In the happy days of childhood, By the river's rushing tide, Where the crystal waters murmured Over all the ripples wide, It was perfect joy to angle Through the spring time's laughing day Though we only caught the minnows And the big fish got away. 'Twas no matter how we waited, How we watched with anxious eyes,-- For the finny tribe to yield us Captures of enormous size; There was always disappointment Filling us with deep dismay, For we only caught the minnows And the big fish got away! And it's much the same in manhood! As we line the stream of life, Fishing for the fame and fortune In the waters full of strife, It's no matter how we angle As the young years turn to gray, We can only catch the minnows And the big fish get away! But the sport, the sport, is royal, And it never had a match! So it's really unimportant As to what we lose or catch! Let us use our highest efforts Till the Father calls to say: "What a splendid mess of minnows Though the big fish got away!" Little Sermons. Christianity and religion are great things, but a holy life knocks the spots off them both in the long run. Wealth comes from toil and sacrifice, but the treasures of the heart are vaccinated with love and are the parents of all real happiness. There is no use to spend any time in worrying about the next world. Take care of the world you have, and the next one will take care of itself and you, too. It's better to whistle than cry, brother, It's better to whistle than cry; The day may be gloomy and dreary And black with the storms of the sky; But whistle your heart to the sorrows! They'll smile as they hurry you by! It's better to whistle than cry, brother, It's better to whistle than cry! Plenty of Exercise. "Mary Jane," said Farmer Jim to his wife as he pondered over the letter just received from their boy Silas who was away at College; "Mary Jane, what does Si mean about all this 'tarnal athletic business he's a-talkin' of?" Mary Jane had been a school-teacher before she married Farmer Jim, and so she quickly explained: "Why, he means dumb-bells and Indian clubs and trapezes and such things, to give exercise to the boys, father." "Wull, I'll be dumb-belled ef I had him out yander in the cottonfield a-choppin' out the crab-grass, I guess he'd git all the exercise he wanted!" snorted Farmer Jim. "Away With the Sorrow." Away with the sorrow, The troubles and tears! We'll laugh with the morrow Through all of the years. Away with the errors That scourge as a rod! Our sins and our terrors Shall vanish with God. The sob of our sadness Shall cease bye and bye; Away to the gladness,-- We're bound for the sky. The Real Article.