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Transcription Notes:
This Internet file is far from an exact copy of the book. It contains only the songs that were scattered through the original book, and not the prose which made up the greater portion. The text file this was copied from was raw OCR text, riddled with typos; we wish we could assure you that all had been fixed, but without a hardcopy or photocopy to compare to, some errors probably slipped past us.
If you would like to view the raw OCR text, it is available online at the Internet Archive, archive.org. A partially corrected copy of the prose text is also embedded here, and can be seen by accessing the source code for this page.
The text file this was derived from did not contain any artwork or diagrams (which the original must have had) nor music scores, the songs had no authors and few titles, but did have tunes listed. There was no Table of Contents and no indexes. Page numbering was ignored. MPS indexes of first lines have been compiled at the end of this file, but have not been included in the index for the entire site. There were no authors or titles noted, so no indexes could be compiled for those. Only garbled text of the title page was included, from which we have tried to reconstruct it sight unseen.
Our special thanks go to Bro. Kendall Jewell, for finding and sending us the prefatory paragraph immediately below, retrieved from stichtingargus.nl. Also special thanks to Bro. A.T. Smith for providing the photo from the frontispiece of a 1912 edition of this book (which may or may not be the same logo as was used in this 1864 edition). This fraternal organization was brought to our attention while researching Ella Wheeler Wilcox for her page on this site.
okl.
Independent Order of Good Templars
The Good Templars was founded in 1851 in Utica, New York, as a fraternal temperance society for teetotalers of either sex. It has since spread worldwide and publishes the National Good Templar 10 times a year. In 1994, there were 5,000 members in the United States alone.
The Good Templars promotes total abstinence from alcohol. The founder, Daniel Cady, had been a member of the Sons of Temperance (founded 1842), which had assumed a number of fraternal and benevolent characteristics while trying to reform drunks and keep them reformed. His Knights of Jericho (1850) soon metamorphosed into the Good Templars in 1851, survived schism and reunification the following year (the short-lived Royal Templars of Temperance [? 1890]) and went on to prosper. It always admitted women on the same basis as men, and has, according to its own literature, always been racially mixed. In 1868 the organization spread to England.
At the turn of the century, the Good Templars in the United States boasted about 350,000 members. It has shrunk drastically since then, but seems to be on the rebound from the low of 2,000 quoted by Schmidt in his Fraternal Organizations in 1979. Its greatest strength is to be found outside the United States, especially in Sweden. Lodges also exist in Austria, Canada, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Ireland, Japan, Liberia, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Scotland, Switzerland, Turkey, Wales, and elsewhere. Membership worldwide is probably between half a million and a million.
Originally, the Good Templars worked three Degrees, namely Heart, Charity, and Royal Virtue. The rituals and regalia were much diminished in the 1970s as the organization tried to make itself more modern and relevant. Now, the initiatory degree of Justice is the only one worked. Initiates are requested to promise to do all in their power “to promote total abstinence of intoxicating beverages both through the enforcement of laws and through our own way of life.”
INDEPENDENT ORDER
of
GOOD TEMPLARS,
for
SUBORDINATE LODGES,
UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF THE
RIGHT WORTHY GRAND LODGE OF NORTH AMERICA.
ADOPTED AT CLEVELAND SESSION,
MAY 24, 1864.
CHICAGO:
PUBLISHED BY THE RIGHT WORTHY GRAND LODGE.
1864.
Table of Contents
First lines in page order
compiled by MPS
Transcriber's Notes
Information on modern-day I.O.G.T.
1912 Frontispiece
Opening Odes
- Friends of Temperance, welcome here
- We are gathering for the conflict
Initiation Odes
- Welcome, welcome to our Order
- Welcome, stranger, to this Temple
Obligation Odes
- God of the Temperance cause
- God of Mercy! be Thou near
Circumambulation Odes
- Hail! all hail! O friends of Right!
- Come, friends and brethren, all unite
Commitment Odes
- Long live our temple bright
- Now bound by honor's sacred laws
- To our noble cause forever
Water Odes
- Fill all your sparkling glasses high
- Sparkling and bright
Closing Initiation Ode
- Hail we now our new made member
Closing Odes
- Heavenly Father! give thy blessing
- Great God! hear thou our prayer to-night
- May friendship's chain be ever bright
Installation Ode
- Whatever station we may fill
Closing Installation Ode
- Stand up, stand up for Temperance
Index of First Lines
Opening Odes.
1. air: "Watchman."
Friends of Temperance, welcome here,
Cheerful are our hearts to-day;
Tell us we would gladly hear
How our cause speeds on its way.
Here we pledge ourselves anew,
Not to touch the drunkard's drink;
Proving faithful, proving true,
We will from no duty shrink.
2. air: "The Battle Cry of Freedom"
We are gathering for the conflict, with earnest hearts and true,
Shouting the battle cry of Temperance;
The world will bless our progress in the work we have to do;
Shouting the battle cry of Temperance.
Cold water forever, hurrah! then, hurrah!
Down with the wine glass, up with our star;
As we gather for a right cause, with earnest hearts and true,
Shouting the battle cry of Temperance.
Initiation Odes
1. air: "Savior, like a shepherd lead us"
Welcome, welcome to our Order,
We shall need your help and care;
In the harvest fields of Temperance,
You shall have a rightful share.
Welcome, welcome,
Heaven bless you! is our prayer;
Welcome, welcome,
Heaven bless you! is our prayer.
2. air: Harwell.
