Excerpt from The Story of Damon and Pythias The pages of history and the traditions of the "long ago" furnished no scene that should count for more in man's relation with his fellows, as day by day he lives his life, than the one laid in Sicily and furnished by Damon and Pythias. Its elaboration in the play of that name by John Banim found a welcome in the public heart, and later the friendship of these two was made the basis for a society, established in the City of Washington, February 19, 1864. This society has developed into one of the great Fraternities, with membership rapidly nearing eight hundred thousand splendid men, known as the "Order of Knights of Pythias." That Sicilian scene is so human, so filled with lessons that mean for mutual, community and universal good, that the devotees of that great Order gladly encouraged every effort to disseminate the lessons to be found therein. It teaches and will develop the spirit of fraternalism - a spirit that should have a place in the heart and life of every well-meaning individual. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.