The attendance was large, and much interest was manifested in the proceedings. We will give a more complete report of the transactions of this Body in our next number.

KENTUCKY.

The Grand Encampment held its annual session in Louisville on the 19th of July. The reports exhibit this branch of the Order steadily progressing in the State of Kentucky. Three new Encampments have been instituted during the past year, while there has been generally a corresponding increase of membership. The following are the officers for the ensuing year:

Amos Shinkle, of Covington, M. W. Grand Patriarch.

John B. Davies, of Louisville, M. E. Grand High Priest.
W. R. Hydes, of Louisville, R. W. Grand Senior Warden.
J. M. Armstrong, of Covington, R. W. Grand Junior Warden.
John Fonda, of Louisville, R. W. Grand Treasurer.
Matthew Neill, of Louisville, R. W. Grand Scribe.

G. A. Waggoner, of Louisville, R. W. Grand Sentinel. John W. Pruett, of Frankfort, R. W. Grand Representative. GRAND LODGE.-The Grand Lodge met in annual session in the city of Louisville on the 18th of July. A large number of representatives from all parts of the State were in attendance, and a lively interest manifested in the progress and workings of Odd-Fellowship in that State. The officers for the ensuing term are as follows:

A. G. Hobson, of Bowlingreen, M. W. Grand Master.
J. M. Mills, of Frankfort, R. W. Deputy Grand Master.
Henry Gray, of Perryville, R. W. Grand Warden.
William White, of Louisville, R. W. Grand Secretary.
John Fonda, of Louisville, R. W. Grand Treasurer.
M. J. Durham, of Perryville, R. W. Grand Representative.

OHIO.

GRAND ENCAMPMENT.-It is known to our readers that a portion of the members of this Body dissent from its action in adopting the new Constitution at the special session at Zanesville in February last. This minority held an annual meeting in this city on the 20th of July, according to the provisions of the old Constitution, received the reports of Subordinates, and elected the following officers:

William S. Phares, of Hamilton, Butler county, G. Patriarch.
C. W. Cowan, of St. Marys, Auglaize county, G. High Priest.
John A. Adams, of Milford, Clermont county, G. Senior Warden.
J. Griswold, of Cincinnati, Grand Scribe.

P. E. Bancroft, of Springfield, Clark county, G. Treasurer.

Nathan Stewart, of Cincinnati, Grand Junior Warden.

H. N. Clark, of Cincinnati, Grand Representative.

GLEANINGS.

A MORE beautiful sentiment than that expressed in the following lines is rarely met with:

"The lips that utter kindly thoughts,

Have a beauty all their own

For gentle words are sweeter far,

Than music's softest tone;

And though the voice be harsh or shrill,

That bids the oppressed go free,

And soothes the woes of the sorrowing one,

That voice is sweet to me."

"YOUR old Kentucky home! you poor soul you!" said Mrs. Partington, as she thrust her head out of the window, to catch the notes of a song an individual was singing in a dismal voice, near her dwelling. "I wish with all my heart you was there, where your friends could take care of you and do for you. It is a terrible thing to be in distress away off among strangers, particularly where you ain't acquainted with any of 'em; but I don't think it looks well for a man to wake up a whole neighborhood at midnight with his sorrows."

BEAUTIFUL THOUGHT.-The setting of a great hope is like the setting of the sun. The brightness of our life is gone. Shadows of evening fall around us, and the world seems but a dull reflection-itself a broader shade. We look forward into the coming lonely night; the soul withdraws into itself; the stars arise, and the night is holy.

A LAZY, over-fed lad, returning from dinner to his work one day, was asked by his employer if he had no other motion than that. "Yes," replied the youth, drawling out each letter, "but it's a little slower."

READING. Make it a rule to read a little every day, even if it be but a single sentence. A short paragraph will often afford you a profitable source of reflection for a whole day. For this purpose, keep some valuable book or paper always within your reach, so that you may lay your hand upon it at any moment when you are about the house. We know a large family who made itself intimately acquainted with history, probably more than any other family in the United States, by the practice of having one of the children, each one taking turns, read every morning while the rest were at breakfast.

LEIGH HUNT, in his reminiscences, relates that Coleridge upon the death of the master of a school he had attended when a boy, remarked: "It was lucky that the cherubims who took him to heaven were nothing but faces and wings, or he would infallibly have flogged them on the way."

BIRTH AND GENIUS.-In Willis' play of "Bianca Visconti," Bianca utters the following fine sentiment:

"If the rose

Were born a lily, and by force of heat

And eagerness for light, grew tall and fair,
'Twere a true type of the first fiery soul
That makes a low name honorable. They
Who take it by inheritance alone,
Adding no brightness to it-are like stars
Seen in the ocean-that were never there
But for the bright originals in heaven."

LITERATURE. The study of literature, says Cicero, nourishes youth, entertains old age, adorns prosperity, solaces adversity, is delighted at home, obtrusive abroad, deserts us not by day nor by night, in journeying, nor in retirement.

A TEACHER in one of the Sunday Schools was lecturing a class on the influence of parental instruction in the formation of youthful character. "Ah, Miss Caroline," said he to one of the class, "what do you suppose you would have been without your good father and pious mother?" “I suppose, sir," answered Miss Caroline, "I would have been an orphan."

THE most agreeable of all companions is a simple, frank man, without any high pretensions; one who loves life, and understands the use of itobliging alike at all hours; above all, of a golden temper, and steadfast as an anchor. For such a one, we gladly exchange the greatest genius, the most brilliant wit, or the profoundest thinker.

