{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_14849/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_14849","id":"gutenberg_14849","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14849","summary":null,"tags":["Calendars","Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Devotional exercises","Devotional literature","Meditations"],"text":"Produced by Stephen Schulze and the Online Distributed Proofreaders Team\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLEAVES OF LIFE\n\nFOR DAILY INSPIRATION\n\nBY\n\nMARGARET BIRD STEINMETZ\n\n\n1914\n\n\nThe Bible text used in this book is taken from the American Standard\nEdition of the Revised Bible, copyright, 1901, by Thomas Nelson &\nSons, and is used by permission.\n\n\nDEDICATED\n\nTO THOSE WHO HAVE HELPED IN GATHERING THESE LEAVES--AND TO THOSE WHO\nMAY GATHER SOMETHING FROM THEM.\n\n\nACKNOWLEDGMENTS\n\nThe Macmillan Company, New York, N.Y.\n Shailer Mathews, Jane Addams, Newell Dwight Hillis,\n Marion Crawford.\n\nThe Century Company, New York, N.Y.\n S. Weir Mitchell, Theodore Roosevelt, John Kendrick\n Bangs, Richard Watson Gilder, Edith Thomas.\n\nOxford University Press, London, E.C.\n Annie Matheson.\n\nThe Saalfield Publishing Company, Akron, Ohio.\n Joseph Jefferson.\n\nMitchell Kennerley, New York.\n Theodosia Garrison: My Litany.\n\nThomas Y. Crowell Company, New York, N.Y.\n Charles W. Eliot: The Durable Satisfactions of Life.\n J.R. Miller.\n\nThe Pilgrim Press, Boston, Mass.\n Henry Ward Beecher.\n\nHarper & Brothers, New York, N.Y.\n Will Carleton: Farm Legends.\n Margaret E. Sangster: Easter Bells.\n\nElbert Hubbard, Roycroft Shop, East Aurora, N.Y.\n Printed by special permission of the publishers.\n\nW.B. Conkey, Hammond, Ind.\n Ella Wheeler Wilcox, copyrighted 1912.\n\nNational W.C.T.U., Evanston, Ill.\n Frances E. Willard.\n\nAmerican Baptist Publication Society, Philadelphia, Pa.\n W.E. Winks.\n\nRand, McNally & Company, Chicago, Ill.\n Marie Bashkirtseff.\n\nTennesseean and American, Nashville, Tenn.\n G. Rice.\n\nCosmopolitan Magazine, New York, N.Y.\n O. Henry.\n\nThe H.M. Rowe Company, Baltimore, Md.\n Edwin Leibfreed: Poems.\n\nPermission from President Wilson for the excerpts from his speeches.\n\nHoughton Mifflin Company, Boston, Mass.\n Kate Douglas Wiggin, Richard Watson Gilder, Josephine\n Peabody, John Hay, Hugo M\u00fcnsterberg, Edith Thomas,\n Lyman Abbott, John Burroughs, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps,\n Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Julia Ward Howe, Harriet\n Beecher Stowe, Joel Chandler Harris, Lucy Larcom,\n Bret Harte, Bayard Taylor, Alice Freeman Palmer,\n Thomas W. Higginson.\n\nCharles Scribner's Sons, New York, N.Y.\n Henry van Dyke: Music and Other Poems.\n Maltbie D. Babcock: Thoughts for Every Day Living.\n Sidney Lanier: Poems of Sidney Lanier.\n Robert Bridges: Robert Bridges' Poems.\n George Meredith: Last Poems.\n James Anthony Froude: Short Studies on Great Subjects.\n Robert Louis Stevenson: Poems and Works.\n W.E. Henley: Poems.\n Eugene Field: Western Verse.\n\nG.P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London.\n Arthur Christopher Benson: Along the Road, Silent Isle,\n From a College Window, Joyous Gard, Lord Vyet and Other Poems.\n\nLittle, Brown & Company, Boston, Mass.\n Emily Dickinson, Laura E. Richards, Edward Everett Hale.\n\n\nGeorge H. Doran Company, New York, N.Y.\n Sir Oliver Lodge, Arnold Bennett, J. Stalker, A.H. Begbie.\n\nFleming H. Revell Company, New York, N.Y.\n Percy C. Ainsworth, E.H. Divall, Margaret E. Sangster,\n J.H. Jowett, George Matheson.\n\nLongmans, Green & Company, New York and London.\n William James.\n\nDodd, Mead & Company, New York, N.Y.\n Maurice Maeterlinck, Hamilton Mabie, Ian Maclaren,\n Jerome K. Jerome, G.K. Chesterton, Paul Laurence Dunbar.\n\nSmall, Maynard & Company, Boston, Mass.\n Mrs. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, John B. Tabb, Ernest Crosby.\n\nLothrop, Lee & Shepard Company, Boston, Mass.\n Paul Hamilton Hayne.\n\nDoubleday, Page & Company, Garden City, New York\n Charles Wagner, Edwin Markham, Helen Keller.\n\nE.P. Dutton Company, New York.\n George Macdonald.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY\n\n Janus am I; oldest of potentates;\n Forward I look, and backward, and below\n I count, as god of avenues and gates,\n The years that through my portals come and go.\n\n I block the roads, and drift the fields with snow;\n I chase the wild fowl from the frozen fen;\n My frosts congeal the rivers in their flow,\n My fires light up the hearths and hearts of men.\n\n --Henry W. Longfellow.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY FIRST\n\nBartolome Esteban Murillo, baptized 1618.\n\nPaul Revere born 1735.\n\nBetsy Ross born 1752.\n\nMaria Edgeworth born 1767.\n\nArthur Hugh Clough born 1819.\n\n Old things need not be therefore true,\n O brother men, nor yet the new;\n Ah! still awhile the old thought retain,\n And yet consider it again!\n\n We! what do we see? each a space\n Of some few yards before his face;\n Does that the whole wide plan explain?\n Ah, yet consider it again!\n\n Alas! the great world goes its way,\n And takes its truth from each new day;\n They do not quit, nor can retain,\n Far less consider it again.\n\n --Arthur Hugh Clough.\n\n There are two sorts of content; one is connected with exertion, the\n other habits of indolence. The first is a virtue; the other a vice.\n\n --Maria Edgeworth.\n\n Oh send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me:\n Let them bring me unto thy holy hill,\n And to thy tabernacles.\n\n --Psalm 43. 3.\n\nAlmighty God, lead me in the search for life. Teach me what is\nimportant and what is unimportant; what is false, and what is true.\nRemove the hindrances that keep me from the worthiest deeds, and grant\nthat I may have the peace that comes with surrender of self to thy\nwill. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY SECOND\n\nGeneral James Wolfe born 1727.\n\nColonial flag first raised 1776.\n\nMary Carey Thomas born 1857.\n\n To what profit we could use the time for our present task that we\n spend in impatient waiting and wondering over the future! So often\n the future is just one step up from the present, but some of us miss\n it by preferring to wait for an elevator.\n\n --M. B. S.\n\n Prepare to live by all means, but for heaven's sake do not forget to\n live. You will never have a better chance than you have at present.\n You may think you will have, but you are mistaken.\n\n --Arnold Bennett.\n\n He that riseth late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his\n business at night; while laziness travels so slowly that poverty\n soon overtakes him. He that lives on hope will die fasting.\n\n --Benjamin Franklin.\n\n Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there\n is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, whither\n thou goest.\n\n --Ecclesiastes 9. 10.\n\nGracious Father, my heart burns with shame when I think how much I\nclaim, and how little I am. I pray that my body may not cast a shadow\nto-day, and cloud the light of my life to-morrow. Cleanse the windows\nof my soul that I may take in thy glory. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY THIRD\n\nMarcus Tullius Cicero born B.C. 106.\n\nMartin Luther excommunicated 1521.\n\nDouglas Jerrold born 1803.\n\nCharles Wagner (France) born 1852.\n\n To be continually advancing in the paths of knowledge is one of the\n most pleasing satisfactions of the human mind. These are pleasures\n perfect consistent with every degree of advanced years.\n\n --Cicero.\n\n Fidelity in small things is at the base of every great achievement.\n We too often forget this and yet no truth needs more to be kept in\n mind particularly in the troubled eras of history and in the crises\n of individual life. In shipwreck a splintered beam, an oar, any\n scrap of wreckage saves us. To despise the remnants is\n demoralization.\n\n --Charles Wagner.\n\n He that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much and he\n that is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous also in much.\n\n --Luke 16. 10\n\nAlmighty God, may I understand that thou art in everything and that I\ncannot hide from thee, for thou boldest me though I know it not. Give\nme the desire, and help me to learn of thy laws, that I may know that\neven in the least of things, I have the liberty to obtain happiness by\nobeying them. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY FOURTH\n\nArchbishop Usher born 1580.\n\nJacob L. Carl Grimm born 1785.\n\nElizabeth Peabody died 1894.\n\n Years rush by us like the wind, we see not whence the eddy comes,\n nor whitherward it is tending, and we seem ourselves to witness\n their flight without a sense that we are changed: and yet time is\n beguiling man of his strength, as the winds rob the trees of their\n foliage.\n\n --Sir Walter Scott.\n\n The bell strikes one. We take no note of Time\n But from its loss. To give it, then a tongue\n Is wise in man; as if an angel spoke\n I feel the solemn sound. If heard aright\n It is the knell of my departed hours:\n Where are they?\n\n --Edward Young.\n\n Days should speak, And multitude of years should teach wisdom. And\n the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding. It is not the\n great that are wise, Nor the aged that understand justice.\n\n --Job 32. 7, 9.\n\nLord God, help me to see my mistakes, and bring me to the realization\nof my life. Grant that I may no longer use the time that thou gavest\nme to learn in, heedlessly, but to give it my best thought and care.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY FIFTH\n\nStephen Decatur born 1779.\n\nRobert Morrison born 1782.\n\nThomas Pringle born 1789.\n\n Let me go where'er I will,\n I hear a sky-born music still:\n It sounds from all things old,\n It sounds from all things young,\n From all that's fair, from all that's foul,\n Peals out a cheerful song.\n\n It is not only in the rose,\n It is not only in the bird,\n Not only where the rainbow glows,\n Nor in the song of woman heard,\n But in the darkest, meanest things\n There alway, alway something sings.\n\n 'Tis not in the high stars alone,\n Nor in the cup of budding flowers,\n Nor in the redbreast's mellow tone,\n Nor in the bow that smiles in showers,\n But in the mud and scum of things\n There alway, alway something sings.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament showeth his\n handiwork.\n\n --Psalm 19. 1.\n\nAlmighty God, grant that my life may no longer be a noise, but be kept\nin tune with the sublimest melodies, that wherever I am, there may be\nno discords in the songs of my soul. Through thy loving-kindness may\nmy songs resound. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY SIXTH\n\nEpiphany, or Twelfth-Day.\n\nJoan d'Arc born 1412.\n\nDavid Dale born 1739.\n\n 'Twas even so! and thou the shepherd's child,\n Joanne, the lowly dreamer of the wild!\n Never before and never since that hour\n Hath woman, mantled with victorious power,\n Stood forth as thou beside the shrine didst stand,\n Holy amidst the knighthood of the land.\n\n --Mrs. Felicia Hemans.\n\n Every one must recognize the splendid work which has been done by\n women in social and educational fields. And it will, I believe, come\n more and more to be recognized that in some respects women are\n specially fitted for government and for official-municipal life.\n\n --Sir Oliver Lodge.\n\n Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel\n at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between\n Ramah and Bethel in the hill-country of Ephraim: and the children of\n Israel came up to her for judgment.\n\n --Judges 4. 4, 5.\n\nMy Father, help me to be thoughtful and just. May I consider the great\ntruths and broader visions that may not be seen from where I stand.\nMay I be willing to accept a better view. Grant that I may realize\nthat the battle of life is not a sham battle, but a struggle for the\nadvancement of life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY SEVENTH\n\nGeneral Putnam born 1718.\n\nRobert Nicholl born 1814.\n\nT. DeWitt Talmage born 1832.\n\n Opportunities fly in a straight line, touch us but once and never\n return, but the wrongs we do others fly in a circle; they come back\n from the place they started.\n\n --T. DeWitt Talmage.\n\n Our share of night to bear,\n Our share of morning,\n Our blank is bliss to fill,\n Our blank is scorning.\n\n Here a star, and there a star,\n Some lose their way,\n Here a mist, and there a mist,\n Afterwards--day!\n\n --Emily Dickinson.\n\n Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your resting-place.\n\n --Micah 2. 10.\n\nLord God, give me the desire to be persistent in service, while I have\nhealth and strength. May I experience the sweetness that comes in\ndoing the thing that I ought to have done, as well as that in which I\ntook the most pleasure. Help me to so live that my days may be useful,\nand be recalled with bright and happy recollections. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY EIGHTH\n\nJohn Earl of Stair died 1707.\n\nSir William Draper died 1787.\n\nAlfred Russel Wallace born 1823.\n\nWilliam Wilkie Collins born 1824.\n\nSir Laurence Alma-Tadema born 1836.\n\n A blue bird built his nest\n Here in my breast.\n \"O bird of Light! Whence comest thou?\"\n Said he, \"From God above:\n My name is Love.\"\n\n A mate he brought one day,\n Of plumage gray.\n \"O bird of Night! Why comest thou?\"\n Said she: \"Seek no relief!\n My name is Grief.\"\n\n --Laurence Alma-Tadema.\n\n It is not so much resolution as renunciation, not so much courage as\n resignation, that we need. He that has once yielded thoroughly to\n God will yield to nothing but God.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, Neither will he uphold\n the evildoers. He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter, And thy\n lips with shouting.\n\n --Job 8. 20, 21.\n\nAlmighty God, help me to understand that peace does not come in\nrebellion or grieving, but is obtained through the calm of the soul.\nGrant that if I may be perplexed or worried to-day, I may have the\npower to control myself and wait in thy strength. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY NINTH\n\nDr. Thomas Brown born 1778.\n\nElizabeth O. Benger died 1822.\n\nCaroline Lucretia Herschel died 1848, aged ninety-seven.\n\n Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness altogether past calculation\n its powers of endurance. Efforts to be permanently useful must be\n uniformly joyous--a spirit of all sunshine.\n\n --Thomas Carlyle.\n\n Honest good humor is the oil and wine of a merry meeting.\n\n --Washington Irving.\n\n A laugh is worth a hundred groans in any market.\n\n --Charles Lamb.\n\n A glad heart maketh a cheerful countenance; But by sorrow of heart\n the spirit is broken.\n\n Better is a dinner of herbs, where love is, Than a stalled ox and\n hatred therewith.\n\n --Proverbs 15. 13, 17.\n\nGracious Father, if I am sorrowing over disappointment and am\nforgetful, grant that I may see the things thou hast made, for which I\nshould be thankful. Help me to so live that I may have a right to\nclaim a cheerful heart. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY TENTH\n\nDr. George Birkbeck born 1776.\n\nMichel or Marshal Ney born 1769.\n\nKarl von Linn\u00e9, Linn\u00e6us, died 1778.\n\nEthan Allen born 1737.\n\n Shall I hold on with both hands to every paltry possession? All I\n have teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n The practical weakness of the vast mass of modern pity for the poor\n and the oppressed is precisely that it is merely pity; the pity is\n pitiful but not respectful. Men feel that the cruelty to the poor is\n a kind of cruelty to animals. They never feel that it is injustice\n to equals; nay, it is treachery to comrades.\n\n --G.K. Chesterton.\n\n Be ye all like-minded, compassionate, loving as brethren,\n tender-hearted, humble-minded: not rendering evil for evil, or\n reviling for reviling; but contrariwise blessing.\n\n --1 Peter 3. 8, 9.\n\nGod of justice, may I pause to remember that while I may do a mean act\nand keep it hidden from others, I cannot keep it hidden from myself,\nnor from thee. Help me to have a nobler sense of the quality of life,\nand less anxiety for the quantity, that I may avoid harshness and\nselfishness, and be given to tenderness and justice. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY ELEVENTH\n\nAlexander Hamilton born 1757.\n\nBayard Taylor born 1825.\n\nWilliam James born 1842.\n\nAlice Caldwell Regan Rice born 1870.\n\n The paternal relation to man was the basis of that religion which\n appealed directly to the heart; so the fraternity of each man with\n his fellow was its practical application.\n\n --Bayard Taylor.\n\n It is indeed a remarkable fact that sufferings and hardships do not,\n as a rule, abate the love of life; they seem on the contrary,\n usually to give it a keener zest; and the sovereign source of\n melancholy is repletion. Need and struggle are what excite and\n inspire. Our hour of triumph is what brings the void.\n\n --William James.\n\n Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been\n approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord\n promised to them that love him.\n\n --James 1. 12.\n\nLord God, I come to thee for help that the small things may not force\nthemselves into my life, and keep me from pursuing the larger things\nwhich are continually open to me. May I not be blind to what I may\nhave and be, through inspiration and work. Grant that I may not be\nsatisfied to remain in that in which I have triumphed, but climb to\ngreater endeavors. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY TWELFTH\n\nEdmund Burke born 1729.\n\nJohann Heinrich Pestalozzi born 1746.\n\nFran\u00e7ois Copp\u00e9e born 1842.\n\nJohn S. Sargent born 1856.\n\n Show the thing you contend for to be reason; show it to be common\n sense; show it to be the means of attaining some useful end. The\n question with me is not whether you have a right to render your\n people miserable, but whether it is your interest to make them\n happy.\n\n --Edmund Burke.\n\n Like the star\n That shines afar,\n Without haste\n And without rest,\n Let each man wheel with steady sway\n Round the task that rules the day,\n And do his best.\n\n --Goethe.\n\n Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth\n not itself, is not puffed up.\n\n --1 Corinthians 13. 4.\n\nGracious Father, cause me to be critical of my life, that I may not be\ndeceived in myself. Help me to look into my soul and see what thou\ndost find there; and with humility may I acknowledge what I am to\nthee, and seek thy wisdom and love. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY THIRTEENTH\n\nGeorge Fox, founder Society of Friends, died 1691.\n\nSamuel Woodworth (Old Oaken Bucket) born 1785.\n\nOrder of King's Daughters founded 1886.\n\n Have thy soul feel the universal breath\n With which all nature's quick, and learn to be\n Sharer in all that thou dost touch or see;\n Break from thy body's grasp thy spirit's trance;\n Give thy soul air, thy faculties expanse;\n Love, joy, even sorrow,--yield thyself to all!\n They make thy freedom, groveling, not thy thrall.\n Knock off the shackles which thy spirit bind\n To dust and sense, and set at large the mind!\n Then move in sympathy with God's great whole,\n And be like man at first, a _Living Soul_.\n\n --Richard Henry Dana.\n\n I was deeply impressed by what a gardener once said to me concerning\n his work. \"I feel, sir,\" he said, \"when I am growing the flowers or\n rearing the vegetables, that I am having a share in creation.\" I\n thought it a very noble way of regarding his work.\n\n --J.H. Jowett.\n\n For we are God's fellow workers: ye are God's husbandry, God's\n building.\n\n --1 Corinthians 3. 9.\n\nCreator of all, help me to see what there is for me to do; and help me\nto know that I cannot be productive if I am hovering in the choice of\nmy work. May I learn from thy great works of heaven and earth the ways\nof selection and steadfastness. Give me the desire to work and the\nconfidence that is needed to carry on my work. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY FOURTEENTH\n\nMadame de S\u00e9vign\u00e9 died 1696.\n\nEdmund Halley died 1742.\n\nPierre Loti born 1850.\n\n Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute\n What you can do, or dream you can; begin it;\n Boldness has genius, power magic in it.\n Only engage, and then the mind grows heated;\n Begin and then the work will be completed.\n\n --Goethe.\n\n Were half the power that fills the world with terror,\n Were half the wealth bestowed on camps and courts,\n Given to redeem the human mind from error,\n There were no need of arsenals or forts.\n\n --Henry W. Longfellow.\n\n Choose you this day whom ye will serve;... but as for me and my\n house, we will serve Jehovah.\n\n --Joshua 24. 15.\n\nAlmighty God, help me to appreciate the sacredness of work while I\nhave it to do. Grant that I may be spared the wretchedness that comes\nfrom working with fragments from idleness. May I do my part, even if\nit be in obscurity and the night overtakes me before it is done. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY FIFTEENTH\n\nMoli\u00e8re born 1622.\n\nDr. Samuel Parr born 1747.\n\nEdward Everett died 1865.\n\n The sun withholds his generous beam;\n Athwart my soul the shadows stream;\n The weird winds boisterously blow,\n And drift the melancholy snow.\n\n When I, in sorrow and despair,\n Expect the storm, with tender care\n He rends the clouds and through the blue\n The glorious sun breaks forth anew.\n\n --M.B.S.\n\n So with the wan waste grasses on my spear,\n I ride forever seeking after God.\n My hair grows whiter than my thistle plume\n And all my limbs are loose; but in my eyes\n The star of an unconquerable praise;\n For in my soul one hope forever sings,\n That at the next white corner of the road\n My eyes may look on Him.\n\n --G.K. Chesterton.\n\n He brought me forth also into a large place;\n He delivered me, because he delighted in me.\n\n --Psalm 18. 19.\n\nLoving Father, if I may be discouraged to-day, strengthen my faith.\nMay I not weary of waiting for thee, but trust in thy promises. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY SIXTEENTH\n\nEdmund Spenser died 1599.\n\nJohann August Neander born 1789.\n\nEdward Gibbon died 1794.\n\nSir John Moore died 1809.\n\n But lovely concord, and most sacred peace,\n Doth nourish vertue, and fast friendship breeds;\n Weake she makes strong, and strong thing does increase,\n Till it the pitch of highest praise exceeds.\n\n --Edmund Spenser.\n\n Perfect good-breeding is the result of nature and not of education;\n for it may be found in a cottage, and may be missed in a palace.\n 'Tis the genial regard for the feeling of others that springs from\n an absence of selfishness.\n\n --Disraeli.\n\n Can a fig tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a vine figs? neither\n can salt water yield sweet.\n\n --James 3. 12.\n\nHeavenly Father, help me to value my thoughts, words, and deeds. If at\nthe close of the day, there may be one who has been wounded by my\ninjustice, may I be willing to make quick atonement. May I avoid the\nways and words that hurt; and not only wish rightly and work rightly,\nbut speak to enrich others with tenderness. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY SEVENTEENTH\n\nJohn Ray died 1705.\n\nBenjamin Franklin born 1706.\n\nGeorge Bancroft died 1891.\n\n Employ thy time well if thou meanest to gain leisure; and since thou\n art not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour! Leisure is time\n for doing something useful; this leisure the diligent man will\n obtain, but the lazy man never; a life of leisure and a life of\n laziness are two things.\n\n --Benjamin Franklin.\n\n There is nothing to gain and everything to lose by despising the\n example of nature, and making arbitrary rules for oneself. Our\n liberty wisely understood is but a voluntary obedience to the\n universal laws of life.\n\n --Amiel.\n\n I will meditate on thy precepts,\n And have respect unto thy ways.\n\n --Psalm 119. 15.\n\nMy Father, help me to understand the power of nature, that I may be\nwilling to obey her laws. I pray that I may so live that my life will\nproclaim itself without need of boasting or deception. Forbid that I\nshould spend my life in perfecting trifles, and have no leisure to\nenjoy thy great gifts. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY EIGHTEENTH\n\nCharles de Montesquieu born 1689.\n\nJohn Gillies born 1747.\n\nDaniel Webster born 1782.\n\n We would leave for the consideration of those who shall occupy our\n places some proof that we hold the blessings transmitted from our\n fathers in just estimation; some proof of our attachment to the\n cause of good government and of civil and religious liberty; some\n proof of a sincere and ardent desire to promote every thing which\n may enlarge the understanding and improve the hearts of men.\n\n --Daniel Webster.\n\n Brother and friend, the world is wide,\n But I care not whether there be\n The soothing song of a summer tide\n Or the thrash of a wintry sea,\n If but through shimmer and storm you bide,\n Brother and friend, with me.\n\n --Percy C. Ainsworth.\n\n Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the King.\n\n --1 Peter 2. 17.\n\nAlmighty God, I thank thee for all the tender influences of life; for\nall the gentleness and strength that may be given and received through\nfriendship. Help me to be careful of what I do, for my sake, and for\nthe sake of those who may follow me. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY NINETEENTH\n\nHans Sachs died 1576.\n\nWilliam Congreve died 1729.\n\nJames Watt born 1736.\n\nRobert E. Lee born 1807.\n\nEdgar Allan Poe born 1809.\n\n I stand amid the roar\n Of a surf-tormented shore,\n And I hold within my hand\n Grains of the golden sand--\n How few! Yet how they creep\n Through my fingers to the deep,\n While I weep--while I weep!\n O God, can I not save\n One from the pitiless wave?\n Is all that we see or seem\n But a dream within a dream?\n\n --Edgar Allan Poe.\n\n Do not train up your children in hostility to the government of the\n United States. Remember that we are one country now. Dismiss from\n your mind all sectional feeling, and bring them up to be Americans.\n\n --Robert E. Lee.\n\n Wait for Jehovah: Be strong, and let thy heart take courage; Yea,\n wait thou for Jehovah.\n\n --Psalm 27. 14.\n\nLord God, I pray that if I have struggled for the wrong, and have\nworked with weak hands, thou wilt forgive me for my lost strength.\nGive me more light to shine upon my work, upon thy promises, and upon\nmy duties; and with thy wisdom may I search for the truth that is\nbehind every wrong, and for the purpose that is beyond all\njourneyings. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY TWENTIETH\n\nEve of Saint Agnes.\n\nDavid Garrick died 1779.\n\nJohn Howard died 1790.\n\nJohn Ruskin died 1900.\n\nNathaniel P. Willis born 1806.\n\n How like a mounting devil in the heart\n Rules the unreigned ambition! Let it once\n But play the monarch, and its haughty brow\n Glows with a beauty that bewilders thought\n And unthrones peace forever. Putting on\n The very pomp of Lucifer, it turns\n The heart to ashes.\n\n --Nathaniel P. Willis.\n\n Temperance, in the nobler sense, does not mean a subdued and\n imperfect energy; it does not mean a stopping short in any good\n thing, as love or in faith; but it means the power which governs the\n most intense energy, and prevents its acting in any way but as it\n ought.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n And thy gentleness hath made me great.\n\n --Psalm 18. 35.\n\n\nGracious Father, I pray that I may be willing to profit by the\nexperience of great teachers, and appreciate the value of strong\nprinciples. May I too live for the higher ideals of life, and through\na sympathetic response add power and virtue to other lives, while\ngaining strength for my own. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY TWENTY-FIRST\n\nMiles Coverdale died 1568.\n\nJohn Fitch born 1743.\n\nJohn C. Fremont born 1813.\n\nThomas Erskine born 1750.\n\nThomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson born 1824.\n\n So long as we love we serve; so long as we are loved by others I\n would almost say that we are indispensable; and no man is useless\n while he has a friend.\n\n --Robert L. Stevenson.\n\n So to the calmly gathered thought\n The innermost of life is taught,\n The mystery dimly understood,\n That love of God is love of good:\n That to be saved is only this--\n Salvation from our selfishness.\n\n --John Greenleaf Whittier.\n\n Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the\n fulfillment of the law. And this, knowing the season, that already\n it is time for you to awake out of sleep: for now is salvation\n nearer to us than when we first believed.\n\n --Romans 13. 10, 11.\n\n\nTender Father, may I not attempt to serve life for my own\ngratification. May I not interpret love through vanity, but from\nreality. Make me worth while, that I may be relied upon for my\npledges, and needed for my services. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY TWENTY-SECOND\n\nAndrea del Sarto died 1531.\n\nFrancis Bacon born 1561.\n\nLord George Byron born 1788.\n\nQueen Victoria died 1901.\n\n Father of light! to thee I call,\n My soul is dark within:\n Thou who canst mark the sparrow's fall,\n Avert the death of sin,\n Thou who canst guide the wandering star,\n Who calm'st the elemental war,\n Whose mantle is yon boundless sky,\n My thoughts, my words, my crimes forgive;\n And since I soon must cease to live,\n Instruct me how to die.\n\n --Lord Byron.\n\n Knowledge, whether it descend from divine inspiration or spring from\n human sense, would soon perish and vanish to oblivion if it were not\n preserved in books, traditions, conferences, and places appointed.\n\n --Francis Bacon.\n\n Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the\n prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein.\n\n --Revelation 1. 3.\n\nAlmighty God, I would have thy counsel as I read the words and follow\nthe deeds of helpful lives, that I may be inspired to nobler\nactivities. Give me the desire to know more of thy holy word, that I\nmay have a better knowledge of life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY TWENTY-THIRD\n\nJohn Hancock born 1737.\n\nWilliam Pitt died 1806.\n\nCharles Kingsley died 1875.\n\nPaul Gustave Dor\u00e9 died 1883.\n\n Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful. Welcome it\n in every fair face, every fair sky, every fair flower, and thank Him\n for it, who is the fountain of all loveliness.\n\n --Charles Kingsley.\n\n Nature never did betray\n The heart that loved her; 'tis her privilege\n Through all the years of this life, to lead,\n From joy to joy; for she can so impress\n With quietness and beauty, and so feed\n With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues,\n * * * * *\n Nor all the dreary intercourse of daily life,\n Shall e'er prevail against us or disturb\n Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold\n Is full of blessings.\n\n --William Wordsworth.\n\n Is not God in the height of heaven?\n And behold the height of the stars, how high they are!\n And thou sayest, What doth God know?\n Can he judge through the thick darkness?\n\n --Job 22. 12, 13.\n\nLord God, I pray that I may not overlook thy blessings of beauty while\nendeavoring to perform my duties. Guide me that I may not struggle to\nbe where thou wouldst not have me go. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY TWENTY-FOURTH\n\nCharles Earl of Dorset born 1637.\n\nFrederick the Great born 1712.\n\nCharles James Fox born 1749.\n\n The great Gods pass through the great Time-hall,\n Stately and high;\n The little men climb the low clay wall\n To gape and spy;\n \"We wait for the Gods,\" the little men cry,\n \"But these are our brothers passing by.\"\n\n The great Gods pass through the great Time-hall;\n Who can see?\n The little men nod by the low clay wall,\n So tired they be;\n '\"Tis weary waiting for Gods,\" they yawn,\n \"There's a world o' men, but the Gods are gone.\"\n\n --A.H. Begbie.\n\n But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.\n\n --Luke 24. 16.\n\nMy Father, may I be careful of getting weary and missing the best\nthrough the need of rest. Intensify my desire for the songs and\nglorious ways, that I may not settle into dullness and slumber, while\nothers pass on in the light. I pray for a keener sense of the\npossessions made possible by the deeds and cares of noble men and\nwomen. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY TWENTY-FIFTH\n\nRobert Burns born 1759.\n\nLord Frederick Leighton died 1896.\n\nDaniel Maclise born 1811.\n\n When ranting round in pleasure's ring\n Religion may be blinded:\n Or if she gie a random sting,\n It may be little minded:\n But when on life we're Tempest-driv'n--\n A conscience but a canker,\n A correspondence fixed wi' Heav'n,\n Is sure a noble anchor.\n\n --Robert Burns.\n\n Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever;\n Do noble things, not dream them, all day long:\n And so make life, death, and that vast forever\n One grand sweet song.\n\n --Charles Kingsley.\n\n O Lord, by these things men live;\n And wholly therein is the life of my spirit:\n Wherefore recover thou me, and make me to live.\n\n --Isaiah 38. 16.\n\nGracious Father, grant that I may not be willing to spend my life for\ntrivial needs, for thou dost measure me for what I am, and boldest me\nfor what I lose in waste. Be with me in my judgment of what is best,\nthat I may make the most of my life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY TWENTY-SIXTH\n\nLord George Sackville born 1716.\n\nBenjamin Robert Haydon born 1786.\n\nMary Mapes Dodge born 1838.\n\nGeneral Gordon (Chinese Gordon) killed 1885.\n\n Ave Maria! blessed be the hour,\n That time, the clime, the spot, where I so oft\n Have felt that moment in its fullest power\n Sink o'er the earth so beautiful and soft,\n While swung the deep bell in the distant tower\n Or the faint dying day-hymn stole aloft,\n And not a breath crept through the rosy air,\n And yet the forest leaves seemed stirred with\n prayer.\n\n --Lord Byron.\n\n I am quite happy, thank God, and like Lawrence, I have tried to do\n my duty.\n\n --General Gordon (just before death).\n\n For in the day of trouble he will keep me secretly\n in his pavilion:\n In the covert of his tabernacle will he hide me;\n He will lift me up upon a rock.\n\n --Psalm 27. 5.\n\nHeavenly Father, teach me how to breathe in the sweetness of life.\nReveal to me the life that will bring peace to the soul. May I not be\ndismayed, but find the \"Peace that passeth all understanding,\" the\nperfect peace that comes from thee. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY TWENTY-SEVENTH\n\nJohannes Wolfgang Mozart born 1756.\n\nA.W. von Schlegel born 1767.\n\nDavid Friedrich Strauss born 1808.\n\n To keep young, every day read a poem, hear a choice piece of music,\n view a fine painting, and, if possible, do a good action. Man's\n highest merit always is, as much as possible, to rule external\n circumstances, and as little as possible to let himself be ruled by\n them.\n\n --Goethe.\n\n Let us not always say,\n \"Spite of this flesh to-day\n I strove, made head, gained ground upon the whole!\"\n As the bird wings and sings,\n Let us cry, \"All good things\n Are ours, nor soul helps flesh more now than flesh helps soul!\"\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n Surely goodness and loving-kindness shall follow me all the days of\n my life.\n\n --Psalm 23. 6.\n\nLoving Father, help me to foresee that it is what I care for to-day\nthat determines how I will find old age. May I not bring my closing\nyears to weariness and lonesomeness, but may I have the restfulness\nthat comes with communing with thee. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY TWENTY-EIGHTH\n\nCharlemagne died 814.\n\nSir Francis Drake died 1596.\n\nPeter the Great died 1725.\n\nCharles George Gordon (Chinese Gordon) born 1833.\n\n He only is advancing in life whose heart is getting softer, whose\n blood warmer, whose brain quicker, and whose spirit is entering into\n living peace. And the men who have this life in them are the true\n lords and kings of the earth--they, and they only.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n Just where you stand in the conflict,\n There is your place!\n Just where you think you are useless,\n Hide not your face!\n God placed you there for a purpose,\n What e'er it be;\n Think you he has chosen you for it:\n Work loyally.\n\n --Anonymous.