 l! 
 
•mmmw 
 
 15 
 
 !► 
 
 they stand after twenty years' experience of sickness and 
 mortality claims arising among their members, yet from 
 my own knowledge of them a few years ago, I wonld 
 venture to assert that few, if any of the Divisions have 
 over fifty pounds in hand. Some, I have recently been 
 informed, have suspended payment of benefits owing to 
 want of funds. This is certainly a poor prospect for 
 the member who joins with the legitimate object of insur- 
 ing benefit for himself in sickness, and something for his 
 family at his death. 
 
 The mortality of three members at the rate of the funeral 
 donation paid by the Halifax District Branch of the 
 Manchester Unity would annihilate a fund of fifty pounds 
 completely. It must be acknowledged, that so far as 
 securing benefits in sickness is concerned, the experience 
 of the Sons of Temperance is fallacious and deceptive. 
 Their failure in this respect has arisen from the same 
 cause which proved so ruinous in the earlier period of 
 the history of friendly societies of the mother country. 
 It is not my object to deride the noble cause for 
 which the Temperance Societies are laboring, or to 
 assert that so far as that cause is concerned, they have 
 not efiected a large amount of good, because I believe 
 that their influence upon the community has had and 
 still has a beneficial effect. I only speak of them as 
 benefit societies ; in this respect the experience of the 
 Halifax Branch of the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows, 
 excels any of the numerous organizations in this city 
 which have professed to pay benefit to their sick and dis- 
 abled members, and I challenge comparison with the 
 
16 
 
 following facts and figures. Established in April 18v 
 ■with an average membership of about 40; until th 
 end of last October a large increase took place, no less 
 than fifty new members having been added to the list 
 since that period; the Halifax District has paid the 
 sum of $500,00 in sick and funeral benefits and for 
 medical attendance and medicine, beside the amount ex- 
 pended for management purpose. Notwithstanding this 
 large outlay the accumulation of the sick fund enabled 
 the (hstrict not only to meet every claim, but also to 
 deposit from time to time in the Savings Bank the over- 
 plus remaining after paying expenses, and on the first of 
 April last the Secretary's balance sheet for the previous 
 quarter, shewed the handsome sum of ten hundred and 
 twenty five dollars and fifty cents to the credit of the 
 sick fund in the Savings Bank, and sixty-six dollars in 
 the hands of the Treasurer. 
 
 It will be asked, how has such a result been realized ? 
 I answer, by the operation of the system which governs 
 every flourishing branch of our wide and fast spreading 
 unity. The system of a graduated payment, according to 
 age at joining, adopted from tables founded upon the ex- 
 perience of a number of years' sickness and mortality 
 claims of their members, has proved a safe and efficient 
 method of conducting benefit societies. The credit of its 
 establisliment remains with the Manchester Unity of 
 Oddfellows, which may justly be called the pioneer of 
 those great financial reforms in the conducting of Friendly 
 societies, which have rendered them not only an honor 
 to the wprking man, but a blessing to the age. 
 
 ( h 
 
 : yj, 
 
17 
 
 In elucidating this very important principle of the 
 management of friendly societies ; I shall not clog the 
 suhject with many figures, using only a few absolutely 
 necessary to illustrate it. In 1850, and again in 
 1860, the Boai'd of management, as I before intimated, 
 from returns furnished them by the different Lodges in 
 the Unity, published the experience of 1,006,27^ years 
 of life, of the sickness and mortality of its members. 
 The cost of preparing and publishing this immense mass 
 of information, and of calculating the elaborate tables by 
 which the financial condition of the order has been 
 strengthened and preserved, amounted to the large sum 
 of seventeen thousand five hundred dollai's. 
 
 A writer in the Quarterly Meview of the year 1864, 
 
 in treating of friendly societies, thus speaks of these 
 
 tables. He says : — 
 
 " An elaborate series of tables has accordingly been 
 prepared, and published for their information by Mr. 
 Ratcliffe, the corresponding Secretary, at an expense of 
 £3,500 stg. Id the preface to the last edition, it is stated 
 that * this sum has not been abstracted from the funds set 
 apart for relief during sickness, for assurance at death, or 
 for providing for necessitous widows and orphans, but 
 from the management funds of the lodges — funds, which, 
 being generally raised by direct levy on the members, 
 are not therefore readily expended without careful con- 
 sideration on the part of those most interested in the 
 character and welfare of their cherished institution.' " 
 
 The tables referred to are five in number, each five 
 
 containing different scales of rates of payment, according 
 
 to age, and are calculated to suit any class of individuals. 
 
 By these tables a benefit may be insured from $^.00 to 
 
 liiMi 
 
18 
 
 .00 per week, for the first twelve months' sickness, and 
 from 1 1.00 to $2.60 for any sickness after a continuance of 
 twelve months. The funeral donations insured are from 
 $30 to $60 at the death of a member, and from $15.00 
 to $30.00 at the death of a member's wife. 
 