"I CAN as little live upon past kindness," says Buckingham, "as the air be warmed with the sunbeams of yesterday."

ONE can no more judge of the true value of a man by the impression he makes on the public, than we can tell whether the seal was gold or brass by which the stamp was made.

MEN's fame is like their hair, which grows after they are dead, and with just as little use to them.

ALL Truth is a unity. He, therefore, who seizes upon a fragment of Truth, magnifying and honoring that to the neglect of other parts of the same great whole, not only wrongs himself, but does violence to the very Truth he professes to regard.

A GOOD REASON.-"Here's your money, dolt. Now, tell me why your master wrote me eighteen letters about this contemptible sum um!" said an exasperated debtor.

"I'm sure, sir, I can't tell, sir; but if you'll excuse me, sir, I think it was because seventeen letters didn't fetch it."

EDITOR'S TABLE.

PUBLISHERS' NOTICE.-Bro. O. P. Gray, of Lawrenceburg, Ia., has purchased an interest in the Casket, and will hereafter devote his entire attention to extending the circulation of the work. Bro. Gray has an extensive acquaintance throughout southern Indiana, and being a member of the Grand Lodge, is known to the fraternity generally as a devoted and zealous Odd Fellow. The firm will now be styled Tidball, Turner, & Gray, to whom all letters and communications must be addressed. TIDBALL & TURNER.

AUGUST. The burning heats of Summer are upon us, and Sol has smitten many with the stroke of death. The pestilence which "walketh in darkness and wasteth at noon day," has also been among us, and many have been borne to the silent tomb. Who does not sigh for the country, with its deep shades, and balmy breezes, and beautiful flowers? How many have left the heat and dust of the city for the northern lakes, for Niagara, or Saratoga, or Cape May, or the White and Green mountains of the far-off east? What multitudes seek refuge from the scorching rays of August's sun at the Yellow and White and Blue Sulphur Springs, among the dells and woodlands; or have buried themselves in the deeper shades of the Mammoth Cave, where, amid its world of wonders in its subterranean palaces, or on the banks of its dark echoing rivers, they spend day after day of joyous mirth!

Little do they think, and perhaps less do they care, for the toiling millions they have left behind, whose destiny is changeless to work or die. The weary day to them closes only to bring the sultry night, in garrets and chambers that more resemble ovens than places of rest, and from whence, instead of coming forth in the morning refreshed and invigorated for the toils of another day, the feverish tongue and aching head and limbs, tell of anything else but rest. To such indeed

"Life is a torrid day,

Parched by the wind and sun.”

While the affluent rest on beds of ease, or wander amid the cool fragrance of their pleasure gardens, or seek, by the many facilities for rapid and extensive travel, more desirable retreats away from home, the toiling poor are left to struggle on without a green spot in the vast desert of their existence. Affluence might, with small expense, procure for such in Cincinnati a public park where they might enjoy a little rest and recreation, and the health of the entire city be benefitted by it; but, alas! the selfishness of those who have grown rich out of the poor man's sweat and blood and brains, can see no pay in all this, and the life for self is

the all absorbing thought, and no such word as philanthropy is to be found in all the scanty vocabulary of their knowledge and researches. We know of no help for such but to work out their destiny, and toil on in patience and hope to the end of life's torrid day, being assured that "Death is the calm cool night

When the weary day is done."

We pity the heart that grows not sad at the unequal distribution of life's blessings everywhere apparent, and that not only does not wish that it were otherwise, but that does not contribute his influence to make it so. The design of God is evidently the happiness, and not only the happiness, but the highest happiness, of all his creatures, and it is a God-like attribute in man to care for his brother man, and labor to bring about the time when the deep-toned miserere of humanity, which has rolled over earth for six thousand years, shall be changed into the glad triumphant jubilee of earth redeemed. It was a benevolent economy of the Jewish commonwealth, and as wise as benevolent, that gave to the entire population of Palestine a Sabbatic year, where freedom from toil was the boon of every man, whether bond or free. Then the crushing heel of avarice and oppression was stayed, and the cringing hand of poverty was opened to receive the bounty which a benevolent Providence had secured. Nothing demonstrates more clearly the divinity of the Bible than this provision of its author, and while it was attended with the most incalculable good to man, it serves as an infallible indication for nations to do likewise. While we would not be so agrarian as to level all down to the common standard, we would labor to bring all up to the common level of enjoyment, for the earth, which is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, is sufficiently capacious in its resources to make all God's creatures happy.

CATHOLICISM AND ODD FELLOWSHIP.-The publications of the Church of Rome have frequently denounced the Order of Odd Fellows, and similar societies, and admonished their members against the "heresy" of becoming associated with us. The following extract from an article published some time since in a Pittsburgh Catholic paper, embraces the teachings of this church on the subject:

"The Church has condemned every secret society, no matter what may be its object. A Catholic who joins the Odd Fellows, or any other secret society, has lost the grace of God, aud is no longer within the pale of the Church. When a Catholic joins one of these secret societies, the grace of God forsakes him, and he can no longer be considered a member of the Church. It is to be feared that the majority of Catholics who join these secret societies, in a short time become infidels."

If the workings of friendship, love and truth, is an evidence that an individual "has lost the grace of God," and if the diffusion of the principles of benevolence and charity tends to promote infidelity, then indeed