FRIENDLY SOCIETIES.

New Zealander, Volume XVIII, Issue 1725, 20 September 1862, Page 4

FRIENDLY SOCIETIES.

The Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows, and other Lodges, which have established for themselves a position amongst the most powerful institutions of modern time, —have worked so manifestly for the benefit of society, and are taking so firm a hold upon our own youthful community, that we are led into the consideration of the reasons which first called them into existence in Europe, and a short sketch of the benefits which their members enjoy. From the period of the Trojan war to about the year 663 li.A., we have abundant proof, in the works of those Creek classics which are still extant, of the existence of a variety of societies, more or less secret in their nature, and presided over by one Grand Master. More especially are evidences of such in the history of the Egyptians to be found throughout the writings of coteinporary Greek authors; and it is singular'that, at the time the

cross whs held among the ancient Egyptians, long before the Christian era, not only the custom of marking the forehead with the sign of the cross, but baptism, ami the consecration of bread in the Eucharist, were imitated in the mysterious ceremonies of Mithra.

Later still, during the abundant persecutions of the earlier Christians, the use of hieroglyphics ami secret signs, whereby they might distinguish one another, became prevalent, and it is more than supposed that it was from the union of a number of such societies that the Order of St. George (afterwards the patron saint of England) was instituted by the Roman Emperor Constantino, about the year .'?10 A.i). It is at this period that we first discover the introduction of such a term as "Odd Fellow." In 33G, a.d., Cave, in his Athanasius, alluding to the celebrated Arius, the supposed St. George, designates him as an " Od 1 Soul." Subsequently, the Orders of the Round Table, o! the Thistle, of the Lily of France, and, until the 13th century, the Order of Knighthood, obtained among civilized nations the highest rank for usefulness and virtue; and we may naturally infer that among the bourgeois, or middle classes, a corresponding impulse to maintain the rights of their various trades and professions, ami of their order as a whole, was found in the support given by them to this and similar societies. Fussing by the first institution of the Order of Freemasonry, and the occasion which called it forth, in the reign of Edward 111., as not germane to the subject before us, it will be found that it is not until the beginning of the present century that the establishment of Odd Fellowship, divested of its political features and ends, became, by its social, moral, and domestic usefulness, the noble institution that it is at the present

day. Of the importance which this society has assumed, in a financial point of view, in England, it may he mentioned that, on the authority of the Registrar of Friendly Societies in England, this Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows has, for years past, saved the country the sum of two millions sterling, which must otherwise have been met through the means of parochial relief, and this relief has been afforded, too, free from the degrading feeling which must always accompany the receipt of public charity.

One of the titles of this society shows how fuily this feeling is shared by its members—the " Independent" —an independence not political but social, an honest determination that, while blessed with health and strength, some portion of their earnings shall be

devoted for a time when, overtaken by sickness, accident, misfortune, or old age, they otherwise he driven to accept as a dole that which they can now manfully lay claim to as u right. The possession of such an " independence" of feeling cannot hut prove a national blessing, morally and socially, while the action of such a society in eliciting those feelings from the masses which tend to maintain the stability of law and order in a nation, makes out for it u fair claim upon the countenance and support of the wealthier classes, to whom the pecuniary advantages afforded by the society would hold out no attraction.

It is now twenty years since a lodge of this parent society was formed in Auckland, but, during that short period, it has met with signal success. To the mechanic and the tradesman, to whomsoever amongst us a time of sickness, or the inability to pursue his ordinary avocation, would bo attended with total or partial loss of means of support, we cannot too earnestly recommend the resource offered by this institution, whose object is stated to be " to raise funds (by entrance fees, contributions of members, fines, donations, and interest on accumulated capital) for insuring a sum of money to he paid on the death of a member to his widow, or children, or heirs, as the case may he, ■or for defraying the expenses of his funeral; also, for insuring a sum to be paid to a member on the death of his wife; for the relief of members in sickness and old age; for granting temporary assistance to widows and children of deceased members; for providing members with assistance while travelling in search of employment; and for assisting members in distressed circum-

stances." The value of such an institution cannot he more forcibly summed up than in the simple narration of the few facts, that, in England, the Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows embraces upwards of three millions of members, subscribing annually more than five million pounds sterling, and having a reserve capital of about twelve millions of pounds wherewith to meet their engagements.