 Lodges are compelled to adopt some one of these scales. 
 
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 «ess, and 
 uance of 
 ^^•e from. 
 
 ' scales. 
 
 By this scale a member entering at the age of 40, 
 •will pry as much as the member who enters at the age 
 of SO, supposing them to live to the age of sixty, and 
 allowing for the interest upon the accumulated amount 
 paid by each, and the difference in the initiation fee. ' v 
 
 "The experience of the Manchester Unity, shows that 
 the average sickness fi'om the ages of 20 to 40, is con- 
 siderably below one week per member per annum. 
 The contribution to this branch of the insurance, in some 
 of the districts of the Manchester Unity, is about double 
 the amount of the value of the liability for the period. 
 About one-half is therefore placed at interest, to meet 
 the increasing demands incident to a more advanced 
 period of life. 
 
 From forty to sixty years of age, the average sickness, 
 according to the Manchester Unity experience, is about 
 two weeks per member per year. Therefore the average 
 of incUviduals entering at 40 receive nearly three times 
 as much sick allowance, during the twenty years after 
 initiation, as those introduced at twenty; and besides 
 they have an extra chance of living beyond the age of 
 sixty, when the claims upon the sick fund become enor- 
 mously increased." * "i= >^ : r I t't i:'-. ',; i.l'- 
 
 A member joining at the age of 20, when he reaches 
 the age of 40, supposing him to live to that age, will 
 have paid during that period the sum of $117,50. Allow- 
 ing one week per annum as the average amount of sick 
 pay drawn by him, the following will be the result : cc 
 
 Amount paid in including initiation fee $117.50 
 \ ' Twenty weeks sick pay at $3 per week 60.00 
 
 f-'m,\ 
 
 Add interest derivable from amount paid in 
 
 57.50 
 2.50 
 
 gfvrY^fj<pi ncri'vs 
 
 !l*Hardwick'« Manual. <r « II 60.00 
 

 20 
 
 And we have the amount payable in the event of the 
 member's death. Should he live, this sura remains at 
 interest to meet the accruing liabilities of the next 20 
 years, which are double that of the first forty. 
 ,: Mr. Hardwick, the editor of the Oddfellow's Maga- 
 zine, a gentleman whose writings have been of infinite 
 benefit to the cause of friendly societies, and working- 
 men's provident institutions, in his Manual for members 
 of friendly societies, illustrates this principle more clear- 
 ly than I can hope to do. He says : — 
 
 « The Expectation of Life Tables fiu-nishes the period 
 over which the contributions may be anticipated to 
 extend. The total in-payments, with interest, must be 
 equivalent to the ascertained liability. Its after division 
 into yearly, monthly, or fortnightly payments is merely 
 a question of common arithmetic. >■ ■ • 
 
 "It is perfectly true that the duration of no one indi- 
 vidual member's life may accord with this calculation, 
 i It is this very individual uncertainty that creates the 
 necessity for friendly societies and insurance companies. 
 No man can foresee at the time of his initiation what 
 : will be the amount oihis claims upon the fund. It may 
 -be more or less than the aiiticipated probability. But 
 this matters not to the society, for if correct average 
 rates have been once ascertained, and the whole of the 
 necessary conditions attended to, the fluctuations on the 
 favom-able side of the question will balance those of an 
 opposite character. . • n 
 
 « There is the fullest and most complete justice m all 
 this. There is no pauperism or even charity in it. In- 
 dependence in its truest sense is preserved and maintain- 
 ed by the reception of benefits, whatever amount may un- 
 fortunately be required, when procured under these con- 
 ditions. If a society could forsee that a person applying 
 
21 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
 l> 
 
 for initiation would eventually prove, in technical phrase- 
 ology, a " bad life," he would, of course, be refused 
 admission. On the other hand, if the party proposing 
 were competent to predict with certainty that his life 
 would prove a long and healthy one, it would evidently 
 become his interest to decline entering into any society 
 of the kind, but he would, instead, periodically invest ' 
 the amount of his proposed subscription in the Savings i 
 Bank, or some other good and profitable security. 33ut, 
 as it is hnpossihle to forsee these things, prudence 
 and forethought dictate a union of interests, so that 
 imder the worst of circumstances, or under the best, a 
 certain provision for the future may be confidently relied 
 upon. 
 
 "The insurance principle, based upon a knowledge of 
 average liability, may, perhaps, be more clearly compre- 
 hended by some of the members when further contrast- 
 ed with that upon which another provident institution 
 is founded. I allude to the Savings Bank. Here each 
 individual depends entirely upon his own exertions, 
 and the amount he may be enabled to deposit will 
 depend materially upon his comparative freedom 
 from sickness or otherAvise. He may be fortunate, 
 and save a considerable sum in a few years, which, in 
 addition to the interest, is exclusively his own property ; 
 or he may be unfortunate, and during the most critical 
 period of his life, his provident store may fail him. 
 Here there is no joint risk. On the contrary, in a 
 friendly society or insurance Club, the money deposited 
 is the property of the society, the body corporate undertak 
 ing to provide certain pecuniary aid to each member in 
 proportion to the duration of his affliction, and without 
 reference to the amount individually contributed." 
 