\n\n O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of\n God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing\n out!\n\n --Romans 11. 33.\n\nMy Father, I thank thee that thou hast endowed me with a will; help me\nto use it aright. May I have the knowledge of what thou dost demand of\nmy soul, that I may do my best with what thou hast given me. Help me\nthat I may reach out for the highest ideals of life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY TWENTY-NINTH\n\nEmanuel Swedenborg born 1688.\n\nThomas Paine born 1737.\n\nAdelaide Ristori born 1822.\n\nWilliam McKinley, Ohio, twenty-fourth President\nUnited States, born 1843.\n\n God will keep no nation in supreme place that will not do supreme\n duty.\n\n --William McKinley.\n\n Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God\n and the angels know of us.\n\n --Thomas Paine.\n\n The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another.\n\n --George Eliot.\n\n Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand,\n Upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.\n So shall we not go back from thee:\n Quicken thou us, and we will call upon thy name.\n\n --Psalm 80. 17, 18.\n\nMy Father, I pray that I may be just and be given to kindness. May I\nbe conscious of my virtues, and use them to overcome my faults. May I\nhear clearly thy call that I may be sure of the way as I lead others\nto duty and happiness. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY THIRTIETH\n\nArchbishop Butler born 1774.\n\nWalter Savage Landor born 1775.\n\nHenri Rochefort born 1830.\n\n Why, why repine, my pensive friend,\n At pleasures slipped away?\n Some the stern fates will never lend,\n And all refuse to stay.\n I see the rainbow in the sky,\n The dew upon the grass;\n I see them and I ask not why\n They glimmer or they pass.\n With folded arms I linger not\n To call them back; 'twere vain;\n In this, or in some other spot,\n I know they'll shine again.\n\n --Walter Savage Landor.\n\n When disappointment comes meet it, but do not carry it along with\n you; nor fetter your spirit by changeless haste. \"Memory will always\n pursue some precious instance of itself,\" which will bring either\n renewed confidence or resignation.\n\n --M. B. S.\n\n For thou shalt forget thy misery;\n Thou shalt remember it as waters that are passed away.\n\n --Job 11. 16.\n\nGracious Father, help me to \"Lift mine eyes unto the hills\" that\nglorify the discouraging ways. May I appreciate thy great love, and\nfrom my limitations find the possibilities that are limitless. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJANUARY THIRTY-FIRST\n\nCromwell dissolved Parliament 1655.\n\nCharles Edward (Young Pretender) died 1788.\n\nFranz Schubert born 1797.\n\nJames G. Elaine born 1830.\n\n Nature demands that man be ever at the top of his condition. He who\n violates her laws must pay the penalty, though he sit on a throne.\n\n --James G. Elaine.\n\n Dig channels for the streams of love,\n Where they may broadly run;\n And love has overflowing streams\n To fill them every one.\n\n For we must share if we must keep\n The good things from above;\n Ceasing to give, we cease to have--\n Such is the law of love.\n\n --R. C. Trench.\n\n And thy life shall be clearer than the noonday;\n Though there be darkness, it shall be as the morning.\n\n --Job 11. 17.\n\nMy Father, I would remember that it is mostly from my inspirations\nthat I conceive life. Take away hatred and vanity that keep me in\nfaults, and awake in me the thoughts that are responsible for visions\nthat lead to high ideals. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY\n\n\n Then came old February, sitting\n In an old wagon, for he could not ride,\n Drawn of two fishes for the season fitting,\n Which through the flood before did softly slide\n And swim away; yet he had by his side\n His plow and harness fit to till the ground,\n And tools to prune the trees, before the pride\n Of hasting prime did make them bourgeon wide.\n\n --Edmund Spenser.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY FIRST\n\nBen Jonson born 1574.\n\nJohn Philip Kemble born 1757.\n\nArthur Henry Hallam born 1811.\n\nGeorge Cruikshank died 1878.\n\n It is not growing like a tree\n In bulk, doth make man better be;\n Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,\n To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere:\n A lily of a day\n Is fairer far in May,\n Although it fall and die that night--\n It was the plant and flower of Light.\n In small proportions we just beauties see;\n And in short measure life may perfect be.\n\n --Ben Jonson.\n\n There are four things which are little upon the earth,\n But they are exceeding wise:\n The ants are a people not strong,\n Yet they provide their food in the summer;\n The conies are but a feeble folk,\n Yet make they their houses in the rocks;\n The locusts have no king,\n Yet go they forth all of them by bands;\n The lizard taketh hold with her hands,\n Yet is she in king's palaces.\n\n --Proverbs 30. 24-28.\n\nCreator of all, lead me to see the light, and instruct me that I may\nbe able to reason. Guard me against spectacular endeavors, that I may\nbe genuine. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY SECOND\n\nCandlemas Day.\n\nNell Gwynn born 1650.\n\nHannah More born 1745.\n\nWilliam Henry Burleigh born 1812.\n\n 'Twas doing nothing was his curse--\n Is there a vice can plague us worse?\n The wretch who digs the mine for bread,\n Or plows, that others may be fed,\n Feels less fatigue than that decreed\n To him who cannot think, or read.\n Not all the peril of temptations,\n Not all the conflict of the passions,\n Can quench the spark of Glory's flame,\n Or quite extinguish Virtue's name.\n\n --Hannah More.\n\n Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife!\n To all the sensual world proclaim,\n One crowded hour of glorious life\n Is worth an age without a name.\n\n --Sir Walter Scott.\n\n He went out, and found others standing; and he saith unto them, Why\n stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man\n hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard.\n\n --Matthew 20. 6, 7.\n\nEternal God, who hath weighed the mountains and measured the seas, I\npray that I may not be satisfied to wait in idleness, and let thy\nwisdom pass away from me as the days. Steady me in my weakness, and\nreveal to me my strength as I draw near and ask of thee. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY THIRD\n\nFelix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy born 1809.\n\nHorace Greeley born 1811.\n\nFrederick William Robertson born 1816.\n\nSidney Lanier born 1842.\n\n My soul is sailing through the sea,\n But the past is heavy and hindereth me.\n The past hath crusted cumbrous shells\n That hold the flesh of cold sea-mells\n About my soul.\n The huge waves wash, the high waves roll,\n Each barnacle clingeth and worketh dole\n And hindereth me from sailing.\n\n --Sidney Lanier.\n\n To stand with a smile upon your face, against a stake from which you\n cannot get away--that no doubt is heroic. True glory is resignation\n to the inevitable. But to stand unchained, with perfect liberty to\n go away held only by the higher chains of duty, and let the fire\n creep up to the heart--that is heroism.\n\n --F.W. Robertson.\n\n We are pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not\n unto despair; pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not\n destroyed.\n\n --2 Corinthians 4. 8, 9.\n\nGracious Father, thou knowest what I am and the condition of my life.\nMay I seek thy will for me. Grant that I may never struggle for\nconsolation through indulgence and indolence, but in my sorrow and\nfailure may I reach out for thy enduring comfort. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY FOURTH\n\nMark Hopkins born 1802.\n\nW. Harrison Ainsworth born 1805.\n\nJean Richepin born 1849.\n\nThomas Carlyle died 1881.\n\n Life is not a May-game, but a battle and a march, a warfare with\n principalities and powers. No idle promenade through fragrant orange\n groves and green flowery spaces, waited on by coral muses, and the\n rosy hours; it is a stern pilgrimage through the rough, burning,\n sandy solitudes, through regions of thick-ribbed ice.\n\n --Thomas Carlyle.\n\n For all sweet and pleasant passages in the great story of life men\n may well thank God; for leisure and ease and health and friendship\n may God make us truly and humbly grateful; but our chief song of\n thanksgiving must be always for our kinship with him, with all that\n such divinity of greatness brings of peril, hardship, toil, and\n sacrifice.\n\n --Hamilton Mabie.\n\n Thy bars shall be iron and brass;\n And as thy days, so shall thy strength be.\n\n --Deuteronomy 33. 25.\n\nMy Father, help me to choose the road that leads to my work, and may I\nnot fail to reach it, by wandering away from it. Keep me in touch with\nthe human side of life, holding in mind that \"Truth and honesty are\nthe noblest works of God.\" Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY FIFTH\n\nSir Robert Peel born 1788.\n\nOle Boreman Bull born 1810.\n\nJohn Muir born 1810.\n\nDwight L. Moody born 1837.\n\n When a great man dies, then has the time come for putting us in mind\n that he was alive!\n\n --Thomas Carlyle.\n\n If I practice one day, I can see the result. If I practice two days,\n my friends can see it. If I practice three days, the great public\n can see it.\n\n --Ole Bull.\n\n Those who say they will forgive but can't forget an injury simply\n bury the hatchet while they leave the handle out, ready for\n immediate use.\n\n --Dwight L. Moody.\n\n But I hold not my life of any account as dear unto myself, so that I\n may accomplish my course.\n\n --Acts 20. 24.\n\nAlmighty God, if I am uncertain, and tremble at the crossroads in\ndoubt of the right way, may I wait and be led by thee, and follow on,\neven if the way be dark and rough. May I be faithful and have thy\npresence as thou promised at the end. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY SIXTH\n\nQueen Anne of England born 1665.\n\nAaron Burr born 1756.\n\nSir Henry Irving born 1838.\n\n Nothing earthly will make me give up my work in despair. I encourage\n myself in the Lord my God and go forward.\n\n --David Livingstone.\n\n To expect defeat is nine tenths of defeat itself.\n\n --Marion Crawford.\n\n I do not see how any man can afford, for the sake of his nerves and\n his nap, to spare any action in which he can partake.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n Art is a jealous mistress, she requires the whole man.\n\n --Michael Angelo.\n\n Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.\n\n --1 Corinthians 16. 13.\n\nAlmighty God, help me to have true conceptions, that my life may not\nbe secured to needless purposes. May my soul be influenced by high\nideals, and my work be the production of truth and not of selfishness.\nProtect me from evil that I may be kept pure and strong for my work.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY SEVENTH\n\nMillard Fillmore, New York, thirteenth President United States born 1800.\n\nSir Thomas More born 1478.\n\nCharles Dickens born 1812.\n\nAnne Radcliffe died 1823.\n\nSidney Cooper died 1902.\n\n Let no man turn aside ever so slightly, from the broad path of\n honor, on the plausible pretense that he is justified by the\n goodness of his end. All good ends can be worked out by good means.\n\n --Charles Dickens.\n\n If evils come not, then our fears are vain;\n And if they do, fear but augments the pain.\n\n --Sir Thomas More.\n\n A human heart knows aught of littleness,\n Suspects no man, compares with no one's ways,\n Hath in one hour most glorious length of days,\n A recompense, a joy, a loveliness;\n\n Like eaglet keen, shoots into azure far,\n And always dwelling nigh is the remotest star.\n\n --William Ellery Channing.\n\n Teach me thy way, O Jehovah;\n I will walk in thy truth:\n Unite my heart to fear thy name.\n\n --Psalm 86. 11.\n\nGracious Father, I pray that thou wilt control my impulses, and\nprotect me from false interpretations. May I have wisdom, and search\nfor the high and holy ways. Help me to be patient for thy purposes,\nand may my relations to life be triumphant in thy standards. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY EIGHTH\n\nSamuel Butler born 1612.\n\nJohn Ruskin born 1819.\n\nGeneral Sherman born 1820.\n\nJules Verne born 1828.\n\nRichard Watson Gilder born 1844.\n\n If you want knowledge, you must toil for it; and if pleasure, you\n must toil for it. Toil is the law. Pleasure comes through toil, and\n not by self-indulgence and indolence. When one gets to love work his\n life is a happy one.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n Whatever sceptic could inquire for,\n For every why he had a wherefore.\n\n --Samuel Butler.\n\n Through love to light! O wonderful the way,\n That leads from darkness to the perfect day!\n From darkness and from sorrow of the night\n To morning that comes singing o'er the sea.\n Through love to light! through light O God to Thee!\n Who art the love, the eternal light of light!\n\n --Richard Watson Gilder.\n\n We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the\n night cometh, when no man can work.\n\n --John 9. 4.\n\nMy Father, I pray that I may not weight my life with worthless\nefforts. May I be guided to the right work, and through the love of it\nfind strength for my soul. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY NINTH\n\nC.F. Volney born 1757.\n\nWilliam Henry Harrison, Virginia, ninth President United States, born 1773.\n\nAnthony Hope (Hawkins) born 1863.\n\nGeorge Ade born 1866.\n\n A man's own observation, what he finds good of, and what he finds\n hurt of, is the best physic to preserve health. But it is a safer\n conclusion to say, \"This agreeth not well with me, therefore I will\n not continue it\"; than to say, \"I find no offense of this, therefore\n I may use it.\" For strength of nature in youth passeth over many\n excesses, which are owing a man till his age.\n\n --Francis Bacon.\n\n Though man a thinking being is defined,\n Few use the grand prerogative of mind.\n How few think justly of the thinking few!\n How many never think, who think they do!\n\n --Jane Taylor.\n\n Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been\n approved, he shall receive the crown of life.\n\n --James 1. 12.\n\nAlmighty God, I would learn that while thou art a forgiving Lord,\nnature has no mercy on them that break her laws. Forgive me for all my\nneglect, and help me to see the way in which thou hast through mercy\nled me. Give me the power to endure and the strength to resist\ntemptation. May I seek to understand thy laws, that I may not fail\nthrough ignorance. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY TENTH\n\nRev. Henry Hart Milman born 1791.\n\nCharles Lamb born 1775.\n\nSir William Napier died 1860.\n\n Never let the most well-intended falsehood escape your lips; for\n Heaven, which is entirely Truth, will make the seed which you have\n sown of untruth to yield miseries a thousandfold.\n\n --Charles Lamb.\n\n We cannot command veracity at will; the power of seeing and\n reporting truly is a form of health that has to be distinctly\n guarded, and as an ancient rabbi has solemnly said, \"The penalty of\n untruth is untruth.\"\n\n --George Eliot.\n\n The bat hangs upside down and laughs at a topsy-turvy world.\n\n --Unknown.\n\n The lip of truth shall be established for ever;\n But a lying tongue is but for a moment.\n\n --Proverbs 12. 19.\n\nLord God, give me the will to hold to the truth and the strength to\nhelp keep the world true; and may I help others to look up and catch\nthe truth from the purest light. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY ELEVENTH\n\nMary, Queen of England, born 1516.\n\nDaniel Boone born 1735.\n\nLydia M. Child born 1802.\n\nWashington Gladden born 1836.\n\nThomas A. Edison born 1847.\n\n Few, in the days of early youth,\n Trusted like me in love and truth.\n I've learned sad lessons from the years;\n But slowly and with many tears;\n For God made me to kindly view\n The world that I was passing through.\n\n And all who tempt a trusting heart\n From faith and hope to drift apart,\n May they themselves be spared the pain\n Of losing power to trust again!\n God help us all to kindly view\n The world that we are passing through!\n\n --Lydia M. Child.\n\n For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the\n mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing;\n and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.\n\n --Isaiah 55. 12.\n\nLord God, I pray that I may not rest my hope in self alone, but know\nthat the greatest joy is in the hope of the world. Help me to have\nfaith in mankind; and with a loyal heart and a brave spirit be as kind\nto the world as I can. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY TWELFTH\n\nDr. Cotton Mather born 1663.\n\nPeter Cooper born 1791.\n\nAbraham Lincoln, Kentucky, sixteenth President United States, born 1809.\n\nRobert Charles Darwin born 1809.\n\nGeorge Meredith born 1828.\n\n With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the\n right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish\n the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds, ... to do all\n which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among\n ourselves and with all nations.\n\n --Abraham Lincoln.\n\n The great moral combat between human life and each human soul must\n be single.... When a soul arms for battle she goes forth alone.\n\n --Owen Meredith.\n\n According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise\n master builder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon.\n\n --1 Corinthians 3. 10.\n\nAlmighty God, I thank thee for the courage that comes with a great\nlife. Help me to be brave, even if it is only that others may be\nblest. May I lay a careful foundation and plan to build the best that\nI can afford. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY THIRTEENTH\n\nDavid Allan born 1744.\n\nMaurice de Talleyrand-P\u00e9rigord born 1754.\n\nRichard Wagner died 1883.\n\n A man is not his hope, nor yet his despair, nor yet his past deed.\n We know not yet what we have done; still less what we are doing.\n Wait till evening, and other parts of our work will shine than we\n had thought at noon, and we shall discover the real purport of our\n toil.\n\n --Henry D. Thoreau.\n\n When you make a mistake don't look back at it long. Take the reason\n of the thing into your mind, and look forward. Mistakes are lessons\n of wisdom.... The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your\n power.\n\n --Hugh White.\n\n He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing seed for sowing,\n Shall doubtless come again with joy, bringing his sheaves with him.\n\n --Psalm 126. 6.\n\nMy Father, help me to survey my life. Make me compassionate and\nconsiderate, that I may be qualified to promote that which is helpful.\nMay I appreciate that what is worth keeping I can obtain from thee.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY FOURTEENTH\n\nSaint Valentine's Day.\n\nCaptain James Cook killed 1779.\n\nJean Ernest Reynaud born 1808.\n\n Oh! little loveliest lady mine,\n What shall I send for your valentine?\n Summer and flowers are far away;\n Gloomy old Winter is king to-day;\n Buds will not blow, and sun will not shine:\n What shall I do for a valentine?\n\n I've searched the gardens all through and through\n For a bud to tell of my love so true;\n But buds are asleep and blossoms are dead,\n And the snow beats down on my poor little head:\n So, little loveliest lady mine,\n Here is my heart for your valentine.\n\n --Laura E. Richards.\n\n Oh rank is gold, and gold is fair,\n And high and low mate ill;\n But love has never known a law\n Beyond its own sweet will!\n\n --John G. Whittier.\n\n Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God.\n\n --1 John 4. 7.\n\nLoving Father, may I not fall to nodding in the balmy air of luxury\nand miss the messages of love. Arouse me, that I may give and take in\nthe treasures of love as they come my way, and that they may not pass\nunnoticed. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY FIFTEENTH\n\nGalileo Galilei born 1564.\n\nLouis XV born 1710.\n\nS. Weir Mitchell born 1829.\n\nSir Frederick Treves born 1853.\n\n The night I know is nigh at hand,\n The mists lie low on hill and bay,\n The autumn sheaves are brown and dry,\n But I have had the day.\n\n Yes, I have had, dear Lord, the day.\n When at thy call I have the night\n Brief be the twilight as I pass\n From light to dark, from dark to light.\n\n --S. Weir Mitchell.\n\n\n If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small--too\n small to be worth talking about, for the day of adversity is its\n first real opportunity.\n\n --Maltbie Babcock.\n\n Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him\n that loved us.\n\n --Romans 8. 37.\n\nMy Father, may my daily work not be the means of separating me from\nthee, but may I have thee for my companion through my work. Forbid\nthat I should ever submit to despair from weakness of body, but that I\nmay be blest and grow strong as my spirit lives in thee. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY SIXTEENTH\n\nPhilip Melanchthon born 1497.\n\nGasper de Coligny born 1517.\n\nThomas Robert Malthus born 1766.\n\nErnst Heinrich Haeckel born 1834.\n\n Thy love shall chant its own beatitudes\n After its own life working. A child's kiss\n Set on thy sighing lips shall make thee glad.\n A poor man served by thee shall make thee rich;\n A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong;\n Thou shalt be served thyself by every sense\n Of service which thou renderest.\n\n --Elizabeth B. Browning.\n\n Ask nothing more of me, sweet;\n All I can give you I give.\n Heart of my heart, were it more,\n More would be laid at your feet:\n Love that should help you to live,\n Song that should help you to soar.\n\n --Algernon Charles Swinburne.\n\n All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto\n you, even so do ye also unto them.\n\n --Matthew 7. 12.\n\nLord God, I pray that I may not neglect the help and happiness that I\nmay give with compassion and love. Make me strong in all the senses\nthat answer to the call of humanity. Help me to guide and protect\nlittle children, and to care for the comforts of the old. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY SEVENTEENTH\n\nKate Greenaway born 1846.\n\nMichael Angelo Buonarroti died 1563.\n\nGiordano Bruno burned at Rome 1600.\n\nMoli\u00e8re died 1673.\n\nRose Terry Cooke born 1827.\n\nFrances E. Willard died 1898.\n\n It is not much\n To give a gentle word or kindly touch\n To one gone down\n Beneath the world's cold frown,\n\n And yet who knows\n How great a thing from such a little grows?\n O, oftentimes,\n Some brother upward climbs\n And hope again\n Uplifts its head, that in the dust had lain,\n Gives place to morning's light.\n\n --E. H. Divall.\n\n I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was\n driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will\n strengthen that which was sick.\n\n --Ezekiel 34. 16.\n\nMy Father, may I not sorrow so that I fail to comfort the sorrowing,\nand may I not be so happy that I fail to see that others need to be\nglad. I thank thee for thy providences. May I serve thee in helping\nothers to brighter lives. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY EIGHTEENTH\n\nMartin Luther died 1546.\n\nGeorge Peabody born 1795.\n\nWilson Barrett born 1846.\n\n A mighty fortress is our God,\n A bulwark never failing:\n Our helper he amid the flood\n Of mortal ills prevailing.\n For still our ancient foe\n Doth seek to work us woe;\n His craft and power are great:\n And, armed with cruel hate,\n On earth is not his equal.\n\n --Martin Luther.\n\n Let us stand by our duty fearlessly and effectively. I am not bound\n to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I\n am bound to live up to the light that I have.\n\n --Abraham Lincoln.\n\n Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;\n My God, my rock, in whom I will take refuge.\n\n --Psalm 18. 2.\n\nLord God, help me to lay my life in the rocks of thy foundation, and\nnot in moving sands which are tossed from shore to shore. May I cling\nto the rock that was cleft for me and trust for thy care. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY NINETEENTH\n\nCopernicus born 1473.\n\nLeonard Bacon born 1802.\n\nW.W. Story born 1819.\n\nAdelina Patti born 1843.\n\n So mine are these new fruitings rich,\n The simple to the common brings;\n I keep the youth of souls who pitch\n Their joy in this old heart of things;\n\n Full lasting is the song, though he\n The singer passes; lasting too,\n For souls not lent in usury,\n The rapture of the forward view.\n\n --George Meredith.\n\n All deep things are Song. It seems, somehow, the very central\n essence of us, Song; as if all the rest were wrappages and hulls!\n the primal element of us; of us, and all things.\n\n --Thomas Carlyle.\n\n Ye shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and\n gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come unto the\n mountain of Jehovah.\n\n --Isaiah 30. 29.\n\nLord God, help me to feel the power of praise. \"As words without\nthoughts never to heaven go,\" so the highest praises are never sung\nalone, but rendered with service and love. May I have the heart to\nsing thy praises far and near, and rejoice in him from whom all\nblessings flow. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY TWENTIETH\n\nJ.H. Voss born 1828.\n\nJoseph Jefferson born 1829.\n\nMihaly Munkacsy (Michael Lieb) born 1844.\n\n Who serves his country well has no need of ancestors.\n\n --Voltaire.\n\n Lo, Spring comes forth with all her warmth and\n love,\n She brings sweet justice from the realms above;\n She breaks the chrysalis, she resurrects the dead;\n Two butterflies ascend encircling her head.\n And so this emblem shall forever be\n A sign of immortality.\n\n --Joseph Jefferson.\n\n Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel,\n And afterward receive me to glory.\n\n --Psalm 73. 24.\n\nLord God, I pray that I may not neglect my soul in trying to fathom\nimmortal life. If I may be hesitating between comfort and work, remind\nme of the greatness of the place which I started to reach. May I not\ngrow weary of climbing and falter on the stair. Breathe upon me thy\ninspiration and love, that I may continue in faith all the way. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY TWENTY-FIRST\n\nEdmund William Gosse born 1849.\n\nKarl Czerny born 1791.\n\nCardinal John H. Newman born 1801.\n\nJean L.E. Meissonier born 1815.\n\nAlice Freeman Palmer born 1855.\n\n Prune thou thy words, the thoughts control\n That o'er thee swell and throng;\n They will condense within thy soul,\n And change to purpose strong.\n\n --John H. Newman.\n\n Think truly, and thy thoughts\n Shall the world's famine feed;\n Speak truly, and each word of thine\n Shall be a fruitful seed;\n Live truly, and thy life shall be\n A great and noble creed.\n\n --Horatio Bonar.\n\n We ought to love everybody and make everybody love us. Then\n everything else is easy.\n\n --Alice Freeman Palmer.\n\n Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy healing\n shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before\n thee; the glory of Jehovah shall be thy rearward.\n\n --Isaiah 58. 8.\n\nAlmighty God, look upon me with pity; so often I have obeyed the\nthoughts that have been misleading and profitless. Make me more\ncareful of what I think and say, and may I learn from my mistakes the\nforbidden paths. Help me to keep my mind in unity with thy will. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY TWENTY-SECOND\n\nGeorge Washington, Virginia, first President United\nStates, born 1732.\n\nJames Russell Lowell born 1819.\n\nMargaret E. Sangster born 1838.\n\n Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial\n fire called conscience.\n\n --George Washington.\n\n Life is a sheet of paper white\n Whereon each one of us may write\n His word or two, and then comes night.\n Greatly begin! though thou hast time\n But for a line, be that sublime.\n Not failure, but low aim is crime.\n\n --James Russell Lowell.\n\n God keep us through the common days,\n The level stretches white with dust,\n When thought is tired, and hands upraise\n Their burdens feebly since they must;\n In days of slowly fretting care\n Then most we need the strength of prayer.\n\n --Margaret E. Sangster.\n\n Make level the path of thy feet,\n And let all thy ways be established.\n\n --Proverbs 4. 26.\n\nLord God, help me to realize the influence of the individual life. And\nas I would care for my own, may I seek to do for others; and may I not\ncriticize, but help all who are trying to make the world better. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY TWENTY-THIRD\n\nSamuel Pepys born 1633.\n\nGeorge F. Handel born 1685.\n\nGeorge Frederick Watts born 1817.\n\nJohn Keats died 1821.\n\nMargaret Deland born 1857.\n\n Labor is life! 'tis the still water faileth;\n Idleness ever despaireth, bewaileth:\n Keep the watch wound, or the dark rust assaileth;\n Flowers droop and die in the stillness of noon.\n Labor is glory! the flying cloud lightens;\n Only the waving wing changes and brightens,\n Idle hearts only the dark future frightens,\n Play the sweet keys, wouldst thou keep them in tune.\n\n --Frances S. Osgood.\n\n KEATS\n\n Palled death, with kisses ghostly,\n Wooed and won him while too young,\n And the world reveres him mostly,\n For the songs he might have sung.\n\n --Samuel A. Wood.\n\n Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the\n curtains of thy habitations; spare not: lengthen thy cords, and\n strengthen thy stakes.\n\n --Isaiah 54. 2.\n\nAlmighty God, I pray for the will to do my finest work. Disclose to me\nif I am being detained by serving selfishness in myself or in others.\nLead me to what is right for me to do; and may I diligently tarry in\nit. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY TWENTY-FOURTH\n\nSamuel Lover born 1797.\n\nRobert Fulton died 1815.\n\nGeorge William Curtis born 1824.\n\n 'Tis not to enjoy that we exist,\n For that end only; something must be done;\n I must not walk in unreproved delight\n These narrow bounds, and think of nothing more,\n No duty that looks further and no care.\n\n --William Wordsworth.\n\n We weave our thoughts into heart-spun plans,\n And weave secure for a fitful day,\n But lose in the web of earthly things\n The pattern of sublimity.\n\n Shall days spring up as wild vines grow,\n Unheeding where they climb or cling?\n Consider, child, before you sow,\n And wait not until harvesting.\n\n --M.B.S.\n\n Jehovah is my strength and my shield;\n My heart hath trusted in him, and I am helped:\n Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth;\n And with my song will I praise him.\n\n --Psalm 28. 7.\n\nLoving Father, command my judgment for the influences which I permit\nto come into my life. Grant that I may not delay my purposes for the\nlack of comforts which are so often made more than life. With thy\nstrength may I be steadfast in what I would achieve. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY TWENTY-FIFTH\n\nWilliam Seely died 1521.\n\nSir Christopher Wren died 1723.\n\nJane Goodwin Austin born 1831.\n\nCamille Flammarion born 1842.\n\n In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes. All other\n passions do occasionally good; but wherever pride puts in its word\n everything goes wrong.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n He that is proud eats up himself: pride is his own glass, his own\n trumpet, his own chronicle; and whatever praises itself but in the\n deed, devours the deed in the praise.\n\n --William Shakespeare.\n\n Save me alike from foolish pride\n Or impious discontent;\n At aught Thy wisdom hath denied,\n Or aught Thy wisdom lent.\n\n --Alexander Pope.\n\n A man's pride shall bring him low; But he that is of a lowly spirit\n shall obtain honor.\n\n --Proverbs 29. 23.\n\nHeavenly Father, I pray that I may not let pride keep me down when it\nmay be mine to be carried to the heights. With tenderness take me out\nof myself, that I may see how pride deceives, and destroys an humble\nspirit. Help me to master both stubbornness and pride. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY TWENTY-SIXTH\n\nChristopher Marlowe (baptized 1564).\n\nVictor Hugo born 1802.\n\nLord Cromer born 1841.\n\nThomas Moore died 1852.\n\n When I go down to the grave I can say, like so many others, I have\n finished my work; but I cannot say I have finished my life; my day's\n work will begin again the next morning. My tomb is not a blind\n alley; it is a thoroughfare. It closes in the twilight to open in\n the dawn.\n\n --Victor Hugo.\n\n There's nothing bright above, below,\n From flowers that bloom to stars that glow,\n But in the light my soul can see\n Some feature of the Deity.\n\n There's nothing dark below, above,\n But in its gloom I trace God's love,\n And meekly wait that moment when\n His truth shall turn all bright again.\n\n --Thomas Moore.\n\n Jehovah redeemeth the soul of his servants;\n And none of them that take refuge in him shall be\n condemned.\n\n --Psalm 34. 22.\n\nLord God, may I not only feel the need of thee when I am burdened with\nsorrow and care, but may I have need of thee in my pleasures and joys.\nI thank thee for thy gracious kindness, thy mercy and thy protection.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY TWENTY-SEVENTH\n\nHenry Wadsworth Longfellow born 1807.\n\nEllen Terry born 1848.\n\nMary F. Robinson born 1857.\n\n Lives of great men all remind us\n We can make our lives sublime,\n And, departing, leave behind us\n Footprints on the sands of time--\n\n Footprints that perhaps another,\n Sailing o'er life's wintry main,\n A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,\n Seeing, shall take heart again.\n\n --Henry W. Longfellow.\n\n They are slaves who fear to speak\n For the fallen and the weak;\n They are slaves who will not choose\n Hatred, scoffing, and abuse,\n Rather than in silence shrink\n From the truth they needs must think;\n They are slaves who dare not be\n In the right with two or three.\n\n --James Russell Lowell.\n\n Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good\n works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.\n\n --Matthew 5. 16.\n\nMerciful Father, help me to know that my shadow cannot fall without\nme, and that my footprints cannot be found where I have never trodden.\nI pray that thou wilt make me so familiar with the right path that it\nmay be mine to have the privilege of leading others to the right\nplaces. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY TWENTY-EIGHTH\n\nMontaigne born 1533.\n\nMary Lyon born 1797.\n\nSir John Tenniel born 1820.\n\n Soul, rule thyself; on passion, deed, desire,\n Lay thou the laws of thy deliberate will.\n Stand at thy chosen post, Faith's sentinel:\n Though Hell's lost legions ring thee round with fire,\n Learn to endure.\n\n --Arthur Symonds.\n\n The confidence in another man's virtue is no slight evidence of a\n man's own, and God willingly favors such a confidence.\n\n --Montaigne.\n\n Though a host should encamp against me,\n My heart shall not fear:\n Though war should rise against me,\n Even then will I be confident.\n\n --Psalm 27. 3.\n\nMy Father, may I ever be kept in remembrance of my virtue, and may I\nbe sensitive to its strength. As I go on my way, keep me within\ncontrol of the impetuous desires of my nature, and in call of the\nduties and obligations of my daily life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFEBRUARY TWENTY-NINTH\n\nAnne Lee born 1736.\n\nG.A. Rossini born 1792.\n\nJohn Landseer died 1852.\n\n Happy is he and more than wise\n Who sees with wondrous eyes and clean\n This world through all the gray disguise\n Of sleep and custom in between.\n\n --G.K. Chesterton.\n\n In the morning, when thou findest thyself unwilling to rise,\n consider with thyself presently, if it is to go about a man's work\n that I am stirred up. Or was I made for this, to lay me down, and\n make much of myself in a warm bed.\n\n --Marcus Aurelius.\n\n Arise and be doing, and Jehovah be with thee.\n\n --1 Chronicles 22. 16.\n\nGracious Father, help me to take of the wealth of my day, while it is\nin season, and accessible. May I not be ignorant of the abundance in\nwhich I live, and be found in overwhelming regret. Forgive me for all\nthat I have missed in life, and make me more watchful of that which is\nto come. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH\n\n\n Spring still makes spring in the mind,\n When sixty years are told;\n Love makes anew this throbbing heart,\n And we are never old.