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ILLINOIS HISTORICAL SURVEY 
 


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 4 
 
 ■ ■ 
 
 r he Storu of Odd Fellowsfilp 
 
 ADDRESS BY W. G. NYE, G. R., OF MINNESOTA, 
 At Springfield, Ill., Tuesday, September 21, 1897. 
 
 The story of Odd Fellowship, though often heard, is always inter- 
 ting and inspiring. The modest origin of the fraternity among the 
 mble sons of toil; its early struggles against opposition born of 
 alousy and prejudice! its wonderful growth in numbers and wealth; 
 
 ; splendid record of benovolent work, form themes which excite the 
 terest of all and delight those who are participants in its works and 
 arers of its honors. Justly proud are we that in fewer years than 
 ark the four-score limit of life’s span one million men and women 
 ve volunteered and now retain position in our fraternal army. Justly 
 □ud that our Order’s altar has been erected in almost every locality 
 lere there is the hum of industry from the Atlantic to the Pacifie, 
 )m the ice-clad plains of the north to the perfumed shores of the 
 uthern gulf. Proud that oceans have not been potent to stem its 
 ward march, but that its banner has been reared beneath the flags 
 many nations. Proud, too, that many buildings owned by the Order 
 :est its firm anchorage to the soil and insure its permanency; that 
 fidelity to its whole duty has led to the establishment of many 
 mes and orphanages, which form the grandest monuments of its 
 use; that its benovolent work, so far as it can be measured in figures, 
 s reached an annual total above three million dollars. Especially 
 3 we pleased and satisfied that the proud position which Odd Fel- 
 vship has attained in the front rank of fraternal organizations has 
 en won through its intrinsic merit. No power derived from royal 
 •th hurled it at once to place ard power. It was not fostered by 
 alth or nutured by government. No hired apostles heralded its 
 
 tues and established its Lodges. It has grown to its position solely 
 the purity of its fundamental truths, by the force of its simple 
 nigh helpful lessons, by the attractions of its social life, and the 
 thfulness with which it has performed the duties assigned in that 
 perative law which commands the visitation of the sick, the relief 
 the distressed, the burial of the dead, and the education of the 
 )han. These are the forces which have impelled it onward, attract- 
 > to its ranks men of good repute and humane impulses, until . it 
 3 become the fraternity of the people. These are the forces which 
 ve made Odd Fellowship a living, moving factor in the progress and 
 ^elopment of humanity. 
 
 3 ? 
 
2 
 
 THE STORY OF ODD FELLOWSHIP 
 
 But while the Order’s growth and work are interesting topics, the 
 real value of the fraternity is not so easily described in figures. Its 
 splendid membership, its halls and temples, its homes, its ever- 
 enlarging expenditure in benovolent work, do not constitute Odd Fel¬ 
 lowship. They are but outward evidences of its worth, but visible tokens 
 of its prosperity. They are only the leaves and flowers; the real fruit, 
 that which nourishes and sustains, is an influence born of its lessons 
 and associations, which, quietly and unseen, flows outward from its 
 Lodge rooms, penetrating every condition of society. An influence 
 whose effect is to enlarge human sympathy, to breed toleration, to 
 destroy the ignoble spirit of selfishness, and develop a broader, deeper, 
 
 ; 
 
 truer sense of human brotherhood. An influence which, operating 
 upon the heart, and first felt upon the individual life, moulding and 
 conforming it to the design of the Creator, stops not there, but pass 
 ing into the busy world, becomes a potent factor in refining, ennoblij 
 and sweetening all human life, becomes an instrument to crush t 
 evil and enlarge the good in every sphere of human action. What i 
 call human progress is merely the outgrowth of ideas of right livin^ 
 born in the mind of the individual, developed in others through asso¬ 
 ciation and instruction until they become living principles, elevating 
 mankind to a profounder law of thinking and doing. Grand as are the 
 figures which tell of the fraternity’s strength in numbers and in wealth, 
 stupendous as is the sum which marks its financial ministrations, they 
 pale into insignificance when compared to the power it exerts in teaching 
 high ideas of life and its duties, and making those ideas realities in the 
 every-day life of the people. 
 