 Having thus illustrated the principle upon which a 
 friendly society can alone hope to obtain the object for 
 
 i y\:i.:- -XtA (,' •] -■;.;; ■■:■<. .iUii'jii".; r ;w '■ -i-n 
 
 ":tt; 
 
l\ 
 
 V 
 
 / 
 
 I 
 
 which it is organized, I now propose to review the 
 result which the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows friendly 
 society has achieved. For this information I am indebt- 
 ed to the valuable work of Mr. Ilardwick, already 
 I ; quoted. At page 22 of his manual for friendly societies, 
 
 ;: referring to the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows, he 
 
 I : says : — 
 
 1 1 *' The progress of the secret affiliated bodies was ex- 
 
 I tremely rapid after the Friendly Society principle had be- 
 
 I come ftdly engrafted upon their original constitutions. 
 
 i In 1830, according to Mr. Burn, there were not 40,000 
 
 ' members in the entire Manchester Unity, and these were 
 
 located principally in Manchester and its immediate neigh- 
 bourhood. 
 
 " It appears from the report of the sub-committee, pre- 
 sented to the annual meeting held at Glasgow, that the 
 Unity included, in 1838, 1,200 lodges, comprising 
 90,000 members. From this it would appear the society 
 had more than doubled its numbers in two years. Four 
 years later, in 1842, according to the "memorial for the 
 opinion of council," the Order consisted of upwards of 
 3,500 lodges, enumerating in the aggregate 220,000 
 members. 
 
 ** The amount of contributions paid by the members of 
 the Manchester Unity, in 1844, was £245,847 13s. 8d. 
 and the initiation fees paid by new members amounted to 
 £49,389 9s. Id.; the expenditure for sickness was 
 £107,440 8s. lid.; for funerals and widows and orphans, 
 £62,742 lis. 6d.; for travelling relief to members in 
 search of employment, and other incidental expenses (in- 
 
 eluding surgeons' fees, benevolent gifts, &c.), £71,420 "(^^^ 
 
 16s. 4d. The number of weeks' sickness experienced 
 by the entire Unity in the year, amounted to 224,817, 
 or six days seventeen hours per member. 
 
 i\i 
 
88 
 
 he 
 
 r 
 
 
 ) 
 
 "In 1845 the Unity cominiscd about 4,000 lodges, dis- 
 tributed ovci* various pju'ts of Great Britain, the colonies, 
 and the United States of America. 'J'he nuinber of 
 members pjood on the books, or entitled to benefits, was 
 very near ii5(),0()0. 
 
 ** From this period the number of members bcL^an to de- 
 cline. The Annual Committee held at N(!Wcastle-upon- 
 Tyne, in 1844, had ordered returns to be sent in from 
 all lodges in the Unity, with the view to the comjiilation 
 of proper tables of payments and benefits from the results 
 of the past experic>nce of the society itself. 1'he com- 
 mittee had been impelled towards this course^ by the 
 startling fact that between one and two hundred lodges 
 had been compelled to close for want of finids in one 
 yeai* ! Several members ignorantly imagining that the 
 directory wished to get possession of 'he funds of the 
 various separate lodges, or that they purposed covertly 
 " to sell the information to Government,'* became alarm- 
 ed, and prevailed upon their branches to refuse com- 
 pliance Avith the resolutions of the governing body, 
 though that body had been elected upon the broadest 
 democratic principle. The malcontents were consequent- 
 ly suspended from their connection with the Order until 
 they furnished the requisite information. 
 
 "In the following year (1845) the Annual Committee, 
 which met at Glasgow, passed some resolutions, which 
 enforced upon lodges certain financial improvements. 
 The " conservative " party rebelled, and a serious crisis 
 resulted, which threatened, for a considerable time, the 
 very existence of the Manchester Unity. The opposing 
 factions struggled with desperate energy for a lengthened 
 period, and much personality and some irrelevant matter 
 became mixed up with the affair. It ended in what is 
 termed the " National Split," or the formation of a sepa- 
 rate society, with the title of the " National Independent 
 Older of Oddfellows." The great bulk of the Manclies- 
 ter Unitv, however, adhered to the law and the executive. 
 