\n Over the winter glaciers,\n I see the summer glow,\n And through the wild-piled snowdrift\n The warm rosebuds below.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH FIRST\n\nAlexander Balfour born 1767.\n\nFrederick Fran\u00e7ois Chopin born 1809.\n\nAugustus Saint-Gaudens born 1848.\n\nWilliam Dean Howells born 1837.\n\n Thy soul shall enter on its heritage\n Of God's unuttered wisdom. Thou shalt sweep\n With hand assured the ringing lyre of life,\n Till the fierce anguish of its bitter strife,\n Its pain, death, discord, sorrow, and despair,\n Break into rhythmic music. Thou shalt share\n The prophet-joy that kept forever glad\n God's poet-souls when all a world was sad.\n Enter and live! Thou hast not lived before.\n\n --S. Weir Mitchell.\n\n Return unto thy rest, O my soul;\n For Jehovah hath dealt bountifully with thee.\n For thou hast delivered my soul from death,\n Mine eyes from tears,\n And my feet from falling.\n\n --Psalm 116. 7, 8.\n\nAlmighty God, grant that I may never be so discouraged that I feel my\nlife has been spent. Help me to so live, that I may not follow into\nhopeless days, but look for the bright and beautiful in to-morrow.\nForgive me for all that I have asked for and accepted through willful\njudgment, and make me more careful in selecting my needs. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH SECOND\n\nJuvenal born A.D. 40.\n\nJohn Wesley died 1791.\n\nHorace Walpole died 1797.\n\n Nature never says one thing, Wisdom another.\n\n --Juvenal.\n\n By all means, use some times to be alone;\n Salute thyself--see what thy soul doth wear;\n Dare to look in thy chest, for 'tis thine own,\n And tumble up and down what thou findest there.\n\n --William Wordsworth.\n\n Lonesomeness is part of the cost of power. The higher you climb, the\n less can you hope for companionship. The heavier and the more\n immediate the responsibility, the less can a man delegate his tasks\n or escape his own mistakes.\n\n --Shailer Mathews.\n\n But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and\n having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy\n Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee.\n\n --Matthew 6. 6.\n\nMy Father, I pray that thou wilt take care of my thoughts when I am\nalone and tired, and keep them strong and clean. Grant that while I\ncommune with thee I may yield to my needs and be restored with keener\nenergy for worthier deeds. May I ask of thy wisdom every day. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH THIRD\n\nEdmund Waller born 1605.\n\nGeorge Herbert died 1633.\n\nChristine Nilsson born 1843.\n\n Pitch thy behaviour low, thy projects high,\n So shalt thou humble and magnanimous be;\n Sink not in spirit: who aimeth at the sky,\n Shoots higher than he that means a tree.\n\n --George Herbert.\n\n We and God have business with each other; and in opening ourselves\n to his influence our deepest destiny is fulfilled.\n\n --William James.\n\n While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things\n which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but\n the things which are not seen are eternal.\n\n --2 Corinthians 4. 18.\n\nAlmighty God, help me to remember that \"the power of character is the\nhighest point of success,\" and that thou hast put within reach of all\nthe choice ideals of life. May I have the desire to cultivate strong\npurposes, and strive for high endeavors, that I may not aim for the\nlow. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH FOURTH\n\nCasimer Pulaski born 1748.\n\nSir Henry Raeburn born 1756.\n\nE.W. Bull, originator Concord grape, born 1806.\n\nAlexander Graham Bell born 1847.\n\n It is perfectly obvious that men do necessarily absorb, out of the\n influences in which they grow up, something which gives a complexion\n to their whole after-character.\n\n --Anthony Froude.\n\n All common things, each day's events\n That with the hour begin and end,\n Our pleasures and our discontents\n Are rounds by which we may ascend.\n\n --Henry W. Longfellow.\n\n Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win\n by fearing to attempt. I\n\n --Shakespeare.\n\n And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and\n slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead; and the stone\n sank into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth.\n\n --1 Samuel 17. 49.\n\nMy Father, I would remember that my life may decline from the neglect\nof small things; for as thou dost nourish the wheat from flakes of\nsnow, and supply the springs from drops of rain, so thou wilt\nstrengthen my soul from every little blessing. I pray that I may not\nforget to watch my habits, and keep track of the hours that culture\nand sustain my life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH FIFTH\n\nCorreggio died 1534.\n\nHoward Pyle born 1853.\n\nArthur Foote born 1853.\n\n When I have the time so many things I'll do,\n To make life happier and more fair\n For those whose lives are crowded now with care,\n I'll help to lift them from their low despair\n When I have time.\n\n When I have time the friend I love so well\n Shall know no more the weary, toiling days;\n I'll lead his feet in pleasant paths always,\n And cheer his heart with words of sweetest praise,\n When I have time.\n\n Now is the time! Speed, friend; no longer wait\n To scatter loving smiles and words of cheer\n To those around whose lives are drear;\n They may not need you in the far-off year:\n Now is the time.\n\n --Unknown.\n\n Behold now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of\n salvation.\n\n --2 Corinthians 6. 2.\n\nLord God, teach me this day to know that the veriest trifle often\nkeeps happiness alive, and that the smallest trifle often may kill it.\nI pray that now thou wilt put within my heart that touch of love,\nwhich brings consideration for others, and the care that brings the\ngreatest happiness. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH SIXTH\n\nMichael Angelo Buonarroti born 1475.\n\nElizabeth Barrett Browning born 1806.\n\nGeorge du Maurier born 1831.\n\n Beloved, let us love so well\n Our work shall still be better for our love,\n And still our love be sweeter for our work:\n And both commended for the sake of each\n By all true workers and true lovers born.\n\n --Elizabeth B. Browning.\n\n Earth saddens, never shall remove,\n Affections purely given;\n And e'en that mortal grief shall prove\n The immortality of love,\n And heighten it with heaven.\n\n --Elizabeth B. Browning.\n\n And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body\n to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing.\n\n --1 Corinthians 13. 3.\n\nLoving Father, I pray that I may not try to change the standard of\nlove by grafting on my own selfishness and infirmities. May I remember\nthat it is mostly for gratification that love is held to the base in\nlife; may I follow it to the summits, where it is divine. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH SEVENTH\n\nSir Thomas Wilson died 1755.\n\nSir Edwin Landseer born 1802.\n\nLuther Burbank born 1849.\n\n Earth gets its price for what it gives us;\n The beggar is taxed for a corner to die in,\n The priest has his fee who comes and shrives us,\n We bargain for the graves we lie in;\n At the devil's booth are all things sold,\n Each ounce of dross costs its ounce of gold;\n For a cap and bells our lives we pay,\n Bubbles we buy with a whole soul's tasking;\n 'Tis heaven alone that is given away,\n 'Tis only God may be had for the asking.\n\n --James Russell Lowell.\n\n We are our own fates. Our own deeds\n Are our doomsmen. Man's life was made\n Not for men's creeds,\n But men's actions.\n\n --Owen Meredith.\n\n\n The free gift of God is eternal life.\n\n --Romans 6. 23.\n\n\nGracious Father, may the world speak to me of thy love, and of thy\ngifts of peace and power, which it freely offers. May I not pass by\nits great values, and prefer to purchase at a great cost my indolence\nand dissipation.\n\n--Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH EIGHTH\n\nDr. John Fothergill born 1712.\n\nC.P. Cranch born 1813.\n\nAnna Letitia Barbauld died 1825.\n\n O boundless self-contentment voiced\n In flying air-born bubbles!\n O joy that mocks our sad unrest,\n And frowns our earth-born troubles!\n\n The life that floods the happy fields\n With song and light and color,\n Will shape our lives to richer states\n And heap our measures fuller.\n\n --C.P. Cranch.\n\n One may secure and preserve that repose in the turbulence of a great\n city--as Shakespeare surely found and preserved it in the London of\n the sixteenth century. For repose does not depend on external\n conditions; it depends on sound adjustment to tasks, opportunities,\n pleasures, and the general order of life.\n\n --Hamilton Mabie.\n\n That we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in godliness and gravity.\n\n --1 Timothy 2.2.\n\nGracious Father, help me to understand that peace cannot abide in\nmisery, nor can it stay with every mood. May I be able to overcome the\ndepression that may keep me in sadness and isolation, and have delight\nin the gladness of friends, and live in the peace of strong\nresolutions. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH NINTH\n\nAmericus Vespucius born 1451.\n\nLewis Gonzaga born 1568.\n\nComte de Mirabeau born 1749.\n\nWilliam Cobbett born 1762.\n\nEdwin Forrest born 1806.\n\n Yet nerve thy spirit to the Proof, and blanch not at thy chosen lot;\n The timid good may stand aloof, the sage may frown--yet faint thou not;\n Nor heed the shaft too surely cast, the foul and hissing bolt of scorn;\n For with thy Side shall dwell, at last, the victory of endurance born.\n\n --William C. Bryant.\n\n You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and\n forge yourself into one.\n\n --James Anthony Froude.\n\n Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong, in the days that I\n shall deal with thee?\n\n --Ezekiel 22.14.\n\nLoving Father, search me, and if there be any evil ways in me, correct\nthem, and lead me into the ways everlasting. I pray that I may not be\ndeformed from selfishness, but with a lowly and expectant heart run\nwith patience and triumph the race that is set before me. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH TENTH\n\nBishop Duppa born 1698.\n\nProfessor Playfair born 1748.\n\nCharles Loyson (P\u00e8re Hyacinthe) born 1827.\n\n So he died by his faith. That is fine--\n More than the most of us do.\n But stay. Can you add to that line\n That he lived for it too?\n\n It is easy to die. Men have died\n For a wish or a whim--\n From bravado or passion or pride.\n Was it hard for him?\n\n But to live: every day to live out\n All the truth that he dreamt,\n While his friends met his conduct with doubt,\n And the world with contempt.\n\n Was it thus that he plodded ahead,\n Never turning aside?\n Then we'll talk of the life that he led.\n Never mind how he died.\n\n --Ernest Crosby.\n\n For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the\n Lord Jehovah: wherefore turn yourselves, and live.\n\n --Ezekiel 18. 32.\n\nAlmighty God, help me to live an upright life. Give me courage to\nabandon useless customs, and seeming duties that keep me from\nperfecting my life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH ELEVENTH\n\nTorquato Tasso born 1544.\n\nAlexander Mackenzie died 1820.\n\nHenry Drummond died 1897.\n\n There is nothing that is puerile in nature; and he who becomes\n impassioned of a flower, a blade of grass, a butterfly's wing, a\n nest, a shell, wraps around a small thing that always contains a\n great truth. To succeed in modifying the appearance of a flower is\n insignificant in itself, if you will; but reflect upon it for\n however short a while and it becomes gigantic.\n\n --Maurice Maeterlinck.\n\n O world, as God has made it! All is beauty:\n And knowing this, is love, and love is duty:\n What further may be sought for or declared?\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not,\n neither do they spin: yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all\n his glory was not arrayed like one of these.\n\n --Matthew 6. 28, 29.\n\nCreator of all, I do know that if I may hold myself close enough, I\ncan hear restful music through the breeze, and find secrets in the\nflowers and leaves. I rejoice that thou hast made the woods and rivers\nthat thou dost love, so I too might possess them, and not be a tenant\nof them only. May I look and study deeper the things which bring me\ncloser to thee. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH TWELFTH\n\nCesare Borgia killed 1507.\n\nBishop Buckley born 1684.\n\nSimon Newcomb born 1835.\n\n Among the happiest and proudest possessions of a man is his\n character. It is a wreath, it is a bank in itself. What is the\n essence and life of character? Principle, integrity, independence.\n\n --Bulwer Lytton.\n\n No great genius was ever without some mixture of madness, nor can\n anything grand or superior to the voice of common mortals be spoken\n except by the agitated soul.\n\n --Aristotle.\n\n Handsome is that handsome does.\n\n --Oliver Goldsmith.\n\n Since thou hast been precious in my sight, and honorable, and I have\n loved thee; therefore will I give men in thy stead, and peoples\n instead of thy life.\n\n --Isaiah 43. 4.\n\nLord God, forbid that I should try to supplant character with manners\nand worldly goods. May I remember that thou seest me, and knowest me,\nand I need no shield from thee. Help me that I may be found acceptable\nwhile thou dost search me to the depths of the soul. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH THIRTEENTH\n\nJoseph Priestley born 1733.\n\nEsther Johnson (Stella) born 1681.\n\nRegina Maria Roche died 1845.\n\n If stores of dry and learned lore we gain\n We keep them in the memory of the brain;\n Names, things, and facts--whate'er we knowledge call,\n There is the common ledger for them all;\n And images on this cold surface traced\n Make slight impressions and are soon effaced.\n But we've a page more glowing and more bright\n On which our friendship and our love to write;\n That these may never from the soul depart,\n We trust them to the memory of the heart.\n There is no dimming--no effacement here;\n Each pulsation keeps the record clear;\n Warm golden letters all the tablet fill,\n Nor lose their luster till the heart stands still.\n\n --Daniel Webster.\n\n I often wonder why it is that we are not all kinder than we are. How\n much the world needs it! How easily it is done! How instantaneously\n it acts! How infallibly it is remembered!\n\n --Henry Drummond.\n\n Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many\n days.\n\n --Ecclesiastes 11. 1.\n\nMy Father, thou hast taught me through the gifts of life, that there\nis no labor or price too dear to pay for love. I pray to love thee\nmore that I may have more love to bestow on others. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH FOURTEENTH\n\nThomas H. Benton born 1782.\n\nJohann Strauss born 1804.\n\nVictor Emmanuel born 1820.\n\n Rivers to the ocean run,\n Nor stay in all their course;\n Fire ascending seeks the sun;\n Both speed them to their source;\n So a soul that's born of God,\n Pants to view his glorious face,\n Upward tends to his abode,\n To rest in his embrace.\n\n --Robert Seagrave.\n\n As the bird trims her to the gale\n I trim myself to the storm of time;\n I man the rudder, reef the sail,\n Obey the voice at eve obeyed at prime;\n Lowly faithful, banish fear,\n The port well worth the cruise is near\n And every wave is charmed.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n As the hart panteth after the water brooks,\n So panteth my soul after thee, O God.\n\n --Psalm 42. 1.\n\nMy Father, I pray that if I meet with difficulty, I may not go\nbackward, nor stand still, and fear to go forward. Unfold to me the\ndepth and breadth of the ideal and beautiful, that I may not be\ncontent to succeed in the shallowness of life: but may I aspire to the\nheight of the soul, even if I fail to acquire great things. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH FIFTEENTH\n\nJulius C\u00e6sar killed B.C. 44.\n\nPeasants War began 1512.\n\nAndrew Jackson, North Carolina, seventh President\nUnited States, born 1767.\n\nJohn Davenport died 1670.\n\n I will take the responsibility!\n\n --Andrew Jackson.\n\n What ought to be possible for everyone is to arrive at a sort of\n harmony of life, to have definite things that they want to do....\n The people whom it is hard to fit into any scheme of benevolent\n creation are the vague, insignificant, drifting people, whose only\n rooted tendency is to do whatever is suggested to them.\n\n --Arthur C. Benson.\n\n Heard are the voices,\n Heard are the sages,\n The worlds, and the ages;\n Choose well! your choice is\n Brief and endless.\n\n --Goethe.\n\n Only be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according to\n all the law....\n\n --Joshua 1. 7.\n\nGracious Father, I pray that thou wilt free me from evil thoughts\nbefore they become a habit. Create in me that freedom which makes me\nnot ashamed to acknowledge the wrong, and which will enable me to\nstand for the right. Quicken my thoughts, that they may keep my heart\ninspired. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH SIXTEENTH\n\nJames Madison, Virginia, fourth President United\nStates, born 1751.\n\nCaroline Lucretia Herschel born 1750.\n\nAlexander Watts born 1797.\n\n If we live truly we shall see truly. It is as easy for the strong\n man to be strong as it is for the weak to be weak. When we have new\n perception we shall gladly disburthen the memory of the hoarded\n treasures as old rubbish. When a man lives with God his voice shall\n be as sweet as the murmur of the brook and the rustle of the corn.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n The tissue of the life to be,\n We weave with colors all our own,\n And in the field of Destiny\n We reap as we have sown.\n\n --Raphael.\n\n Now when they beheld the boldness of Peter and John, and had\n perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled;\n and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.\n\n --Acts 4. 13.\n\nLord God, quiet me if I am not calm, that my soul may be able to\ncontemplate and have an opportunity to grow. Help me, that I may be\nable even in discouragements to have the true perception of life.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH SEVENTEENTH\n\nSaint Patrick's Day.\n\nEbenezer Elliott born 1781.\n\nDr. Thomas Chalmers born 1780.\n\nMoncure D. Conway born 1832.\n\nClara Morris born 1849.\n\nWhat is really wanted is to light up the spirit\nthat is within a child. In some sense and in some\neffectual degree there is in every child the material\nof good work in the world; and in every child, not\nonly in those who are brilliant, not only in those\nwho are quick, but in those who are stolid, and even\nin those who are dull.\n\n--William Gladstone.\n\nIf you make children happy now, you will make\nthem happy twenty years hence by the memory of\nit.\n\n--Kate Douglas Wiggin.\n\nAnd these words, which I command thee this day,\nshall be upon thy heart; and thou shalt teach them\ndiligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them\nwhen thou sittest in thy house, and when thou\nwalkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and\nwhen thou risest up.\n\n--Deuteronomy 6. 6, 7.\n\nLord God, may I be diligent for the progress of\nlittle children. Show me how I may minister unto\nthem; and grant that I may be able to see the\nnecessity of giving, more than I do the pleasure of\nreceiving. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH EIGHTEENTH\n\nWilliam Byrd died 1674.\n\nJohn C. Calhoun born 1782.\n\nGrover Cleveland, New Jersey, twenty-second President\nUnited States, born 1837.\n\n My minde to me a kingdom is:\n Such perfect joy therein I finde\n As far exceeds all earthly blisse\n That God or nature hath assignede.\n\n --William Byrd.\n\n Teach your proud will to make those nobler choices\n Which bring to soul and heart enduring health.\n Deafen your ears to those contending voices,\n Look in your heart, learn your own being's wealth.\n Its resources vast, its undiscovered treasure\n Waiting for these same idle hands to mine.\n Learn that the grandest of Nature's creations\n May not be bounded by man's limitations.\n\n --Rose E. Cleveland.\n\n But he is in one mind, and who can turn him?\n And what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.\n\n --Job 23. 13.\n\nAlmighty God, grant that I may never succumb to the controlling\ninfluences of the body, and lose the power of my mind. May I guard the\ndictates of my heart and keep my mind in command to obey thy will.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH NINETEENTH\n\nDavid Livingstone born 1813.\n\nAlice French (Octave Thanet) born 1850.\n\nWilliam Jennings Bryan born 1860.\n\n Isn't it interesting to get blamed for everything? But I must be\n thankful in feeling that I would rather perish than blame another\n for my misdeeds and deficiencies.\n\n --David Livingstone.\n\n Criticism is helpful. If a man makes a mistake, criticism enables\n him to correct it; if he is unjustly criticized, the criticism helps\n him. I have had my share of criticism since I have been in public\n life, but it has not prevented me from doing what I thought proper\n to do.\n\n --William Jennings Bryan.\n\n For himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I\n in any wise forsake thee. So that with good courage we say, The Lord\n is my helper; I will not fear.\n\n --Hebrews 13. 5, 6.\n\nLoving Father, I thank thee that thou art the same yesterday, to-day,\nand forever; and I am glad I cannot receive from thee the slights and\nwounds that I may give or receive from my friends. May I be\nconsiderate and more forgiving, and by my sincerity be worthy of the\npurpose which I pursue. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH TWENTIETH\n\nPublius Ovidius (Ovid) born B.C. 43.\n\nSir Isaac Newton died 1727.\n\nKarl August Nicander born 1799.\n\nHenrik Ibsen born 1828.\n\n Whoever is not with me in the essential things of life, him I no\n longer know--I owe him no consideration.\n\n --Henrik Ibsen.\n\n Only he who lives in truth finds it. The deepest truth is not born\n of conscious striving, but comes in the quiet hour when a noble\n nature gives itself into the keeping of life, to suffer, to feel, to\n think, and to act as it is moved by a wisdom not its own.\n\n --Hamilton Mabie.\n\n Forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to\n the things which are before, I press on toward the goal unto the\n prize of the high calling of God.\n\n --Philippians 3. 13, 14.\n\nLord God, I thank thee for the silent ways of revelation which bring\nhopeful communion with thee. Help me to be composed, that my life may\nnot create a noise and my soul miss the messages that come from the\ndepths of truth and love. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH TWENTY-FIRST\n\nJohann Sebastian Bach born 1685.\n\nArchbishop Cranmer burnt at Oxford 1556.\n\nJean Paul Richter born 1763.\n\nHenry Kirke White born 1785.\n\n Go through life with soft influences breathing around thee. Keep thy\n heart high above the many-colored mist of earth and above its storm\n clouds.\n\n --Jean Paul Richter.\n\n Recollection is the only paradise from which we cannot be turned\n out.\n\n --Jean Paul Richter.\n\n Come, Disappointment, come!\n Thou art not stern to me;\n Sad monitress! I own thy sway,\n A votary sad in every day,\n I bend my knee to thee,\n From sun to sun\n My race will run;\n I only bow, and say, My God, thy will be done!\n\n --Henry Kirke White.\n\n If I say, I will forget my complaint,\n I will put off my sad countenance, and be of good cheer.\n\n --Job 9. 27.\n\nGracious Father, help me to respond cheerfully when called upon to\ngive. May I never repent of tenderness which others fail to\nappreciate, but may I be glad of all that I give and for all I\nreceive. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH TWENTY-SECOND\n\nSir Anthony Vandyke born 1599.\n\nCaroline Sheridan Norton born 1808.\n\nJohann Goethe died 1832.\n\nDr. Farrar, Dean of Canterbury, died 1903.\n\nRosa Bonheur born 1822.\n\n Red Love still rules the day, white Faith enfolds the night,\n And hope, green-mantled, leads the way by the walls of the City of Light.\n Therefore I walk as one who sees the joy shine through\n Of the other Life behind our life, like the stars behind the blue.\n\n --Dean Farrar.\n\n There can be no greater delight than is experienced by a man who, by\n his own unaided resources, frees himself from the consequences of\n error: Heaven looks down with satisfaction upon such a spectacle.\n\n --Goethe.\n\n Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold a\n land that reacheth afar.\n\n --Isaiah 33. 17.\n\nLord God, help me to remember that I may not only be forgiven for my\ntransgression, but with thy help I may be led away from the wrong. May\nI be content to follow where thou dost lead. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH TWENTY-THIRD\n\nPierre Savant La Place born 1749.\n\nSchuyler Colfax born 1823.\n\nRichard A. Proctor born 1837.\n\n Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves\n together; that at length they may emerge, full-formed and majestic,\n into the daylight of life.... Nay, in thy own mean perplexities, do\n thou thyself but hold thy tongue for one day; on the morrow how much\n clearer are thy purposes and duties!\n\n --Thomas Carlyle.\n\n Deliberate much before you say and do anything; for it will not be\n in your power to recall what is said or done.\n\n --Epictetus.\n\n Set a watch, O Jehovah, before my mouth;\n Keep the door of my lips.\n\n --Psalm 141. 3.\n\nMy Lord, make me a lover of the truth. Make me careful of my thoughts,\nand the words I would speak, that I may not think selfishly and speak\ncruelly, but keep myself holy unto thee. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH TWENTY-FOURTH\n\nQueen Elizabeth died 1603.\n\nFanny Crosby born 1820.\n\nHenry W. Longfellow died 1882.\n\nSir Edwin Arnold died 1904.\n\nEvery quivering tongue of flame\nSeems to murmur some great name,\n Seems to say to me \"Aspire!\"\nNo endeavor is in vain;\nIts reward is in the doing,\nAnd the rapture of pursuing\n Is the prize of vanquished gain.\n\n--Henry W. Longfellow.\n\n Never be sad or desponding\n If thou hast faith to believe;\n Grace for the duties before thee\n Ask of thy God and receive.\n\n --Fanny Crosby.\n\n I spread forth my hands unto thee:\n My soul thirsteth after thee, as a weary land.\n\n --Psalm 143. 6.\n\nAlmighty God, make me conscious of my weaknesses, and make me ashamed\nof my indulgences. Give me a victory over self; and may I consider\nmore what I put in my life. May I be eager for that which will inspire\nme for greater aspirations. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH TWENTY-FIFTH\n\nArchbishop John Williams born 1582.\n\nJoachim Murat born 1771.\n\nAnna Seward died 1809.\n\n How awful is the thought of the wonders underground,\n Of the mystic changes wrought in the silent, dark profound!\n How each thing upward tends by necessity decreed,\n And the world's support depends on the shooting of a seed!\n\n The summer's in her ark, and this sunny-pinioned day\n Is commissioned to remark whether Winter holds her sway:\n Go back, thou dove of peace, with myrtle on thy wing,\n Say that floods and tempests cease, and the world is ripe for Spring.\n\n --Horace Smith.\n\n I should never have made my success in life if I had not bestowed\n upon the least thing I have ever undertaken the same attention and\n care that I have bestowed upon the greatest.\n\n --Charles Dickens.\n\n Gather up the broken pieces which remain over, that nothing be lost.\n\n --John 6. 12.\n\nLoving Father, cause me to learn from nature that to have perfection I\nmust be attentive at the beginning of growth. Help me to select with\ncare the soil wherein I plant; and to weed and cultivate my life that\nit may grow to beauty and usefulness. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH TWENTY-SIXTH\n\nKonrad von Gesner born 1516.\n\nW. E. H. Lecky born 1838.\n\nGustave Guillaumet born 1840.\n\nWalt Whitman died 1892.\n\n Every man takes care that his neighbor shall not cheat him, but a\n day comes when he begins to care that he do not cheat his neighbor.\n Then all goes well. He has changed his market-cart into a chariot of\n the sun.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n He that is unacquainted with the nature of the world must be at a\n loss to know where he is. And he that cannot tell the ends he was\n made for is ignorant both of himself and the world too.\n\n --Marcus Aurelius.\n\n Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that\n needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.\n\n --2 Timothy 2. 15.\n\nAlmighty God, may I not only approve of justice and kindness, but\npractice it. Grant that I may be attentive to the call of work and\nsteadfast in completing it. May I be sincere to those who are dear to\nme, and never falter in my support to those who are dependent upon me.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH TWENTY-SEVENTH\n\nAlfred Vigny born 1799.\n\nGeneral A. W. Greely born 1847.\n\nSir Gilbert Scott died 1878.\n\n It takes great strength to bring your life up square\n With your accepted thought and hold it there:\n Resisting the inertia that drags it back\n From new attempts, to the old habit's track.\n It is so easy to drift back, to sink.\n So hard to live abreast of what you think.\n\n --Charlotte Perkins Stetson.\n\n If a person had delivered up your body to anyone whom he met in his\n way, you would certainly be angry. And do you feel no shame in\n delivering up your own mind to be disconcerted and confounded by\n anyone who happens to give you ill language.\n\n --Epictetus.\n\n Wherefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly\n vision.\n\n --Acts 26. 19.\n\nMy Father, my soul sinks with shame when I think of the great moments\nthat I have given over to mean little things. Help me that I may\nreckon more on the value of time, and live not to tolerate life, but\nto have a great need for it, that day by day I may have a deeper\nconsciousness of its appropriate use. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH TWENTY-EIGHTH\n\nSanti d'Urbino Raphael born 1483.\n\nSir Thomas Smith born 1514.\n\nMargaret (Peg) Woffington died 1760.\n\n They may not need me,\n Yet they might;\n I'll let my heart be\n Just in sight--\n\n A smile so small\n As mine might be\n Precisely their\n Necessity.\n\n --Unknown.\n\n You hear that boy laughing?--you think he's all fun;\n But the angels laugh too at the good he has done;\n The children laugh loud as they troop to his call,\n And the poor man that knows him laughs loudest of all.\n\n --Oliver Wendell Holmes.\n\n Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing,\n be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to\n another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other.\n\n --Ephesians 4. 31.\n\nLord God, I pray that I may be fair, and not pass judgment on those\nwhom I like or those whom I dislike, and so bring unhappy regrets. May\nI remember that, though hasty judgment often may be temporary, the\ngain or loss of a friend may be permanent. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH TWENTY-NINTH\n\nDr. John Lightfoot born 1602.\n\nJohn Tyler, Virginia, tenth President United States,\nborn 1790.\n\nAmelia Barr born 1831.\n\n The year's at the spring\n And the day's at the morn;\n The hillside's dew-pearled;\n The lark's on the wing:\n The snail's on the thorn;\n God's in his heaven:\n All's well with the world.\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n Dear Lord and Father of mankinds\n Forgive our feverish ways;\n Reclothe us in our rightful mind;\n In purer lives thy service find,\n In deeper reverence praise.\n\n --John G. Whittier.\n\n In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.\n\n --Isaiah 30. 15.\n\nLord God, I beseech thee to give me the strength which endures. Grant\nthat I may have the ceaseless content which is secured by choosing and\ncontinuing in the right way. From the wealth of each day renew my\nhope, and quiet my soul with the calm of thy peace. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH THIRTIETH\n\nSir Henry Wotton born 1568.\n\nArchbishop Somner born 1606.\n\nJohn Fiske born 1842.\n\nJohn Constable died 1837.\n\n I said, \"Let us walk in the field.\"\n He said, \"Nay walk in the town.\"\n I said, \"There are no flowers there.\"\n He said, \"No flowers but a crown.\"\n\n I said, \"But the air is thick,\n And the fogs are veiling the sun.\"\n He answered, \"Yet souls are sick\n And souls in the dark undone.\"\n\n I cast one look at the field,\n Then set my face to the town.\n He said: \"My child, do you yield?\n Will ye leave the flowers for the crown?\"\n\n Then into his hand went mine\n And into my heart came He,\n And I walked in a light divine\n The path I had feared to see.\n\n --George Macdonald.\n\n Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of\n Jehovah your God.\n\n --Jeremiah 26. 13.\n\nEternal God, teach me the way of a complete and unbroken trust. In my\ndisappointments, and in my devotions, may my faith and hope be as\nimmortal as my soul. May I listen for thy voice and answer thy call.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nMARCH THIRTY-FIRST\n\nLudwig von Beethoven died 1827.\n\nJoseph Francis Haydn born 1732.\n\nAndrew Lang born 1844.\n\nCharlotte Bront\u00eb died 1855.\n\n The Great Being unseen, but all-present, who in his beneficence\n desires only our welfare, watches the struggle between good and evil\n in our hearts, and waits to see whether we obey his voice, heard in\n the whispers of conscience, or lend an ear to the Spirit Evil, which\n seeks to lead us astray. Rough and steep is the path indicated by\n divine suggestion; mossy and declining the green way along which\n temptation strews flowers. Then conscience whispers, \"Do what you\n feel is right, obey me, and I will plant for you firm footing.\"\n\n --Charlotte Bront\u00eb.\n\n God help us do our duty, and not shrink,\n And trust in heaven humbly for the rest.\n\n --Owen Meredith.\n\n I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have\n set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse:\n therefore choose life.\n\n --Deuteronomy 30. 19.\n\nMy Father, as I review my life I am impressed how accurately my deeds\nhave copied my thoughts. And though I have failed the so often, yet I\npray that thou wilt accept my yearnings, to think and work for the\nbest in every day. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL\n\n God's April is coming up the hill, and the noisy winds are quieting\n down, subdued by the fragrance of the wild flowers on the way. Lest\n we miss the richness of life, while pursuing the world, God\n continues to pour out precious fragrance from his storehouse, and\n unconsciously, our souls are lulled to peace through the sweetness\n of April days.\n\n --M.B.S.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL FIRST\n\nAll Fools' Day.\n\nWilliam Harvey born 1578.\n\nPrince von Bismarck born 1815.\n\nEdwin A. Abbey born 1852.\n\nAgnes Repplier born 1858.\n\n It is a peculiar quality of a fool to perceive the faults of others,\n and to forget his own.\n\n --Cicero.\n\n A man may be as much a fool from the want of sensibility as the want\n of sense.\n\n --Mrs. Jameson.\n\n He that knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool: shun\n him.\n\n --Arabian Maxim.\n\n Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit?\n There is more hope of a fool than of him.\n\n --Proverbs 26. 12.\n\nAlmighty God, grant that I may be spared the allurements of deceptive\nhappiness which leaves weary days. I ask for wisdom that I may not\nspeak foolishly, think foolishly, or act foolishly; and may I not be\ndetained by the foolishness of others, but pursue my work, whether it\nbe far or near. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL SECOND\n\nCharlemagne born 742.\n\nThomas Jefferson, Virginia, third President United\nStates, born 1743.\n\nHans Andersen born 1805.\n\nFrederic A. Bartholdi born 1834.\n\nEmile Zola born 1840.\n\n When a man assumes a public trust he should consider himself public\n property.\n\n --Thomas Jefferson.\n\n We hold these truths to be self-evident--that all men are created\n equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain\n unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the\n pursuit of happiness.\n\n --Declaration of Independence.\n\n Breathes there the man with soul so dead\n Who never to himself hath said,\n This is my own, my native land!\n Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned\n As home his footsteps he hath turned\n From wandering on a foreign strand?