Page:History of Delaware County (1856).djvu/436

 412 APPENDIX. newspaper, the theme of every writer, the subject of dreamers dreams, and the absorbing topic of conversation everywhere The slumbering indignation of the masses of the people was aroused, and it was evident that public condemnation had passed a sentence upon Masonry, from which it could never recover. The decline of Masonry was a marked epoch in the history of secret organizations — the supposed murder of Morgan, and the startling developments which the publication of his sup- posed work gave to the world, confirmed in truth as they were by the af&rmation of members who seceded from the order, created in the public mind powerful prejudices, not only against masonry, but all organizations of a secret character, as conflicting with the spirit of our free institutions. ODD FELLOWSHIP. The decline and prostration of Masonry, and the universal antipathy lavished upon the order, affected to a greater or less extent all similar organizations. Foremost amongst these ranked the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which had existed in a crude and detached state in various portions of the United States, prior to 1819, when it was formally and systematically established, through the energy and perseverance of Thomas Hildey, a gentleman residing in Baltimore. The association of Odd Fellows in this country, is wisely af&liated and compacted in a fashion bearing some resemblance to the form of our civil constitution. Its genius, however, unlike that of our civil government, is the genius, not of state rights, but of consolidated sovereignty. The minor lodges, in the several States and territories, are subject to the supervi- sion of the grand lodges; and these again are subordinate to the G-rand Lodge of the United States. The primary source of power and legislation resides in this latter body. This