 Odd Fellowship is an institution designed and maintained for ser¬ 
 vice. It is not a haven of rest, but a field for the exercise of our best 
 activities. The age in which its history has been written has wit¬ 
 nessed, more generally than any similar period in the history of the 
 world the application of the materials and the forces of nature to the 
 uses of man. The products of forest and mine have been seized and 
 shaped into stately buildings, gigantic ships and marvelous structures 
 of usefulness. The rivers have been utilized to turn the wheels of 
 countless factories. Water has been transformed to vapor and made to 
 turn machinery and minister to mans’ comfort. Lightning has by the 
 inventive genius of man been brought to do his bidding and furnish 
 light for the eye and motive power for useful work. In a word, the age 
 has laid the secrets of nature at man’s feet. Born and reared in such 
 an age, the fraternity could but partake of its spirit and become an 
 instrument of useful serivce. And such it has been, and is today. The 
 outflow of wealth to the needy and distressed of its household; the 
 charities so extended as not to offend; the large investment in per¬ 
 manent holdings, the homes for those who have become broken or 
 bowed with the weight of years or misfortune, the homes and schools 
 for the care and training of its orphan charges, attest in thunder tones 
 our fraternity’s service of actual work. 
 
3U.3 
 
 T*fX 
 
 3 
 
 Of this service of work, however, I will speak no further, for I de¬ 
 sire to point out a few of the many directions in which Odd Fellow¬ 
 ship is rendering service through influence. 
 
 First of all, Odd Fellowship is rendering service by teaching and 
 developing the great principle of equality—not of an equality of charac¬ 
 ter, ability or wealth, but an equality by virtue of a common parentage 
 and a common humanity. The doors to its Lodge rooms open no wider 
 to receive a king than a peasant; no more quickly for a millionaire than 
 for the man of moderate means. The passport to its sacred precincts 
 is not rank, but virtue; not money, but manhood; not power, but charac¬ 
 ter. Around its altar gather men of different grades of wealth and 
 social standing, of varied opinions and beliefs, of every degree of edu¬ 
 cation and culture, and with the clasping of hands and the touching 
 ,f elbows each learns to regard the others for what they are not for 
 vhat they have. The false standards of wealth and station give place 
 the true standards of virtue and integrity. Men learn from its les- 
 s that power is only evidence of greatness when properly used; 
 t wealth is only of service for the good that it can accomplish. The 
 uenee of these lessons learned through the companionship of the 
 .odge can not be shut within the room with the books and regalia. 
 It passes into the world and becomes a help in destroying the worship of 
 wealth and the pandering to place or power. It breeds not enmity, 
 but pity for the man who masses wealth for his own aggrandizement, 
 while it glorifies him who, in his sphere of life, however humble, extends 
 the helping hand to those around or below him. The world is better 
 for such an influence, whose effect is already felt. Within a few years 
 there died a man whose fortune was measured in the millions, who had 
 tasted power as a senator from a western state, yet his death was 
 scarcely noted and his name is already nearly forgotten. About the same 
 time the proprietor of a great paper in the City of Brotherly Love passed 
 away. His wealth could be told in thousands, he had not attained distinc¬ 
 tion in political life, and yet in almost every city of our land meetings 
 were held and eloquent tributes were paid to his memory and worth. 
 Why? Simply because he had been helpful according to his opportuni¬ 
 ties; because he had permitted the rays of comfort and happiness that 
 fell upon him to reflect some of their sunlight into the lives of his less 
 fortunate fellowman. 
 
 Odd Fellowship unfolds the truth so beautifully expressed by the 
 great preacher-poet of our inland metropolis: 
 
 “Though we may climb earth’s proudest height; 
 
 Though we may sit on hills afar— 
 
 Where earth’s grandest triumphs are; 
 
 Though all deepest mysteries be open to our sight; 
 
 If we win not by that power 
 For the world a rich dower— 
 
 If this great humanity share not our gain, 
 
 We have lived our lives in vain, 
 
 ■ 
 
 fj 
 
4 
 
 THE STORY OF ODD FELLOWSHIP 
 
 “Though our days be long and bright; 
 
 Though upon our brow we wear 
 Health and grace, and beauty rare; 
 
 Though the hours fly swiftly, singing in their flight; 
 
 If we let no glory down, 
 
 Any sadden life to crown; 
 
 If our health and beauty have no ministry for pain, 
 
 We have lived our lives in vain.” 
 