u 
 
 w 
 
 "The Corresponding Secretaiy at the time states, in a 
 published document, the number of members in February 
 1845, to have been 248,526, and estimates the number 
 suspended in consequence of these differences to have 
 been 15,840, the great bulk of whom belonged to 
 the Manchester and Salford districts. From the 1st of 
 February to the 31st of August, in the same year, 16,292 
 new members joined the Unity, leaving the total number 
 248,978. In the same document it is stated, but I know 
 not on what precise authority, that the gross amount of 
 funds belonging to the various branches of the Order was 
 £684,869. The auditors' report, however, presented to 
 the Annual Committee at Glasgow, states that the num- 
 ber of members had increased to 264,869, of which 255,- 
 979 were good upon the books on the first of January in 
 the same year. From this period until 1853, it slightly 
 but gradually decreased. The general stagnation in trade 
 which followed the period of the National secession ma- 
 terially thinned the ranks of the Order. In 1850 the mem- 
 bers good on the books amounted to 224,878. The returns 
 since show the total number, and not those alone who 
 are entitled to benefits. In January, 1851, the Unity 
 numbered 229,049 ; and in January, 1852, 225,194 ; 
 being a decrease during the twelve months of 3,855 
 On January 1st, 1853, the number was 224,441, again 
 exhibiting a decrease of 753. In this year the Annual 
 Committee, assembled at Preston, passed resolutions 
 compelling each lodge in the Unity to adopt a graduated 
 rate of contribution, according to age, on entrance." 
 
 Such was the progress of the Unity up to the year 
 
 1853. At that period the system of graduated pajinent 
 
 according to age, had not been adopted by all the Lodges 
 
 in the Unity. Since its adoption by all the Lodges, in 
 
 the short period of fifteen yeai's, the membership has 
 
 doubled, and the funds have increased to an enormous 
 
 ■/ 1^ 
 
 ^M 
 
 " {I 
 
26 
 
 a 
 
 Y 
 
 f 
 
 V- 
 
 . 
 
 extent, as will be seen by the report of the Grand Master 
 to the Annual Moveable Committee held in May, 1869. 
 He says : j ; » 
 
 " The Grand Master congratulated the A.jM.C. that 
 nothing had occurred to disturb the peace and harmony 
 of the Order during liis period of office, and also upon 
 its steady yet marked progress. On the 1st Januaiy, 
 1868, there Avcre 417,422 members in the Order, and 
 during the year 24,484 were admitted, making a total 
 of 445,906. During the same period 11 lodges, with 
 224 members, had been closed ; five, with 239 members 
 had seceded ; and six, with 821 members, had been sus- 
 pended. The losses by death had also been 5,o08, and 
 by non-payment of contributions 10,019, making the 
 total loss 20,811, and reducing the numerical strength 
 to 425,095, but leaving a clear increase to the unity 
 during the year, of 7,673. Although during 18()8 an 
 average number of members had not been added to the 
 society, a large proportion of those admitted were young 
 men — 20,006 being under 25 years of age ; 5,215 under 
 30 ; 2,623 under 35, and only 965 above that age. To 
 the representatives of the 5,508, members who had died, 
 £50,851 14s. 6Jd. was paid, and, in addition, £18, 
 215 4s. was paid on the death of 3,094 members' wives, 
 making a t^tal in funeral donations of £69,066 19s.- 
 6Jd., to ^i'hich might be added £545 10s. IJd. 
 paid to 15,899 persons travelling in search of employ- 
 ment. The returns of the accounts received and paid on 
 account of sickness for the year ending 31st December, 
 1868, had not yet been completed, but during 1867 the 
 contributions received amounted to £398,550 18s. 5d. 
 to which £85,350 14s. 5d. for interest, and £15,768 
 2s. 6d. for initiation fees had to be added, making the 
 total receipts for the year £499,669 15s. 4d. During 
 the same period £251,385 17s. was paid in sick benefits. 
 
26 
 
 £75,412 4s. 2cl. for funeral benefits, making a total ex- 
 penditure of £326,798 Is. 2d., and leaving a clear gain 
 to the unity of £172,871 14s. 2d., and making its accu- 
 mulated capital £2,626,864 7s. Assuming that the 
 society had, in 1868, been as successful as in 1867 — and 
 there Avas no reason to doubt that it had not been — the 
 reserve fund of the unity would be £2,799,736 Is. 2d. 
 If further proof were required of the steady progress of 
 the societv, it was to be found in the fact that twelve 
 lodges, consisting of 2,145 members, had during the 
 past year had their assets and liabilities valued, and a 
 surplus had been declared of £6,211 13s. 4d." 
 
 In some of the Colonies Oddfellowship has made rapid 
 progress. In Canj^da there are two districts consisting of 
 nine Lodges, with a membership of about 400. 
 
