I bequeath to them the volumes of the poems of Burns and
Shakespeare and of other poems, if there be others, to the end that they
may live the old days over again, freely and fully without title or
diminution.

=Item=: To our loved ones with snowy crowns, I bequeath the happiness of
old age, the love and gratitude of their children until they fall asleep.

THE LAUGHTER OF CHILDHOOD.

The laugh of a child will make the holiest day more sacred
still. Strike with hand of fire, O weird musician, thy harp
strung with Apollo's golden hair, fill the vast cathedral
aisles with symphonies sweet and dim, deft toucher of the
organ keys; blow, bugler, blow, until thy silver notes do
touch and kiss the moonlit waves, and charm the lovers
wandering 'mid vine-clad hills. But know your sweetest
strains are discords all, compared with childhood's happy
laugh--the laugh that fills the eyes with light and every
heart with joy.

O rippling river of laughter! Thou art the blessed boundary
line between the beasts and men, and every wayward wave of
thine doth drown some fretful fiend of care.

O Laughter, rose-lipped daughter of Joy! there are dimples
enough in thy cheeks to catch and hold and glorify all the
tears of grief.

_Robert G. Ingersoll._

Blind People Who Won Fame.

Sightless but Courageous Men and Women Who Became Distinguished
Professors, Authors, Inventors, Soldiers and Athletes--One
Served as Postmaster-General of Great Britain.

JOHN MILTON ON HIS BLINDNESS.

When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest He returning chide;
"Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?"
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need
Either man's work or His own gifts. Who best
Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state
Is kingly; thousands at His bidding speed,
And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait."

Miss Helen Keller's attainments, her emergence from a life in which there
was neither light nor sound to a communicative relationship with others,
are a marvel of the present day. The best thing