\n\n --Sir Walter Scott.\n\n Render therefore unto C\u00e6sar the things that are C\u00e6sar's.\n\n --Matthew 22. 21.\n\nMy Lord, I thank thee for the wisdom and love that is spoken through\nthe lives of strong men and women. Grant that I may be willing to\nlearn of them, and gladly serve where I am needed, remembering that\nthou art Lord of all. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL THIRD\n\nGeorge Herbert born 1593.\n\nWashington Irving born 1783.\n\nEdward Everett Hale born 1822.\n\nJohn Burroughs born 1837.\n\n Sum up at night what thou hast done by day\n And in the morning what thou hast to do:\n Dress and undress thy soul: mark the decay\n And growth of it; if with thy watch that too\n Be dowl, then wind up both; since we shall be\n Most surely judged, make thy accounts agree.\n\n --George Herbert.\n\n To look up and not down,\n To look forward and not back,\n To look out and not in, and\n To lend a hand.\n\n --Edward E. Hale.\n\n There is a healthy hardiness about real dignity that never dreads\n contact and communion with others, however humble.\n\n --Washington Irving.\n\n I put on righteousness, and it clothed me:\n My justice was as a robe and a diadem.\n\n --Job 29. 14.\n\nMy Lord, I pray that I may always be found clothed in love and\nkindness. Make me worthy to minister to those who may be dependent on\nme, and whether they be rich or poor, high or low, may I try to help\nthem. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL FOURTH\n\nOliver Goldsmith died 1774.\n\nDorothea Dix born 1802.\n\nJames Freeman Clarke born 1810.\n\n \"The greatest object in the universe,\" said a certain philosopher,\n \"is a good man struggling with adversity\"; yet there is still a\n greater, which is the good man who comes to relieve it.\n\n --Oliver Goldsmith.\n\n Yet I believe that somewhere, soon or late,\n A peace will fall\n Upon the angry reaches of my mind;\n A peace initiate\n In some heroic hour when I behold\n A friend's long-quested triumph, or unbind\n The tressed gold\n From a child's laughing face. I still believe--\n So much believe.\n\n --J. Drinkwater.\n\n But whoso hath the world's goods, and beholdeth his brother in need,\n and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God\n abide in him?\n\n --1 John 3. 17.\n\nAlmighty God, may I have a liberal heart. Grant that I may feel the\nneeds of thy children in all lands; and may I be willing to give of\nthy blessings, as I am ready to receive them. May my tribute be not\nonly of tender thoughts and kind words, but may I give of myself, and\nof what I have, as thou hast through love and wisdom done for me.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL FIFTH\n\nElihu Yale born 1648.\n\nSir Henry Havelock born 1795.\n\nFrank Stockton (Francis) born 1834.\n\nAlgernon Charles Swinburne born 1837.\n\n As morning hears before it run\n The music of the mounting sun,\n And laughs to watch his trophies won\n From darkness, and her hosts undone,\n And all the night becomes a breath,\n Nor dreams that fear should hear and flee\n The summer menace of the sea,\n So hear our hope what life may be,\n And know it not for death.\n\n --Algernon Charles Swinburne.\n\n I came from God, and I'm going back to God, and I won't have any\n gaps of death in the middle of my life.\n\n --George MacDonald.\n\n The hope of the righteous shall be gladness;\n But the expectation of the wicked shall perish.\n\n --Proverbs 10. 28.\n\nLord God, teach me the way and show me the light of the eternal day;\nand may the vision fill my soul as I take courage and follow it. May I\nnot be fearful of what may be provided, but remember that before the\ncreation of life thou didst have a purpose in death. May I be\ntrustful. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL SIXTH\n\nAlbert D\u00fcrer died 1528.\n\nJames Mill born 1773.\n\nJean Baptiste Rousseau born 1669.\n\n Even if the sacrifices which are made to duty and virtue are painful\n to make, they are well repaid by the sweet recollections which they\n leave at the bottom of the heart.\n\n --Jean B. Rousseau.\n\n I am the man of a thousand loves,\n A thousand loves have I;\n And all my loves are white-winged doves,\n That into my soul would fly.\n\n I am the man of a thousand friends\n Of tuneful memory;\n And each of them spends the delicate ends\n Of a brilliant day with me.\n\n And all my gifts are magical words\n That sing sweet songs to me;\n And the sensitive words are caroling birds\n In the garden of imagery.\n\n --Edwin Leibfreed.\n\n Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.\n\n --Revelation 2. 10.\n\nLoving Father, I bless thee for thy love and ministry. May I enter\ninto a broader conception of sharing thy gifts. May I not seek thy\nblessings to keep, but to use for renewed inspiration. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL SEVENTH\n\nSaint Francis Xavier born 1506.\n\nWilliam Wordsworth born 1770.\n\nWilliam Ellery Channing born 1780.\n\n My heart leaps up when I behold\n A rainbow in the sky:\n So was it when my life began;\n So is it now I am a man;\n So be it when I shall grow old,\n Or let me die!\n The child is Father of the Man;\n And I could wish my days to be\n Bound each to each by natural piety.\n\n --William Wordsworth.\n\n A self-controlled mind is a free mind, and freedom is power. I call\n that mind free which jealously guards its intellectual rights and\n powers. I call that mind free which resists the bondage of habit,\n which does not live on its old virtues, but forgets what is behind,\n and rejoices to pour itself forth in fresh and higher exertions.\n\n --William Ellery Channing.\n\n That ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new\n man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness\n of truth.\n\n --Ephesians 4. 23, 24.\n\nLord God, give me the power to control my mind and heart, that I may\nnot be a slave to habits that may keep me from eternal love and\nblessedness. May I have sympathy and compassion for others, and\ncherish thy tenderness and mercy as I hold it in my daily life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL EIGHTH\n\nPetrarch crowned 1341.\n\nWilliam Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, born 1580.\n\nDavid Rittenhouse born 1732.\n\n If I can stop one heart from breaking,\n I shall not live in vain;\n If I can ease one life from aching,\n Or cool one pain,\n Or help one fainting robin\n Unto his nest again,\n I shall not live in vain.\n\n --Emily Dickinson.\n\n The most solid comfort one can fall back upon is the thought that\n the business of one's life is to help in some small way to reduce\n the sum of ignorance, degradation, and misery on the face of this\n beautiful earth.\n\n --George Eliot.\n\n Make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love,\n being of one accord, of one mind; doing nothing through faction or\n through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other\n better than himself.\n\n --Philippians 2. 2, 3.\n\nMy Father, take away the spirit, if I may be inclined to keep the\nbest, and to be always seeking my portion. May I have the desire to\nshare with those who have less, and to give to those who may have\nmore, whether it be of bread or love. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL NINTH\n\nFisher Ames born 1758.\n\nJohn Opie died 1807.\n\nDante Gabriel Rossetti died 1882.\n\n Gather a shell from the strown beach\n And listen at its lips; they sigh\n The same desire and mystery,\n The echo of the whole sea's speech.\n And all mankind is this at heart--\n Not anything but what thou art:\n And Earth, Sea, Man are all in each.\n\n --Dante Gabriel Rossetti.\n\n And as, in sparkling majesty, a star\n Gilds the bright summit of some glory cloud;\n Brightening the half-veil'd face of heaven afar;\n So when dark thoughts my boding spirit shroud,\n Sweet Hope! celestial influence round me shed,\n Waving the silver pinions o'er my head.\n\n --John Keats.\n\n Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,\n that ye may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.\n\n --Romans 15. 13.\n\nAlmighty God, may I ever know the generous glow that comes with an\noverwhelming desire to cultivate the soul. With hope may I find the\nway through the darkness that leads to immortality, even if I may have\nto experience the weariness that may accompany it. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL TENTH\n\nHugo Grotius born 1583.\n\nWilliam Hazlitt born 1778.\n\nGeneral Lew Wallace born 1827.\n\nGeneral William Booth born 1829.\n\n The essence of happy living is never to find life dull, never to\n feel the ugly weariness which comes of overstrain; to be fresh,\n cheerful, leisurely, sociable, unhurried, well-balanced. It seems to\n me impossible to be these things unless we have time to consider\n life a little, to deliberate, to select, to abstain.\n\n --Arthur C. Benson.\n\n Four things come not back--the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past\n life, the neglected opportunity.\n\n --William Hazlitt.\n\n Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling\n and election sure.\n\n --2 Peter 1. 10.\n\nMy Father, may I not miss my work through indifference and feel it is\nthy neglect of me. May I be reminded that the enrichment of life comes\nthrough persistency and being consistent, and may not be found on the\nidle paths of extravagant ways. Help me to take up my work with a\nwilling spirit and give my best to it. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL ELEVENTH\n\nGeorge Canning born 1770.\n\nEdward Everett born 1794.\n\nDonald G. Mitchell (Ik Marvel) born 1822.\n\n The safe path to excellence and success in every calling, is that of\n appropriate preliminary education, diligent application to learn the\n art of assiduity and practicing it.\n\n --Edward Everett.\n\n That nothing walks with aimless feet;\n That not one life shall be destroyed,\n Or cast as rubbish to the void,\n When God hath made the pile complete.\n\n Behold, we know not anything:\n I can but trust that good shall fall\n At last--far off--at last, to all,\n And every winter change to spring.\n\n --Alfred Tennyson.\n\n And we desire that each one of you may show the same diligence unto\n the fullness of hope even to the end: that ye be not sluggish, but\n imitators of them who through faith and patience inherit the\n promises.\n\n --Hebrews 6. 11, 12.\n\nLord God, help me in all my circumstances, and be with me in my daily\nwork. Help me in my efforts, as I endeavor to attain, and may my will\nbe hid in thine. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL TWELFTH\n\nEdward Young died 1765.\n\nEdward Bird born 1772.\n\nHenry Clay born 1777.\n\n I would rather be right than be President.\n\n --Henry Clay.\n\n\n Who does the best his circumstances allow\n Does well, acts nobly; angels could no more.\n\n --Edward Young.\n\n Pedigree haz no more to do in making a man aktually grater than he\n iz than a pekok's feather in his hat haz in making him aktually\n taller. When the world stands in need of an arestokrat, natur\n pitches one into it, and furnishes him papers without enny flaw in\n them.\n\n --Josh Billings.\n\n Cast not away therefore your boldness, which hath great recompense\n of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, having done the will\n of God, ye may receive the promise.\n\n --Hebrews 10. 35, 36.\n\nLord God, help me to select with care the site, the plans, and the\nfoundation of my life. May I use the best material; and may it be\nworthy of a permanent home. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL THIRTEENTH\n\nMadame Jeanne Guyon born 1648.\n\nDr. Thomas Beddoes born 1760.\n\nJames Harper born 1795.\n\n If there were dreams to sell,\n Merry and sad to tell,\n And the crier rang the bell,\n What would you buy?\n\n A cottage lone and still\n With bowers nigh,\n Shadowy, my woes to still,\n Until I die.\n Such pearl from Life's fresh crown\n Fain would I shake me down,\n Were dreams to have at will\n This would best heal my ill,\n This would I buy.\n\n --Thomas Lovell Beddoes.\n\n I pray you, bear me hence From forth the noise and rumor of the\n field Where I may think the remnant of my thoughts In peace, and\n part this body and my soul With contemplation and devout desires.\n\n --William Shakespeare.\n\n Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile.\n\n --Mark 6. 31.\n\nLord God, help me to bear in mind that to step aside and safeguard the\nmind in contemplation is a safe guard to the soul. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL FOURTEENTH\n\nDr. George Gregory born 1754.\n\nGeorge Frederic Handel died 1759.\n\nHorace Bushnell born 1802.\n\n Flower in the crannied wall,\n I pluck you out of the crannies--\n Hold you here, root and all, in my hand,\n Little flower--but if I could understand\n What you are, root and all, and all in all,\n I should know what God and man is.\n\n --Alfred Tennyson.\n\n So much is history stranger than fiction, and so true it is Nature\n has caprices which Art dares not imitate.\n\n --Thomas Macaulay.\n\n Nature is the face of God. He appears to us through it, and we can\n read his thoughts in it.\n\n --Victor Hugo.\n\n Many, O Jehovah my God, are the wonderful works\n which thou hast done,\n And thy thoughts which are to us-ward.\n\n --Psalm 40. 5.\n\nEternal God, I thank thee for the seasons which bring abundance and\nbeauty. I thank thee for thy loving care, which is over all and\nforever. May I behold thy works and make thee a very present help for\nall my needs, and perceive the joy of thy love through the greatness\nof the earth. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL FIFTEENTH\n\nEmile Souvestre born 1806.\n\nJohn Lothrop Motley born 1814.\n\nHenry James born 1843.\n\nAbraham Lincoln died 1865.\n\n Two thirds of human existence are wasted in hesitation, and the last\n third in repentance.\n\n --Emile Souvestre.\n\n And, having thus chosen our course, let us renew our trust in God\n and go forward without fear and with manly hearts.\n\n --Abraham Lincoln.\n\n The barriers are not erected which shall say to aspiring talent,\n \"Thus far and no further.\"\n\n --Beethoven.\n\n Be strong and of good courage.\n\n --Joshua 1. 6.\n\nAlmighty God, I pray that I may always be alive to my opportunities,\nbut may I never leave others impoverished by taking advantage of them.\nMay my prosperity be conducted with my eyes open, guarding what I give\nand receive, that my possessions may remain valuable through life.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL SIXTEENTH\n\nCharles Montagu, Earl of Halifax, born 1661.\n\nCharles W. Peale born 1741.\n\nSir John Franklin born 1786.\n\n Weary of myself and sick of asking\n What I am, and what I ought to be,\n At the vessel's prow I stand, which bears me\n Forward, forward, o'er the starlit sea\n\n O air-born voice! long since severely clear,\n A cry like thine in my own heart I hear.\n Resolve to be thyself: and know that he\n Who finds himself, loses his misery.\n\n --Matthew Arnold.\n\n This above all to thine own self be true,\n And it must follow, as the night the day,\n Thou can'st not then be false to any man.\n\n --William Shakespeare.\n\n Let thine eyes look right on,\n And let thine eyelids look straight before thee.\n Make level the path of thy feet,\n And let all thy ways be established.\n\n --Proverbs 4. 25, 26.\n\nMy Father, give me a sense of nearness to thee when I may be faltering\nfrom weariness in well doing. May I hold to my determinations. Help me\nto know what is useless, that I may not give unnecessary energy, and\nto know what is worth while, that I may acquire strength through the\npower of truth. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL SEVENTEENTH\n\nBishop Benjamin Hoadley died 1761.\n\nBenjamin Franklin died 1790.\n\nWilliam G. Simms born 1806.\n\n Shall I ask the brave soldier who fights at my side,\n In the cause of mankind, if our creeds agree?\n Shall I give up the friend I have valued and tried,\n If he kneel not before the same altar as me?\n\n --Thomas Moore.\n\n I met a little Elf-man once,\n Down where the lilies blow.\n I asked him why he was so small\n And why he didn't grow.\n\n He slightly frowned, and with his eye\n He looked me through and through.\n \"I'm quite as big for me,\" said he\n \"As you are big for you.\"\n\n --John Kendrick Bangs.\n\n Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their\n own sight!\n\n --Isaiah 5. 21.\n\nLoving Father, grant that I may not barter love with formalities, nor\nsacrifice love for customs. But, may I have a fellowship that is true\nand sincere, and that may be counted on, though all and for all. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL EIGHTEENTH\n\nLord Jeffreys died 1689.\n\nGeorge Henry Lewes born 1817.\n\nSir Francis Baring born 1740.\n\n Nor can I count him happiest who has never\n Been forced with his own hand his chains to sever,\n And for himself find out the way divine;\n He never knew the aspirer's glorious pains,\n He never earned the struggler's priceless gains.\n\n --James Russell Lowell.\n\n There is not time for hate, O wasteful friend.\n Put hate away until the ages end.\n Have you an ancient wound? Forget the wrong--\n Out in my West a forest loud with song\n Towers high and green over a field of snow,\n Over a glacier buried far below.\n\n --Edwin Markham.\n\n Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the life eternal,\n whereunto thou wast called, and didst confess the good confession in\n the sight of many witnesses.\n\n --1 Timothy 6. 12.\n\nLord God, help me to realize the power of my life. I feel ashamed and\nalarmed when I think of the grievous wrongs I may have done for greed.\nMay I have delight in the struggles I have made for the ways of\nrighteousness. Make me careful to avoid the things that debase life.\nMay I aspire for the highest and best. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL NINETEENTH\n\nRoger Sherman born 1721.\n\nLord Byron died 1824.\n\nLord Beaconsfield (Disraeli) died 1881.\n\nCharles Darwin died 1882.\n\n The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his\n opportunity when it comes. --Disraeli.\n\n One sees, and the other does not see; one enjoys\n an unspeakable pleasure, and the other loses that\n pleasure which is as free to him as the air....\n The whole outward world is the kingdom of the\n observant eye. He who enters into any part of\n that kingdom to possess it has a store of pure enjoyment\n in life which is literally inexhaustible and\n immeasurable. His eyes alone will give him a life\n worth living.\n\n --Charles W. Eliot.\n\n Having eyes, see ye not?\n\n --Mark 8. 18.\n\nMy Father, help me to realize that I cannot feel the joy that breathes\nthrough the early morning unless I am with it. May I see distinctly\nthe glory of to-day. Help me to be watchful and keep my spirit awake,\nthat I may receive thy revelations. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL TWENTIETH\n\nMarcus Aurelius born 121.\n\nElizabeth Barton (Maid of Kent) executed 1534\n\nSir Francis T. Baring born 1796.\n\nAlice Cary born 1820.\n\n Do not act as if you had ten thousand years to throw away. Death\n stands at your elbow. Be good for something while you live and it is\n in your power.\n\n --Marcus Aurelius.\n\n And O, my heart, my heart,\n Be careful to go strewing in and out\n The way with good deeds, lest it come about\n That when thou shalt depart,\n No low lamenting tongue be found to say,\n The world is poorer since thou went'st away\n\n --Alice Cary.\n\n A good man prolongs his life; to be able to enjoy one's past life is\n to live twice.\n\n --Martial.\n\n The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance.\n\n --Psalm 112. 6.\n\nHeavenly Father, thou hast made my life dear; forgive me if I have\nmade dearer the things that I have put around it. Many days have been\nused for costly things that have faded and are laid aside. May I\nrealize the meaning of days that have been lost. Make me more\nconcerned for what I put in the days to come. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL TWENTY-FIRST\n\nPeter F. Abelard died 1142.\n\nFriedrich Fr\u00f6bel born 1782.\n\nReginald Heber born 1783.\n\nJames Martineau born 1805.\n\nCharlotte Bront\u00eb born 1816.\n\nHenry Shaw (Josh Billings) born 1818.\n\n Education should lead and guide man to clearness concerning himself\n and in himself, to peace with nature, and to unity with God.\n\n --Friedrich Fr\u00f6bel.\n\n When spring unlocks the flowers, to paint the\n laughing soil;\n When summer's balmy showers refresh the mower's\n toil;\n When winter binds in frosty chains the fallow and\n the flood,\n In God the earth rejoiceth still, and owns its maker\n good.\n\n --Reginald Heber.\n\n A memory without a blot or contamination must be an inexhaustible\n source of pure refreshment.\n\n --Charlotte Bront\u00eb.\n\n For ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day: we are not of the\n night, nor of darkness.\n\n --1 Thessalonians 5. 5.\n\nLord of light, thou art the light of my life. May I make thee the joy\nand light of my soul. Call me to where it is clear and high, that I\nmay see above the mist. May I not weary in climbing to reach thee in\nthe high places. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL TWENTY-SECOND\n\nHenry Fielding born 1707.\n\nImmanuel Kant born 1724.\n\nPhilip James Bailey born 1816.\n\n We live in deeds, not years: in thoughts, not breaths:\n In feelings, not in figures on a dial.\n We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives\n Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.\n\n --Philip James Bailey.\n\n Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations. The only\n sin is limitation. As soon as you once come up with a man's\n limitations it is all over with him.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n But he that looketh into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so\n continueth, being not a hearer that forgeteth but a doer that\n worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing.\n\n --James 1. 25.\n\nLord God, help me to break away from habits that fasten me in the ruts\nof life. Draw me out to thy broad way, where there are no limits to\nthy wonderful works, that I may expand my life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL TWENTY-THIRD\n\nWilliam Shakespeare born 1564, died 1616.\n\nCervantes died 1616.\n\nJ.M.W. Turner born 1775.\n\nJames Buchanan, Pennsylvania, fifteenth President\nUnited States, born 1791.\n\nJames Anthony Froude born 1818.\n\nThomas Nelson Page born 1853.\n\nEdwin Markham born 1852.\n\n My crown is in my heart, not on my head:\n Not decked with diamonds and Indian Stones,\n Nor to be seen. My crown is called content.\n A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy.\n\n --William Shakespeare.\n\n At the heart of the cyclone tearing the sky\n And flinging the clouds and the towers by\n Is a place of central calm:\n So here in the roar of mortal things,\n I have a place where my spirit sings,\n In the hollow of God's Palm.\n\n --Edwin Markham.\n\n Rest in Jehovah, and wait patiently for him:\n Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way.\n\n --Psalm 37. 7.\n\nAlmighty God, my heart beats quicker and the desire for thy care grows\nstronger when I remember thy promises are given for all eternity. May\nI be grateful and contented with thy love and care. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL TWENTY-FOURTH\n\nEdmund Cartwright born 1743.\n\nAnthony Trollope born 1815.\n\nArthur Christopher Benson born 1862.\n\n By religion I mean the power, whatever it be, which makes a man\n choose what is hard rather than what is easy; what is lofty and\n noble rather than what is mean and selfish; that puts courage into\n timorous hearts and gladness into clouded spirits.\n\n --Arthur C. Benson.\n\n For all noble things the time is long and the way rude.... For every\n start and struggle of impatience there shall be so much attendant\n failure.... But the fire which Patience carries in her own hand is\n that truly stolen from heaven--unquenchable incense of life.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n But they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they\n shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be\n weary; they shall walk, and not faint.\n\n --Isaiah 40. 31.\n\nMy Father, I pray that I may not be indifferent to the call of my\nsoul. May I not seek to serve the disappearing and neglect to make\nlife worthy. Acquaint me with the permanent values of life. Make clear\nthe way of strength, that I may not be misled by ease and carried to\nweakness. May my life be ennobled by the power of my possessions.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL TWENTY-FIFTH\n\nOliver Cromwell born 1599.\n\nJohn Keble born 1792.\n\nAlexander Duff born 1806.\n\nGuglielmo Marconi born 1874.\n\nMrs. Burton Harrison (Constance Cary) born 1846.\n\nSamuel Wesley died 1735.\n\n Truly God follows us with encouragements: let him not lose his\n blessing upon us! They come in season, and with all the advantages\n of heartening, as if God should say, \"Up and be doing, and I will\n stand by you and help you!\" There is nothing to be feared but our\n own sin and sloth.\n\n --Oliver Cromwell.\n\n Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear,\n It is not night if thou be near;\n O may no earthborn cloud arise\n To hide thee from thy servants' eyes.\n\n --John Keble.\n\n For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield:\n Jehovah will give grace and glory;\n No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.\n\n --Psalm 84. 11.\n\nMy Father, may I not err in choosing thy benefits, nor fail from the\nneglect to use them. Make me appreciative of all thy gifts, and,\nthrough thy wisdom and power, may I find the best use for them. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL TWENTY-SIXTH\n\nDavid Hume born 1711.\n\nDaniel Defoe died 1791.\n\nCharles F. Browne (Artemus Ward) born 1834.\n\n How strange a chequer-work of Providence is the life of man! and by\n what secret different springs are the affections hurried about, as\n different circumstances present! To-day we love what to-morrow we\n hate; to-day we seek what to-morrow we shun; to-day we desire what\n to-morrow we fear; nay, even tremble at the apprehension of.\n\n --Daniel Defoe.\n\n Now don't do nothin' which isn't your Fort, for ef you do you'll\n find yourself splashin' round in the Kanawl, figgeratively speakin'.\n\n --Artemus Ward.\n\n Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there\n are diversities of ministrations, and the same Lord. And there are\n diversities of workings, but the same God, who worketh all things in\n all.\n\n --1 Corinthians 12. 4-6.\n\nLord forbid that I should fear to change for the better or be so\npleased with myself and the things which surround me that I feel no\nneed for a higher life. Make me dissatisfied if I am not trying to\ngrow in truth and to live in noble deeds. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL TWENTY-SEVENTH\n\nSamuel Morse born 1791.\n\nLajos Kossuth born 1802.\n\nHerbert Spencer born 1820.\n\nUlysses S. Grant, Ohio, eighteenth President United\nStates, born 1822.\n\nRalph Waldo Emerson died 1882.\n\n People who are dishonest, or rash, or stupid will inevitably suffer\n the penalties of dishonesty, or rashness, or stupidity.\n\n --Herbert Spencer.\n\n Abide in the simple and noble regions of thy life; obey thy heart.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n Well, then, we must cut our way out.\n\n --General Grant.\n\n Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to\n withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.\n\n --Ephesians 6. 13.\n\nLoving Father, help me to live a simple and noble life. Grant that I\nmay have the blessedness that comes through peace, and escape the\nmisery that comes from cruelty and untruth. Through my life may what I\nreap show that I have been careful in choosing and cultivating what I\nhave sown. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL TWENTY-EIGHTH\n\nCharles Cotton born 1630.\n\nJames Monroe, Virginia, fifth President United\nStates, born 1758.\n\nAnthony Ashley, Earl of Shaftesbury, born 1801.\n\n During a long life I have proved that not one kind word ever spoken,\n not one kind deed ever done, but sooner or later returns to bless\n the giver, and becomes a chain, binding men with golden bands to the\n throne of God.\n\n --Earl of Shaftesbury.\n\n There's many a time when the bitterest thing\n Is said without reason, and God knows\n The courage it takes to suffer the sting,\n By hiding the wounds that the heart shows.\n\n There's many a sob we bravely keep down\n For the sake of old times revered so,\n There's many a head with thorns for a crown\n Where kisses would soon make the heart glow.\n\n --Edwin Leibfreed.\n\n So shalt thou know wisdom to be unto thy soul;\n If thou hast found it, then shall there be a reward,\n And thy hope shall not be cut off.\n\n --Proverbs 24. 14.\n\nMy Father, if I am to-day without happiness, may I go in search of it.\nHelp me to remember that the will thou hast given me to overcome evil\nwith good I may use to overcome misery with happiness. Make me careful\nthat I may not be trapped by selfishness as I look for joy. May I\ndelight in the sweet sensations that are felt in having consideration\nfor others, and may I make kindness a daily habit. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL TWENTY-NINTH\n\nMichel Ruyter died 1676.\n\nAbbe Charles de St. Pierre died 1743.\n\nMatthew Vassar born 1792.\n\nEdward Rowland Sill born 1841.\n\n Never yet was a springtime,\n Late though lingered the snow,\n That the sap stirred not at the whisper\n Of the south wind, sweet and low;\n Never yet was a springtime\n When the buds forgot to blow.\n\n Ever the wings of the summer\n Are folded under the mold;\n Life that has known no dying,\n Is Love's, to have and to hold,\n Till, sudden, the burgeoning Easter!\n The song! the green and the gold![1]\n\n --Margaret E. Sangster.\n\n In tracing the shade, I shall find out the sun.\n\n --Owen Meredith.\n\n All chastening seemeth for the present to be not joyous but\n grievous; yet afterward it yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that\n have been exercised thereby, even the fruit of righteousness.\n\n --Hebrews 12. 11.\n\nAlmighty God, grant that as the fulfillment of the green comes to the\nwithered grass, so thy restoring may come to me with the glory of life\nthat comes in the resurrection of the soul. I trust thee to bring me\nout of winter's seal, that I may help make the spring. Amen.\n\n[Footnote 1: From Easter Bells. Copyright, 1897, by Harper &\nBrothers.]\n\n\n\n\nAPRIL THIRTIETH\n\nChevalier de Bayard killed 1524.\n\nSir John Lubbock born 1834.\n\nJames Montgomery died 1854.\n\nDavid Livingstone died 1873.\n\n We scatter seeds with careless hands,\n And dream we ne'er shall see them more;\n But for a thousand years\n Their fruit appears\n In weeds that mar the land.\n\n --John Keble\n\n And there came up a sweet perfume\n From the unseen flowers below,\n Like the savor of virtuous deeds,\n Of deeds done long ago.\n\n --Mrs. Southey.\n\n Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of pure nard, very precious,\n and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair:\n and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment.\n\n --John 12. 3.\n\nMy Father, I pray that it may be mine to have the recollection of\nhappy deeds, and not the memory of unkept promises. Help me to\nremember that one act is worth a thousand intentions, and that memory\nis the storehouse that supplies old age. Make me careful of my memory,\nthat it may not be burdened. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY\n\n\n I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,\n Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs,\n But, in the embalmed darkness, guess each sweet\n Wherewith the seasonable month endows\n The grass, the thicket, and the fruit tree wild;\n White hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine;\n Fast-fading violets covered up in leaves;\n And mid-May's wildest child,\n The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine,\n The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves.\n\n --John Keats.\n\n Such a starved bank of moss\n Till that May morn,\n Blue ran the flash across:\n Violets were born.\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n\n\n\nMAY FIRST\n\nArbor Day.\n\nJoseph Addison born 1672.\n\nArthur, Duke of Wellington, born 1769.\n\n If you wish to succeed in life, make perseverance your bosom friend,\n experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope\n your guardian genius.\n\n --Joseph Addison.\n\n He who plants a tree, he plants love;\n Tents of coolness spreading out above\n Wayfarers, he may not live to see.\n Gifts that grow are best;\n Hands that bless are blest;\n Plant-life does the rest!\n Heaven and earth help him who plants a tree,\n And his work his own reward shall be.\n\n --Lucy Larcom.\n\n And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water,\n That bringeth forth its fruit in its season,\n Whose leaf also doth not wither;\n And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.\n\n --Psalm 1. 3.\n\nMy Creator, give me joyful eyes for joyful nature. May I be alive to\nthe gentle influences of a May day which bring new experiences to all\nwho may receive them: and may I serve thee by unfolding to others the\nlove of truth, the love of good, and the love of beauty. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY SECOND\n\nLeonardo da Vinci died 1519.\n\nRobert Hall born 1764.\n\nJerome K. Jerome born 1859.\n\nWilliam Henry Hudson born 1862.\n\n Without a false humility;\n For this is love's nobility,--\n Not to scatter bread and gold,\n Goods and raiment bought and sold;\n But to hold fast his simple sense,\n And speak the speech of innocence,\n And with hand and body and blood,\n To make his bosom-counsel good.\n He that feeds man serveth few;\n He serves all who dares be true.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n Small service is true service while it lasts:\n Of humblest friends scorn not one:\n The daisy, by the shadow it casts,\n Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun.\n\n --William Wordsworth.\n\n Surely then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot;\n Yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear.\n\n --Job 11. 15.\n\nHeavenly Father, I would be thankful for the blessings I am inclined\nto forget. Give me a heart of gratitude, and forbid that I should hold\nmy friends for material gain or selfish ends. May I through the\ntruthfulness of my lips, and the honor of my acts, be a necessary\nfriend. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY THIRD\n\nNiccolo Machiavelli born 1469.\n\nThomas Hood died 1845.\n\nJacob Riis born 1849.\n\n The longing for ignoble things;\n The strife for triumph more than truth;\n The hardening of the heart that brings\n Irreverence for the dreams of youth;\n\n All these must first be trampled down\n Beneath our feet, if we would gain\n In the bright fields of fair renown\n The right of eminent domain.\n\n --John Keble.\n\n One lesson, and only one, history may be said to repeat with\n distinctness; that the world is built somehow on moral foundations;\n that in the long run, it is well with the good; in the long run it\n is ill with the wicked.\n\n --James Anthony Froude.\n\n No soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this\n life; that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier. And if\n also a man contend in the games, he is not crowned, except he have\n contended lawfully.\n\n --2 Timothy 2. 4, 5.\n\nGracious Father, may my heart be mindful of thee, that I may discover\nthe truth and possess it. Steady me in my affections and save me from\nwandering impulses; and may I help to put wrong down and uplift\nhumanity. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY FOURTH\n\nFrederick Edwin Church born 1826.\n\nIsaac Barrow died 1677.\n\nJohn James Audubon born 1780.\n\nHorace Mann born 1796.\n\nThomas Henry Huxley born 1825.\n\n The chess board is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the\n universe, the rules of the game we call the laws of nature. My\n metaphor will remind some of you of the famous picture in which\n Retzsch has depicted Satan playing chess with man for his soul.\n Substitute for the mocking fiend in that picture a calm, strong\n angel, who is playing \"for love,\" as we say, and would rather lose\n than win, and I should accept it as an image of human life.\n\n --Thomas Henry Huxley.\n\n Riches and nobility fade together. O, my God! be thou praised for\n having made love for all time, and immortal as thyself.\n\n --George Sand.