 Then, again, the lessons and associations of the fraternity teach 
 man’s dependency and the duties which spring from it. Odd Fellow¬ 
 ship in its origin, its growth, and its present stable position, is an ex¬ 
 pression of man’s need of friendly association, for sympathy, for help¬ 
 fulness. It is an adaptation of nature’s great principle of organization 
 to the affairs of men. A study of nature and all her marvelous pro¬ 
 ducts reveals the fact that no element exists alone and unrelated. 
 Each is harnessed with some other element or elements, and they are 
 working together for a common purpose. The air we breathe, the 
 water so essential to the sustenance of all life, the earth and all it 
 contains, are but results of the combination of forces. Vegetable life 
 needs the sunlight, but before the sunlight alone it droops and dies. 
 It needs as well the alternate shade, the moisture of the air, the 
 richness of the soil, to bring full and perfect fruition. Man is not an 
 exception to the universal rule of dependency. The thread of a human 
 life is not a single, separate strand, but it is entwined and inter¬ 
 woven with many others. From the cradle to coffin, no man stands 
 entirely alone. He needs the help of others, and they in turn need 
 help. For the comforts, the pleasures, the necessities even of life, he 
 is dependent upon the service of others. Our fraternity sprang from 
 a recognition of this dependency. It is an embodiment of the prin¬ 
 ciple that as the buds need the sunlight and the rain to unfold their 
 hidden beauties, so man must be brought in contact and companion¬ 
 ship with man to develop the instinct of helpfulness which lies 
 slumbering within him. Every line of its written lessons, every sym¬ 
 bol and emblem, serve to impress members with the idea of their 
 mutual relationship and dependency, and to prompt them to perform 
 the varied duties which that relationship involves. They point to 
 the sick unattended, the dead unburied, the widows in want, the 
 orphan in ignorance, the willing laborer unemployed, and say: “They 
 are of one family with you. Help as you have opportunity.” The 
 Order does not concern itself with the great impossibilities of life, 
 but it commands the performance of the small possibilities. True, its 
 first duty is to those of its households, to those who are bound to¬ 
 gether by its sacred bands; but from such ministrations as the Order 
 requires, its members learn the blessedness, the splendor of ministry 
 to others, their sympathies are enlarged, and sorrow and suffering 
 wherever found command their earnest attention. Thus it renders a 
 service of influence whose result is the improvement of humanity. 
 
the story of odd fellowship 
 
 5 
 
 Odd Fellowship exercises an influence also in moulding human 
 character. It does not pretend to he reformatory. It does not claim 
 to teach new principles, but only to develop and strengthen those 
 already possessed. It seeks only the best material obtainable, men of 
 unquestioned character, and by a source of moral training makes them 
 exemplars for the outside world, which will be bettered by the reflex 
 of their lives and conduct. That some who bear the name are not all 
 that Odd Fellows should be can not be denied. But this does not, as 
 some detractors claim, demonstrate the uselessness of the fraternity. 
 No individual is perfect. No society has ever held or can hope to hold 
 an unbroken rank of perfect men. We can not but realize at times 
 that many of us fall short of the standards of the Order. But this is 
 no cause for discouragement. Froude said, “Every man knows better 
 than he practices, and recognizes a higher law than he obeys.” He 
 might have added that every one is better because of that better 
 knowledge, that higher law. Who then shall say that Odd Fellows 
 are not made better because of the high ideals placed before them? 
 The fraternity presents for our guidance the purest principles which 
 can animate the human heart. It bids its adherents be strong in 
 friendship, radiant in love, invincible in truth. It inculcates that 
 noble charity which smooths the haggard features of want, pours the 
 wine of Samaritan kindness into the wounds of the suffering, rejoices 
 with a brother in his prosperity, cheers him in his adversity, and de¬ 
 fends his character from unjust and unmerited reproach; a charity 
 which knows no favorites, which visits alike the prison and the palace, 
 the abode of want as well as the home of plenty. It teaches every 
 principle which serves to elevate the mind above the mist of doubt 
 and bigotry and vice into the clear sunlight, where sparkles every 
 virtue which ennobles character and exalts life. Are these lessons 
 only of service to those who receive them? Does their infleunce ex¬ 
 tend no further than our membership? Daniel Webster, it is said, 
 was once asked what was the greatest thought he had every enter¬ 
 tained. After a moment’s hesitation, he replied: “The thought of my 
 personal responsibility of life.” Such is indeed a great thought. No 
 one who reflects upon the mighty force and kingly power of influence 
 can fail to be impressed with the idea of his personal repsonsibility. 
 Everywhere man moves he will have associates who will be made 
 better or worse through the influence of such association. Every one, 
 consciously on unconsciously, either helps in the upbuilding of his com¬ 
 panions or acts as a clog upon their progress. If, then, the lessons of 
 Odd Fellowship are helpful—and who can dispute that they are?— 
 their influence is felt for good in every community where its evening 
 song of Friendship, Love and Truth is heard. 
 