 From the Oddfellow's Magazine published under the 
 sanction of the Board of Directors, I extract the fol- 
 lowing notice of the celebration of anniversaries in Ham- 
 ilton and Toronto : — 
 
 " Canada. — Hamilton. — The anniversary supper of 
 the Commercial Lodge was held in the lodge-room. King 
 street, on January 22nd. The N.G., Mr. C. Bamfylde, 
 occupied the chair. ** The Grand Master and Board of 
 Directors " was responded to in a neat spedch by the 
 D.G.M., Brother David Evans, and by the C.S., Bro- 
 ther Thomas Tindill, who said he had had the pleasure 
 of sitting on many boards, and had always done eveiy- 
 thing in and out of the lodge-room that was calculated to 
 benefit the order. Also, "Our order throughout the 
 world" was given. In responding, Brother Evans said 
 he had associated with Oddfellows in the mother country, 
 and had been connected with the order twenty-four years 
 in this country. He considered it one of the best socie- 
 ties to be found in the old or neW world. At one time 
 
 
 i4i 
 
27 
 
 neai'ly eveiy man in the city was an Oddfellow ; but when 
 prosperiety raised them up into the world, they felt 
 rather too high-strung to be any longer connected with 
 the order. He did not consider Oddfellowsliip a benevo- 
 lent institution altogether, but to a great extent a benefi- 
 cial one, he hoped that worldly prosperity would not pre- 
 vent members from sticking to the order." 
 
 " Canada, Toronto — Ontario. — ^The brethren of the 
 City of Toronto and Ontaiio Lodge gave an entertain- 
 ment to their families, friends, and acquaintances, on the 
 ^9th January. Upwards of 500 ladies and gentlemen 
 were present. Amongst them was his worship, Samuel 
 Bickerton Harman, Mayor of the city, brethren Daniel 
 Evans, D.G.M., Thomas Tindal, C.S., and 13amfylde 
 Hamilton, N.G., aud many prominent members of the 
 American Order of Oddfellows. The Masonic fraternity 
 of this city having kindly placed their suit of rooms at 
 the disposal of the committee of management, the breth- 
 ren and visitors were pleasantly surprised on being 
 ushered into the most elegant apartments in the Dominion. 
 
 Thev listened to addresses and son^s in the midst of 
 Masonic paraphernalia such as profane eyes rai'ely gaze 
 upon. The room appropriated to the solemnites of the 
 Royal Arch, afforded ample opportunites to the devotees 
 of whist, whilst the votaides of the mazy dance tlireaded 
 the spacious Masonic refreshment room, which had been 
 gaily decorated for the occasion. The Oddfellows' Hall 
 (formerly used by an encampment of IVIasonic High 
 Knight Templars) was specially adorned and used as a 
 refreshment room. P.M. Brother P. G. Clarke took the 
 chair, introduced Brother N. Gordon Bigelow, LL.B., 
 who delivered the opening lecture. He explained briefly 
 the salient features of the order, touched upon its history 
 in the province, the work that it has done in the past, 
 and that which it will carry out in the future. He 
 then referred to the extraordinary strength, resources. 
 
28 
 
 and usefulness of the Manchester Unity in England, 
 and of the Baltimore Unity in the United States. 
 The lecturer concluded by pointing out the great su- 
 periority of this institution over all other beneficial insti- 
 tutions, inasmuch as Oddfellows not only made better 
 provisions for the relief of destitution and distress than 
 the others, but also make such excellent provision for 
 the moral and intellectual improvement of its members, 
 that he who adheres to its principles and teachings, be- 
 comes a better and wiser man. Brother Ogle R. Bush- 
 anan, M.D., during the course of the evening delivered 
 an excellant address, which was warmly received, on the 
 social relations of the orders ; the want it supplied in our 
 social system, viewing its instrumentality as next after 
 the Church, in promoting the social and political welfare 
 of the community. The demonstration was, in every 
 sense, a marked success." 
 
 In New Zealand there are over 2000 Oddfellows. 
 The last returns from the Lodj^es in that colonv are of 
 the most encouraging description. In the January, 1865 
 number of the Oddfellows Magazine appears a very 
 graphic account of a celebration which I cannot forbear 
 from extracting, 
 
 Tasmania. — The annual festival in connection with 
 Oddfellowship, was held at the Harrington Street Assem- 
 bly Room, Hobart Town, on the 29th August last. 
 Shortly after 9 o'clock His Excellency the Governor 
 arrived. He was received by a guard of honour of the 
 1st and 3rd Rifles. From the foot of the staircase a 
 deputation headed by His Worship the Mayor, Colonel 
 Chesney, Colonial Treasurer, Attorney-general, Major 
 Wilson, Captain Kissock, Lieutenant Seddon, and all 
 the principal officers of the Order, escorted the Governor 
 to a chair upon a raised dais, covered with crimson cloth, 
 
 I 
 
 ''r 
 
29 
 
 and surmounted with a magnificent canopy, upon which 
 was placed a very pretty floral crown. The following 
 poetical addi-ess (beautifully printed in gold upon blue 
 satin) was presented by one of the Stewards to His Ex- 
 cellency, and copies distributed to the parties present : — 
 
 To His Excellency Colonc! Thomas Gore Browne, C.B., Governor- 
 in-Chief of Tasmania, Patron of the Order; His Worship the 
 
 ■ Mayor and Aldermen, and those who kindly patronise the Oddfel- 
 lows' Annual Ball (M.U.) in aid of the Widow and Orphan Fund. 
 