\n\n He hath given food unto them that fear him:\n He will ever be mindful of his covenant.\n The works of his hands are truth and justice;\n All his precepts are sure.\n\n --Psalm 111. 5, 7.\n\nFather of life, I know I cannot hold youth. I may have prosperity or\npoverty. I thank thee that thou hast taught me that love may be kept\nchangeless through all. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY FIFTH\n\nNapoleon Bonaparte died 1821.\n\nEmpress Eugenie born 1826.\n\nBret Harte died 1902.\n\n As I stand by the cross, on the lone mountain's crest,\n Looking over the ultimate sea,\n In the gloom of the mountain a ship lies at rest,\n And one sails away from the lea;\n One spreads its white wings on the far-reaching track,\n With pennant and sheet flowing free;\n One hides in the shadow with sails laid aback--\n The ship that is waiting for me.\n\n But lo! in the distance the clouds break away,\n The gate's glowing portals I see,\n And I hear from the outgoing ship in the bay\n The song of the sailors in glee.\n So I think of the luminous footprints that bore\n The comfort o'er dark Galilee,\n And wait for the signal to go to the shore\n To the ship that is waiting for me.\n\n --Bret Harte.\n\n Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,\n I will fear no evil; for thou art with me;\n Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.\n\n --Psalm 23. 4.\n\nEternal God, I praise thee, that \"thy love is broader than the measure\nof man's mind,\" and that through all my years I may hide myself in\nthee, trusting thee to the end. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY SIXTH\n\nPlato born B.C. 427.\n\nRobespierre born 1758.\n\nGeneral Andrea Messena born 1758.\n\n Hard ye may be in the tumult,\n Red to your battle hilts;\n Blow give blow in the foray,\n Cunningly ride in the tilts.\n But tenderly, unbeguiled--\n Turn to a woman a woman's\n Heart, and a child's to a child.\n\n Test of the man if his worth be\n In accord with the ultimate plan\n That he be not, to his marring,\n Always and utterly man.\n That he may bring out of the tumult,\n Fetter and undefiled,\n To woman the heart of a woman--\n To children the heart of a child.[1]\n\n --O. Henry.\n\n A man's concern is only whether in doing anything he is doing right\n or wrong--acting the part of a good man or a bad.\n\n --Plato.\n\n A faithful man shall abound with blessings.\n\n --Proverbs 28. 20.\n\nAlmighty God, I pray that I may seek sincerely those whom I approach\nwith sympathy, and by my honor may they feel the same sincerity for\nme. Amen.\n\n[Footnote 1: Special permission Cosmopolitan Magazine, New York.]\n\n\n\n\nMAY SEVENTH\n\nCorreggio born 1494.\n\nRobert Browning born 1812.\n\nJohannes Brahms born 1833.\n\nLord Rosebery (Archibald Primrose) born 1847.\n\n So, take and use thy work: amend what flaws may lurk,\n What strain o' the stuff, what warpings past the aim!\n My times be in Thy hand! perfect the cup as planned!\n Let age approve of youth, and death complete the same!\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n No matter how often defeated, you are born to victory. The reward of\n a thing well done is to have done it.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n When I hear a young man spoken of as giving promise of high genius,\n the first question I ask about him is always--Does he work?\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.\n\n --Matthew 5. 48.\n\nO God, I pray that thou wilt search me, and in the silent moments show\nme myself without obstruction. Breathe upon me thy awakening breath,\nthat I may be revived to nobler activities. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY EIGHTH\n\nRev. William Jay born 1769.\n\nFran\u00e7ois Mignet born 1796.\n\nLouis Gottschalk born 1829.\n\nJohn Stuart Mill died 1873.\n\n A profound conviction raises a man above the feeling of ridicule.\n\n --John Stuart Mill.\n\n A garden is a lonesome thing, God wot!\n Rose plot,\n Fringed pool,\n Ferned grot--\n The veriest school\n Of peace; and yet the fool\n Contends that God is not--\n Not God! in the gardens! when the eve is cool?\n Nay but I have a sign;\n 'Tis very sure God walks in mine.\n\n --Thomas E. Brown.\n\n Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee:\n Jehovah make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:\n Jehovah lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.\n\n --Numbers 6. 24, 25, 26.\n\nMy Father, may this be a day of usefulness. Make me sure of myself,\nthat I may not spend my days in questioning, but accept with\ngratefulness thy love and tender care. Make me worthy to be called thy\nchild. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY NINTH\n\nJohn Brown (Ossawattomie) born 1800.\n\nJohann Schiller died 1805.\n\nJ.M. Barrie born 1860.\n\n Have love! not love alone for one,\n But man as man thy brother call:\n And scatter like the circling sun\n Thy charities on all.\n\n --Johann Schiller.\n\n He spoke, and words more soft than rain\n Brought the Age of Gold again:\n His action won such reverence sweet,\n As hid all measure of the feat.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n That their hearts might be comforted, they being knit together in\n love.\n\n --Colossians 2. 2.\n\nGracious Lord, I pray that I may not only be known to those who are my\nown, but may I consider all mankind. May those who need me find me\nthrough my gentleness, and may they be assured by quiet confidence and\nfaith. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY TENTH\n\nRouget de l'Isle born 1760.\n\nJared Sparks born 1789.\n\nJames Bryce born 1838.\n\nSir Henry Stanley died 1904.\n\n For four months and four days I lived with David Livingstone in the\n same house, or in the same boat, or in the same tent, and I never\n found a fault in him. I am a man of quick temper, and often without\n sufficient cause, I dare say, have broken the ties of friendship;\n but with Livingstone I never had cause for resentment, but each\n day's life with him added to my admiration for him.\n\n --Sir Henry Stanley.\n\n In speech right gentle, yet so wise: princely of mien,\n Yet softly mannered; modest, deferent,\n And tender-hearted, though of a fearless blood.\n\n --Edwin Arnold.\n\n Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.\n\n --Matthew 5. 14.\n\nAlmighty God, help me to aspire, that my life may tend toward the\nideal. May I be persuaded that I cannot be that which I do not\npossess, nor can I live in that which I do not know. Help me to put\nthe best in what I do, that I may not feel I have failed, even though\nit may not seem to be a success. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY ELEVENTH\n\nBaron M\u00fcnchhausen born 1720.\n\nWilliam Pitt, Earl of Chatham, died 1778.\n\nJean L\u00e9on G\u00e9r\u00f4me born 1824.\n\n And methought that beauty and terror are only one, not two;\n And the world has room for love, and death, and thunder and dew;\n And all the sinews of hell slumber in the summer air;\n And the face of God is a rock, but the face of the rock is fair.\n Beneficent streams of tears flow at the finger of pain;\n And out of the cloud that smites, beneficent rivers of rain.\n\n --Robert Louis Stevenson.\n\n It is more shameful to be distrustful of our friends than to be\n deceived by them.\n\n --La Rochefoucauld.\n\n Thou shalt rejoice in all the good which Jehovah thy God hath given\n unto thee.\n\n --Deuteronomy 26. 11.\n\nLord God, may I comprehend the sacredness of friendship. I thank thee\nfor my friends, and for all the beautiful influences which they bring\nto my life. May I never hold friendship without the sincerity to\nreturn it. Correct my faults, and cause me to learn the secret of\ncheerful endurance, that I may be steadfast. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY TWELFTH\n\nRobert Fielding died 1712.\n\nJames Sheridan Knowles born 1784.\n\nDante Gabriel Rossetti born 1828.\n\nJules Massenet born 1842.\n\n Look in my face; my name is Might-have-been;\n I am also called No-more, Too-late, Farewell;\n Unto thine ear I hold the dead sea-shell\n Cast up thy Life's foam-fretted feet between;\n Unto thine eyes the glass where that is seen\n Which had Life's form and Love's, but by my spell\n Is now a shaken shadow intolerable,\n Of ultimate things unuttered the frail screen.\n\n --Dante Gabriel Rossetti.\n\n Let me not pass my work at morn\n And then at eve,\n Find for what purpose I was born--\n Just as I leave.\n\n --M.B.S.\n\n We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the\n night cometh, when no man can work.\n\n --John 9. 4.\n\nLord God, I do earnestly pray that thou wilt give me strength to break\naway, if I may be trying to free myself from habits that mar my\ncharacter. May I not lose courage and fall back in the old ways, but\nby faith be led where I should go. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY THIRTEENTH\n\nCarolus Linn\u00e6us (Karl von Linn\u00e9) born 1707.\n\nAlphonse Daudet born 1840.\n\nSir Arthur Sullivan born 1842.\n\n I heard a voice in the darkness singing\n (That was a valiant soul I knew),\n And the joy of his song was a wild bird winging\n Swift to his mate through a sky of blue.\n\n And his song was of love and all its bringing\n And of certain day when the night was through;\n I raised my eyes where the hope was springing,\n And I think in his heaven God smiled too\n (That was a valiant soul I knew).\n\n --J. Stalker.\n\n The soul aids the body, and at certain moments raises it. It is the\n only bird which bears upward its own cage.\n\n --Victor Hugo.\n\n But desire earnestly the greater gifts.\n\n --1 Corinthians 12. 31.\n\nGracious Lord, I rejoice that thou dost know the depths of my soul,\nand that I may call upon thee to supply its needs. Make me worthy that\nI may not be kept from the springs of joy where my soul may be\nrefreshed, and where I may gather hope and encouragement for the\ngreater loves of life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY FOURTEENTH\n\nJohn Dutton born 1659.\n\nGabriel D. Fahrenheit born 1686.\n\nRobert Owen born 1771.\n\nHenry Grattan died 1820.\n\n They that wander at will where the\n Works of the Lord are revealed,\n Little guess what joy can be got\n From a cowslip out of the field.\n\n --Alfred Tennyson.\n\n Move onward serenely, cast aside regret, cleanse and purify life,\n only be undismayed and hopeful, as you turn page after page of the\n revelation of God.\n\n --Arthur C. Benson.\n\n Thou wilt show me the path of life:\n In thy presence is fullness of joy;\n In thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.\n\n --Psalm 16. 11.\n\nMy Father, I thank thee that nature reveals thy power as she unfolds\nher beauty and wonder to the searching eye. Guide me that I may see in\nthe little flower the smile of welcome, the look of kindness, and the\nbeauty of hope which it renders to all; and may I learn from it thy\nprotection in the smallest things of life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY FIFTEENTH\n\nEphraim Chambers died 1740.\n\nFlorence Nightingale born 1820.\n\nMichael W. Balfe born 1808.\n\nEdmund Keane died 1833.\n\nDaniel O'Connell died 1847.\n\n Light human nature is too lightly lost\n And ruffled without cause, complaining on,\n Restless with rest, until being overthrown,\n It learneth to lie quiet.\n\n --Elizabeth Barrett Browning.\n\n Was the trial sore?\n Temptation sharp? Thank God a second time!\n Why comes temptation but for a man to meet\n And master and make crouch beneath his foot,\n And so be pedestaled in triumph? Pray\n \"Lead us into no such temptations, Lord!\"\n Yea, but, O thou whose servants are the bold,\n Lead such temptations by the head and hair,\n Reluctant dragons, up to who dares fight\n That so he may do battle and have praise.\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that\n were heard, lest haply we drift away from them.\n\n --Hebrews 2. 1.\n\nAlmighty God, if I am overwhelmed by the tides of temptation and\ndiscouragement, let me not drift away to sea, but anchor and take\nharbor in thee. May I not be afraid to trust in thy protection, but\ncalmly wait and watch for thy deliverance. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY SIXTEENTH\n\nSir William Patty born 1623.\n\nHonore de Balzac born 1799.\n\nWilliam H. Seward born 1801.\n\nFelicia Hemans died 1835.\n\n Favored of Heaven! O Genius! are they thine,\n When round thy brow the wreaths of glory shine;\n While rapture gazes on thy radiant way,\n 'Midst the bright realms of clear mental day?\n No! sacred joys! 'tis yours to dwell enshrined,\n Most fondly cherished, in the purest mind.\n\n --Felicia Hemans.\n\n Genius is intensity.\n\n --Honore Balzac.\n\n But what if I fail of my purpose here?\n It is but to keep the nerves at strain,\n To dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall,\n And, baffled, get up and begin again--\n So the chase takes up one's life, that's all.\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n Be urgent in season, out of season.\n\n --2 Timothy 4. 2.\n\nMy Lord, my life makes me conscious of weakness, and my memory brings\nregret; forgive me for the lost strength I neglected to develop. In\nthy compassion encourage me to be more watchful of my power, that I\nmay usefully increase it, and not willfully deplete it. May I learn\nthe need of constancy in well-doing. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY SEVENTEENTH\n\nHeloise died 1163.\n\nMatthew Parker died 1575.\n\nEdwin Jenner born 1749.\n\n The weakest among us has a gift, however seemingly trivial, which is\n peculiar to him, and which worthily used, will be a gift to his race\n forever.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n Not in entire forgetfulness,\n And not in utter nakedness,\n But trailing clouds of glory do we come\n From God who is our home.\n\n --William Wordsworth.\n\n A weak mind sinks under prosperity as well as under adversity. A\n strong and deep mind has two highest tides--when the moon is at\n full, and when there is no moon.\n\n --Julius Hare.\n\n Thou hast granted me life and lovingkindness; And thy visitation\n hath preserved my spirit.\n\n --Job 10. 12.\n\nAlmighty God, I pray that I may have a true appreciation of the\nquality of life. Reveal to me my responsibilities and help me to make\nthem my opportunities. Keep me in search of thoughts and deeds that\nwill increase the delight of my soul. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY EIGHTEENTH\n\nFrancis Mahony (Father Prout) died 1866.\n\nMrs. Johnson (Stella) born 1735.\n\nJohn Wilson (Christopher North) born 1785.\n\n Longing is God's fresh heavenward will,\n With our poor earthly striving;\n We quench it, that we may be still\n Content with merely living.\n\n But would we learn that heart's full scope\n Which we are hourly wronging,\n Our lives must climb from hope to hope,\n And realize our longing.\n\n --James Russell Lowell.\n\n Pretexts are not wanted when one wishes a thing.\n\n --Goldoni.\n\n Friendship is for all aid and comfort through all the relations of\n life and death--for serene days and graceful gifts and country\n rambles; but also for rough roads, and hard fare, shipwreck,\n poverty, and persecution.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n Strive to enter in by the narrow door.\n\n --Luke 13. 24.\n\nEternal God, I pray that thou wilt graciously restore my spirits if I\nmay have settled into despondency over my disappointments. May I have\nthe will to rise above them, and patiently strive for renewed hope.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY NINETEENTH\n\nJames Boswell died 1795.\n\nJohann Gottlieb Fichte born 1762.\n\nWilliam E. Gladstone died 1898.\n\n Tired! Well, what of that?\n Didst fancy life was spent on beds of ease,\n Fluttering the rose-leaves scattered by the breeze?\n Come! rouse thee, work while it is called to-day!\n Coward, arise--go forth upon the way!\n\n Lonely! And what of that?\n Some one must be lonely; 'tis not given to all\n To feel a heart responsive rise and fall,\n To blend another life into its own;\n Work may be done in loneliness; work on.\n\n Dark! Well, what of that?\n Didst fondly dream the sun would never set?\n Dost fear to lose thy way? Take courage yet,\n Learn thou to walk by faith and not by sight,\n Thy steps will be guided, and guided right.\n\n --Unknown.\n\n And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall\n reap, if we faint not.\n\n --Galatians 6. 9.\n\nMy Father, if thou wert far off I could not reach thee in time, for I\nfalter so much and need thee so often. I pray that thou wilt keep so\nnear that I can feel thy love and strength breathing within me. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY TWENTIETH\n\nElizabeth G. Fry born 1780.\n\nJohn Stuart Mill born 1806.\n\nAlfred Domett born 1811.\n\nRudolf H. Lotze born 1817.\n\nMarquis de Lafayette died 1834.\n\n Nature has written a letter of credit upon some men's faces which is\n honored wherever presented. You cannot help trusting such men; their\n very presence gives confidence. There is a \"promise to pay\" in their\n faces which gives confidence, and you prefer it to another man's\n indorsement. Character is credit.\n\n --William M. Thackeray.\n\nHenry Drummond has told us how in the heart of Africa he came across\nmen and women who remembered the only white man they ever saw\nbefore--David Livingstone; and as you cross his footsteps in the dark\ncontinent men's faces light up as they speak of the kind doctor who\npassed there years ago. They could not understand him; but they felt\nthe love that beat in his heart.\n\n Who is wise and understanding among you? let him show by his good\n life his works in meekness of wisdom.\n\n --James 3. 13.\n\nMy Lord, inspire me with kind words and thoughtful deeds, that I may\nshare the yearnings and sympathy of others. May my life show that I am\ndependable, and may none be left lonely to-day because of my\nforgetfulness. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY TWENTY-FIRST\n\nAlbrecht D\u00fcrer born 1471.\n\nFernando de Soto died 1542.\n\nAlexander Pope born 1688.\n\n Self-love but serves the virtuous mind to wake\n As the small pebble stirs the peaceful lake;\n The center moved, a circle straight succeeds,\n Another still, and still another spreads;\n Friend, parent, neighbor, first it will embrace,\n Its country next, and next, the human race.\n\n --Alexander Pope.\n\n A gentleman is one who understands and shows every mark of deference\n to the claim of self-love in others, and exacts it in return from\n them.\n\n --William Hazlitt.\n\n But he knoweth the way that I take;\n When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.\n My foot hath held fast to his steps;\n His way have I kept, and turned not aside.\n\n --Job 23. 10.\n\nLord God, teach me how secret actions make or destroy my life. Show me\nthe deep lines made by sorrow and discontent that cannot be effaced.\nMay I look toward the corrections of life and not on my imperfections,\nthat my life may be a helpful influence. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY TWENTY-SECOND\n\nNewman Hall born 1816.\n\nWilhelm Richard Wagner born 1813.\n\nMaria Edgeworth died 1849.\n\nVictor Hugo died 1885.\n\n Who cares for the burden, the night, and the rain,\n And the long, steep, lonesome road,\n When at last through the darkness a light shines plain,\n When a voice calls \"Hail,\" and a friend draws rein,\n With an arm for the stubborn load?\n\n For life is the chance of a friend or two\n This side of the journey's goal.\n Though the world be a desert the long night through,\n Yet the gay flowers bloom and the sky shows blue\n When a soul salutes a soul.\n\n --Unknown.\n\n In all misfortune the greatest consolation is a sympathizing friend.\n\n --Cervantes.\n\n They help every one his neighbor; and every one saith to his\n brother, Be of good courage.\n\n --Isaiah 41. 6.\n\nLoving Father, may I lay hold upon the highest standards of friendship\nand so be qualified to be a friend. May those who call and lean on me\nfeel secure in my support. May none ever be ashamed to call me friend.\nGrant that those whom I love may keep faith with me. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY TWENTY-THIRD\n\nThomas Hood born 1798.\n\nMargaret Fuller Ossoli born 1810.\n\nHenrik Ibsen died 1896.\n\nDr. John Campbell died 1861.\n\n Chance cannot touch me! Time cannot hush me!\n Fear, Hope, and longing, at strife;\n Sink as I rise, on, on, upward forever,\n Gathering strength, gaining breath--\n Naught can sever\n Me from the Spirit of Life.\n\n --Margaret Fuller.\n\n But evil is wrought by want of thought, as well as want of heart.\n\n --Thomas Hood.\n\n For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy\n to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward.\n\n --Romans 8. 18.\n\nHeavenly Father, cause the newness of life to continue to flow through\nmy heart, that I may not be fatigued, as I struggle with\ndiscouragements. Release me from hopeless cares that I have made mine,\nthinking they were thine. May I trust in the boundless limit of thy\nmercy, and rejoice in the world of living light. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY TWENTY-FOURTH\n\nJean Paul Marat born 1744.\n\nStephen Girard born 1750.\n\nSir Robert Adair born 1763.\n\nQueen Victoria born 1819.\n\nCaroline Fox born 1819.\n\n I see my way as birds their trackless way.\n I shall arrive! what time, what circuit first,\n I ask not: but unless God send his hail\n Or blinding fireballs, sleet, or stifling snow,\n In some time, his good time, I shall arrive:\n He guides me and the bird.\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n To live in the presence of great truths and eternal laws--that is\n what keeps a man patient when the world ignores him, and calm and\n unspoiled when the world praises him.\n\n --Honore Balzac.\n\n But whoso putteth his trust in Jehovah shall be safe.\n\n --Proverbs 29. 25.\n\nLord Jehovah, all goodness, tenderness, and forbearance that are in my\nlife have come from thee. May I not lose them in self, but by them\nmake possible happiness and endurance for others. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY TWENTY-FIFTH\n\nRalph Waldo Emerson born 1803.\n\nEdward Bulwer-Lytton (George) born 1803.\n\nDr. William Paley died 1805.\n\nWilliam Henry Channing born 1810.\n\n Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?\n Loved the wild rose, and left it on the stalk?\n At rich men's tables eaten bread and pulse?\n Unarmed faced danger with a heart of trust?\n And loved so well a high behavior,\n In man or maid, that thou from speech refrained,\n Nobility more noble to repay?\n O, be my friend and teach me to be thine!\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n What the superior man seeks is in himself;\n What the small man seeks is in others.\n\n --Confucius.\n\n Make no friendship with a man that is given to anger;\n And with a wrathful man thou shalt not go.\n\n --Proverbs 22. 24.\n\nLord God, may I live for the pure and upright, and have the\nblessedness of a rejoicing heart. May I yearn for the secrets of\nnature. Grant that my life may not seek destruction, but tenderly find\nand protect life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY TWENTY-SIXTH\n\nThe Venerable Bede died 735.\n\nCount Nicolas Ludwig Zinzendorf born 1800.\n\nCapel Lofft died 1821.\n\n Let us disengage ourselves from care about the passing things of\n time; let us soar above our worldly possessions. The bee does not\n less need its wings when it has gathered an abundant store, for if\n it sink in the honey, it dies.\n\n --Saint Augustine.\n\n Perhaps if we could penetrate nature's secrets, we should find that\n what we call needs are more essential to the well-being of the world\n than the most precious grain or fruit.\n\n --Nathaniel Hawthorne.\n\n We trust the Lord in faith serene,\n A ladder he hath given;\n The lower rounds in earth are seen,\n The higher reach to heaven.\n\n --Thomas Brevior.\n\n Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment?\n\n --Matthew 6. 25.\n\nAlmighty God, I bless thee for the privilege of a great life. May I\nnot be satisfied to rest with idle hands in youth and make age\nregretful because I have lived a useless life: but with a clear eye\nand an exalted mind may I choose the \"durable satisfactions\" that may\nbe mine. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY TWENTY-SEVENTH\n\nAlighieri Dante born 1265.\n\nJohn Calvin died 1564.\n\nJulia Ward Howe born 1819.\n\nNoah Webster died 1843.\n\nJohn Kendrick Bangs born 1862.\n\n To your judgments give ye not the reins\n With too much eagerness, like him who ere\n The corn be ripe, is fain to count the grains:\n For I have seen the briar through the winter snows\n Look sharp and stiff--yet on a future day\n High on its summit bear the tender rose:\n And ship I've seen, that through the storm hath passed,\n Securely bounding o'er the watery way,\n At entrance of the harbor wrecked at last.\n\n --Dante, translated by Wright.\n\n In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,\n With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me:\n As he died to make men holy, let us die to make them free,\n While God is marching on.\n\n --Julia Ward Howe.\n\n Trust in Jehovah with all thy heart,\n And lean not upon thine own understanding.\n\n --Proverbs 3. 5.\n\nLord God, help me to know my ability, that I may not attempt with\nweakness that which requires strength to undertake; and make me stable\nthat I may not relax vigilance even though victory seems assured.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY TWENTY-EIGHTH\n\nWilliam Pitt born 1759.\n\nThomas Moore born 1779.\n\nLouis Agassiz born 1807.\n\n The bird let loose in eastern skies,\n When hastening fondly home,\n Ne'er stoops to earth her wing, nor flies\n Where idle warblers roam;\n But high she shoots through air and light,\n Above all low delay,\n Where nothing earthly bounds her flight,\n Nor shadow dims her way.\n\n --Thomas Moore.\n\n Remember, the essence of religion is, a heart void of offense toward\n God and man; not subtle speculative opinions, but an active\n principle of faith.\n\n --William Pitt.\n\n And hope putteth not to shame; because the love of God hath been\n shed abroad in our hearts.\n\n --Romans 5. 5.\n\nGod of mercy, reveal to me the hallowed life. May I be reminded that,\nwhile I may save and keep the dust from things that perish, my life,\nthough unkept and undeveloped, tells in itself the value and need of\nthe most watchful care. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY TWENTY-NINTH\n\nPatrick Henry born 1736.\n\nJoseph Fouche born 1763.\n\nJosephine died 1814.\n\nGerald Massey born 1829.\n\n Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of\n chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God. I know not what course\n others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.\n\n --Patrick Henry.\n\n Though hearts brood o'er the past, our eyes\n With smiling features glisten;\n For lo! our day bursts up the skies,\n Lean out your souls and listen!\n The world is following freedom's way,\n And ripening with her sorrow;\n Take heart! Who bears the cross to-day\n Shall wear the crown to-morrow.\n\n --Gerald Massey.\n\n For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love\n and discipline.\n\n --2 Timothy 1. 7.\n\nLord God, may I never feel that I have a right to sell thy joys, nor\nthe privilege of giving away my burdens. Grant that I may not forsake\nmy principles, but may I keep the way clear that memory may find an\nunruffled rest. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY THIRTIETH\n\nDecoration Day.\n\nJoan d'Arc burned at Rouen 1431.\n\nAlexander Pope died 1744.\n\nVoltaire died 1778.\n\nAlfred Austin born 1835.\n\n Here is the nation God has builded by our hands. What shall we do\n with it? Who stands ready to act again and always in the spirit of\n this day of reunion and hope and patriotic fervor? The day of our\n country's life has but broadened into morning. Do not put uniforms\n by. Put the harness of the present on. Lift your eyes to the great\n tracts of life yet to be conquered in the interest of righteous\n peace, of that prosperity which lies in a people's hearts and\n outlasts all wars and errors of men.\n\n --Woodrow Wilson.\n\n Cover them over with beautiful flowers:\n Deck them with garlands these brothers of ours;\n Lying so silent, by night and by day,\n Sleeping the years of their manhood away;\n\n * * * * *\n\n Give them the laurels they lost with their life.\n\n --Will Carleton.\n\n Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for\n his friends.\n\n --John 15. 13.\n\nMy Father, as I pause this day to think of the brave men and women who\nhave given their lives for the sake of others, may I be thankful for\nthem. May I remember that noble deeds and kind words are never lost,\nbut that self may block the way to justice. O Father, make war to\ncease! and lead us to victories that are won through peace. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nMAY THIRTY-FIRST\n\nLudwig Tieck born 1773.\n\nJoseph Haydn died 1809.\n\nWalt Whitman born 1819.\n\n Passage, immediate passage! the blood burns in my veins!\n Away, O soul! hoist instantly the anchor!\n Out the hawser--haul out--shake out every sail!\n Have we not stood here like trees in the ground long enough?\n Have we not groveled here long enough eating and drinking like mere brutes?\n Have we not darkened and dazed ourselves with books long enough?\n Sail forth--steer for the deep waters only,\n Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me,\n For we are bound where mariner has not dared to go,\n And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.\n\n --Walt Whitman.\n\n Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be affrighted at them:\n for Jehovah thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not\n fail thee, nor forsake thee.\n\n --Deuteronomy 31. 6.\n\nMy Father, give me joyful courage to squarely face my life. Help me to\nknow that I cannot vanquish life by evading duties, nor encircling\nmyself with indulgences. If I may be blind to my situation, restore my\nsight that I may make ready a worthy passage with thee. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE\n\n\n There lives a glory in these sweet June days\n Such as I found not in the days gone by,\n A kindlier meaning in the unclouded sky,\n A tenderer whisper in the woodland ways;\n And I have understanding of the lays,\n The birds are singing, forasmuch as I\n Have learned how love avails to satisfy\n A man's whole heart, and fills his lips with praise.\n\n --Percy C. Ainsworth\n\n\n\n\nJUNE FIRST\n\nNicolas Poussin born 1594.\n\nSir Christopher Marlowe died 1593.\n\nSir David Wilkie died 1841.\n\nHugo M\u00fcnsterberg born 1863.\n\n In every act of ours, in every feeling and every volition and every\n thought, we are conscious of a self which expresses its aims and\n meanings. Every idea of ours points beyond itself, every volition\n binds us in decision, and every experience gets meaning by our\n attitudes. The most immediate task which life demands from us in the\n understanding of ourselves and of others is, therefore, to interpret\n our ideas, to draw the consequences of our will, to appreciate the\n attitudes, to measure them by higher standards.\n\n --Hugo M\u00fcnsterberg.\n\n And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.\n\n --Genesis 1. 26.\n\nMy Creator, I pray that I may not only have the desire to know life,\nbut the assurance to live it. Help me to understand that my earthly\npossessions are not the measure of my life, nor my body the boundary\nof my living. May I reach for the high standards that are free,\nwithout limit, to all. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE SECOND\n\nEthelbert baptized 597.\n\nJohn Randolph born 1773.\n\nThomas Hardy born 1840.\n\n In battle or business, whatever the game,\n In law or in love, it is ever the same:\n In the struggle for power, or scramble for pelf,\n Let this be your motto: \"Rely on yourself.\"\n\n --John G. Saxe.\n\n Labor is necessary to excellence. This is an eternal truth, although\n vanity cannot be taught to believe or indolence to heed it.\n\n --John Randolph.\n\n But let each man prove his own work, and then shall he have his\n glorying in regard of himself alone, and not of his neighbor.\n\n --Galatians 6. 4.\n\nAlmighty God, I regret the hours of indiscretion and waste; through\nthy forgiveness may I have thy help over past wrongs. May I have a\ndeeper conception of a profitable life, that I may hereafter live by\nit. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE THIRD\n\nSydney Smith born 1771.\n\nDr. John Gregory born 1724.\n\nRichard Cobden born 1804.\n\nJefferson Davis born 1808.\n\nNorman Macleod born 1812.\n\n Certainly, let the board be spread and let the bed be dressed for\n the traveler; but let not the emphasis of hospitality lie in these\n things. Honor to the house where they are simple to the verge of\n hardship, so that there the intellect is awake and reads the law of\n the universe, the soul worships truth and love, honor and courtesy\n flow into all deeds.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n Kind actions, and good wishes, and pure thoughts\n No mystery is here: Here is no boon\n For high--yet not for low: The smoke ascends\n To heaven as lightly from the cottage hearth\n As from the haughtiest palace.\n\n --William Wordsworth.\n\n Given to hospitality.\n\n --Romans 12. 13.\n\nGracious Father, I beseech thee to give me wisdom for kind thoughts\nand deeds. Teach me true hospitality, that I may be gracious in my own\nhome and appreciative in the home of others. May I not temper my\nhospitality for certain reasons, but have a genuine welcome for all.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE FOURTH\n\nGeorge III born 1738.\n\nLord Edward Fitzgerald died 1798.\n\nGeneral Garnet Wolseley born 1833.\n\n This is the gospel of labor--ring it,\n Ye bells of the kirk--\n The Lord of Love came down from above\n To live with the men who work.\n This is the rose he planted, here\n In the thorn-cursed soil;\n Heaven is blest with perfect rest, but\n The blessing of earth is toil.\n\n --Henry van Dyke\n\n No man is born into the world whose work\n Is not born with him. There is always work\n And tools to work withal, for those who will;\n And blessed are the horny hands of toil.\n\n --James Russell Lowell.\n\n Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt\n rest.\n\n --Exodus 23. 12.\n\nMy Father, I pray for the love of work, and the desire to cultivate\nlife. Stir me, that I may be ambitious. May I not stare at life in an\neveryday way and forget that others are watching for the surprises.\nHelp me to be considerate and kind in all that I do. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE FIFTH\n\nSocrates born B.C. 469.\n\nDr. Adam Smith born 1723.\n\nKarl Maria von Weber died 1826.\n\nO. Henry died 1910.\n\n You think that upon the score of foreknowledge and divining I am\n infinitely inferior to the swans. When they perceive approaching\n death they sing more merrily than before, because of the joy they\n have in going to the God they serve.\n\n --Socrates.\n\n O yet we trust that somehow good\n Will be the final goal of ill,\n To pangs of nature, sins of will,\n Defects of doubt, and taints of blood;\n\n That nothing walks with aimless feet;\n That not one life shall be destroyed,\n Or cast as rubbish to the void,\n When God hath made the pile complete.\n\n --Alfred Tennyson.\n\n How precious is thy lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men\n take refuge under the shadow of thy wings.\n\n --Psalm 36. 7.\n\nEternal God, forbid that I should try to set up thy judgment-seat in\nso small a place as self, and attempt to render decisions for thee. My\nsoul lives anew as I think of thy love, and that there is no place\nwhere thy mercy can be withheld from me. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE SIXTH\n\nDiego R. Velasquez born 1599.\n\nPierre Corneille born 1606.\n\nNathan Hale born 1755.\n\nSir John Stainer born 1840.\n\n These stones that make the meadow brooklet murmur\n Are the keys on which it plays.\n O'er every shelving rock its touch grows firmer,\n Resounding notes to raise.\n\n If every path o'er which footsteps wander,\n Were smooth as ocean strand,\n There were no theme for gratitude and wonder\n At God's delivering hand.\n\n --W. E. Winks.\n\n We also rejoice in our tribulations: knowing that tribulation\n worketh steadfastness; and steadfastness, approvedness; and\n approvedness, hope.\n\n --Romans 5. 3, 4.\n\nMy Father, if rain may come to-day, may I realize its help, with the\npower of the sun, to increase life; and may its influence be sweet and\nwholesome to me, as I learn that sadness is temporary and will\ndisappear with the coming of gladness. May I go search for the joy\nthat may be mine to-day. