assistant-overseer of the township of Wirksworth, which office he still holds. He was also for some years surveyor of highways. Apart from his official duties, Mr. Street has ever been amongst the foremost in supporting, by his subscriptions and exertions, every thing calculated to benefit and improve the town in which he resides. Whether in catering for the amusement of its inhabitants, extending charitable institutions amongst them, or seeking to elevate the moral and mental condition of the youth of his town, Mr. Street's exertions have been most conspicuous. From the establishment of the Wirksworth Mechanics' Institute he has been a member of the committee of management, and is now the treasurer of that useful institution. It is almost needless to add that Mr. Street possesses the universal esteem of his townsmen, Undoubtedly Mr. Street owes his position in our Order to his strong good sense, intimate acquaintance with our laws, combined with untiring industry, and unbending integrity. Mr. Street lays no claim to eloquence as a public speaker, but when he addresses an audience he is plain, to the point, and eminently truthful; hence he never fails to command their respectful attention. In the social circle, to know Mr. Street is sufficient to command the esteem of all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance. A kindness of disposition, and a benevolence of purpose, mark all his actions; and sure are we that those who know him as we do will unite in the earnest wish that his useful life may long be spared, and that his future may be cheered with every blessing to him and his that this world can afford. The Swansen J. M. C. BY THE EDITOR. WHILE the representatives of the people were taking holiday in Whit. week, our representatives, the delegates from no fewer than ninety-two districts, were engaged in carrying on the business of the Order. While the great parliament of the nation was taking rest, and members in esse and members in posse were distributed here and there all over the country, the Odd Fellows' parliament was sitting in the good old town of Swansea, South Wales. It would be altogether beyond the scope of the Magazine, to present anything like a report of the week's proceedings: doubtless the majority of our readers are already acquainted with the main incidents of the meeting; and, as regards the business transacted, a full account will appear in the usual Quarterly Report, a copy of which is forwarded to each lodge in the Unity. Rather is it our office to reflect upon, and to "improve"-as the old divines have it-the occasion thus presented. In these yearly gatherings we witness the results of that voluntary asso ciation which is the main and distinguishing characteristic of our Order. Here we see how working men-we claim no higher title, though we have noblemen, members of parliament, ministers of religion, authors, artists and professors of science, working with and among us-can, without assistance from the state, and by means of their own money, carry the principles of our association into actual every-day practice. Time was, and that, too, within the memory of many of our readers, when to be an Odd-Fellow was to be a man suspected of various follies, and connected with others in a secret society, the object, scope, and intention of which, the general public neither comprehended nor cared to comprehend. But we have lived down all the prejudices with which we were once assailed, and we now take our stand upon the broad principle of association-each member working for all and all for each-and inscribe upon our banners the motto of our Order, "Friendship, Love, and Truth; Faith, Hope, and Charity." It is needless to tell our readers that the Manchester Unity of OddFellows is essentially a working-man's society, and that, at this moment, it is the most prosperous and flourishing association in the world. In the year 1854, our society boasted of 231,228 members; by the first day of January, 1858, that number had increased to 276,254, so that at the present moment we may fairly reckon ourselves as about 280,000 strong. Two hundred and eighty thousand men voluntarily setting aside a portion of their incomes in order to provide a mutual insurance against sickness, and a fund for the decent interment of deceased members! Can there be adduced a better guarantee for the prosperity of the country, a more striking evidence of the progress of working men in all political and social relations, a more remarkable proof of the general spread of education and morality, than such a fact as this? Let any one examine the history of Odd-Fellows' societies, and other kindred fraternities, how they rose, by slow and painful labour, out of old trade guilds, and other associations, till, in the present day, they embrace within their protecting arms more than a million of provident, sober, industrious men, belonging to all professions, trades, and callings, and then say whether the associative principle has not struck its roots deep down into the fabric of modern society, bearing good fruit of substantial promise for all future time! Hear what our excellent Grand Master, Charles Hardwick, had to say, at Swansea, on this subject :-"His experience of seventeen years convinced him that the Manchester Unity of Odd-Fellows is an institution which demands not only the approval and sympathy, but the complete recognition and assistance of gentlemen of the higher classes of society, and that not simply because of the benefits which were thereby conferred on their fellow-men, but also because it benefitted themselves, inasmuch as it advanced the general progress of human civilization. It had been said, and with truth, that the present age was an age of progress; and his acquaintance with the history of the country enabled him to bear his testimony to the truth of this assertion. He knew that not much more than a century ago, the working classes of this country were little better than scrfs. The institution of Odd-Fellows did not boast of being a very ancient or a very tattered fragment of antiquity, but it possessed a far higher and nobler principle, which commended itself to their consideration. The institution was not merely an institution of brotherhood-not simply a charitable institution-but it was the greatest insurance company belonging to the working classes, in this country or in the world. Manchester Unity professed to teach the working classes of this country the great principle of self-dependence. All liberty which was not based on this principle was but visionary, and would be swept away; but when founded on this principle-when every individual man had a voice in the institution-then no foreign enemy, or internal treason, could successfully combat against it. But, again, they effected a vast amount of moral good by teaching working men to lay by a portion of their earnings in the hour The of health, against the hour of need and the day of sickness. When