 • ; Welcome friends and patrons — to-night assembled round. 
 Where mirth combined with social joy is found, 
 We crave your patience ; pray, don't think us rude, 
 If on your time a moment we intrude ; , > 
 
 ; For on this eve of revelry and glee, 
 Let not our duty e'er forgotten be ; 
 ' ' • The daily claims we owe to one and other, 
 
 . ; Is e'er through life to love and serve a brother. 
 Our motto this, it binds both age and youth, 
 These three great virtues — "Friendship, Love, and Truth." 
 O ! may true " Friendship " bind each brother's heart, 
 . . May Holy Love its peacefulness impart, 
 
 I And may pure " Truth," united with the others, 
 
 ' Cause God to bless and aid this band of brothers. 
 
 ' But more than this, we other duties find; 
 ,(■ We cheer the Widow — lonesome, left behind ; * 
 
 We also aid the helpless offspring left ; 
 And succour those of father kind bereft. ' 
 
 i Is this not then, a Holy task for all? ' 
 
 A task in which may join both great and small. 
 To cheer the widow — haste to soothe her grief,-— 
 And to the orphan child extend relief! i 
 
 *Ti8 for this purpose that we meet this eve, 
 
 ; To aid a fund, and the distreas'd relieve ; .1, 
 
 , , To wipe from grief the piteous tear of woe, 
 
 And soothe the pang of parting here below I r; 
 
 ♦ ♦ * ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ * .„ 
 
 ■ Strangers and friends, whilst joy and mirth abound, ' ' 
 
 , [ May Holy Love and Charity br ibund 1 ^ , j; 
 
 Be gay, be merry, on our festi^ 3 eve, , 
 
 lU ''•' And with your help assist us (') achieve ; .*• ■ - v. i % 
 
 'U ll Accept good friends, our grateful thanks to all, ,.; , ..r. 
 
 /.J^ '..' Who've rallied round on this our festive call. ' ' " '^ 
 
 O ! may no care or grief your life oppress ; - ,tr*' t^t) 
 
 , , May you ne'er suffer want, or feel distress. ^ 
 
 H' But e'er we end, we yet a wish would give, '' »; ^''< •* 
 For us who strive, and would as brothers live ; 
 
 \_ 
 
30 
 
 That we may ever act towards each other, 
 ,; ;, As e'er becomes a friend, as e'er adorns a brother; 
 
 Thus may we pass through this short busy life, ''•' 
 
 • ' A happy band, e'er free from care and strife; U: ■ ./ 
 
 i' And when at length we've run our course of love, , j. 
 
 , ; May each one find a happier home above. 
 We trust you all this night may merry be, 
 ! And pass at least one hour in mirthful glee; , '; ^ 
 
 Be this the plan — to guide and rule each brother 
 '•' ■ > Live not for self alone, but for each other. . ';■ , 
 
 Dancing shortly after commenced by His Excellency 
 leading Lady Dry to the head of the room, and opening 
 the ball by dancing the 1st set of Quadrilles, Colonel 
 Chisney and Mrs. Meredith being vis a vis. Among 
 the guests present were Lady Dry, the Colonial Treasu- 
 rer and Lady, Colonel Chesney, Attorney-general, Major 
 Wilson, Captain Kissock, Lieutenant Seddon, Lieutenant 
 Hood, Lieutenant Maher, Lieutenant Palmer, Surgeons 
 Stokell and Doughty, His Worship the Mayor and seve- 
 ral Aldermen, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, 
 C. Degraves, Esq., M. H. A., L. Roope, Esq., W. L. 
 Dobson, Esq., M. H. A., T. J. Knight, Esq., M. H.A., 
 J. Swan, Esq., M. H. A., J. H. Wedge, Esq., M.L.C., 
 C. B. Allison, Esq., H. J. Demden, Esq., and the follow- 
 ing officers of the Order, P. Prov. G. M. Seabrook, P. 
 Prov. G.M. Prescott, P. Prov. G.M. Cooper, P.D. Prov. 
 G.M. White, P.G.M. Martin, D. P.G.M., Dobbie, P.C. 
 S. Bromfield, and many others. .;,,,, . k,,/ 
 
 • I could fill a volume with extracts of celebrations of 
 anniversaries held in different paxts of the world. All 
 of them honored by the presence of the leading gentry 
 and aristocracy of the places in which they were held. 
 I have chosen those few extracts for the purpose of 
 shewing the respectability of the order, and the high 
 esteem in which it is held, wherever it is known. Not 
 long since an anniversary was held in one of the seaport 
 
31 
 
 towns of England, which was attended by Admual Hal- 
 lowes, an honorary member of the Lodge, who presided 
 upon the occasion. 
 