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE SEVENTH\n\nRobert Bruce died 1329.\n\nGeorge Bryan (Beau Brummel) born 1778.\n\nRev. W.D. Conybeare born 1787.\n\n When the lamp is shattered\n The light in the dust lies dead--\n When the cloud is scattered\n The rainbow's glory is shed.\n When the lute is broken\n Sweet tones are remembered not;\n When the lips have spoken\n Loved accents are soon forgot.\n\n --Percy Bysshe Shelley.\n\n A slip of the rose may take root, and bring forth a bloom to give\n peace to the soul. A slip of the tongue may take root, and bring\n forth a thorn that will torture the soul.\n\n --M.B.S.\n\n Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of\n itself, except it abide in the vine; so neither can ye, except ye\n abide in me.\n\n --John 15. 4.\n\nMany of us, O Father, overlook the fragrance of the rose while we are\nbeing pierced by its thorn. Increase my faith in life and in thee,\nthat I may not be dismayed over mysteries, but sincerely wait for\ndeliverance. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE EIGHTH\n\nMohammed died 632.\n\nThomas Rickman born 1776.\n\nCharles Reade born 1814.\n\nJohn Everett Millais born 1829.\n\n If one touch of nature makes the whole world kin, methinks that\n sweet and wonderful thing sympathy is not less powerful. What golden\n barriers, what ice of centuries, it can melt in a moment!\n\n --Charles Reade.\n\n If I had two loaves of bread, I would sell one to buy white\n hyacinths to feed my soul.\n\n --Mohammed.\n\n What do you live for if it is not to make life less difficult for\n each other?\n\n --George Eliot.\n\n Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to\n visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep\n oneself unspotted from the world.\n\n --James 1. 27.\n\nMy Father, help me to understand that kind hearts and willing hands\nare made possible by the depth and greatness of thy love. May I\npossess the spirit of forgiveness and consideration, that I may not\nhold prejudice and revenge, but help with sympathy and tenderness.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE NINTH\n\nGeorge Stephenson born 1781.\n\nJohn Howard Payne born 1791.\n\nRichard D. Blackmore born 1825.\n\nCharles Dickens died 1870.\n\n Reflect upon your present blessings of which every man has many; not\n upon your past misfortunes, of which all have some.\n\n --Charles Dickens.\n\n 'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,\n Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home!\n A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there,\n Which, sought through the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere.\n Home! home! sweet, sweet home!\n There's no place like home!\n\n --John Howard Payne.\n\n For thou shalt forget thy misery;\n Thou shalt remember it as waters that are passed away.\n\n --Job 11. 16.\n\nLord God, my soul fills with gratitude for the blessings which I have\nreceived and enjoyed. Help me to conform to thy will concerning my\nduties. May I not try to resist thy providence. I pray that thou wilt\nbless my daily life, and make my home a place to dispense kindness and\ncheerfulness. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE TENTH\n\nSir Edwin Arnold born 1832.\n\nHenry M. Stanley born 1840.\n\nEdward Everett Hale died 1809.\n\nRobert Schumann born 1810.\n\n What have you done with your soul, my friend?\n Where is the ray you were wont to send,\n Glancing bright through the outer night,\n Touching with hope what was dark before,\n Glimmering on to the further shore?\n\n --Arthur C. Benson.\n\n God suffers the light to know eclipse,\n Dashes the cup from the eager lips;\n You perchance would have drunk too deep.\n\n --Arthur C. Benson.\n\n Lift where you stand.\n\n --Edward Everett Hale.\n\n A friend is the first person who comes in when the whole world has\n gone out.\n\n --Unknown.\n\n Who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we may be able to\n comfort them that are in any affliction, through the comfort\n wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.\n\n --2 Corinthians 1.4.\n\nAlmighty God, help me to correct my mistakes, and to be more careful\nof what I take in my life. May I always stretch out a hand of love to\ninspire others with confidence to care more for themselves and more\nfor thee. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE ELEVENTH\n\nRoger Bacon died 1292.\n\nGeorge Wither born 1588.\n\nJohn Constable born 1776.\n\n Exceeding gifts from God are not blessings, they are duties. They do\n not always increase a man's happiness; they always increase his\n responsibilities.\n\n --Charles Kingsley.\n\n Make a rule and pray for help to keep it. Once a day spare room for\n a thought that will pursue a strong purpose. Help in some way the\n progress of a weary soul who cannot repay you.\n\n --M. B. S.\n\n There is no true potency, remember, but that of help; nor true\n ambition, but ambition to save.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the\n afflicted soul: then shall thy light rise in darkness, and thine\n obscurity be as the noon day.\n\n --Isaiah 58. 10.\n\nHeavenly Father, when I think of how little I have given away my heart\nburns with shame, as I recall what thou hast given to me. May I from\nthis day be more thoughtful of thy tender compassion by being less\nselfish with what I have. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE TWELFTH\n\nHarriet Martineau born 1802.\n\nCharles Kingsley born 1819.\n\nDr. Thomas Arnold (Arnold of Rugby) died 1842.\n\nSir Oliver Lodge born 1851.\n\n Do to-day's duty, fight to-day's temptation, and do not weaken and\n distract yourself by looking-forward to things which you cannot see,\n and could not understand if you saw them.\n\n --Charles Kingsley.\n\n Genuine religion has its roots deep down in the heart of\n humanity.... The actions of the Deity make no appeal to any special\n sense. We are deaf and blind, therefore, to the imminent grandeur\n around us unless we have insight enough to appreciate the whole and\n to recognize the woven fabric of existence flowing steadily from the\n loom of an infinite progress toward perfection.\n\n --Sir Oliver Lodge.\n\n Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down\n from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither\n shadow that is cast by turning.\n\n --James 1. 17.\n\nGracious Father, forbid that I should make thee regret thy gifts to\nme; and if I have failed to appreciate them, look upon me with pity,\nfor I have cheated myself more than I have thee. Give me a deeper\nappreciation, that I may be strengthened day by day in the veriest\nduties of life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE THIRTEENTH\n\nDr. Thomas Young born 1773.\n\nGeneral Winfield Scott born 1786.\n\nDr. Thomas Arnold (Arnold of Rugby) born 1795.\n\nWilliam Butler Yeats born 1865.\n\n Beyond all wealth, honor, or even health, is the attachment we form\n to noble souls, because to become one with the good, generous, and\n true is to become, in a measure, good, generous, and true ourselves.\n\n --Thomas Arnold.\n\n Open thy bosom, set thy wishes wide, and let in manhood--let in\n happiness; admit the boundless theater of thought from nothing up to\n God ... which makes a man.\n\n --Thomas Young.\n\n Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their\n labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to\n him that is alone when he falleth, and hath not another to lift him\n up.\n\n --Ecclesiastes 4. 9, 10.\n\nHeavenly Father, I thank thee for good friends, and for the delight\nthat dwells in fellowship. Give me the power to apprehend love, and\nguard me against the ways to lose it. May I look to my friends to help\nme to be pure, and to help me live my truest life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE FOURTEENTH\n\nCarlo Guidi born 1650.\n\nHarriet Beecher Stowe born 1812.\n\nMary Carpenter died 1877.\n\n When you get into a tight place, and everything goes against you\n till it seems as if you couldn't hold on a minute longer, never give\n up then, for that's just the time and place that the tide will turn.\n\n --Harriet Beecher Stowe.\n\n I cannot do it alone,\n The waves run fast and high,\n And the fogs close chill around,\n And the light goes out in the sky;\n But I know that we two\n Shall win in the end--\n God and I.\n\n --Unknown.\n\n Let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not.\n\n --Hebrews 10. 23.\n\nAlmighty God, I pray that thou wilt sustain me when I may be enduring\nfor a purpose, and to accomplish it seems beyond my strength. Renew me\nwith courage, and give me unceasing hope, and faith that is able to\nhold out to the end. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE FIFTEENTH\n\nThomas Randolph born 1605.\n\nEdward Grieg born 1843.\n\nThomas Campbell died 1844.\n\n What is rightly done stays with us, to support another right beyond,\n or higher up; whatever is wrongly done vanishes; and by the blank,\n betrays what we would have built above.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n The seed ye sow another reaps,\n The wealth ye find another keeps,\n The robe ye weave another wears,\n The arms ye forge another bears.\n\n --Percy Bysshe Shelley.\n\n Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon\n thee; thou saidst, Fear not.\n O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul;\n thou hast redeemed my life.\n\n --Lamentations 3. 57, 58.\n\nLord God, reveal to me my selfishness if I am receiving much and\ngiving little to satisfy life. May I be grateful and considerate of\nall those who labor to give me comfort and happiness. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE SIXTEENTH\n\nHugh Capet succeeds to throne of father 956.\n\nSir Richard Fanshawe died 1666.\n\nSir John Cheke born 1514.\n\n When to the sessions of sweet, solemn thought\n I summon up remembrance of things past,\n I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought.\n But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,\n All losses are restored and sorrows end.\n\n --William Shakespeare.\n\n Seldom can the heart be lonely\n If it seek a lonelier still--\n Self-forgetting, seeking only\n Emptier cups of love to fill.\n\n --F. R. Havergal.\n\n The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of them that are taught,\n that I may know how to sustain with words him that is weary.\n\n --Isaiah 50. 4.\n\nGracious Father, keep within me that cheer and courage which never has\na place for weary murmurings; and with peace make the hours of\nsolitude profitable as they pass. Help me to seek those who are in\nneed of sympathy and encouragement, that I may help them to have a\ntranquil life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE SEVENTEENTH\n\nJoseph Addison died 1719.\n\nCharles Fran\u00e7ois Gounod born 1818.\n\nSir E. C. Burne-Jones died 1898.\n\n He who plants a tree\n Plants a hope.\n Rootlets up through fibers blindly grope,\n Leaves unfold unto horizons free.\n So man's life must climb\n From the clods of time\n Unto heavens sublime.\n Canst thou prophesy, thou little tree,\n What the glory of the boughs shall be?\n\n --Lucy Larcom.\n\n Very early, I perceived that the object of life is to grow.\n\n --Margaret Fuller.\n\n Many a genius has been slow of growth. Oaks that flourish for a\n thousand years do not spring up into beauty like a reed.\n\n --George Henry Lewes.\n\n And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and\n men.\n\n --Luke 2. 52.\n\nAlmighty God, thy power is so great I cannot express it; help me to\ncomprehend the meaning of it, that I may feel more profoundly thy\nexpectations of my life. May I remember that to forget that life is\neternal may make me to lose all it has grown. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE EIGHTEENTH\n\nRobert Stewart born 1769.\n\nBattle of Waterloo 1815.\n\nWilliam Cobbett died 1835.\n\n Not he the threatening texts who deals\n Is highest 'mong the preachers,\n But he who feels the woes and weals\n Of all God's wandering creatures.\n He doth good work whose heart can find\n The spirit 'neath the letter;\n Who makes his kind of happier mind,\n Leaves wiser men and better.\n\n Dear Bard and Brother! let who may\n Against thy faults be railing,\n (Though far, I pray, from us be they\n That never had a failing!)\n\n --James Russell Lowell.\n\n Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of\n God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will\n recompense, saith the Lord.\n\n --Romans 12. 19.\n\nHeavenly Father, I pray that I may not be so occupied in expressing my\njudgment of others, that I will forget to live in thy judgment myself.\nMay I have the compassion for others that I hope to receive from thee.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE NINETEENTH\n\nMagna Charta signed, Runnymede, 1215.\n\nBlaise Pascal born 1623.\n\nCharles H. Spurgeon born 1834.\n\n Find your niche and fill it. If it is ever so little, if it is only\n a hewer of wood or a drawer of water, do something in the great\n battle for God and truth.\n\n --Charles Spurgeon.\n\n If I do what I may in earnest, I need not mourn if I work no great\n work on earth. To help the growth of a thought that struggles toward\n the light; to brush with gentle hand the stain from the white of one\n snowdrop--such be my ambition.\n\n --George Macdonald.\n\n Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all thy work, and in all that\n thou puttest thy hand unto.\n\n --Deuteronomy 15. 10.\n\nLord God, I pray that I may not through conceit be betrayed into\nslacking my work, or through visions of greatness lose it. Teach me\nhow to obtain the secret wealth in the smallest thing; and may I\nrecognize thy treasures, and fill my life with the finest that may be\ngiven me. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE TWENTIETH\n\nJohn of Lancaster born 1389.\n\nDr. Adam Ferguson born 1723.\n\nAnna Letitia Aiken (Mrs. Barbauld) born 1743.\n\n If the soft hand of winning Pleasure leads\n By living waters, and through flowery meads,\n Where all is smiling, tranquil, and serene,\n Oh! teach me to elude each latent snare,\n And whisper to my sliding heart, \"Beware!\"\n With caution let me hear the Syren's voice,\n And doubtful, with a trembling heart rejoice.\n If friendless in a vale of tears I stray,\n Where briars wound, and thorns perplex my way,\n Still let my steady soul thy goodness see,\n And, with a strong confidence, lay hold on Thee.\n\n --Anna Letitia Barbauld.\n\n For thou, O God, hast proved us:\n Thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.\n\n --Psalm 66. 10.\n\nO Lord, teach me to select my pleasures with care, that I may not\nplunge into joyful moments that are irretrievable. May I indulge in\nthe pleasures that bring happiness and not weariness. Grant that I may\nhave the honor to protect others from harm and loss, as I engage in my\npleasures and in my work. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE TWENTY-FIRST\n\nCaptain John Smith died 1631.\n\nAnthony Collins born 1676.\n\nJacques Offenbach born 1819.\n\n In our eagerness to solve life we start out to trace its mysteries\n and trample God's truths as we search. As we return we discover the\n shattered treasures, and gladly stoop to gather up the fragments,\n and with them translate the revelations of the soul.\n\n --M.B.S.\n\n I stretch my hands out in the empty air;\n I strain my eyes into the heavy night;\n Blackness of darkness!--Father, hear my prayer;\n Grant me to see the light!\n\n --George Arnold.\n\n But when he came to himself he said, How many hired servants of my\n father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish here with\n hunger! I will arise and go to my father.\n\n --Luke 15. 17, 18.\n\nHeavenly Father, I pray that as I search for the truth I will not be\nso eager to seek thy mysteries as I am to extend thy ministries. Grant\nthat by thy love I will be guided in comprehending and exalting thy\nkingdom. May my service bring me wisdom as I obey thy laws. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE TWENTY-SECOND\n\nMatthew Henry died 1714.\n\nKarl Wilhelm von Humboldt born 1767.\n\nH. Rider Haggard born 1856.\n\n The safe and general antidote against sorrow is employment. Sorrow\n is a kind of rust in the soul, which every new idea contributes in\n its passage to scour away.\n\n --Dr. Johnson.\n\n We may be sure that one principle will hold throughout the whole\n pursuit of thoughtful happiness--the principle that the best way to\n secure future happiness is to be as happy as is rightfully possible\n to-day. To secure any desirable capacity for the future, near or\n remote, cultivate it to-day. What would be the use of immortality\n for a person who cannot use well half an hour? asks Emerson.\n\n --Charles W. Eliot.\n\n Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to\n them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not.\n\n --Isaiah 35. 3, 4.\n\nLoving Father, help me that I may realize the depth of thy love. If I\nmay be discouraged over my failures, speak to me hopefully and lead me\nout where I may find the right way to succeed. May I not be kept in\nsorrow, but find each day the happiness that brings a thankful heart.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE TWENTY-THIRD\n\nMark Akenside died 1770.\n\nJohn Fill born 1625.\n\nJosephine born 1763\n\n Could we by a wish\n Have what we will and get the future now,\n Would we wish aught done undone in the past?\n So, let him wait God's instant men call years;\n Meantime hold hard by truth and his great soul,\n Do out the duty! Through such souls alone\n God stooping shows sufficient of his light\n For us i' the dark to rise by. And I rise.\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n Press not thy purpose on thy Lord,\n Urge not thy erring will,\n Nor dictate to the Eternal mind\n Nor doubt thy Maker's skill.\n\n --Lydia H. Sigourney.\n\n Cause me to hear thy loving-kindness in the morning;\n For in thee do I trust:\n Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk;\n For I lift up my soul unto thee.\n\n --Psalm 143. 8.\n\nMy Father, help me to see that in my portion of work thou hast\nentrusted me to help further thy kingdom. Correct me if I am wrong in\ninterpreting thy way. May I concentrate my mind and make my heart and\nhands do the work which thou hast given for me to do. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE TWENTY-FOURTH\n\nJean Baptiste Massillon born 1663.\n\nAlexandre Dumas born 1803.\n\nHenry Ward Beecher born 1813.\n\nGeneral Lord Kitchener born 1850.\n\n All the world cries, \"Where is the man who will save us?\" Don't look\n so far for this man, you have him at hand. This man--it is you, it\n is I, it is each one of us! How to constitute oneself a man? Nothing\n harder if one knows not how to will it; nothing easier if one wills\n it.\n\n --Alexandre Dumas.\n\n Many of our troubles are God dragging us, and they would end if we\n would stand upon our feet and go whither he would have us.\n\n --Henry Ward Beecher.\n\n Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and mine ordinances; which if a\n man do, he shall live in them.\n\n --Leviticus 18. 5.\n\nGracious Lord, I pray that I may have reverence for that which is pure\nand holy, and that my soul may delight in the presence of the good.\nHelp me to so live that I may have the memory of precious deeds, and\nthat I may not have to depend on the service of others to supply\ncontentment for my closing days. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE TWENTY-FIFTH\n\nWilliam Smellie died 1795.\n\nAntoine Jean Gros died 1835.\n\nLucy Webb Hayes died 1889.\n\n In every feast remember there are two guests to be entertained--the\n body and the soul; and what you give the body you presently lose,\n but what you give the soul remains forever.\n\n --Epictetus.\n\n We take pains and weary to faultlessly clothe the body. We\n persevere, and often struggle, to adorn the mind. As we pass through\n the rays of truth, sometimes we find, after all we have put on, we\n have left bare the soul.\n\n --M.B.S.\n\n For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world,\n and forfeit his life?\n\n --Matthew 16. 26.\n\nLord God, help me to understand that thou hast made the principle of\ntruth so that I cannot add to it, nor take from it, lest in altering\nit I might destroy it. May I never try to make my purpose cover the\ntruth, but without fear, face the light where truth shines the\nbrightest. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE TWENTY-SIXTH\n\nArchbishop Robert Leighton died 1684.\n\nDr. Philip Doddridge born 1702.\n\nGeorge Morland born 1763.\n\n Why are we so glad to talk and take our turns to prattle, when so\n rarely we get back to the stronghold of our silence with an\n unwounded conscience?\n\n --Thomas a Kempis.\n\n I have read that those who listened to Lord Chatham felt that there\n was something finer in the man than anything which he said.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n Speech is like the cloth of Arras opened and put abroad, whereby the\n imagery doth appear in figure; whereas in thoughts they lie but as\n in packs.\n\n --Plutarch.\n\n Keep thy tongue from evil,\n And thy lips from speaking guile.\n\n --Psalm 34. 13.\n\nTender Father, make me more watchful of the time that I give to\nuseless thoughts and words, and save me from cutting words, which make\ndeeper impressions than can be cut with sharp tools. Forgive me for\nthe hours that have not been profitable; I would I had them back, for\nmy heart and mind have need of them. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE TWENTY-SEVENTH\n\nPaul Laurence Dunbar born 1872.\n\nLafcadio Hearne born 1850.\n\nHelen Keller born 1880.\n\n Of course, it was not easy at first to fly. The speech wings were\n weak and broken; nothing was left save the impulse to fly, but that\n was something. One can never consent to creep when one has an\n impulse to soar. There are so many difficulties in the way, so many\n discouragements; but I kept on trying, knowing that perseverance and\n patience win in the end.\n\n --Helen Keller.\n\n De da'kest hour, dey allus say,\n Is des' befo' de dawn,\n But it's moughty ha'd a-waitin'\n Were de night goes frownin' on;\n An' it's moughty ha'd a-hopin'\n When de clouds is big and black,\n An' all de t'ings you's waited fu'\n Has failed, er gone to wrack--\n But des' keep on a joggin' ind a little bit o song.\n De moon is allus brightah w'en de night's been long.\n\n --Paul Laurence Dunbar.\n\n Weeping may tarry for the night,\n But joy cometh in the morning.\n\n --Psalm 30. 5.\n\nMy Father, I thank thee for life and its faculties. May I not be\ndeceived by gratification and miss the permanent satisfactions. Make\nme brave that I may be courageous in affliction, and not be dismayed\nover humiliations and disappointments. May I be kept in harmony with\nthy will. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE TWENTY-EIGHTH\n\nHenry VIII born 1491.\n\nJean Jacques Rousseau born 1712.\n\nJohn Wesley born 1703.\n\nFrederick William Faber born 1814.\n\n Workman of God! O lose not heart,\n But learn what God is like;\n And in the darkest battlefield\n Thou shalt know where to strike.\n\n For right is right, since God is God;\n And right the day must win;\n To doubt would be disloyalty,\n To falter would be sin.\n\n --F. W. Faber.\n\n Leisure and I have parted company.\n I look upon the world as my parish.\n The best of all is, God is with us.\n To overdo is to undo.\n\n --John Wesley.\n\n But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.\n\n --James 1. 22.\n\nLord God, I pray for a desire to work. May I not be deceived in my\nconvictions, and work for that of which I may afterward be ashamed.\nLead me into a clear conception of right and wrong. Help me to see as\nthou dost see, that I may walk with confidence in thy steps. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE TWENTY-NINTH\n\nPaul Rubens born 1577.\n\nBaron John De Kalb born 1721.\n\nElizabeth Barrett Browning died 1861.\n\n Do ye hear the children weeping, O my brothers,\n Ere the sorrow comes with years?\n They are leaning their young heads against their mothers,\n And they cannot stop their tears.\n The young lambs are bleating in the meadows;\n The young birds are chirping in the nests;\n The young fawns are playing with the shadows;\n The young flowers are blowing toward the west:\n But the young, young children, O my brothers!\n They are weeping bitterly.\n They are weeping in the playtime of the others,\n In the country of the free.\n\n --Elizabeth B. Browning.\n\n Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast\n borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be\n devoured.\n\n --Ezekiel 16. 20.\n\nFather of all, I pray that I may always love children. May I never\nforget that I wanted things and needed things when I was a child, and\nthat the help and neglect which I received then told in my life. Make\nme interested in the purposes that will help the progress of the child\nto-day, and may I realize that the child does not need my casual\ncharity as much as it needs my permanent justice. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJUNE THIRTIETH\n\nAlexander Brome died 1666.\n\nArchibald Campbell beheaded 1685.\n\nSir Thomas Pope Blount died 1697.\n\n Be useful where thou livest, that they may\n Both want and wish thy pleasing presence still;\n Kindness, good parts, great places are the way\n To compass this. Find out men's wants and will,\n And meet them there. All worldly joys go less\n To the one joy of doing kindnesses.\n\n --George Herbert.\n\n Thrice happy he, who by some shady grove,\n Far from the clamorous world, doth live his own;\n Though solitary, who is not alone,\n But doth converse with that eternal love\n\n --William Drummond.\n\n Seek, and ye shall find.\n\n --Matthew 7. 7.\n\nMy Father, help me to draw from the wisdom of life, that my soul may\ngrow in knowledge and power. May I have the quiet confidence that\ncomes in trusting thee. May I help others to think on the uplifting\nthings of life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY\n\n\n Then came hot July, boiling like to fire,\n That all his garments he had cast away;\n Upon a lion raging yet with ire\n He boldly rode, and made him to obey.\n\n --Edmund Spenser.\n\n A pleasing land of drowsyhead it was,\n Of dreams that wave before the half-shut eye;\n And of gay castles in the clouds that pass,\n For ever flushing round a summer sky.\n\n --James Thomson.\n\n\n\n\nJULY FIRST\n\nComte de Rochambeau born 1725.\n\nGideon Welles born 1802.\n\nGeorge Frederick Watts died 1904.\n\n There is no unbelief!\n Whoever plants a seed beneath a sod,\n And waits to see it push away the clod,\n He trusts in God.\n\n There is no unbelief!\n And day by day, and night, unconsciously,\n The heart lives by that faith the lips deny--\n God knoweth why.\n\n --Bulwer Lytton.\n\n More and more I see that nothing is so necessary for the religious\n condition of the mind as absolute simplicity. We know what we have\n got to do, and the only thing is to ask ourselves whether we are\n doing it as well as we can.\n\n --George Frederick Watts.\n\n Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God.\n\n --Romans 5. 1.\n\nMy Creator, I praise thee for the knowledge of life, and the hope of\nimmortality. Help me to express my belief, and to give my utmost for\nthe divinest, that I may be worthy of life eternal. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY SECOND\n\nArchbishop Cranmer born 1489.\n\nChristopher W. Gluck born 1714.\n\nRichard Henry Stoddard born 1825.\n\nSir Robert Peel died 1850.\n\n One step more, and the race is ended;\n One word more, and the lesson's done;\n One toil more, and a long rest follows\n At set of sun.\n\n Who would fail, for one step withholden?\n Who would fail, for one word unsaid?\n Who would fail, for a pause too early?\n Sound sleep the dead.\n\n --Christina G. Rossetti.\n\n One who never turned his back, but marched breast forward,\n Never doubted clouds would break,\n Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph,\n Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better, Sleep to wake.\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.\n\n --Matthew 10. 22.\n\nMy Father, thou hast proven the strength of thy promises by thy tender\nlove and mercy through the darkest hours. Help me always to cling to\nthe hope that thou hast provided for my soul. May I be trustful, and\nbe thankful to \"see so much as one side of a celestial idea, one side\nof the rainbow, and the sunset sky.\" Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY THIRD\n\nJohn S. Copley born 1737.\n\nHenry Grattan born 1746.\n\nEugene Sue died 1857.\n\n Not from the dangers that beset our path\n From storm or sudden death, or pain or wrath,\n We pray deliverance;\n But from the envious eye, the narrowed mind\n Of those that are the vultures of mankind\n Thy aid advance.\n\n Not at the strong man's righteous rage or hate,\n But at the ambushed malice laid in wait\n Thy strength arise;\n At those who ever seek to spot the fair\n White garments of a neighbor's character\n With mud of lies.\n\n --Theodosia P. Garrison.[1]\n\n Putting away therefore all wickedness, and all guile, and\n hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings.\n\n --1 Peter 2. 1.\n\n\nMy Lord, may I remember that to protect the character of others is to\nadd virtue to my own. Grant that I may see the good and not be looking\nfor the evil. Cause me to know that peace will not abide in deceit or\nrevenge, but may be found in a happy and charitable spirit. Help me to\nearn thy peace. Amen.\n\n[Footnote 1: Special permission by Mitchell Kennerly, New York.]\n\n\n\n\nJULY FOURTH\n\nIndependence Day.\n\nColonel William Byrd died 1704.\n\nNathaniel Hawthorne born 1804.\n\nThomas Jefferson died 1826.\n\n By the rude bridge that arched the flood,\n Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,\n Here once the embattled farmers stood,\n And fired the shot heard round the world.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,\n And this be our motto, \"In God is our trust\";\n And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave\n O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!\n\n --Francis Scott Key.\n\n Seek not to keep your soul perpetually in the unwholesome region of\n remorse. It was needful to pass through that dark valley, but it is\n infinitely dangerous to linger there too long.\n\n --Nathaniel Hawthorne.\n\n And this city shall be to me for a name of joy, for a praise and for\n a glory, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all\n the good that I do unto them.\n\n --Jeremiah 33. 9.\n\nLord of justice and peace, may I not pause at the marked stones of the\nbrave to learn of liberty, but may I look for the opportunities that I\nmay measure up to because of them, and do my part to keep the peace\nand spread the blessings of our land. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY FIFTH\n\nMrs. Sarah Siddons born 1755.\n\nDavid G. Farragut born 1801.\n\nGeorge Sand born 1804.\n\nCecil Rhodes born 1853.\n\n Nature alone can speak to our intelligence an imperishable language,\n never changing, because it remains within the bounds of eternal\n truth and of what is absolutely noble and beautiful.\n\n --George Sand.\n\n Say, dost thou understand the whispered token,\n The promise breathed from every leaf and flower?\n And dost thou hear the word ere it be spoken,\n And apprehend love's presence by its power?\n\n --Unknown.\n\n But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; And the birds of\n the heavens, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it\n shall teach thee; And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.\n Who knoweth not in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought\n this?\n\n --Job 12. 7-9.\n\nLord God, direct me away from self, that I may learn of thy wisdom,\nand help further thy kingdom. Give me patience to search for thy\ntruths, that I may obtain the noblest to use for thy service. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY SIXTH\n\nJohn Huss burned at Constance, Baden, 1369.\n\nBaron Wilhelm Leibnitz born 1646.\n\nJohn Paul Jones born 1747.\n\nJohn Flaxman born 1755.\n\n No man likes to acknowledge that he has made a mistake in the choice\n of his profession, and every man worthy of the name will row long\n against wind and tide before he allows himself to cry out, \"I'm\n baffled!\" and submit to be floated passively back to land.\n\n --Charlotte Bront\u00eb.\n\n There is nothing so small but that we honor God by asking his\n guidance of it, or insult him by taking it into our hands.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n If I take the wings of the morning,\n And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;\n Even there shall thy hand lead me,\n And thy right hand shall hold me.\n\n --Psalm 139. 9, 10.\n\nMy Father, I pray that I may have wise judgment and use discretion in\nthe choice of my work. May I remember that only that is genuine which\nis received and used for thee. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY SEVENTH\n\nAlexis, son of Peter the Great, died in prison 1718.\n\nThomas Blacklock died 1791.\n\nRichard Brinsley Sheridan died 1816.\n\n The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed.\n\n --Richard B. Sheridan.\n\n I felt my hot blood a-tingling flow;\n With thrill of the fight my soul did glow;\n And when, braced and pure,\n I emerged secure\n From the strife that had tried my courage so,\n I said, \"Let heaven send me sun or rain,\n I'll never know flinching fear again.\"\n\n --Thomas Crawford.\n\n For the Lord Jehovah will help me; therefore have I not been\n confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know\n that I shall not be put to shame.\n\n --Isaiah 50. 7.\n\nLord Jehovah, help me to learn how to be strong and brave, that I may\nnot remain in fear and weakness. Help me to conquer unworthiness, and\nto overcome discouragements, that I may be spared the needless battles\nthat are brought on through impatience and selfishness. Keep my soul\nin repose, that I may add to my conquering strength. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY EIGHTH\n\nJean de La Fontaine born 1621.\n\nDr. Samuel D. Gross born 1805.\n\nJoseph Chamberlain born 1836.\n\n Neither gold nor grandeur can render us happy.\n\n --La Fontaine.\n\n Spirit of God! descend upon my heart;\n Wean it from earth; through all its pulses move;\n Stoop to my weakness, mighty as thou art,\n And make me love thee as I ought to love.\n\n I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,\n No sudden rending of the veil of clay:\n No angel visitant, no opening skies--\n But take the dimness of my soul away.\n\n --George Croly.\n\n For a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which\n he possesseth.\n\n --Luke 12. 15.\n\nEternal God, help me to honor my life; and may I realize, whether I\nselect good or bad, much or little, the harvesting is for eternity.\nGrant that I may not make my life accumulate gold and grandeur, and\nladen it with much spending; but may I strive and love what thou dost\nlove, and make my life worthy of my labor. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY NINTH\n\nHenry Hallam born 1777.\n\nEdmund Burke died 1797.\n\nElias Howe born 1819.\n\n Discretion of speech is more than eloquence; and to speak agreeably\n to him with whom we deal is more than to speak in good words or in\n good order.\n\n --Francis Bacon.\n\n When anyone provokes you, be assured it is your opinion which\n provokes you. Try therefore, in the first place, not to be hurried\n away with appearance. For if you once gain time and respite, you\n will more easily command yourself.\n\n --Epictetus.\n\n Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye\n may know how ye ought to answer each one.\n\n --Colossians 4. 6.\n\nMy Father, help me to learn through kindness and tenderness the value\nof self-control. Help me in the moods of jealousy and impatience, that\nI may not cause others unhappiness by words or deeds. Teach me how to\novercome the ways that keep me discontented, that I may have a\nbrighter speech. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY TENTH\n\nJohn Calvin born 1509.\n\nSir William Blackstone born 1723.\n\nFrederick Marryat born 1792.\n\n The quality of mercy is not strained;\n It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven\n Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed;\n It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes.\n 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes\n The throned monarch better than his crown;\n\n * * * * *\n\n It is enthroned in the hearts of kings;\n It is an attribute to God himself.