 There flows outward from our Order also an influence which 
 strengthens patriotism. Loyalty to country is one of the first tenets 
 of the fraternity, and its lessons all inculcate allegiance to the flag 
 under which its members dwell. More than this, the enlarged views 
 
6 
 
 THE STORY OP ODD FELLOWSHIP 
 
 of life obtained through the companionship afforded by its Lodges 
 tend to make its members students of the problems of government 
 and advocates of every measure which promises the highest good. 
 There will be ever in every country grave questions upon whose cor¬ 
 rect solution depend its prosperity and advancement. In our land to¬ 
 day the invention of machinery, unrestricted immigration, and the at¬ 
 tractions of urban life, have filled our cities with willing men unable 
 to secure employment. Capital has combined; not always, as many 
 believe, to raise the prices and dictate an unjust return, but to lessen ex¬ 
 penses so that a fair return may be assured. Labor also has organized 
 to secure a fair return for its investment. Out of these conditions 
 has grown the labor problem with its strikes and lockouts, paralyzing 
 industry and commerce and entailing untold suffering. Where lies 
 the solution of this problem, whether in shortening the hours of labor 
 that more men may find employment, in restricting immigration, in 
 prohibiting, or at least controlling, by force of law all combinations, 
 or, in government control of the arteries of commerce, I shall not 
 attempt to say. Certain it is that in the settlement of this problem 
 Odd Fellowship will play a prominent part, not as an organization, 
 but through its influence in developing patriotic, justice-loving citi¬ 
 zens. The gathering within its lodge rooms of employer and employee, 
 of the man whose capital is money and the one whose capital is the 
 labor he can perform with his hands or brain, will do much to beget a 
 kindlier feeling, will help to span the imaginary chasm between 
 capital and labor with an arch of justice, fighting back the greed of 
 capital on the one hand and keeping down the fell spirit of anarchy 
 upon the other. The sympathies of the Order are with the toiling 
 masses. It draws its membership from the ranks of those who toil at 
 the desk, the bench, the anvil, the plow, or the loom. It ever upholds 
 the dignity of labor—labor that employs the intellect, the heart, the 
 hand. It says to the toiling millions, “Hold up your brow, in honest 
 pride, though rough and soiled your hands may be. Such hands are 
 sap-veins that provide the life-blood of the nation’s tree. There is 
 glory in the shuttle’s song, there is triumph, in the anvil’s stroke, 
 there is merit in the brave and strong, who dig the mine and fell the 
 oak.” Every lesson of the fraternity reveals duties whose perform¬ 
 ance will help to solve some of humanities problems, will help to 
 soften some of the dangers which lurk in our social or political life. 
 Through these lessons it becomes a healing influence, struggling side 
 by side with the church, the school and the press to elevate character, 
 to exalt public opinion, to stimulate the masses to higher works, to 
 unify the race. It is yielding to its high ideals,its splendid princi¬ 
 ples, fruit for the higher development of man in justice and loyalty. 
 
 Again, Odd Fellowship exerts an influence upon the educational 
 life of the people. The rendering of its ritual, the transaction of its 
 business, confer upon those who participate a practical education of 
 service in all the avenues of life, an education which fits them better 
 