Welcome, stranger, to this Temple,
To our altar now advance;
Join our band of valiant soldiers,
Strike for Right and Temperance!
Hearts united cheer you on,
Honor, pleasure will be won,
Welcome, stranger, to this Temple,
Welcome, welcome, welcome here!
Obligation Odes
1. air: America.
God of the Temperance cause,
Bless Those who seek thy laws,
Owning their power;
Be Thou to them a shield,
Teach them thy sword to wield
Upon temptation's field,
In sin's dark hour.
2. air: Pleyel's Hymn.
God of Mercy! be Thou near,
While these vows are spoken here;
Shield the victor, guard and guide
Where the lurking tempters hide;
Man may strive, but Thou alone
Must the final conquest crown.
Circumambulation Odes
1. air: "Beautiful Star."
Hail! all hail! O friends of Right!
Keep the vows you're made to-night!
Let no purple wine be poured
As you gather at the board.
Destroying wine,
Destroying wine,
Wine, wine of the drunkard,
Taste not, O taste not the wine!
2. air: Auld Lang Syne.
Come, friends and brethren, all unite,
In songs of hearty cheer;
Our cause speeds onward in its might
Away with doubt and fear.
We give the pledge, we join the hand,
Resolved on victory;
We are a bold, determined band,
And strike for liberty.
The cup of death no more we take;
That cup no more we give;
It makes the head, the bosom, ache
Ah! who can drink and live?
We give the pledge, we join the hand.
Resolved on victory;
We are a bold, determined band,
And strike for liberty.
Commitment Odes
1. air: America.
Long live our temple bright,
Offspring of truth and light,
Sent from above!
Long may our Brothers stand,
And Sisters glorious band
Strong pillars in our land,
Our pride and love!
2. air: Old Hundred.
Now bound by honor's sacred laws,
Be faithful to our holy cause;
Let truth preserve each member's fame,
Nor curses blast our honored name.
Then welcome to our Unionhood,
A cheerful welcome to the good;
Long live our Order's great renown,
And happiness each member crown!
Stand firm in truth while life shall last,
Nor let the blight fall on thy way;
Our hopes, may treason never blast;
Our trust, no Judas e'er betray.
3. air: "Lift your heads, the day is breaking."
To our noble cause forever,
Be a steady beacon light;
Let no deed or word e'er sever
Those who gather here to-night.
Firm in principles of Temperance,
Turn the wine-king from his throne,
Keeping always in remembrance,
God, Great God, is King alone.
Water Odes
air: "There's much good cheer." (Cracovienne.)
Fill all your sparkling glasses high,
With health that wine can never buy;
Cold water, full of strength and life,
Will nerve our weakest for the strife;
Flash out a draught of water cold,
With cheerful faces, young and old,
'Twas given a blessing from the sky,
Then fill your sparkling glasses high!
air: "Sparkling and Bright"
Sparkling and bright,
in its liquid light,
Is the water in our glasses;
'Twill give you health,
'twill give you wealth,
Ye lads and rosy lasses!
O! then resign
your ruby wine,
Each smiling son and daughter;
There's nothing so good
for the youthful blood,
Or sweet as the sparkling water!
Closing Initiation Ode
air: Zion.
Hail we now our new made member,
Linked with us in friendship's chain;
Kind and faithful to each other,
Love will soothe our woes and pain;
Thus progressing,
Blessings follow in our train.
Closing Odes.
1.air: Sicilian Hymn.
Heavenly Father! give thy blessing,
While we now this meeting end;
On our mind each truth impressing,
That may to thy glory tend.
Save from all intoxication,
From its fountain may we flee;
When assailed by strong temptation,
Put our trust alone in thee.
2.air: Cheney.
Great God! hear thou our prayer to-night,
The foes of Temperance may we brave;
Guide all our faltering steps aright,
Our fellow men from ruin save.
3.air: Ward.
May friendship's chain be ever bright,
And charity and love increase;
May Providence protect the right,
Reclaim the wrong, establish peace.
Installation Ode.
air: "Auld Lang Syne"
Whatever station we may fill
In this exalted band,
Our plighted duties we shall still
Achieve, with heart and hand;
And evermore, through good and ill,
By one another stand
Whatever station we may fill
In this exalted band.
Closing Installation Ode.
air: "The morning light is breaking."
Stand up, stand up for Temperance,
Ye soldiers of our cause;
Lift high our royal banner,
Nor let it suffer loss.
From victory to victory
Our army shall be led,
Till every foe is vanquished
And all are free indeed.
Stand up, stand up for Temperance,
Against unnumbered foes;
Your courage rise with danger,
And strength to strength oppose;
Forth to this mighty conflict
Go, in this glorious hour
Where duty calls, or danger,
Be never wanting there.
Index
First lines in alphabetical order
compiled by MPS
Note that these are not included in the site-wide indexes
- Come, friends and brethren, all unite
- Fill all your sparkling glasses high
- Friends of Temperance, welcome here
- God of Mercy! be Thou near
- God of the Temperance cause
- Great God! hear thou our prayer to-night
- Hail! all hail! O friends of Right!
- Hail we now our new made member
- Heavenly Father! give thy blessing
- Long live our temple bright
- May friendship's chain be ever bright
- Now bound by honor's sacred laws
- Sparkling and bright
- Stand up, stand up for Temperance
- To our noble cause forever
- We are gathering for the conflict
- Welcome, stranger, to this Temple
- Welcome, welcome to our Order
- Whatever station we may fill