GLEANINGS.

THE ERRING. The following lines, from the pen of Julia A. Fletcher, are touchingly beautiful, and breathe a divine spirit. Our readers may have seen them before, but they will bear republication a thousand times, as they possess, like richest gems of truth, an interest that will never decay, so long as there is "a heart to feel for others' woes."

Think gently of the erring!

Ye know not of the power
With which the dark temptation came,
In some unguarded hour.
Ye may not know how earnestly
They struggled, or how well,
Until the hour of weakness came

And sadly thus they fell.

Think gently of the erring!

O do not thou forget
However darkly stained by sin,
He is thy brother yet.
Heir of the self same heritage!

Child of the self same God!
He has but stumbled in the path,
Thou hast in weakness trod.

Speak gently to the erring!

For is it not enough
That innocence and peace are gone.
Without thy censure rough?

It sure must be a weary lot,

That sin-crushed heart to bear; And they who share a happier fate, Their chidings well may spare. Speak kindly to the erring!

Thou yet may'st lead them back, With holy words and tones of love,

From misery's thorny track.
Forget not thou hast often sinned,

And sinful yet must be-
Deal gently with the erring one,
As God has dealt with thee.

ONE FRIEND.-How pleasant it is to have one friend to whom we can go and unbosom our feelings when the world is harsh with us, and darkness has settled on the fair face of nature. At such a time, a heart to counsel and advise us, that will manifest feeling and sympathy, is above all price. The outgushing of love and tenderness revives and cheers us, drives away sadness from the bosom, and brightens the heavens again. He who has one to whom he can go in the hour of adversity, can never be wholly cast down, can never be driven to despair. The world, dark as it may be sometimes, will always contain one bright spot, where the stricken heart will find sympathy.

KNOWLEDGE may slumber in the memory, but it never dies; it is like the dormouse in the ivied tower, that sleeps while winter lasts, but awakes with the warm breath of spring.

WERE human beings always that which they are in their best moments, then should we know here already on earth a kingdom of heaven, of beauty and goodness.

O! let thy soul remember, what the will of Heaven ordains is good for all; and if for all, then good for thee.

BEAUTIFUL EXTRACT.-One fountain there is, whose deep veins have only just begun to throw up its silver drops among mankind-a fountain which will allay the thirst of millions, and will give to those who drink from it, peace and joy. It is Knowledge; the fountain of intellectual cultivation, which gives health to mankind, makes clear the vision, brings joy to his life, and breathes over his soul's destiny a deep repose. Go and drink therefrom, thou whom fortune has not favored, and thou wilt find thyself rich. Thou mayest go forth into the world, and find thyself at home; thou canst cultivate in thy own little chamber, thy friends are ever around thee, and carry on wise conversations with thee; nature, antiquity and heaven are accessible to thee. The industrial kingdom of the ant, the works of man, the rainbow, and music records, offer to thy soul hospitality.

A SHARP CUT.-Moore, in his diary, mentions an anecdote told by Croker, as one of the happiest things he ever heard. Fenelon, who had often teased Richelieu-and ineffectually, it seems-for subscriptions to charitable undertakings, was one day telling him that he had just seen his picture.

"And did you ask it for a subscription?" said Richelieu, sneeringly. "No, I saw there was no chance," replied the other, "it was so like you."

Gentle and complacent manners, and a conduct free from pretensions and arrogance, are sure to be allowed much more consequence than they give; for the mind of man in every situation naturally revolts against the demands of pride and insolence, but willingly shows respect where the manners prove the claim to it, and not the look or tone of assumption.

RELIGIOUS toleration is a duty, a virtue, which man owes to man; considered as a public right, it is the respect of the government to the consciences of the citizens, and the objects of their veneration and their faith.

Ir is often extremely difficult, in the mixed things of this world, to act truly and kindly too; but therein lies one of the great trials of man—that his sincerity should have kindness in it, and his kindness truth.

SILENCE is one great art in conversation. He is not a fool who knows when to hold his tongue; and a person may gain credit for sense, eloquence, wit, who merely says nothing to lessen the opinion which others have of these qualities in themselves.

PEACE is the evening star of the soul, as virtue is its sun, and the two are never far apart.

TRUE quietness of heart is got by resisting our passions, not by obeying them.

A PICTURE IN THE ROOM.-Mr. Hazlitt said somewhere of the portrait of a beautiful female with a noble countenance, that it seems as if an unhandsome action would be impossible in its presence. Most men of any refinement of soul must have felt the truth and force of this sentiment. And therefore we have often thought that the picture of the beloved mother or devoted wife, hung up in the room where we spend our leisure hours, must certainly exert a mighty influence upon the feelings and thoughts. Cowper's picture of his mother was a living presence, whose speaking countenance and beaming eye appealed as no living mortal could, to his inmost soul, and stirred its profoundest depths; their virtues, their moral graces and excellencies, as remembered by the affectionate survivor. It may seem an odd thought, but we cannot help suggesting it to every female reader-to every sister, wife, and motherthat it is a worthy ambition of each of them to labor to be, both now and when dead, that "picture in the house" before which vice shall stand abased, confounded, and in whose presence every virtuous and manly heart shall glow with every honorable and lofty sentiment, and be irresistibly urged to the love of goodness and truth.

