The great General Grant, the United States hero of the Civil War, was once at a party where one of those men were who think it smart to tell such stories. Looking around, the man said, "I have a story to tell you. There are no ladies present, are there?" "No," said Grant, "but there are some gentlemen."
That story was never told.
Dear girls and boys, when any evil breath like that is around, think of your dear mother or your beautiful sister, and tell your heart you must be true to them.
"I must be true, for there are those who love me,
I must be pure, for there are those who care."
A newspaper published these verses that I think are so good. I would like you to learn them.
While walking through a crowded down-town street the other day,
I heard a little urchin to his comrade turn and say:
"Say, Jimmy, let me tell youse, I'd be happy as a clam
If I only was de feller dat me mudder t'inks I am.
She just t'inks dat I'm a wonder, and she knows her little lad
Could never mix wid nothin' dat was ugly, mean or bad.
Lots er times I sits and t'inks how nice 'twould be, gee whiz,
If a feller was de feller dat his mudder t'inks he is!"
My friends, be yours a life of toil or undiluted joy,
You still can learn a lesson from this small unlettered boy.
Don't aim to be an earthly saint with eyes fixed on a star;
Just try to be the fellow that your mother thinks you are.
And how can we keep the life straight, and in a true direction?
You remember the story of Ulysses and the Sirens—how he kept himself and his sailors from the influence of the enticing music when the sirens played on the dangerous rocks, by filling their ears with wax; and having himself tied to the mast till they passed in safety.
That is one way—the way of stiff stern duty and obedience to law. But there is a better way!
A boy once was trying to make a straight track in the snow. And he did. While the other boys left wriggling marks, his pressed straight on. When they asked him how he did it, he said he fixed his eye on a tree on the other side of the field and walked to the tree without looking to right or left. That is the way always to make a straight trail. Look at something ahead and go to it.