jump from branch to branch on the neighboring trees. We look around, above and below, and exclaim, if this is earth so lovely, what is heaven? "But this delightful season must decay; The year rolls on and steals its charms away; "While pensive thought the fleeting bliss deplores, Where beauties rise and bloom and never die." God and History. Memory has cast her lengthened shade, and the scenes of the past rise vividly before us. As we unroll the scroll which contains the history of ages, one page will acknowledge the existence of a new empire-the next will tell the mournful tale of its decay. One will speak of the reign of some great Solon, or a Nero-the next will tell of their mortal frames being consigned to their last resting place. One will dwell on the tranquility existing between nations; how peace and plenty walk hand in hand by every proud castle, and lowly cottage-the next will portray in colors bright the battle scene, and from every hamlet on the plain the sad cry rises, which tells us that a dear one is gone. The dead are strewn thickly through the fields; the weeping bend o'er the weeping partner, and watch the last feeble movement of the lip, and hear the faint farewell; the Angel of Death stoops and brushes the shadow from the brow, and the spirit has passed away. Are these changes the result of chance, and are they to be received merely as facts? No! In them the power of the Supreme Ruler of nations, as well as individuals, is recognized. When Mount Vesuvius thundered up volumes of smoke, and cast her burning lava over the city of Pompeii, encasing it in all its gaiety, to stand a monument of the power of the Infinite for time to come, was there no reality in this? or was it caused by chance? When proud Babylon, with its high turrets, almost reaching the skies above us—yes, when Babylon fell, was there not ONE who, with a breath, might have made its foundations firm again? It was a lesson to last forever; for God showed by overthrowing it, that, though it had folded the garments of strength and pride tightly around it, yet He was not pleased, and 'twas humbled to the dust. Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities of the plain, were the recipients of a shower of fire and brimstone. The shafts of death flew thick and fast, vol. i-24 and with hope still clinging to them, Death urged his claim. The greatness of God was fearfully exhibited, and to the traveler now, naught remains to tell the exact spot where these ancient cities stood, save a calm and unknown sea which flows over the supposed ruins. And Tyre, thou art also a doomed city! O'er a portion of thy ancient splendor the billows are bounding, and as each dashing wave rolls onward, it tells the sad tale, "Thou shalt be built no more." The land which once flowed with "milk and honey," each vale filled with products of a mild climate, the hills crowned with clustering vines, is changed, and inhabited by the wild Arabs; it is become barren and unfruitful. Do you ask the cause of its decline? Wonder not that the land which was watered by the blood of our Savior, should be unfruitful. Rome was built. But who wove the regal garbs? Were they men of integrity? This city was the refuge of fugitives, and with a few good persons, robbers and other degraded men were mingled. Religion at that time had no firm footing in the land of the Romans--without God at their head they could no longer exist as they were. The flames rolled over that great city, devouring all that crossed their path. The cries of slaughtered children rose and died on the air; there were none to relieve; columns of smoke issuing forth from the heaping ruins, and curling to the skies, told that Rome had fallen. But our own dear native land, have we forgotten thee, while reveling 'mid scenes long since past? Our thoughts still turn to thee, noble band, who landed on Plymouth Rock-the howling storm and the eagle's cry, thy only salutation, thy only welcome! We think not lightly of thy dangers, hardships, and deprivations, but with eager eye review each step of thine, and behold with joy how thou wast cherished and protected by the outstretched arm of Him who is ever ready to save. THE TRUE ODD FELLOW is not the proscriber and denouncer of his brother, for opinion's sake. The broad platform of Odd-Fellowship guarantees the largest liberty of individual thought, and the most unlimited freedom of individual right, subordinate always to the "Good of the Order.” The true Odd Fellow is not one who denounces, and perhaps "damns" the great moral reformations of the day, and on the plea that it would "take away his liberty," and remove the power of evil in his own person, and that of his neighbor, would obstruct the advancement of a cause, calculated to benefit all mankind. Odd-Fellowship inculcates no such doctrines, and such an Odd Fellow's heart has never been warmed by the genial fires which burn on the altars of our Order. We need not add, that the true Odd Fellow must be a man-not only within the Lodge room, but he must carry his philanthropic spirit into general practice. GLEANINGS. TRUE HOPE is based on the energy of character. A strong mind always hopes, and has always cause to hope, because it knows the mutability of human affairs, and how a circumstance may change the whole course of events. Such a spirit rests upon itself; and is not confined to partial views, or to one particular object. And if at last, all should be lost, it has saved itself, its own integrity and worth. LORD BACON beautifully said: "If a man be gracious to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island cut off from other lands, but a continent that joins them." THE rum-bottle, says Douglass Jerrold, is Satan's crucible, in which he melts down all the fine gold of man's nature. MEETING a negro on the road, with crape on his hat, a traveler said : "You have lost some of your friends, I see." "Yes, Massa." "Was it a near or a distant relative?" "Well, putty distant-'bout twenty-four miles," was the reply. As in a man's life, so in his studies, I think it is the most beautiful and humane thing in the world so to mingle gravity with pleasure, that the one may not sink into melancholy, nor the other rise into wantonness. "My goodness alive, Bridget, what are you doing? here's my fine new tea-kettle with the bottom melted out!" "Didn't yees tell me to put it on the fire for tay? an' I did, and I thought it was strange that yees said nothing about putting water in it." As the memory relieves the mind in her vacant moments, and fills up the chasms of thought with ideas of what is past, we have other faculties that agitate and employ her upon what is to come. These are the passions of hope and fear. DEATH OF WEBSTER.