\n\n --William Shakespeare.\n\n His gain is loss; for he that wrongs his friend\n Wrongs himself more, and ever has about\n A silent court and jury, and himself\n The prisoner at the bar, ever condemned.\n\n --Alfred Tennyson.\n\n Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye who are\n spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to\n thyself, lest thou also be tempted.\n\n --Galatians 6. 1.\n\nMy Father, help me to avoid the critical spirit that leans toward\ninjustice. Grant that none may be made despondent waiting for my\nmercy; but through forgiveness may I inspire confidence in those who\nhave made mistakes, and influence them to a better life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY ELEVENTH\n\nRobert de Bruce born 1274.\n\nJean Marmontel born 1723.\n\nJohn Quincy Adams, Massachusetts, sixth President\nUnited States, born 1767.\n\nSusan Warner (E. Wetherell) born 1819.\n\n A friend to chide me when I'm wrong,\n My inmost soul to see:\n And that my friendship prove as strong\n For him as his for me.\n\n --John Quincy Adams.\n\n Our chief want in life is somebody who shall make us do what we can:\n this is the service of a friend.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear\n the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is\n the laughter of the fool.\n\n --Ecclesiastes 7. 5, 6.\n\nMy Father and Friend, who calleth me to check the progress of the\nwrong, make me submissive and eager for what is right, that I may\nlearn and uphold to others thy purposes and desires. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY TWELFTH\n\nCaius Julius C\u00e6sar born B.C. 100.\n\nJosiah Wedgwood born 1730.\n\nAlexander Hamilton killed 1804.\n\nHenry David Thoreau born 1817.\n\nClara Louise Kellogg born 1842.\n\n Each reaching and aspiration is an instinct with which all nature\n consists and cooperates, and therefore it is not in vain. If a man\n believes and expects great things of himself it makes no odds where\n you put him, he will be surrounded by grandeur.\n\n --Henry David Thoreau.\n\n If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be\n lost--that is where they should be: now put foundations under them.\n\n --Henry David Thoreau.\n\n He is like a man building a house, who digged and went deep, and\n laid a foundation upon the rock: and when a flood arose, the stream\n brake against that house, and could not shake it: because it had\n been well builded.\n\n --Luke 6. 48.\n\nLord of strength, I pray that while I may lay a strong foundation for\nmy life, I may remember that I should not delay the building by\nneglecting to complete the plans. May I look to-day and see if I am\nmaking my words stronger than my life. With thy wisdom help me to\nrealize that the test of life is made with the soul. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY THIRTEENTH\n\nRichard Cromwell died 1712.\n\nElijah Fenton died 1730.\n\nJean Paul Marat killed by Charlotte Corday 1793.\n\n Let each day take thought for what concerns it, liquidate its own\n affairs, and respect the day which is to follow, and then it shall\n be ready.\n\n --Amiel.\n\n What does your anxiety do? It does not empty to-morrow, brother, of\n its sorrow; but ah! it empties to-day of its strength. It does not\n make you escape the evil; it makes you unfit to cope with it if it\n comes.\n\n --Ian Maclaren.\n\n Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall\n drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.\n\n --Matthew 6. 25.\n\nMy Father, save me from the habit of borrowing. So often I borrow\ntrouble and cannot use it, when the peace that I possess is all that I\nneed. Help me, that I may not miss the glory of to-day, by\nanticipating the uncertainty of to-morrow; but may I discern my place\nand have delight in every day. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY FOURTEENTH\n\nBastille destroyed 1789.\n\nJane Baillie Welch Carlyle born 1801.\n\nOwen Wister born 1860.\n\n Sail fast, sail fast,\n Ark of my hopes, Ark of my dreams;\n Sweep lordly o'er the drowned Past,\n Fly glittering through the sun's strange beams;\n Sail fast, sail fast.\n Breath of new buds from off some drying lea,\n With news about the Future scent the sea;\n My brain is beating like the heart of Haste.\n I'll loose me a bird upon this Present waste;\n Go, trembling song,\n And stay not long; O, stay not long;\n Thou art only a gray and sober dove,\n But thine eye is faith and thy wing is love.\n\n --Sidney Lanier.\n\n God speed thee, pretty bird; may thy small nest,\n With little ones all in good time be blest.\n I love thee much;\n For well thou managest that life of thine,\n Well I!--O ask not what I do with mine!\n Would I were such!\n\n --Jane Welch Carlyle.\n\n Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they\n reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them.\n Are not ye of much more value than they?\n\n --Matthew 6. 26.\n\nMy Father, may I start this day with more faith in myself and greater\nlove for thy world. May my soul be awakened to the highest and be\nready for the joys of to-day. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY FIFTEENTH\n\nInigo Jones born 1573.\n\nRembrandt born 1607.\n\nHenry Edward Manning born 1808.\n\nWilliam Winter born 1836.\n\n His was the heart that overmuch\n In human goodness puts its trust,\n And his the keen, satiric touch\n That shrivels falsehood into dust.\n\n Fierce for the right, he bore his part\n In strife with many a valiant foe;\n But laughter winged his polished dart,\n And kindness tempered every blow.\n\n --William Winter.\n\n A wise man will so act that whatever he does may rather seem\n voluntary and of his own free will than done by compulsion, however\n much he may be compelled by necessity.\n\n --Machiavelli.\n\n Wherefore I saw that there is nothing better, than that a man should\n rejoice in his works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring\n him back to see what shall be after him?\n\n --Ecclesiastes 3. 22.\n\nLord God, may I not forget that it is in the light, and not the\ndarkness, that my work is revealed. I beseech thee to pour in thy\nlight as I plan my life, and open my heart and mind for the reception\nof thy truth. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY SIXTEENTH\n\nAndrea del Sarto born 1486.\n\nSir Joshua Reynolds born 1723.\n\nMargaret Fuller Ossoli perished at sea 1850.\n\n Reverence the highest, have patience with the lowest. Let this day's\n performance of the meanest duty be thy religion. Are the stars too\n distant? Pick up the pebble that lies at thy feet and from it learn\n all.\n\n --Margaret Fuller.\n\n The situation that has not its Duty, its Ideal, was never yet\n occupied by man. Yet, here is this miserable, despicable Actual,\n wherein thou standest--here or nowhere is thy Ideal! Work it out\n therefrom!\n\n --Thomas Carlyle.\n\n\n And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a\n cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto\n you he shall in no wise lose his reward.\n\n --Matthew 10. 42.\n\nGreat God, may I begin this day bearing in mind that the things which\nI think and do are my life. I pray that thou wilt keep me from making\ngreat efforts for that which is valueless, and thus waste my life. May\nI watch my pride and indolence that they may not cause me to lose the\nbest. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY SEVENTEENTH\n\nDr. Isaac Watts born 1674.\n\nCharlotte Corday guillotined 1793.\n\nPaul Delaroche born 1797.\n\nJ.A. McNeil Whistler died 1903.\n\n So frail is the youth and beauty of men,\n Though they bloom and look gay like the rose;\n But all our fond cares to preserve them is vain,\n Time kills them as fast as he goes.\n\n Then I'll not be proud of my youth nor my beauty,\n Since both of them wither and fade;\n But gain a good name by well doing my duty;\n For this will scent like the rose when I'm dead.\n\n --Isaac Watts.\n\n Onward, onward may we press\n Through the path of duty;\n Virtue is true happiness,\n Excellence true beauty;\n Minds are of supernal birth,\n Let us make a heaven of earth.\n\n --James Montgomery.\n\n All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto\n you, even so do ye also unto them.\n\n --Matthew 7. 12.\n\nMy Lord and my strength, I pray that I may possess that expectancy\nwhich comes in joyous hope and have the endurance that is controlled\nby courage and energy. Grant in the future that I may be less\nconcerned about my living and more anxious for what I make of my life.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY EIGHTEENTH\n\nWilliam Makepeace Thackeray born 1811.\n\nJane Austen died 1817.\n\nJean Antoine Watteau died 1721.\n\n Learn to admire rightly: the great pleasure of life is that. Note\n what great men admired; they admired great things; narrow spirits\n admire basely and worship meanly.\n\n --W.M. Thackeray.\n\n Our thoughts are often more than we are, just as they are often\n better than we are. And God sees us as we are altogether, and not in\n separate feelings or actions, as our fellow men see us. We are\n always doing each other injustice, and thinking better or worse of\n each other than we deserve, because we only hear separate feelings\n or actions. We don't see each other's whole nature.\n\n --George Eliot.\n\n The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; and the desert shall\n rejoice, and blossom as the rose.\n\n --Isaiah 35. 1.\n\nEternal God, may I become more like thee. Give me the desire to\nassociate myself with people and places where the divine spirit is\nsupreme. May my soul breathe in the influence of all that is good and\ntrue; and may I use my life for thy honor and praise. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY NINETEENTH\n\nJohn Martin born 1789.\n\nSamuel Colt born 1814.\n\nCharles Victor Cherbuliez born 1829.\n\n In love, if love be love, if love be ours,\n Faith and unfaith can ne'er be equal powers:\n Unfaith in aught is want of faith in all.\n\n It is the little rift within the lute\n That by and by will make the music mute,\n And ever widening slowly silence all.\n The little rift within the lover's lute,\n Or little pitted speck in garner'd fruit,\n That rotting inward slowly molders all.\n\n It is not worth the keeping: let it go:\n But shall it? Answer, darling, answer no.\n And trust me not at all or all in all.\n\n --Alfred Tennyson.\n\n Take us the foxes, the little foxes,\n That spoil the vineyards;\n For our vineyards are in blossom.\n\n --Song of Solomon 2. 15.\n\nLoving Father, help me to put away the distractions and cares that\nmake me discontented. Grant that I may not set myself in \"gilded\npride\" and keep out the precious things of life. Help me to abandon\ndoubt and suspicion, and keep the faith that is happy to believe and\nwilling to forgive. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY TWENTIETH\n\nPetrarch born 1304.\n\nThomas Lovell Beddoes born 1803.\n\nJohn Sterling born 1806.\n\nJean Ingelow died 1897.\n\n Let thy day be to the night\n A letter of good tidings! Let thy praise\n Go up as birds go up--that when they awake,\n Shake off the dew and soar.\n\n --Jean Ingelow.\n\n I, and the bird,\n And the wind together,\n Sang a supplication\n In the winter weather.\n\n The bird sang for sunshine,\n And the trees for winter fruit,\n And for love in the spring time\n When the thickets shoot.\n\n And I sang for patience\n When the teardrops start;\n Clean hands and clear eyes,\n And a faithful heart.\n\n --Arthur C. Benson.\n\n Unto thee, O Jehovah, do I lift up my soul.\n\n --Psalm 25. 1.\n\nLord God, if I am discouraged this morning, may I pause for thine\nencouragement. Grant that the fear of the night may make no decline in\nmy morn, but that \"into the future I may fuse the past,\" and use what\nis clearest for to-day. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY TWENTY-FIRST\n\nMatthew Pryor born 1664.\n\nWilliam Lord Russell beheaded 1683.\n\nRobert Burns died 1796.\n\n Our heaven must be within ourselves,\n Our home and heaven the work of faith\n And thro' this race of life which shelves\n Downward to death.\n While over all a dome must spread,\n And love shall be that dome above;\n And deep foundations must be laid,\n And these are love.\n\n --Christina Rossetti.\n\n If happiness has not her seat\n And center in the breast,\n We may be wise or rich or great,\n But never can be blest.\n\n --Robert Burns.\n\n Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of\n life.\n\n --Proverbs 4.\n\nMy Father, if I choose to be unhappy and miserable, may I not be to\nmyself and friends as \"a harp with one string.\" Help me to free myself\nfrom thinking and anticipating things that keep me from the pleasure\nthat I might receive and give. May I have more trust in my friends and\nin thee. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY TWENTY-SECOND\n\nSir John Graham killed 1298.\n\nPilgrims started for America 1620.\n\nEarl of Shaftesbury (Anthony Ashley Cooper) born 1621.\n\n How comes it to pass, then, that we appear such cowards in\n reasoning, and are so afraid to stand the test of ridicule?\n\n --Earl of Shaftesbury.\n\n He that of such a height hath built his mind,\n And reared the dwelling of his thoughts so strong,\n As neither fear nor hope can shake the frame\n Of his resolved powers; nor all the wind\n Of vanity or malice pierce to wrong\n His settled peace, or to disturb the same:\n What a fair seat hath he, from whence he may\n The boundless wastes and wilds of man survey?\n\n --Samuel Daniel.\n\n Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee;\n because he trusteth in thee.\n\n --Isaiah 26. 3.\n\nO Lord, it is not that I am ashamed to ask thee for the truth that I\ndo not more diligently seek it, but it is because I fear the sacrifice\nthat may follow in obtaining it. I would that I could understand that\nthy strength is given in the sacrifice. Make me braver as I seek to\nlive in the truth. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY TWENTY-THIRD\n\nRichard Gibson died 1690.\n\nCharlotte Cushman born 1816.\n\nCoventry Patmore born 1823.\n\n I do not ask, O Lord, that life may be\n A pleasant road;\n I do not ask that thou would'st take from me\n Aught of its load.\n\n For one thing only, Lord, dear Lord, I plead:\n Lead me aright--\n Though strength should falter, and though heart should bleed--\n Through peace to light.\n\n --Adelaide A. Procter.\n\n O, why and whither?--God knows all,\n I only know that he is good,\n And that whatever may befall\n Or here or there, must be the best that could.\n\n --John G. Whittier.\n\n Lead me, O Jehovah, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies;\n Make thy way straight before my face.\n\n --Psalm 5. 8.\n\nLoving Father, may I never fail to ask for thy guidance, for thou hast\npromised to lead me to the cool springs while I pass through the\ndesert places. Help me to put myself in thy keeping and say, \"Thy will\nbe done.\" Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY TWENTY-FOURTH\n\nRev. John Newton born 1725.\n\nJohn P. Curran born 1750.\n\nJ.G. Holland born 1819.\n\n As the winged arrow flies\n Speedily the mark to find;\n As the lightning from the skies\n Darts and leaves no trace behind;\n Swiftly thus our fleeting days\n Bear us down life's rapid stream;\n Upward, Lord, our spirits raise;\n All below is but a dream.\n\n --John Newton.\n\n O gentlemen! the time is short;\n To spend that shortness basely were too long,\n If life did ride upon a dial's point,\n Still ending at the arrival of an hour.\n\n --William Shakespeare.\n\n Jehovah, make me to know mine end,\n And the measure of my days, what it is;\n Let me know how frail I am.\n\n --Psalm 39. 4.\n\nLord, forbid that I should overcast my life with intentions, and\nneglect to put in the deeds. May I not be satisfied to spend my days\nin being merely occupied, but live to learn and work. May I not be\ndismayed over what I might have been, but with all my might do what I\ncan now. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY TWENTY-FIFTH\n\nThomas \u00e0 Kempis died 1471.\n\nSimon Bolivar born 1783.\n\nArthur James Balfour born 1848.\n\n Blessed indeed are those ears which listen not after the voice which\n is sounding without, but after the truth teaching within.\n\n --Thomas \u00e0 Kempis.\n\n How joyed my heart in the rich melodies\n That overhead and round me did arise!\n The moving leaves--the water's gentle flow--\n Delicious music hung on every bough.\n Then said I in my heart, \"If that the Lord\n Such lively music on the earth accord;\n If to weak, sinful man such sounds are given,\n O! what must be the melody of heaven!\"\n\n --Izaak Walton.\n\n But thou, O Jehovah, knowest me; thou seest me, and triest my heart\n toward thee.\n\n --Jeremiah 12. 3.\n\nLoving Father, thou hast made it needful for me to know that the songs\nwhich are sung by divine love are rarely heard by cruel hearts. Grant\nthat my soul may chord with the sweetest music that vibrates in the\nbeauty and harmony of life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY TWENTY-SIXTH\n\nCharles Emmanuel died 1630.\n\nJohn Wilmot died 1680.\n\nGeorge Clinton born 1739.\n\n Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune\n or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a\n thunderstorm.\n\n --Robert L. Stevenson.\n\n I have learned, as days have passed me,\n Fretting never lifts the load;\n And worry, much or little,\n Never smooths an irksome road;\n For do you know that somehow, always,\n Doors are opened, ways are made;\n When we work and live in patience\n Under all the cross that's laid.\n\n --Unknown.\n\n But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell securely, And shall be\n quiet without fear of evil.\n\n --Proverbs 1. 33.\n\nMerciful and just God, I pray that I may regulate my life by thy\nstandards and conform my life to thy laws, that thy goodness and mercy\nmay not be wasted on me. Help me to bear in mind, that willingness is\nthe power that starts the hands to work. May I have thy presence while\nI wait in quietness, that I may be helped through the anxious moments.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY TWENTY-SEVENTH\n\nThomas Campbell born 1777.\n\nAlexandre Dumas-fils born 1824.\n\nDr. John Dalton died 1844.\n\n What's hallowed ground? 'Tis what gives birth\n To sacred thoughts in souls of worth!--\n Peace! Independence! Truth! go forth\n Earth's compass round;\n And your high-priesthood shall make earth\n All hallowed ground.\n\n --Thomas Campbell.\n\n Remember the week day to keep it holy.\n\n --Elbert Hubbard.\n\n The meaning of life comes to us mostly in great revealing flashes\n and intense emotions.\n\n --Dean Farrar.\n\n To the pure all things are pure.\n\n --Titus 1. 15.\n\nGracious Father, may I not feel that it is necessary to wait for\ncertain days and ceremonies to prepare to worship thee, while at every\nmoment thy love is pleading for me. May I through the busiest hours\nand the most perplexing moments serve thee in reverence and obedience,\nand ever give praise to thy holy name. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY TWENTY-EIGHTH\n\nJohn Sebastian Bach died 1750.\n\nRobespierre executed 1794.\n\nJean Baptiste Corot born 1796.\n\n O Light that followest all my way,\n I yield my flickering torch to thee;\n My heart restores its borrowed ray,\n That in thy sunshine's blaze its day\n May brighter, fairer be.\n\n --George Matheson.\n\n Follow your Star that lights a desert pathway, yours or mine,\n Forward, till you learn the highest Human Nature is divine.\n Follow Light and do the Right--for man can half control his doom--\n Till you see the deathless Angel seated in the vacant Tomb.\n\n --Alfred Tennyson.\n\n My soul waiteth for the Lord,\n More than watchmen wait for the morning;\n Yea, more than watchmen for the morning.\n\n --Psalm 130. 6.\n\nAlmighty God, help me to kindle my life by the shining light of thy\npower and love, that I may be an ambassador for thee. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY TWENTY-NINTH\n\nAndrew Marvell died 1678.\n\nWilliam Wilberforce died 1833.\n\nDr. Thomas Dick died 1857.\n\n I wrestle not with rage\n While fury's flame doth burn;\n It is vain to stop the stream\n Until the tide doth turn.\n\n But when the flame is out\n And ebbing wrath doth end\n I turn a late enraged foe\n Into a quiet friend.\n\n --Robert Southwell.\n\n If I can lend\n A strong hand to the fallen, or defend\n The right against a single envious strain,\n My life though bare\n Perhaps of much that seemeth dear and fair\n To us on earth, will not have been in vain.\n\n --Unknown.\n\n A friend loveth at all times;\n And a brother is born for adversity.\n\n --Proverbs 17. 17.\n\nGracious Father of us all, if I may have cause to be provoked to-day,\nhelp me to rise above my angry passions, and not from weakness plunge\ninto that for which I may be sorry. Make me self-forgetful, that I may\nbe willing to make peace with those whom I may have displeased. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY THIRTIETH\n\nSamuel Rogers born 1763.\n\nThomas Gray died 1771.\n\nW.T. Adams (Oliver Optic) born 1822.\n\nPrince Bismarck died 1898.\n\n Sit down, sad soul, and count\n The moments flying;\n Come, tell the sweet amount\n That's lost by sighing!\n How many smiles?--a score?\n Then laugh, and count no more;\n For day is dying.\n\n Lie down sad soul, and sleep,\n And no more measure\n The flight of time, nor weep\n The loss of leisure;\n But here by this lone stream,\n Lie down with us, and dream\n Of starry treasure.\n\n Bryan Waller Procter.\n\n The only thing grief has taught me is to know how shallow it is.\n Grief will not carry you one step into real nature; grief can teach\n me nothing.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n Leave off, ye simple ones, and live;\n And walk in the way of understanding.\n\n --Proverbs 9. 6.\n\nGod of love, may I come quickly to thee, when I am in need of\nprotection and sympathy. Guard me against sorrow that is drawn from\nthe imagination. May I not allow grief to drag me into misery, but\nwith strength and courage may I find happiness in thy daily will.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nJULY THIRTY-FIRST\n\nJohn Conybeare died 1775.\n\nJohn Ericsson born 1803.\n\nPaul B. Du Chaillu born 1835.\n\nPhoebe Cary died 1871.\n\n Be wise to-day; 'tis madness to defer;\n Next day the fatal precedent will plead;\n Thus on, till wisdom is pushed out of life.\n Procrastination is the thief of time;\n Year after year it steals, till all are fled,\n And to the mercies of a moment leaves\n The vast concerns of an eternal scene.\n\n --Dr. Edward Young.\n\n O, my friend, rise up and follow\n Where the hand of God shall lead;\n He has brought thee through affliction,\n But to fit thee for his need.\n\n --Mary Howitt.\n\n For he is our God,\n And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.\n To-day, O that ye would hear his voice!\n Harden not your heart.\n\n --Psalm 95. 7, 8.\n\nLord God, I come to thee for help, that I may make more of my life.\nSteady me, that I may know its value without wavering, and the loss it\nsustains from wasted days. I pray that I may live more in thy\ncommandments, and with my work accept the joy of thy love. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST\n\n\n Flame-like, the long midday,\n With not so much of sweet air as hath stirred\n The down upon the spray,\n Where nests the panting bird,\n Dozing away the hot and tedious noon,\n With fitful twitter, sadly out of tune.\n\n Pleasantly comest thou,\n Dew of the evening, to the crisped-up grass;\n And the curled corn-blades bow,\n As the light breezes pass,\n That their parched lips may feel thee, and expand,\n Thou sweet reviver of the fevered land.\n\n So, to the thirsting soul,\n Cometh the dew of the Almighty's love;\n And the scathed heart, made whole,\n Turneth in joy above,\n To where the spirit freely may expand,\n And rove, untrammeled, in that \"better land.\"\n\n --William D. Gallagher.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST FIRST\n\nAndrew Melville born 1545.\n\nRichard Henry Dana, Jr., born 1815.\n\nMaria Mitchell born 1818.\n\n Am I wrong to be always so happy? This world is full of grief;\n Yet there is laughter of sunshine, to see the crisp green on the leaf,\n Daylight is ringing with song-birds, and brooklets are crooning at night;\n And why should I make a shadow when God makes all so bright?\n Earth may be wicked and weary, yet cannot I help being glad!\n There is sunshine without and within me, and how should I mope or be sad?\n God would not flood me with blessings, meaning me only to pine\n Amid all the bounties and beauties he pours upon me and mine;\n Therefore I will be grateful, and therefore will I rejoice;\n My heart is singing within me; sing on, O heart and voice.\n\n --Walter C. Smith.\n\n Rejoice always.\n\n --1 Thessalonians 5. 16.\n\nGracious Father, my soul floods with joy for the blessings of life.\nMay it be my privilege to be happy in them. Help me not to ask thee\nfor anything which will cause loss to another; may I not delight in a\nlonely view, but as I see thy glory bring others to the vision also.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST SECOND\n\nThomas Gainsborough died 1788.\n\nElisha Gray born 1835.\n\nMarion Crawford born 1854.\n\nWilliam Watson born 1859.\n\n The Holy Supper is kept, indeed,\n In whatso we share with another's need;\n Not what we give, but what we share,\n For the gift without the giver is bare;\n Who gives himself with his alms feeds three,\n Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me.\n\n --James Russell Lowell.\n\n And when o'er storm and jar I climb,\n Beyond life's atmosphere,\n I shall behold the lord of time\n And space--of world and year.\n\n O vain, far quest! not thus my heart\n Shall ever find its goal!\n I turn me home--and there thou art,\n My Father, in my soul.\n\n --George Macdonald.\n\n That they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him and\n find him, though he is not far from each one of us; for in him we\n live, and move, and have our being.\n\n --Acts 17. 27, 28.\n\nO Lord, my gracious Father, may I not be so eager for more, that I\nfeel I have nothing to spare. Help me to realize that if I may be on\nthe mountain-top, or at the level of the sea, thy spirit may dwell in\nmy soul. May I rejoice that I can always receive and share thy grace\nand love. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST THIRD\n\nJohn Henley born 1692.\n\nHenry Cuyler Bunner born 1855.\n\nEugene Sue died 1857.\n\n Set out in the very morning of your lives with a frank and manly\n determination to look simply for what is right and true in all\n things.... This is the only way to know God's will and do it. You\n may not find it at once, but you have set your face in the true\n direction to find it.\n\n --Jeremy Taylor.\n\n The important thing in life is to have a great aim, and to possess\n the aptitude and perseverance to attain it.\n\n --Goethe.\n\n Blessed are they that keep his testimonies,\n That seek him with the whole heart.\n\n --Psalm 119. 2.\n\nLord God, forbid that I should lose the opportunities of making my\nlife by waiting for sudden developments. Cause me to notice that the\ntree that bears fruit must first grow the blossom before it may be\nperfected by the sun: whether thou hast made me greater or less, may I\nbe ashamed to live in untruth and wait in idleness. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST FOURTH\n\nPercy Bysshe Shelley born 1792.\n\nEdward Irving born 1792.\n\nWalter H. Pater born 1839.\n\n We look before and after,\n And pine for what is not;\n Our sincerest laughter\n With some pain is fraught;\n Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.\n\n Yet if we could scorn\n Hate and pride and fear,\n If we were things born\n Not to shed a tear,\n I know not how thy joy we ever could come near.\n\n --Percy Bysshe Shelley.\n\n It becomes no man to nurse despair,\n But in the teeth of clenched antagonisms\n To follow up the worthiest till he die.\n\n --Alfred Tennyson.\n\n He suffered no man to do them wrong;\n Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes.\n\n --1 Chronicles 16. 21.\n\nMy Father, I bless thee for thy patience and forbearance. I pray that\nthou wilt forgive me for all the sorrow that I have made from\nrebellion and despair, and with thy forgiveness may I receive patience\nand cheerful courage. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST FIFTH\n\nJohn Eliot born 1604.\n\nJohn, Lord Wrottesley, born 1798.\n\nRichard Lord Howe died 1799.\n\n To live within a cave--it is most good;\n But if God made a day,\n And some one come, and say,\n \"Lo! I have gathered faggots in the wood!\"\n E'en let him stay,\n And light a fire, and fan a temporal mood!\n So sit till morning! when the light is grown\n That he the path can read,\n Then bid the man Godspeed!\n His morning is not thine: yet must thou own\n Those ashes on the stone.\n They have a cheerful warmth.\n\n --Thomas Edward Brown.\n\n It is given to us sometimes, even in our everyday life, to witness\n the saving influence of a noble nature, the divine efficacy of\n rescue that may lie in a self-subduing act of fellowship.\n\n --George Eliot.\n\n And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you,\n Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these\n least, ye did it unto me.\n\n --Matthew 25. 40.\n\nFather of mankind, may I not be a barrier to the discouraged, but help\nthem in the ways of encouragement. May I not allow pride and prejudice\nto keep me from acts of love and deeds of kindness, but may I be\nworthy of thy trust. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST SIXTH\n\nBen Jonson died 1637.\n\nFran\u00e7ois F\u00e9nelon born 1651.\n\nDaniel O'Connell born 1775.\n\nAlfred, Lord Tennyson, born 1809.\n\n O well for him whose will is strong!\n He suffers, but he will not suffer long;\n He suffers, but he cannot suffer wrong;\n For him nor moves the loud world's random mock,\n Not all Calamity's hugest waves confound,\n Who seems a promontory rock,\n That compassed round with turbulent sound,\n In middle ocean meets the surging shock,\n Tempest-buffeted, citadel-crowned.\n\n --Alfred Tennyson.\n\n Grandeur of character lies in force of soul--that is, in the force\n of thought, moral principle, and love; and this may be found in the\n humblest condition of life.\n\n --William Ellery Channing.\n\n So then, brethren, stand fast.\n\n --2 Thessalonians 2. 15.\n\nEternal God, help me that I may not be deceived by my surroundings as\nI seek to have life abundantly. Instruct me that it is by the way of\ncharacter that I must attain the laws of growth, and learn reverence\nfor the spirit of divine life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST SEVENTH\n\nBattle of Thermopylae B.C. 480.\n\nFrederick William (Dean) Farrar born 1831.\n\nAlexander M. Bell died 1905.\n\n Although a friend may remain faithful in misfortune, yet none but\n the very best and loftiest will remain faithful to us after our\n errors and our sins.\n\n --Dean Farrar.\n\n Friendship is like a debt of honor: the moment it is talked of it\n loses its real name, and assumes the more ungrateful form of\n obligation. From hence we find that those who regularly undertake to\n cultivate friendship find ingratitude generally repays their\n endeavors.\n\n --Oliver Goldsmith.\n\n For even in their wickedness shall my prayer continue.\n\n --Psalm 141. 5.\n\nLord God, may I ever continue to be thankful for the times thou hast\nhelped me, when I have asked for thy compassion; may I recall the joy\nin which I received it, when it may be mine to have compassion and\nextend a helping hand to others. I pray that I may place my life where\nit will be stronger than adversity and controlled by sincerity and\nlove. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST EIGHTH\n\nCharles A. Dana born 1819.\n\nLaurence Hutton born 1843.\n\nCecile Chaminade born 1861.\n\n Lo! all the glory gone!\n God's masterpiece undone!\n The last created and the first to fall;\n The noblest, frailest, godliest of all.\n\n Child of the humble sod,\n Wed with the breath of God,\n Descend! for with the lowest thou must lie--\n Arise! thou hast inherited the sky.\n\n --John B. Tabb.\n\n Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations; I cannot\n reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them,\n and try to follow where they lead.\n\n --Louisa M. Alcott.\n\n I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains:\n From whence shall my help come?\n\n --Psalm 121. 1.\n\nHeavenly Father, may I see as I raise my eyes to the mountains that\nwithout the deep shadows there would be no vision of the high-light,\nand still higher may I see that without the sun there would be no\ncolor to encircle the rainbow. And beyond, O Father, may I believe\nthat without the shadow of the cross we could not have the glory of\nthe resurrection. May I keep the vision clear. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST NINTH\n\nIzaak Walton born 1593.\n\nJohn Dryden born 1631.\n\nFrancis Scott Key born 1780.\n\nJoseph Jacques Tissot died 1902.\n\n All habits gather, by unseen degrees,\n Brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.\n\n --John Dryden.\n\n Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,\n In full glory reflected now shines on the stream;\n 'Tis the star-spangled banner; O yet may it wave\n O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!\n\n --Francis Scott Key.\n\n Do not be troubled because you have not great virtues. God made a\n million spears of grass where he made one tree.... Only have enough\n of little virtues and common fidelities, and you need not mourn\n because you are neither a hero nor a saint.\n\n --Henry Ward Beecher.\n\n The reward of humility and the fear of Jehovah\n Is riches, and honor, and life.\n\n --Proverbs 22. 4.\n\nLord God, who keepest truth to generations, and who through love and\nwisdom hath gathered us into nations, forgive me for what I have done\nthat is wrong, and for what I have neglected that was right. May I\ngive greater loyalty to my country and to thee. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST TENTH\n\nFounding of Greenwich Observatory 1675.\n\nSir Charles Napier born 1782.\n\nGeorge Park Fisher born 1827.\n\n No one can ask honestly or hopefully to be delivered from temptation\n unless he has himself honestly and firmly determined to do the best\n he can to keep out of it.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n Men at some time are masters of their fates:\n The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,\n But in ourselves, that we are underlings.\n\n --William Shakespeare.\n\n The greatest punishment one can have is to discover, not how hard,\n but how low he has fallen.\n\n --M.B.S.\n\n O Timothy, guard that which is committed unto thee, turning away\n from the profane babblings and oppositions of the knowledge which is\n falsely so-called.\n\n --1 Timothy 6. 20.\n\nAlmighty God, through thy mercies may I recognize my faults, and\ncorrect any evil that is in me. Make me strong, that I may not yield\nto temptation. May I have regard for thy will and be prepared to take\nthy messages as they are flashed to the soul. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST ELEVENTH\n\nJean Victor Moreau born 1761.\n\nOctave Feuillet born 1821.\n\nSigner Crispi died 1901.\n\n Heaven overreaches you and me,\n And all earth's gardens and her graves.\n Look up with me, until we see\n The day break and the shadows flee.\n What though to-night wrecks you and me\n If so to-morrow saves?\n\n --Christina G. Rossetti.\n\n The essence of joy lies in the doing rather than in the result of\n the doing. There is a lifelong and solid satisfaction in any\n productive labor, manual or mental, which is not pushed beyond the\n limit of strength.\n\n --Charles W. Eliot.\n\n Show me thy ways, O Jehovah;\n Teach me thy paths.\n Guide me in thy truths, and teach me.\n\n --Psalm 25. 4, 5.\n\nMy Father, keep me where my eyes may look expectantly toward the dawn,\nthrough the darkness. Take away everything that comes between me and\nthe brightness of the morning. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST TWELFTH\n\nRobert Southey born 1774.\n\nFrancis Horner born 1778.\n\nEdith Thomas born 1854.\n\nKatherine Lee Bates born 1859.\n\n Our restlessness in this world seems to indicate that we are\n intended for a better. We have all of us a longing after happiness;\n and surely the Creator will gratify all the natural desires he has\n implanted in us.\n\n --Robert Southey.\n\n Whenso my quick, light-sandaled feet\n Bring me where Joys and Pleasures meet,\n I mingle with their throng at will;\n They know me not an alien still,\n Since neither words nor ways unsweet\n Of stored bitterness I spill;\n Youth shuns me not nor gladness fears,\n For I go softly all my years.