THE STORY OF ODD FELLOWSHIP 
 
 7 
 
 for the manifold duties of citizenship. Its members, exalted high in 
 the councils of state and nation, or bearing themselves proudly as sov¬ 
 ereign citizens, are better officers and better citizens because of their 
 connection with the fraternity, unless they have closed their hearts 
 and minds to its inspiring influence. They are better able to see the 
 right and judge the wrong. They are stronger to contend for the 
 masses in every conflict for liberty. They are better prepared in every 
 way to be conservers of society, the bulwark of the state. For the Or¬ 
 der educates for usefulness, not destruction. Its lessons remove the 
 narrowness of thought, false opinions and pernicious ideas of class, that 
 the mind, cleansed of evil thought, may be a strong foundation upon 
 which to build the structure of manhood, that the heart, with its af¬ 
 fections enlarged and kindled, may be a fountain from which will flow 
 streams of honor, truth and justice, making green the waste places in 
 our social life. The educational force of the Order may seem weak, for 
 it is silent; but so are all the powers of nature. The force of heat as 
 it turns water to vapor, draws it heavenward and then causes it to 
 descend, refreshing the earth, is exerted quietly and unseen. The 
 power of electricity as it unfolds from the dynamo is silent, but it 
 turns the darkness of night to the brilliancy of day, propels cars along 
 our avenues and roads, and permits conversation by voice or sign from 
 city to city, from continent to continent. The morning light as it 
 comes streaming across the heavens indicates no power, yet falling on 
 the face of the earth it unfolds the beauty of blossom, gives energy to 
 tree and herb and grass, and ripens the golden grain. The force of our 
 Order’s priceless lessons, the power of its royal companionship, though 
 silent and unseen, move outward and onward, conquering and to con¬ 
 quer. What a grave responsibility rests upon our membership, if they 
 keep this force so pure and strong that it will be an inspiration to a 
 grander and wiser humanity than the world has yet seen! 
 
 But the best influence of this fraternity springs from its power to 
 generate and develop the spirit of brotherly love. Selfishness has ever 
 been the foe or human progress. Selfish interest prompted Cain to 
 slay his brother that he might be first in the affections of his parents; 
 the selfishness of his brothers sold Joseph into slavery; Saul was in¬ 
 spired by selfishness to seek the life of David, who had won his way to 
 the hearts of the people. In all the ages of the world selfishness has 
 prompted acts of cruelty and torture, and its pathway has been marked 
 by blood and bondage. Against this ignoble spirit of selfishness the 
 principle of fraternity, of brotherly love, has ever been pitted. Its 
 effect is exactly opposite. It draws hearts together and animates them 
 with a common hope and a common purpose. Tennyson truly wrote, 
 “Love took up the harp of life, smote on all the chords with might; 
 Smote the chord of self, which trembling passed in music out of sight.” 
 Moses turning from the charms of rank and power in Pharoah’s court 
 to lead a lowly people; Jonathan, sacrificing his right to a kingly crown 
 that he might save the life of David, his friend; Pythias, even risking 
 
8 
 
 THE STORY OF ODD FELLOWSHIP 
 
 life as a hostage for Damon; Sidney upon the battlefield of Zutphen, 
 waiving the cup of water offered in his aid and commanding that it 
 be given to a wounded soldier lying near, are a few examples of the 
 exercise of this principle, which glisten like stars in the firmament of 
 the past. Besides these, many more humble results of this principle 
 appear all along the walks of life; for it is not a spirit which needs a 
 great opportunity, but it prompts as well what the poet Wordsworth 
 called “That better portion of a good man’s life, his little, nameless, 
 unremembered acts of kindness and of love.” Despite the examples of 
 the past, despite moral and religious training, selfishness still exists 
 and sheds its blighting influence on humanity. Men are all not unlike 
 the Irishman who, when about to enter upon a duel, asked his seconds 
 to see that he was placed three paces nearer to his adversary than his 
 adversary was to him. The only force which can break down this fell 
 spirit is brotherly love, and the world needs the growth of this princi¬ 
 ple. It is needed in the church, in our legislative halls, in the busy 
 marts of trade. Before its progress selfishness, intolerance and vice 
 will fade away even as the mist and fog vanish before the advance of 
 the morning sun. It is a high and important office of Odd Fellowship 
 to strengthen this principle, to encourage its practice among the broth¬ 
 ers, to send them forth to be its disseminators among all the sons of 
 men. It is a glorious cause, worthy of the best endeavor of every one. 
 And if our fraternity is doing aught to strengthen this spirit of fra¬ 
 ternity, to develop a deeper sens*', of brotherhood, it must be counted 
 a moral force, an attractive agent in the great cause of human progress. 
 
 These, my friends, are some of the many directions in which the 
 fraternity of Odd Fellows is operating for the good of humanity. They 
 are sufficient, I trust, to demonstrate that it is not only helpful in 
 its ministrations, but helpful in its influences; not only of service in 
 its work, but of service through i.s ideals. 
 