"POMPFY, did you take the billet to Mr. Jones?”

"'Es, massa."

"Did you see him?"

"'Es, sar, me just did."

"How was he?"

"Why, massa, he looked pooty well, 'sidering he so blind." "Blind! what do you mean by that?"

"Why, massa, when I was in de room, a gibbin him de paper, he axed me whar was my hat; and massa, perhaps you won't believe me, he wur on de top of my head de hull time."

THOSE pay dear for plesantry who joke at the expense of truth others are very apt to conclude that if they disregard it in jest, they will also in

earnest.

NATIONS in a state of war are like individuals in a state of intoxication ; they frequently contract debts when drunk, which they are obliged to pay when sober.

HE who defers his charities till his death, is rather liberal of another man's goods than his own.

THE poet who knows how to express and paint the affections and passions of the soul, will always be read with greater delight than the most exact observers of inanimate nature.

He that never extends his view beyond the praises or rewards of men, will be dejected by neglect and envy, or infatuated by honor and applause.

PRETTY GOOD.-An Irish traveling merchant, alias a peddler, asked an itinerant poulterer the price of a pair of fowls. "Six shillings, sir." "In my counthry, my darling, you might buy them for a saxpence a pace." "Why didn't you remain in your own dear country, then?" "Case we have no saxpences, my jewel," said Pat.

A CARDINAL'S OPINION.-The Abbe Malot expressing a doubt to Richelieu how many masses would save a soul, the cardinal replied, " Pho, you blockhead; as many as it would take snow-balls to heat an oven!"

A GENTLE KING.-George II. being informed that an impudent printer was to be punished for having published a spurious king's speech, replied, "I hope the man's punishment will be of the mildest sort, because I have read both, and as far as I understand either of them, I like the spurious speech better than my own."

MONTESQUIEU says: "False happiness renders men stern and proud, and that happiness is never communicated. True happiness renders them kind and sensible, and that happiness is always shared."

REFLECTION. The mind of a thinking man resembles the soil beneath whose surface lie many precious seeds. Every rain calls forth buds, and every beam of the sun produces flowers.

THE virtue which we gather from a fable or an allegory, is like the health we get by hunting; as we are engaged in an agreeable pursuit that draws us on with pleasure, and makes us insensible of the fatigues that accompany it.

"PARTNER wanted." Of course, if a man has a surplus of joy he wants to divide it; because, in dividing, he doubles it. If a man is burdened with grief, he wants to share it; because, in sharing, he halves it.

POPE in his old age said: "As much company as I have kept, and as much as I love it, I love reading better. I would rather be employed in reading, than in the most agreeable conversation.

He who sedulously attends, pointedly asks, calmly speaks, coolly anof swers, and ceases when he has no more to say, is in possession of some the best requisites of man.

DR. FRANKLIN, in summing up the domestic evils of drunkenness, says: Houses without windows, gardens without fences; fields without tillage, barns without roofs, children without clothing, principles, morals, or

manners.

THE morality of an action depends upon the motive from which we act If I fling half a crown to a beggar with intention to break his head, and he picks it up and buys victuals with it the physical effect is good; but, with respect to me, the action is very wrong.

EDITOR'S TABLE.

NEW VOLUME.-With the present number we commence the second volume of the Casket; and we are happy to say that it makes its appearance under much more favorable auspices than did the first. Its success is now no longer a problem, nor its publication an experiment; but the utility and importance of such a publication in Cincinnati, are being more and more appreciated by the Order throughout the West, and promise for the Casket a career of increasing prosperity. Our friends will please send in the names of subscribers who wish to commence with the second volume immediately. We can also supply the back numbers, bound or unbound, to those who may wish to obtain the first volume.

CALIFORNIA.—The Grand Lodge of California convened at Odd Fellows' Hall in Sacramento City on the 15th of May, last. The session continued four days, during which the proceedings were conducted with the utmost harmony and fraternal feeling. There were about seventyfive representatives from Subordinates present. There are now twentytwo Subordinates, together with three Degree Lodges, working under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge; and according to the reports of the several District Deputies, they are all in a flourishing condition. There were Charters granted for four new Lodges, and from the spirit manifested during the session, we are led to believe that the principles of our Order have taken deep hold upon the affections of our brethren on the shore of the Pacific.

There are three Encampments within the State, working under dispensations from the Right Worthy Grand Lodge of the United States, all of which are in a highly prosperous condition, and increasing rapidly in numbers. We learn that the brethren are about petitioning the Grand Lodge of the United States for a charter to institute a Grand Encampment for the State, believing that this will have a tendency to strengthen and increase the Patriarchal branch of the Order, and also to excite a deeper interest in Subordinate Lodges throughout the jurisdiction.

The following is a list of the officers of the Grand Lodge for the current year:

Dr. John F. Morse, of Sacramento City, Grand Master; E. W. Colt, of Stockton, Deputy Grand Master; J. M. Caughlin, of San Francisco, Grand Warden; T. R. Johnson, of San Francisco, Grand Secretary; G. I. N. Monell, of Sacramento, Grand Treasurer; Matt. Purdin, of Sacramento City, and A. J. Lucas, of Marysville, G. Representatives.