this great principle was practically exhibited, the people must be in advance of that country where no such principle was inculcated. He said again that they morally improved the condition of the people if they taught the working man to depend rather upon his own exertions than upon eleemosynary aid, which, however administered, degraded the recipient. Again, by preserving the working man from suffering the pangs of poverty, they preserved him from falling into crime-he did not mean, of course, direct crime, but they preserved a vast amount of their population-good, honest, and industrious men-against falling on the parish. If, therefore, they saved twenty men from going into the workhouse, they may reasonably calculate that one or two per cent were thus saved from the gaol. But he would not appeal to them merely on the ground of the pocket,' but on higher and more noble grounds he would state that their society was entitled to demand the countenance and support of the higher classes. He was firmly convinced that the action of their society had been the means of preserving the peace and the securtiy of this country, and saved it from anarchy when the continent was convulsed with revolutions." Hear what Mr. Daynes, of Norwich, the able opponent of Lord Albermarle, said of Odd-Fellows in connection with religion:-" In Norfolk, and he believed almost every where else, Odd-Fellows held it to be their duty to give their support to the clergy, asking the same conduct from the clergy towards them in return. They paid great respect to religion, and asked the minister whether they would not support them. He was happy to say that they did so―scarcely an anniversary meeting was held at which a clergyman was not present to respond to the toast of the clergy as a brother Odd-Fellow." Hear what the Rev. W. Allen said of Odd-Fellows and working men generally :-"He looked upon the life of man as being partly composed of health and happiness, and also of crosses and losses, and he considered that a man should receive the same hearty congratulations in times of adversity as in times of peace and prosperity. If they asked him where he was to meet with this-where he found the greatest sympathy-the greatest support-the greatest liberality and generosity of feeling, he would say, in that noble order of Odd-Fellowship, of which he was a humble member. If they acknowledged any man as a brother Odd-Fellow, he would entreat them to carry out this principle to its full extent-support the brotherhood in spirit and in letter-no half measures would do in the present time. They wished to raise their society in the land-they wished to tell the people that Odd-Fellowship deserved the countenance and support of the higher classes of society. Nay, if they carried out the principles of Odd-Fellowship in the spirit and the letter, they would not only deserve, but should then demand, the support of all classes-from the highest to the lowest-from the richest to the poorest." Hear what W. Dillwyn, M.P., said of Odd-Fellowship :-"In the course of his life he had heard a good deal of Odd-Fellowship-he had heard one unvarying report respecting it, and that report was a good one. He had heard that they always did all in their power to assist and benefit each other. He had heard of their doings, and in many cases had heard about them from his own personal friends." And so we might quote from the speeches of all the gentlemen at the banquet at Swansea-Colonel Morgan, R.A.; Mr. Aitken, of Ashton-under-Lyne; the Rev. T. Price; Mr. Roe, the C.S. of the North London District; Mr. Schofield, of Bradford; Mr. J. Curtis, of Brighton; the Rev. G. P. Evans, and many others—all well known in connexion with the progress of our Order. But such a course is scarcely needed. Our readers, and the members of the Manchester Unity generally, require no arguments or special pleading to convince them of the value of Odd-Fellowship. We know, and they know, and working men know, that our society, and provident societies generally, are calculated to do infinite good in the world, and that upon the full, complete, and perfect working out of the principles on which the Manchester Unity is founded depends, in an important degree, the moral and social salvation of the working men of this country. It would have been easy to have gone into greater detail, and to have spoken of the various subjects that engaged the attention of the delegates at the Swansea A.M.C. But we shall refer to only one, and that is personal to the editor and readers of the Magazine. On the sub-committee's report being read, some little difference of opinion was expressed as to the price and contents of the Magazine-some gentlemen contending that the price was too high, and others that the contents of the work were not sufficiently interesting to Odd Fellows. On the question of price, and the disposal of the profits arising from the sale, we have nothing to say; but with regard to the literary contents we can only remark that we entirely concur with the Rev. W. Price in his desire to render the Magazine worthy the support of the Order. It will be seen that the present number contains several articles of a nature particularly interesting to Odd-Fellows, and to working men generally. It is not necessary that we should speak of the past, or refer to the difficulties under which we have laboured in bringing the Magazine even to its present state of completeness-or perhaps incompleteness would be the more proper word. We work in hope, and confidently promise our readers that the next volume will be better than this; and that not in one respect only, but in all. Enough of ourselves; the working of our society will doubtless improve in consequence of the various alterations of the general laws sanctioned by the delegates at our annual parliament. It will be seen, and doubtless with satisfaction by thousands of our members, that the proposal to abolish the name of "Odd-Fellows," in favour of that of "Manchester Unity," or some other title, was almost unanimously rejected by the delegates, and that the suggestion was grace. fully withdrawn by the gentleman representing the district proposing the alteration. This will be sufficient answer to numerous friends who have addressed the Editor on the subject. Odd-Fellowship, like human nature, is progressive in its development. What was right, proper, and true in the year 1810 may be found to be unfitted for, and without benefit to, the constitution of the Unity in 1860; that upon which we determine now may be found cumbersome and useless by our successors half a dozen years hence. But of this we may be assured: that in all future time Odd-Fellowship will become better known and more highly appreciated, and that the better it is known, and the more widely its principles are diffused, the greater will be the benefits conferred on working men, our country, and the world. Nonsense Verses. Qu'il est heureux de se défendre, |