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28 Mar'16

REMARKS.

Odd Fellowship was introduced into this country in 1819, and we now number the Fraternity by hundreds of thousands. During the lapse of time its blessings have been everywhere acknowledged and commended. The sick have been relieved, the destitute comforted, the widow made happy, and the orphan educated. Wherever our Order flourishes, it will be found that the virtues of benevolence, economy and harmony are cultivated. A member of the Order can always count on "troops of friends," who will never leave him in adversity or affliction. Wheresoever he goes, he is surrounded by brethren, who, at a word, will hasten to do him good. The chronicles of our Order contain numerous illustrations of the beneficence of the institution. Many virtuous but indigent families have been saved from despair and crime by the munificent charity of our lodges. This charity is, indeed, secret, and therefore more gratefully efficient. No sense of mortification is attendant on relief furnished by the

Lodge. The benefit is a right, not a boon. No matter how long the recipient of our good offices has been an invalid, the relief given is never grudgingly bestowed. It is as much a duty to receive as it is a duty to give. We expect no gratitude for our favors; for every member of our Lodge has an undisputed right to demand them. Such mutual giving and taking preserve a man's soul in independence. An Odd Fellow takes but his own when he receives anything from his lodge; for his own contributions have constituted the fund he draws from. He must be worthy, however. No invalid, through intemperance or immorality, can participate in our bounty. The dissipated man, if known to be such, can never enter among us; but should any such unworthy individual be introduced, by successful fraud, into the fraternity, he will soon be taught that his own inventions will return to plague him. We cannot undertake to exhibit, at this time, all the peculiar excellencies of our Order. An examination of the following pages will present many of them in detail, and initiation into the mysteries will, in due season, display to the candidate the beautiful uses of Odd Fellowship.

DISPENSATION.

I. O. O. F.

WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: We, WILLIAM DU

TOAL WISON, MOS Worthy Grand Master of the Grand

Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of the State of Michigan, and the jurisdiction thereunto belonging: FRIENDSHIP, LOVE AND TRUTH.

KNOW YE, That, by virtue of the powers in us vested, we do hereby authorize and empower our trusty and well-beloved brethren, JAMES E. PLATT, JAMES M. WELCH, N. H. EGGLESTON, M. D. HOWARD. and WILLIAM J. WELLES, their successors, duly and legally elected, to constitute a Lodge in the town of Ann Arbor and County of Washtenaw, to be known and hailed by the title of "WASHTENAW LODGE, No. 9." And we do further authorize and empower our said trusty and wellbeloved brethren and their successors, to admit and make Odd Fellows, according to the ancient usages and customs of the Order, and not contrariwise; with full power and authority to hear and determine all and singular, matters and things relating to the Order, within the jurisdiction of the said Lodge, according to the rules and regulations of the Grand Lodge of the State of Michigan: Provided always, That the said above named brethren and their successors, pay due respect to the Grand Lodge of the State of Michigan, and the ordinances thereof otherwise, this Dispensation to be of no force or effect; and provided also, That this Dispensation shall be ap. proved by the said Grand Lodge at the next meeting thereof. GIVEN under our Hand and Seal, at the City of Detroit, in the State of Michigan, this twenty-fifth day of March, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and forty-five, and of our Order in the United States the twenty-sixth.

L. S.

WM. DUANE WILSON,
Grand Master.

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