-This fine stanza is from a poem in the National Era, on the death of Daniel Webster: EMERSON says: "The accepted and betrothed lover has lost the wildest charms of his maiden in her acceptance of him. She was heaven whilst he pursued her as a star-she cannot be heaven if she stoops to such a one as he. PUNCH defines a court house as the place where a penny's worth of justice is purchased with a shilling's worth of law. There is only one thing less profitable than sueing people, and that is, going their security. INSTINCT OF SPIDERS. -It has been observed that some spiders, with an instinctive sagacity, select, as the greatest security from disturbance, the lids of the poor-boxes in churches. MAN is like a snow ball. Leave him in idleness against the sunny fence of prosperity, and all the good that's in him melts like fresh butter in hot days; but kick him around, and he gathers his strength every revolution till he grows to an avalanche. To make a figure in the world you must keep moving. SCOTT says that the most disagreeable of all things is "a vain, cold, empty, beautiful woman, who has neither mind nor heart, but only features like a doll." ALCOHOL was first invented and used to stain the cheeks of the ladies of Arabia―nine hundred and fifty years ago. It still reddens portions of the human face. "Six feet in his boots!" exclaimed Mrs. Partington. "What will the importance of this world come to, I wonder? Why, they might just as treasonably tell me that the man had six heads in his hat?" -- NEGRO ANECDOTE. A zealous clergyman had taken these words: "And Satan came also among them." At the moment of his reading the text, an old decrepit negro entering the sanctuary, supposing himself aimed at by the parson, and with a degree of resentment, looking the clergyman full in the face, retorted, "You glad to see your fadder?" CHILDHOOD is like a mirror, catching and reflecting images all around it. Remember that an impious or profane thought, uttered by a parent's lip, may operate upon the young heart like a careless spray of water thrown upon steel, staining it with rust, which no after scouring can efface. SENTIMENTAL."Behold, my Flora, how glorious Nature looks in her bloom! The trees are filled with blossoms, the wood is dressed in its green livery, and the plain is carpeted with grass and flowers." "Yes, Charles; I was thinking of the same thing. Those flowers are dandelions, and when they are gathered, and put into a pot with a piece of good fat pork, they make the best greens in the world!" A GROG SHOP in Cincinnati rejoices in the name of the Custom House. Money paid into its coffers, however, can hardly be considered in the way of duty. "WHAT are these Odd Fellows, John?" "Professors of modern Lodge-ic," answered John, with a serious look. EDITOR'S TABLE. CLOSE OF THE Volume.—With this number the first volume of the Casket is completed. In reviewing its pages, we cannot but feel that we have fulfilled all our promises made at the commencement; and having now been before the public for six months, all can judge for themselves of the merit of the work. Our support from the fraternity has been very liberal-exceedingly so, when we consider the number of new publications which have ceased to exist after a few numbers have been issued, and the prejudice which is thereby excited against them. We shall continue to introduce occasional illustrations, and fill our pages, as heretofore, almost entirely with original matter. Our list of contributors comprises many widely known in the literary world, and with the assistance of the fraternity, every member of whom is solicited to correspond with us, we hope to make the Casket a welcome visitor at every fireside, where the motto of our Order is recognized as the guiding star. As we wish to add interest to the department of news of the Order, we respectfully invite our friends throughout the country to send us brief notices of the progress of the Order in their respective localities. Every Odd Fellow is invited to write for the Casket. Will our patrons also endeavor to increase its circulation by each one sending some new names? Subscriptions may commence either with January or July. Club subscriptions must all commence at the same time, and none received for less than one year. We can still supply back numbers. A NEW MOVEMENT.-At a regular meeting of Ohio Lodge, No. 1, held on the 22d of May, 1854, the following preamble and resolutions offered by P.G.M. Wm. G. Williams, were adopted: Believing that it would be for the benefit of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Cincinnati, to aid in the erection and support of an Association (under the control of Odd Fellows) for the establishment of a Lyceum, embracing the departments of a Reading Room, Library, and a general system of public Lectures, because 1st. An Odd Fellows' Reading Room would be a general meeting place, whereby all information relating to the interests of the Order would be accessible to every member. 2d. It would enable brothers to become better acquainted with each other; thus knitting together more closely the bonds of our fraternity. 3d. By affording the means of rational entertainment, it would induce members of the Order to cultivate the God-given gift of intelligence-to |