 It now remains for mo to describe the method of open- 
 
 T- , . ■ ''; ' .-r^'^V'. ,,,.':.-:-:i ■.'.;;';t" ^ 
 
 mg new Lodges. 
 
 Should any member or person desire to open a Lodge, 
 he must obtain the names of not less than twelve per- 
 sons, who are willing to become members of such Lodge. 
 Each of these persons must subscribe half of the initiation 
 fee, according to age. They must then make an applica- 
 tion to the nearest Lodge (forwarding the amount sub- 
 scribed) in the following form. 
 
 To the Officers and Brethren of ^ ; '^ ' > 
 
 Lodge No. District Manchester Unity of Oddfellows 
 Friendly Society. 
 
 We, the undersigned, are desirous of opening a Lodge 
 
 of Oddfellows, under the jurisdiction of the Manchester 
 
 Unity of Oddfellows, at -' ' ' in the county of 
 
 Province of «' -I ' ^ to be called the 
 
 ' ' '• and to be held ' em • ' ^^ . [state 
 
 weekly, fortnightly, or monthly, as may be.] ' '•^'' ^^"^ 
 
 To this application all the parties must append their 
 names. 
 
 The Lodge to which the application is made, forwards 
 it to the Corresponding Secretary of the District who 
 brings it before the next District Meeting, and if the 
 application is sanctioned, it is forwarded to the Corres- 
 ponding Secretary of the Order, who prepares and sends 
 the dispensation to the District Officers, who are then 
 empowered to formally open the Lodge. 
 
S2 
 
 Such is the method of opening new Lodges, and I am 
 not without hope that ere long many aiiplications will be 
 made to open Lodges in this Country. AVe have Tem- 
 perance organizations, and Masons and Orange Lodge 
 in different parts of the Province. There is still plenty 
 of room for Oddfellows Lodges, and whatever may be 
 the advantages, resulting from a connection with any 
 of the above organizations, they cannot be compared 
 to the advantages derived from a connection with a 
 Lodge of Oddfellows. 
 
 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
 
 It is obvious that a work of this kind would be incom- 
 plete without answering objections ; either imaginary or 
 real. 
 
 As yet, I have heard of only one objection raised 
 against Oddfellowship, and that is of a religion f.s nature 
 and has arisen solely from ignorance of its objects and 
 principles. The objection I refer to is on the score of 
 secrecy and supposed mystery connected with the Initia- 
 tion and its degrees. ; 
 
 At one time I must confess, during the earlier period 
 of the "history of the Order, its pure principles were 
 clogged with unmeaning ceremonies and forms. I am 
 aware also that is has been the custom of writers who 
 have written essays and histories of the Order, to claim 
 for it a very ancient origin. One author asserts that the 
 institution was founded in the time of Titus Ceasai*, who 
 is supposed to have been a great patron of the Order, 
 and is said to have presented it with a golden dispen- 
 sation^ which bore the same emblems as those now in 
 
 
 f 
 
>■ 
 
 ' 
 
 »< tH. 
 
 ss 
 
 use. It may possibly amuse the reader to give a 
 
 description of the forms and ceremonies said to have 
 
 been anciently used at the initiation of a member. A 
 
 compiler of the history of Oddfellowship, thus describes 
 
 the ancient mummery, if I may so call it. 
 
 " The candidate for membership was led into the 
 Lodge-room carefully blindfolded; and, after passing the 
 two guardians, he felt a peculiar and mysterious awe 
 steal over his senses in consequence of the solemn and 
 death-like silence that prevailed. He was suddenly or- 
 dei'ed as a presumptuous mortal to stand, and his per- 
 verted sense of hearing became fearfully awakened by 
 the rattl: vg of huge iron chains and the unmeaning 
 sounds produced by men's voices. At this stage, he was 
 sometimes tumbled in among brushwood, or soused over 
 head into a large tub; and suddenly the bandage was re- 
 moved, when he found a person with a sword presented 
 to his breast demanding of the assembly if he should 
 shew any mercy, and on their answering in the affirma- 
 tive he was released and introduced to the death-scene, 
 which was the emblems of mortality or a transparency 
 representing the human skeleton: then he had to receive 
 a charge from the Grand Officers, who, together with the 
 entire assembly, were masked. The dresses of the 
 Officers were in keeping with the ceremony, and sjDecial 
 duties were assigned to each. Every part of the Lodge- 
 room was usually laid out with symbols and emblems, 
 that were afterward explained as he progressed in the 
 mysteries of the Order. It was closed by each pledging 
 the novice in a flowing glass, and the general routine 
 closed proceedings.'* This is said to be an imitation of 
 the Eleusian Mysteries, used long before the Christian 
 Era; and some such rites are now performed by the 
 Druses of the Libanus, in the initiation of neophytes into 
 the mysteries of their religion. 
 
 
r 
 
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 Nothing of the kind exists at the present time in the 
 Order. The degrees, so called, are merely lectures, 
 inculcating the duty of man toward his fellowman. No 
 oath whatever is allowed to be administered. A simple 
 obligation is all that is required from a candidate. 
 