 Tonight, as we gather in annual reunion with those who have con¬ 
 tributed to the upbuilding of Odd Fellowship, there rise grave thoughts 
 of the responsibility which rests upon those who now compose its fra¬ 
 ternal host. The result of years of growth and of progressive de¬ 
 velopment is ours, a legacy from the brothers of the past. Ours, then, 
 the duty of maintaining the Order’s purity, of keeping it true to its 
 mission of helpfulness, of strengthening its influence upon the world. 
 Ours the duty of maintaining its progressive character, of keeping it 
 abreast of the times. Let us not forget that “New occassions teach new 
 duties. Time makes ancient good uncouth; we must upward still and 
 onward, if we keep abreast of Truth.” 
 
 We must ever grasp for our fraternity the new occasions, seize and 
 perform the new duties, or it will be counted an unprofitable servant. 
 Of a continued growth in numbers and wealth there need be no fear. 
 The fraternity’s position is too firmly established to feel the pratings 
 of cynics or the ban of church. Its only danger is from within, and 
 its future, as has its past, will depend upon the personal character of 
 its members, upon the fidelity with which it cares for those united 
 by its invisible bands, upon the purity and force of its ideals. But 
 keep the fraternity true to its principles, keep before its members 
 high ideals, and it will grow and encompass the earth. So long as men 
 standing without its portals amid the selfishness and greed of the world 
 can look to our Lodges and see them filled with men of honesty, integ¬ 
 rity and sobriety, can note that they dwell together in harmony and 
 peace, that the strong support the weak, that the rich are helpful to 
 the poor, and that the influences which emanate therefrom are good 
 and for good, just so long will they seek admission to the fraternity 
 with all the anxiety and ardor with which a sailor storm-tossed upon 
 the ocean seeks admission to the quiet, restful harbor. 
 
 *8S1-105~SB 
 
 -i HI 
 
“As some tall cliff that rears its mighty 
 form. 
 
 Swells from the vale and midway leaves 
 the storm; 
 
 Tho’ round its breast the rolling clouds 
 may spread, 
 
 Eternal sunshine settles on the head.” 
 
 When asked whose is this building, 
 this answer will come: Those who 
 with Abou Ben Adhem have learned 
 that the love of God hath most greatly 
 blessed every one who has been put 
 down as loving chiefly his fellow men. 
 
 We sing of a beautiful emblem, 
 
 A tripled-linked band of pure gold. 
 That holds us in fondest affection— 
 Affection that never grows old. 
 
 There are garlands of snow for the aged, 
 And chaplets for sweet summer years; 
 There are cheeks where the roses are 
 blooming, 
 
 And others deep furrowed by tears; 
 There are hearts in the heyday of glad¬ 
 ness, 
 
 And hearts in the depths of despair; 
 Some of us wear purple and jewels, 
 
 And some but the garments of care; 
 But, hand clasped in hand, we’re united, 
 And each feels the burden of all; 
 
 While into no life comes a sorrow 
 That tears from all eyes do not fall. 
 
 Fair Friendship. What is it? A phan¬ 
 tom? 
 
 The magical form of a name, 
 
 Like the temple we fancied in childhood. 
 
 That wonderful palace of Fame? 
 
 Or, is it a sound that allures us 
 Afar o’er the desert of life, 
 
 Then leaves us alone in the darkness. 
 When foes and when dangers are rife? 
 
 And love, does that mean selfish nature. 
 That hides in its narrow cell. 
 
 Though the whole world is wandering 
 homeless, 
 
 Or forced in a desert to dwell? 
 
 Love worketh no ill to its neighbor, 
 
 Love lists to the orphan’s sad cry; 
 
 And over the widowed and helpless 
 
 Spreads treasures that gold can not buy. 
 
 Love rears a fair home for the orphan, 
 Prayer-hallowed from basement to 
 tower, 
 
 And trusts to the all loving Father 
 
 For strength for the day and the hour. 
 
 So founded in Friendship, and builded 
 By hearts ruled by Love’s law alone, 
 Our Home rears its walls firm and lasting. 
 For Truth is the chief corner stone. 
 Then fear not the cloud nor the tempest, 
 Nor tremble, though thunders may roll, 
 There’s nothing can harm while we honor 
 This three-handed union of soul. 
 

 
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UNIVERSITY OF ILLIN0I8-URBANA 
 
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