5. And so this peddler's trunk I bought me,
Filled it with needles, pins, tape, and thread,
Housewives' stores, as my mother taught me,
And I sell them to win my daily bread.
When the frost on the fields lies still and hoary,
My way through the village streets I take,
My empty coat sleeve tells its story,

And they're kind to me for the old flag's sake.

6. It was not regret that made me falter,

Nor sorrow that made my eye grow dim;

I offered all on my country's altar,

And she was pleased to accept a limb.
Maimed, but yet to regrets a stranger,

The thought that gives me the keenest pain
Is this: Were my country once more in danger
I never could fight in her ranks again.

if

LXV. THE INEQUALITIES OF

FORTUNE

1. This is an abstract subject, my little friends, you look at it simply as a subject; but the things which the words stand for are things which most of you have doubtless seen and felt, and, I fear, mourned and wondered over. At least I have known so many young people disturbed by the difference

between their own lot and that of others, that I have thought a little talk about it might be useful to all our young folks.

2. In the first place, little friends, let us accept the facts as they are. The leg of an old bedstead is not so good to bat a ball with as a real bat, broad where the ball is to be hit, and narrow and slender where you are to take hold of it; and if your wellshaped bat is also polished and carved and marked with your name in gay letters, why, it may not win you the game, but it is prettier to look at and easier to keep.

3. You, little girls, love to adorn yourselves with whimsical devices. You delight in stabbing your hair with long pins, whose great, round white heads your envious brothers tease you by calling eggs and cannon-balls. You fasten white beads around your necks, with red, white, and blue streamers fluttering behind you, "a large cloth-yerde and more." right, young people, stream away as much as you like. Your brothers will soon get tired of teasing you, and doubtless you can find something equally absurd to tease them about. Nothing is more harmless than beads and bows.

All

4. I regret that there are some little girls who can only look with wistful eyes at the fluttering ribbons of their friends, without hope of attaining any

such delights themselves. Not that I think they would be more beautiful with them than without them but I like to see children have what they want when their wants are innocent. Here is a little boy who read the prospectus of the new magazine for young people and scarcely gave it a thought. He knew he could have it by saying a word; his mother would be only too glad at the slightest symptom that he was developing a taste for reading.

5. Another boy lay awake nights trying to think whether there could be any hope of his subscribing for it, and considers himself very happy in clubbing with three other boys, all taking it together. He does not mind that he gets it a week after it is out, and slightly battered at that. When a little girl who wears calico and walks to church is playing with a 'little girl who wears silk and rides in her carriage, and a third little girl comes by and invites the latter into her garden and says nothing to the former, the poor little girl in calico feels slighted and unhappy, and it is quite natural she should.

6. But, little friends, be comforted. You who see the fashions come and go, and are not able to follow them, you who cannot get "a quarter" just for the asking, you whose clothes are a little faded, and perhaps patched here and there, you who see the toys and the candies in the hands of other children and

not in yours, you who live in the plain, small, and perhaps unattractive houses, let not your hearts be troubled. There are many reasons why they need not be, some of which you can understand and some you cannot. I will begin with one that you cannot understand, and you must simply take my word for it.

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7. You should not be troubled, because, although you may miss many good things, you can always have the best things. Character is of more consequence than clothes. If you are a gentle little girl, if you speak in soft, pleasant tones, if you are kindly your acts and generous in your feelings towards all, whether they are dressed better or worse than you, if you are respectful to your elders, and especially to your parents, if you are truthful and obedient, and do not talk when there is company-why, it is not of the smallest consequence whether you have a ribbon tied around your neck or not.

8. If you are a brave, honest, manly boy — if you are polite to your mother, and take good care of your sisters if you scorn a meanness, and are not afraid to apologize when you have, in a passion, said or done a wrong thing - then you may consider yourself extremely well off in the world, although you have no pony, and are rather bashful, and must work when other boys are at play, and your jacket is short-waisted.

9. Every good thing I have mentioned you may possess, whether you are rich or poor. If you have not these things, riches will do you no good, and if you have them, poverty will do you no hurt. I mean, if a girl is rough in speech and coarse in manners, she will be disagreeable to all those whose good opinion is worth having, even though she wear a new hat every day with feathers floating all over it; and a well-bred boy will be liked and favored and helped on in the world, whether he wear broadcloth or blue overalls. This is not merely what the books say, but it is true in life.

10. Let me tell you a short story to illustrate another reason.

Two boys living next door to each other were playmates and friends. Henry's father was rich, and Robert's father was poor. Robert often used to wonder in his own mind why it was that Henry should have so many fine things and himself so few. When Henry rode by on his pony, Robert had hard work not to feel envious and unhappy. Time passed on, and Robert left his native city. He had been a good boy, and he became a good man and a learned man and a rich man. He drove his own horses, and lived in a handsome house, and associated with the best people.

11. One day he was walking along the beach