 To protect the Society from imposture, a few simple 
 signs are in use among the fraternity, the possession of 
 which enables a member when travelling in search of 
 employment or otherwise, to prove himself the bo)ia 
 Hde holder of the certificate he bears from his Lodge. 
 Were it not for these signs, and the passwords issued 
 every quarter, a member's certificate might be purloined, 
 and the purloiner use it in imposing upon the society. 
 
 In a great affiliated body like the Oddfellows', whose 
 branches extend into every Country, some such arrange- 
 ment is absolutely necessary to protect it from being 
 imposed upon, and because it makes use of this arrange- 
 ment, it can no more be called a secret society, than the^ 
 Good Templars and other kindred organizations, who 
 use like signs for like purposes. 
 
 As one proof that it is not a secret society of the ob- 
 jectionable class ; I may mention that upon the trial of ^ h 
 a case, any person whose testimony is required, 
 whether a member or not, is allowed to be present at the 
 meeting trying it. - 
 
 ^ In disposing of the only objection I know of, in 
 existence against Oddfellowship, I must also conclude 
 a subject which, I fear, I have but feebly illustrated. If 
 however, I have F'i.cceeded in awakening in the mind of 
 the reader, who has followed me thus far, an interest 
 
 
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 in the cause I ha^'e advocated, my labor has not been in 
 vain. It is a subject upon which both the philosopher 
 and the moralist might well dilate. The question "what 
 mil be the effect of Friendly Societies upon the future of 
 the working classes ? '* might well occupy their study. 
 Had more sjjuce been at my command, than the few pages 
 of this small pamphlet, I might have succeeded better in 
 illustrating a subject of no small proportions. I might 
 have shewn how beneficial has been the idea or principle 
 contained in these Friendly Societies or Clubs; of the 
 vast saving to the revenue of England, in poor rates and 
 otherwise, tliey have been the means of effecting; how 
 pauperism has decreased in England, as Friendly 
 Societies have incrc.ised ; but better still the vast regene- 
 ration in the habits, and mental tone of the working 
 classes they are slowly, but surely, effecting, teaching 
 them to prize and attain the virtues of self-lielp, and 
 manly independence. 
 
 I might have shown how that Oddfellows Lodges, and 
 Friendly or Benefit Clubs, have not only been the means 
 of improving the social condition of the working man ; 
 have not only been his schools, but they have been the 
 nurseries of intellects of no mean order. There have 
 been men associated with the Oddfellows Society, whose 
 ability in discussion and oratorical power, would vie with 
 those who have the advantages of a wider sphere, and a 
 more liberal education. 
 
 I might have gone on to prove that if Friendly ' 
 Societies increase in the future as they have within the 
 past few years, the time is not far distant when to call 
 
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 the industrious and provident working classes poor, will 
 
 be a misnomer; because the wealth accumulated by 
 
 Friendly Societies will be enormous, and the fear of 
 
 poverty {imong their members, in sickness and old age 
 
 will be a thing of the past. If, in the short space of fifty 
 
 years, the Oddfellows alone hive accumulated a fund of 
 
 thirteen million dollars, in which every member has a 
 
 direct interest, what a vast fund will be accumulated fifty 
 
 years hence ; supposing the Order to progress in the sume 
 
 ratio as it has done in the past. 
 
 That it may increase and flourish in this country, is 
 
 the sincere wish of the author, and the only object for 
 
 which he has penned the foregoing pages. 
 
 ** Let others tread the thorny paths of fame, 
 And earn, by strife or piylitics a name ; 
 Be ours the ways of pkMsaiitness and peace, . ' ,. 
 
 Be ours the task to bid distress to cease; 
 To cheer the hours of poverty and pain, 
 To hear no voice ask for our aid in vain. 
 To take the anijuish from the partinj? groan, 
 To hush the widow's \ow despairing moan. 
 To glad the orplian's young and guileless heart, ^ v 
 
 And generous feelings cause in all to start. ! "^ ,' 
 
 Though Otld our name— though wrapt in mystery's shroud—*^ '> 
 
 Our acts, our deeds shall speak for us aloud, ' 
 
 By them alone we seek to stand or fall — [ ^ 
 
 We hold the hand of fellowship to all. 
 Could but the world our secret actions spe, 
 Mankind one mighty brotherhood would be." — J.B.R. 
 
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