\n\n --Edith Thomas.\n\n He hath swallowed up death forever; and the Lord Jehovah will wipe\n away tears from off all faces.\n\n --Isaiah 25. 8.\n\nLoving Father, help me to guard my inclinations. May I be able to\nappreciate that though I may be restless from ambition, I also may be\nrestless through discontent. Correct my life, that my desires may meet\nthe true demands of my soul. Strengthen me with the power of calmness,\nthat \"I may go softly all my years,\" even though I walk through the\nbitterness of sorrow. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST THIRTEENTH\n\nJeremy Taylor died 1667.\n\nDr. William Wotton born 1669.\n\nElizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward born 1844.\n\nElizabeth Prentiss died 1878.\n\nSir John Millais died 1896.\n\n Feeling the way--and all the way up hill;\n But on the open summit, calm and still,\n The feet of Christ are planted; and they stand\n In view of all the quiet land.\n\n Feeling the way--and if the way is cold,\n What matter? since upon the fields of gold\n His breath is melting; and the warm winds sing\n While rocking summer days for him.\n\n --Elizabeth S. Phelps.\n\n All the performances of human art, at which we look with praise and\n wonder, are instances of the resistless force of perseverance.\n\n --Samuel Johnson.\n\n But abide thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been\n assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.\n\n ---2 Timothy 3. 14.\n\nMy Lord, I would remember to ask thee this morning for that of which I\nseem to have most need. May I have the will to keep my patience and\nrealize the untold power of my words and actions. Give me thy peace,\nnot only to rest in, but that I may have it to give to others. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST FOURTEENTH\n\nDr. Meric Casaubon born 1599.\n\nDr. Charles Button born 1737.\n\nWalter Besant born 1836.\n\nErnest Thompson Seton born 1860.\n\nFlorence Nightingale died 1910.\n\n I count this thing to be grandly true,\n That a noble deed is a step toward God;\n Lifting the soul from the common clod\n To a purer air and a broader view.\n\n We rise by the things that are under our feet,\n By what we have mastered of good or gain,\n By the pride deposed and the passion slain,\n And the vanquished ills that we hourly meet.\n\n --Richard Watson Gilder.\n\n No Apostle of Liberty much to my heart ever found I;\n License each for himself, this was at bottom their want.\n Liberator of many! first dare to be Servant of many;\n What a business is that, would'st thou know it, go try!\n\n --Goethe.\n\n Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.\n\n --1 Thessalonians 5. 21.\n\nGracious Father, if I may be beginning this day with an unclean\npurpose in my heart, help me to clear it away; if I may be trying to\navoid some urgent duty, make me ashamed to resist it. Keep away the\ndesires that harm my life, and that withhold the enjoyment of my\ncommon work. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST FIFTEENTH\n\nJeremy Taylor baptized 1613.\n\nNapoleon Bonaparte born 1769.\n\nSir Walter Scott born 1771.\n\nThomas de Quincey born 1785.\n\n And do our loves all perish with our frames?\n Do those that took their root and put forth buds,\n And their soft leaves unfolded in the warmth\n Of mutual hearts, grow up and live in beauty,\n Then fade and fall, like fair, unconscious flowers?\n\n O, listen, man!\n A voice within us speaks the startling word,\n \"Man, thou shalt never die!\"\n\n --Richard Henry Dana.\n\n I am drawing near to the close of my career; I am fast shuffling off\n the stage. I have been perhaps the most voluminous author of the\n day; and it is a comfort to me to think I have tried to unsettle no\n man's faith, to corrupt no man's principle, and that I have written\n nothing which on my deathbed I should wish blotted.\n\n --Sir Walter Scott.\n\n But concerning love of the brethren ye have no need that one write\n unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.\n\n --1 Thessalonians 4. 9.\n\nAlmighty God, may I have that faith in eternal life which will make me\ncareful of what I choose for my own and more careful of what I put in\nthe lives of others. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST SIXTEENTH\n\nRalph Thoresby born 1658.\n\nDr. Thomas Fuller died 1661.\n\nDr. Matthew Tindal died 1733.\n\n The secret of goodness and greatness is in choosing whom you will\n approach and live with, in memory or imagination, through the\n crowding obvious people who seem to live with you.\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n Fair Nature's book together read,\n The old wood-paths that knew our tread,\n The maple shadows overhead--\n\n Where'er I look, where'er I stray,\n Thy thought goes with me on my way,\n And hence the prayer I breathe to-day.\n\n --John Greenleaf Whittier.\n\n Shall two walk together, except they have agreed?\n\n --Amos 3. 3.\n\nLord God, I thank thee for the delight of congenial companions and the\nmemory of friendship. May I not be quick to lose my friends through\nmisunderstanding and selfishness. May I be considerate and constant\nand be able to climb to the highest steeps of friendship. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST SEVENTEENTH\n\nDr. William Carey born 1761.\n\nDavid Crockett born 1786.\n\nMary Abigail Dodge (Gail Hamilton) died 1896.\n\n The destiny of nations lies far more in the hands of women--the\n mothers--than in the hands of those who possess power. We must\n cultivate women, who are educators of the human race, else a new\n generation cannot accomplish its task.\n\n --Froebel.\n\n In an old continental town they will show you a prison in a tower,\n and on all the stones of that prison within reach one word is\n carved--it is, \"Resist!\" Years ago a godly woman was for forty years\n immured in that dungeon, and she spent her time in cutting with a\n piece of iron on every stone that one word, for the strengthening of\n her own heart and for the benefit of all who might come after her,\n \"Resist!\" \"Resist!\" \"Resist!\"\n\n --J.G. Mantle.\n\n\n Then Mordecai bade them return answer unto Esther, Think not with\n thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all\n the Jews ... and who knoweth whether thou art not come to the\n kingdom for such a time as this?\n\n --Esther 4. 13, 14.\n\nLord God, give me wisdom to help relieve the ignorant and suffering.\nMay I strive in every way to free thy people, that they may be\nuplifted in the progress of life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST EIGHTEENTH\n\nVirginia Dare, first English child born in America, 1587.\n\nDr. Henry Hammond born 1605.\n\nRobert Williams Buchanan born 1841.\n\nJohn Russell born 1792.\n\n Pour out thy love like the rush of a river,\n Wasting its waters for ever and ever,\n Through the burnt sands that reward not the giver;\n Silent or songful thou nearest the sea.\n\n Scatter thy life as the summer showers pouring.\n What if no bird through the pearl rain is soaring?\n What if no blossom looks upward adoring?\n Look to the life that was lavished for thee.\n\n --Unknown.\n\n Who is the happiest person? He whose nature asks for nothing that\n the world does not wish and use.\n\n --Goethe.\n\n Freely ye received, freely give.\n\n --Matthew 10. 8.\n\nMy Father, I pray that I may have the sympathy that responds with\nconsideration and devotion. May it be a joy for me to give comfort and\nrender service where I may help. Grant that I may not linger too long\nin happiness and miss thy blessings, but remember that to \"travel\nhopefully is a better thing than to arrive.\" Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST NINETEENTH\n\nAugustus C\u00e6sar died A.D. 14.\n\nJames Watt died 1819.\n\nRobert Bloomfield died 1823.\n\nHonore Balzac died 1850.\n\n It is written not, \"Blessed is he that feedeth the poor,\" but\n \"Blessed is he that considereth the poor.\" And you know a little\n thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal\n of money.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n So pity never leaves the gentle breast\n Where love has been received a welcome guest;\n As wandering saints poor huts have sacred made,\n He hallows every heart he once has swayed,\n And, when his presence we no longer share,\n Still leaves compassion as a relic there.\n\n --Thomas Sheridan.\n\n If a brother or sister be naked and in lack of daily food, and one\n of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; and yet\n ye give them not the things needful to the body; what doth it\n profit?\n\n --James 2. 16.\n\nTender Father, help me to consider those who receive the crust of\nbread at my door; for if it be needed it is asked for by sad and\ndesperate lives. Make me conscious of thy mercy and help, that I may\nbe considerate for the one with the outstretched hand. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST TWENTIETH\n\nSaint Bernard died 1153.\n\nRobert Herrick born 1591.\n\nJohn and Cornelius De Witt killed 1672.\n\nFrancis Asbury born 1745.\n\nHenry P. Liddon born 1829.\n\nBenjamin Harrison, Ohio, twenty-third President\nUnited States, born 1833.\n\n The busy world shoves angrily aside\n The man who stands with arms akimbo set\n Until occasion tells him what to do;\n And he who waits to have his task marked out\n Shall die and leave his errand unfulfilled.\n\n --James Russell Lowell.\n\n Awake, arise! the hour is late!\n Angels are knocking at thy door!\n They are in haste and cannot wait,\n And once departed come no more.\n\n --Henry W. Longfellow.\n\n Boast not thyself of to-morrow;\n For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.\n\n --Proverbs 27. 1.\n\nGracious Father, grant that I may not tarry so long, that when I\narrive I will hear, \"Too late, too late, ye cannot enter now\"; but may\nI be so persistent with every day that when I arrive I may be ready as\nwell as on time. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST TWENTY-FIRST\n\nLady Mary Montagu died 1762.\n\nJules Michelet born 1798.\n\nJohn Tyndall born 1820.\n\n Let us never be afraid of innocent joy; God is good and what he does\n is well done; resign yourself to everything, even happiness; ask for\n the spirit of sacrifice, of detachment, of renunciation, and above\n all, for the spirit of joy and gratitude.\n\n --Amiel.\n\n That's the wise thrush;\n He sings each song twice over,\n Lest you should think he never could recapture\n The first fine careless rapture!\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n And these things we write, that our joy may be made full.\n\n --1 John 1. 4.\n\nLord God, help me to keep the things under my feet that are inclined\nto destroy happiness. Show me clearly the line which divides right and\nwrong, that I may not fear the censure of the world. Help me to act\nwith good judgment and be calm in obeying thy laws. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST TWENTY-SECOND\n\nJohn B. Gough born 1817.\n\nWarren Hastings died 1818.\n\nG. W. De Long born 1844.\n\n I never saw a moor,\n I never saw the sea;\n Yet know I how a heather looks\n And what a wave must be.\n\n I never spoke with God,\n Nor visited in heaven;\n Yet certain am I of the spot\n As if the chart were given.\n\n --Emily Dickinson.\n\n I don't want to possess a faith; I want a faith which will possess\n me.\n\n --Charles Kingsley.\n\n Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith Jehovah of\n hosts.\n\n --Zechariah 4. 6.\n\nMy Father, may there be no room in my soul for doubt. Help me to be\ncautious and careful that my own neglect and carelessness may not\ncause the loss of my faith. May I be trustful as I look for the great\nlight that guides me over the uncertain way. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST TWENTY-THIRD\n\nRowland Hill born 1744.\n\nLouis XVI born 1754.\n\nWilliam E. Henley born 1849.\n\n Out of the night that covers me,\n Black as the Pit from pole to pole,\n I thank whatever gods may be\n For my unconquerable soul.\n\n It matters not how strait the gate,\n How charged with punishments the scroll,\n I am master of my fate,\n I am the captain of my soul.\n\n --W. E. Henley.\n\n A man who has borne himself honorably through a whole life makes an\n action honorable which might appear ambiguous in others.\n\n --Goethe.\n\n Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable.\n\n --1 Corinthians 15. 58.\n\nFather of mercy, I beseech thee to protect me in my endeavors as I try\nto live my ideals. May I not choose unnecessary burdens, and when I\nmost need to be strong find that I have lived in that which has\nweakened my life. I ask for a clear mind and a strong heart that I may\nbe \"Captain of my soul.\" Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST TWENTY-FOURTH\n\nWilliam Wilberforce born 1759.\n\nWilliam Thomas Moncrieff born 1794.\n\nTheodore Parker born 1810.\n\n Give me, Lord, eyes to behold the truth;\n A seeing sense that knows the eternal right;\n A heart with pity filled, and gentlest ruth;\n A manly faith that makes all darkness light:\n Give me the power to labor for mankind;\n Make me the mouth of such as cannot speak;\n Eyes let me be to groping men and blind.\n\n --Theodore Parker.\n\n Love's hearts are faithful, but not fond,\n Bound for the just, but not beyond;\n Not glad, as the low-loving herd,\n Of self in other still preferred,\n But they have heartily designed\n The benefit of broad mankind.\n And they serve men austerely,\n After their own genius, clearly,\n Without a false humility.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n Herein I also exercise myself to have a conscience void of offense\n toward God and men always.\n\n --Acts 24. 16.\n\nHeavenly Father, help me to-day to look into my heart and see the\ntruth of my life, and show me thy heart that I may see the truth of\nlife. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST TWENTY-FIFTH\n\nThomas Chatterton died 1770.\n\nSir William Herschel died 1822.\n\nFrancis Bret Harte died 1902.\n\n O teach me in the trying hour,\n When anguish swells the dewy tear,\n To still my sorrows, own thy power,\n Thy goodness love, thy justice fear.\n\n Then why, my soul, dost thou complain?\n Why drooping seek the dark recess?\n Shake off the melancholy chain,\n For God created all to bless.\n\n --Thomas Chatterton.\n\n Each substance of a grief hath twenty shadows\n which show like grief itself, but are not so:\n For sorrow's eye, glazed with blinding tears,\n Divides one thing entire to many shadows.\n\n --William Shakespeare.\n\n Why art thou cast down, O my soul?\n And why art thou disquieted within me?\n Hope thou in God.\n\n --Psalm 42. 5.\n\nLoving Father, forbid that I should be lonesome, and forget thou art\nmy friend: and may I not pass over thy mercies while waiting for thy\ncompassion. Help me to find contentment in the inheritances of the\nearth, where I may always draw from thee. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST TWENTY-SIXTH\n\nSir Robert Walpole born 1676.\n\nAdam Clarke died 1832.\n\nHenry Fawcett born 1833.\n\n Lord, for to-morrow and its needs\n I do not pray;\n Keep me, my God, from stain of sin\n Just for to-day.\n Help me to labor earnestly,\n And duly pray;\n Let me be kind in word and deed,\n Father, to-day.\n\n Let me no wrong or idle word\n Unthinking say;\n Set thou a seal upon my lips\n Through all to-day.\n Let me in season, Lord, be grave,\n In season gay;\n Let me be faithful to thy grace,\n Dear Lord, to-day.\n\n --Ernest Wilberforce.\n\n And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure\n of his life?\n\n --Matthew 6. 27.\n\nMy Lord, I pray that thou wilt control my life, and bless the going\nout of my work, be it ever so great or small. Help me to realize the\nnecessity of earnestness, that I may \"work while it is to-day,\" and I\nhave the light, and not wait for the night, when it is too dark for\nwork to be done. May I be faithful in my work until it is completed.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST TWENTY-SEVENTH\n\nWilliam Woollett born 1735.\n\nJames Thomson died 1748.\n\nGeorge W. F. Hegel born 1770.\n\n Who are thy playmates, boy?\n \"My favorite is joy,\n Who brings with him his sister Peace, to stay\n The livelong day.\n I love them both; but he\n Is most to me!\"\n\n And where are thy playmates now,\n O man of sober brow?\n \"Alas! dear joy, the merriest is dead,\n But I have wed\n Peace; and our babe, a boy\n Newborn, is joy.\"\n\n --John B. Tabb.\n\n Depart from evil, and do good;\n Seek peace, and pursue it.\n\n --Psalm 34. 14.\n\nLord God, may I realize more my dependence on thee for the joys of\nlife. I pray that as I accept thy gifts I will not neglect to take the\npeace and happiness which thou dost give with them. Grant that I may\nhave the bright hope and cheerful courage that is the experience of\npower and truth. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST TWENTY-EIGHTH\n\nJohann W. von Goethe born 1749.\n\nOrmsby MacKnight Mitchel born 1809.\n\nJones Very born 1813.\n\nCount Lyoff (Leo) Tolstoy born 1828.\n\nSir Edward Burne-Jones born 1833.\n\nLeigh Hunt died 1859.\n\n All truly wise thoughts have been already thought a thousand times;\n but to make them truly ours we must think them over again honestly,\n till they take firm root in our personal experience.\n\n --Goethe.\n\n The light that fills thy house at morn\n Thou canst not for thyself retain;\n But all who with thee here are born\n It bids to share an equal gain.\n\n The wave, the blue encircling wave,\n No chain can bind, no fetter hold;\n Its thunders tell of Him who gave\n What none can ever buy for gold.\n\n --Jones Very.\n\n And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them\n\n --John 17. 22.\n\nFather of love, I thank thee for thy daily love and for thy daily\nbread. May I feel that thy gifts are for all, and not mine to keep and\nstore from those who are in need. Help me as I say, \"Thy will be done\nto me,\" to so will it to others. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST TWENTY-NINTH\n\nJohn Locke born 1632.\n\nJohn Fawcett born 1768.\n\nFrederick D. Maurice born 1805.\n\nOliver Wendell Holmes born 1809.\n\nMaurice Maeterlinck born 1862.\n\n Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,\n As the swift seasons roll!\n Leave thy low-vaulted past!\n Let each new temple, nobler than the last,\n Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,\n Till thou at length art free,\n Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!\n\n --Oliver Wendell Holmes.\n\n We all live in the sublime. Where else can we live? That is the only\n place of life. Though you have but a little room, do you fancy that\n God is not there, too, and it is impossible to live therein a life\n that shall be somewhat lofty? Do you imagine that you can possibly\n be alone, that love can be a thing one knows, a thing one sees; that\n events can be weighed like the gold and silver of ransom?\n\n --Maurice Maeterlinck.\n\n My soul waiteth in silence for God only:\n From him cometh my salvation.\n\n --Psalm 62. 1.\n\nLoving Father, help me to live, that my spirit may always dwell in thy\nprotecting love. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST THIRTIETH\n\nCleopatra died B. C. 30.\n\nWilliam Paley born 1743.\n\nJulian A. Weir born 1852.\n\n Thyself and thy belongings\n Are not thine own so proper as to waste\n Thyself upon thy virtues, they on thee.\n Heaven doth with us as we with torches do,\n Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues\n Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike\n As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touched\n But to fine issues, nor Nature never lends\n The smallest scruple of her excellence,\n But, like a thrifty goddess, she determines\n Herself the glory of a creditor,\n Both thanks and use.\n\n --William Shakespeare.\n\n Brethren, be ye imitators together of me, and mark them that so walk\n even as ye have us for an ensample.\n\n --Philippians 3. 17.\n\nMy Father, I pray that I may not let my life become commonplace\nthrough habit. May I not be content to rest in my virtues and let the\ndays pass neglected. Awaken my dull satisfactions to a desire to live\nfor the greatest, that I may have the greatest to live for. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nAUGUST THIRTY-FIRST\n\nJohn Bunyan died 1686.\n\nCharles James Lever born 1806.\n\nTheophile Gautier born 1811.\n\nQueen Wilhelmina of Holland born 1880.\n\n Let us be patient, and endure a while; the time may come that God\n may give us a happy release; but let us not be our own murderers.\n\n --John Bunyan.\n\n He that is down need fear no fall;\n He that is low no pride;\n He that is humble ever shall\n Have God to be his guide.\n\n --John Bunyan.\n\n Time delivers fools from grief and reason wise men.\n\n --Epictetus.\n\n For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us\n more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory.\n\n --2 Corinthians 4. 17.\n\nMy Lord, if I may be walking through fields that are rough with grief\nand care, may I have the courage to continue on to the smooth\npastures, where I may walk with comfort and peace. May I not let the\nweariness and sorrow that may come to my heart to-day dwarf my hope\nand enjoyment of the future. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER\n\n\n Go forth at eventide,\n The eventide of summer, when the trees\n Yield their frail honors to the passing breeze,\n And woodland paths with autumn tints are dyed;\n When the mild sun his paling luster shrouds\n In gorgeous draperies of golden clouds,\n Then wander forth, mid beauty and decay,\n To meditate alone--alone to watch and pray.\n\n --Emma C. Embury.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER FIRST\n\nEdward Alleyn born 1566.\n\nLydia Sigourney born 1791.\n\nJames Gordon Bennett, Sr., born 1795.\n\nWilliam Stanley Jevons born 1835.\n\n O ye, who proudly boast,\n In your veins, the blood of sires like these,\n Look to their lineaments. Dread lest ye lose\n Their likeness in your sons. Should mammon cling\n Too close around your heart, or wealth beget\n That bloated luxury which eats the core\n From manly virtue, or the tempting world\n Make faint the Christian purpose in your soul,\n Turn ye to Plymouth Rock, and where they knelt\n Kneel, and renew the vow they breathed to God.\n\n --Lydia Sigourney.\n\n Educate children without religion, and you make a race of clever\n devils.\n\n --Duke of Wellington.\n\n Remember his covenant for ever,\n The word which he commanded to a thousand generations.\n\n --1 Chronicles 16. 15.\n\nO Lord of wisdom, kindle me with a love for true knowledge, that I may\nstrive, in the moments I have now, to culture my life. Not by might,\nnot by power, but by thy spirit, O Lord, may I learn and teach thy\nchildren. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER SECOND\n\nJohn Howard born 1726.\n\nHenry George born 1839.\n\nGeorge R. Sims born 1842.\n\nEugene Field born 1850.\n\nNewell Dwight Hillis born 1858.\n\n And thus we sat in darkness,\n Each one busy in his prayer;\n \"We are lost!\" the captain shouted,\n As he staggered down the stair.\n But the little daughter whispered,\n As she took his icy hand,\n \"Isn't God upon the ocean,\n Just the same as on the land?\"\n\n --Eugene Field.\n\n Happiness is through helpfulness. Every morning let us build a booth\n to shelter some one from life's fierce heat. Every noon let us dig\n some life-spring for thirsty lips.\n\n --Newell Dwight Hillis.\n\n Jehovah is nigh unto all them that call upon him,\n To all that call upon, him in truth.\n\n --Psalm 145. 18.\n\nHeavenly Father, may I live that my spirit may never feel lost from\nthee; and when I am in great need of thee, even unto death, may I know\nthat thou art very near. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER THIRD\n\nOliver Cromwell died 1658.\n\nGeorge Lillo died 1739.\n\nBishop James Harrington born 1847.\n\nSarah Orne Jewett born 1849.\n\n Love thyself last: cherish those hearts that hate thee:\n Corruption wins not more than honesty.\n Still in thy right hand carry peace,\n To silence envious tongues. Be just and fear not:\n Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's,\n Thy God's and truth's; then if thou fallest, O Cromwell,\n Thou fallest a blessed martyr.\n\n --William Shakespeare.\n\n Surely, the only true knowledge of our fellow man is that which\n enables us to feel with him, which gives us a fine ear for the\n heart-pulses that are beating under the mere clothes of circumstance\n and opinion.\n\n --George Eliot.\n\n With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one\n another in love.\n\n --Ephesians 4. 2.\n\n Lord, give thy people consistency of judgment, one heart, and mutual\n love; and go on to deliver them, and with the work of the\n reformation; and make the name of Christ glorious in the world.\n Teach those who look too much on thy instruments to depend more upon\n thyself. Pardon the folly of this short prayer: Even for Christ's\n sake. And give us a good night, if it be thy pleasure. Amen.\n\n --Prayer by Oliver Cromwell, just before death.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER FOURTH\n\nPindar, poet, born B. C. 522.\n\nWilliam E. Dodge born 1805.\n\nPhoebe Cary born 1824.\n\nSir Wilfred Lawson born 1829.\n\n I ask not wealth, but power to take\n And use the things I have, aright;\n Not years, but wisdom that shall make\n My life a profit and delight.\n\n --Phcebe Gary.\n\n Another day may bring another mind,\n A mind to learn when there is none to teach;\n To follow when no leader we can find;\n To enjoy when good is now beyond our reach.\n\n A better mind, but not a better time,\n A mind to will, but not a time to do\n What had been done, if we in life's bright prime,\n When God was ready, had been ready too.\n\n --Thomas T. Lynch.\n\n Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that\n needeth not to be ashamed.\n\n --2 Timothy 2. 15.\n\nMy Father, help me to have lofty thoughts, and may I not be content\nuntil they are carried into purpose. Help me to conquer that which\nwill keep me from an act of happiness, and grant that by thinking of\nthat which is pure, and doing that which is good, I may be made\nhelpful and true. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER FIFTH\n\nCatherine Parr died 1548.\n\nCardinal Richelieu born 1585.\n\nRobert Fergusson born 1750.\n\nGiacomo Meyerbeer born 1791.\n\nRichard C. Trench born 1807.\n\n Be patient! O, be patient! Put your ear against the earth;\n Listen there how noiselessly the germ o' the seed has birth--\n How noiselessly and gently it upheaves its little way,\n Till it parts the scarcely broken ground, and the blade stands up in day.\n\n Be patient! O, be patient!--though yet our hopes are green,\n The harvest fields of freedom shall be crowned with sunny sheen.\n Be ripening! be ripening--mature your silent way,\n Till the whole broad land is tongued with fire on freedom's harvest day.\n\n --Richard C. Trench.\n\n And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and\n entire, lacking in nothing.\n\n --James 1. 4.\n\nGracious Father, help me to see the truth as thou hast made it, and\nmay I not be indifferent to the beauty and patience of the earth's\nrevelations. May I not mistake indolence for patient ambition, which I\nwould have for anxious hours, and which I need for my heart's desires.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER SIXTH\n\nMoses Mendelssohn born 1729.\n\nMarquis de Lafayette born 1757.\n\nJane Addams born 1860.\n\n God will not seek thy race,\n Nor will he ask thy birth;\n Alone he will demand of thee,\n What hast thou done on earth?\n\n --Persian.\n\n One dreams of the time when the interest and capacity of each person\n shall be studied with reference to the industry about to be\n undertaken.\n\n --Jane Addams.\n\n Honor is purchased by deeds we do, honor is not won, until some\n honorable deed is done.\n\n --Sir Christopher Marlowe.\n\n In diligence not slothful; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.\n\n --Romans 12. 11.\n\nGracious Father, wilt thou bring to my mind and heart the important\nthings which are needed in preparing life. Help me to use the strength\nthat is given to me for to-day, that I may not have to give to-morrow\nto learning what I should have known. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER SEVENTH\n\nQueen Elizabeth born 1533.\n\nComte de Buffon born 1707.\n\nVictorien Sardou born 1831.\n\nHannah More died 1833.\n\nJohn G. Whittier died 1892.\n\n Side by side\n In the low sunshine by the turban stone\n They knelt; each made his brother's woe his own,\n Forgetting, in the agony and stress\n Of pitying love, his claim of selfishness;\n Peace, for his friend besought, his own became;\n His prayers were answered in another's name;\n And when at last they rose up to embrace,\n Each saw God's pardon in his brother's face.\n\n --John G. Whittier.\n\n My care is like my shadow in the sun,\n Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it;\n Stands and lies by me, does what I have done,\n This too familiar care does make me rue it.\n No means I find to rid him from my breast,\n Till by the end of things it be suppressed.\n\n --Queen Elizabeth.\n\n Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.\n\n --Galatians 6. 2.\n\nLord God, help me to look for those who are in need of help. Forgive\nme for my failures, and may I gather up my broken promises and try to\nredeem them. I ask for thy forgiveness, as I ask that thou wilt help\nme to forgive them who may have trespassed against me. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER EIGHTH\n\nRichard Coeur de Lion born 1157.\n\nA.W. Schlegel born 1767.\n\nAntonin Dvorak born 1841.\n\n All service ranks the same with God,--\n With God, whose puppets, best and worst,\n Are we: there is no last nor first.\n\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n Thou needest not man's little life of years,\n Save that he gather wisdom from them all;\n That in thy fear he lose all other fears,\n And in thy calling heed no other call.\n Then shall he be thy child to know thy care,\n And in thy Self the eternal Sabbath share.\n\n\n --Jones Very.\n\n He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his soul;\n But he that is careless of his ways shall die.\n --Proverbs 191. 6.\n\nMy Lord, forbid that I should want to live to be known only for power\nand pride. Help me to strive for that which is helpful and lovely. May\nI never be restrained from thee, but delight to follow in thy way.\nHelp me to be obedient to thy laws, that I may learn thy truths. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER NINTH\n\nBattle of Flodden.\n\nJames the Fourth of Scotland killed 1513.\n\nLuigi Galvani born 1737.\n\n Then welcome each rebuff\n That turns earth's smoothness rough,\n Each sting that bids nor sit, nor stand but go!\n Be our joys three-parts pain!\n Strive and hold cheap the strain;\n Learn, nor account the pang; dare, never grudge the throe.\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n Life without industry is guilt; and industry without art is\n brutality.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been\n approved, he shall receive the crown of life.\n\n --James 1. 12.\n\nAlmighty God, help me as I start this day to remember how easy it is\nto drive the peace from it. May I do my best to keep it, and defy any\nindolence or disposition, that may make me spoil it. May I lay me down\nat night in peace and sleep because of the contentment that has filled\nthe hours. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER TENTH\n\nWilliam the Conqueror died 1087.\n\nDr. Thomas Sheridan died 1788.\n\nMungo Park born 1771.\n\nMrs. Godwin (Mary Wollstonecraft) died 1797.\n\n Let the wind blow east, west, north, or south, the immortal soul\n will take its flight to the destined point.\n\n --Thomas Sheridan.\n\n He is void of true taste who strives to have his house admired by\n decorating it with showish outside; but to adorn our character by\n gentleness of a communicative temper is a proof of good taste and\n good nature\n\n --Epictetus.\n\n Let fortune empty her whole quiver on me.\n I have a soul that, like an empty shield,\n Can take it all, and verge enough for more.\n\n --Thomas Dryden.\n\n The Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will save me unto\n his heavenly kingdom.\n\n --2 Timothy 4. 18.\n\nAlmighty God, I bless thee that it is thou who brought me to live on\nearth; and I rejoice that it is thou who wilt judge my life when thou\ntakest me away. May I be saving thy rich gifts that I may not be found\npoor; and may I be worthy to receive thine inheritance and hear thee\nsay, \"Well done.\" Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER ELEVENTH\n\nBattle of Marathon B. C. 490.\n\nWilliam Lowth born 1661.\n\nJames Thomson born 1700.\n\n But what is virtue but repose of mind,\n A pure ethereal calm, that knows no storm;\n Above the reach of wild ambitious wind,\n Above the passions that this world deform.\n\n --James Thomson.\n\n And if I pray, the only prayer\n That moves my lips for me\n Is, \"Leave the heart that now I bear,\n And give me liberty!\"\n\n Yes, as my swift days near their goal,\n 'Tis all that I implore;\n In life and death, a chainless soul\n With courage to endure.\n\n --Emily Bront\u00eb.\n\n Cast not away therefore your boldness, which hath great recompense\n of reward.\n\n --Hebrews 10. 35.\n\nTender Father, may I pause this morning to look at that which I keep\nuppermost in my life; and if it may not be worthy of thy esteem, may I\nbe bold enough to revise my ideals. With thy compassion may I free my\nheart and mind of all unworthiness, and be given endurance to restore\nthe empty places. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER TWELFTH\n\nJean-Philippe Rameau born 1693.\n\nGriffith Jones died 1786.\n\nCharles Dudley Warner born 1829.\n\n Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires, but\n according to our powers.\n\n --Amiel.\n\n How good is man's life, the mere living! how fit to employ\n All the heart and the soul and the senses for ever in joy!\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n Do something! No man is born with a mortgage on his soul; but every\n man is born a debtor to Time. Meet this obligation before you find\n too late that your life is impoverished and you cannot redeem it.\n\n --M.B.S.\n\n Let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that\n he may have whereof to give to him that hath need.\n\n --Ephesians 4. 28.\n\nMy Father, what I have left out of my life I know I cannot recover\nnow. I pray that I may give the best to what is left. Make me\ndeliberate, that I may prove my earnestness. Make me industrious, that\nI may use my best resources to develop my life and further thy\nkingdom. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER THIRTEENTH\n\nWilliam Cecil born 1520.\n\nMichael de Montaigne died 1592.\n\nGeneral Wolfe died 1759.\n\nCharles James Fox died 1806.\n\n And thou, O river of to-morrow, flowing\n Between thy narrow adamantine walls,\n But beautiful, and white with waterfalls\n And wreaths of mist, like hands the pathway showing;\n I hear the trumpets of the morning blowing.\n\n It is the mystery of the unknown\n That fascinates us; we are children still,\n Wayward and wistful; with one hand we cling\n To the familiar things we call our own,\n And with the other, resolute of will,\n Grope in the dark for what the day will bring.\n\n --Henry W. Longfellow.\n\n Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth.\n\n --Job 5. 17.\n\nAlmighty God, I pray that thou wilt help me to correct my life to-day\nthat I may know a better way to-morrow; and may I be mindful and try\nto do right. Grant that I may be patient and kind if I may be sick or\nin need, and always keep uppermost the faith of deliverance and\neternal care. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER FOURTEENTH\n\nAlighieri Dante died 1321.\n\nAlexander Baron von Humboldt born 1769.\n\nJulia Magruder born 1854.\n\nCharles Dana Gibson born 1867.\n\n Since it is Providence that determines the fates of men, their inner\n nature is thus brought into unison. There is such harmony, as in all\n things of nature, that one might explain the whole without referring\n to a higher Providence. But this only proves the more clearly and\n certainly this higher Providence, which has given existence to this\n harmony.\n\n --Wilhelm von Humboldt.\n\n The good mariner, when he draws near the port, furls his sails and\n enters it softly; so ought we to lower the sails of our worldly\n operations, and turn to God with all heart and understanding.\n\n --Dante.\n\n Thy righteousness is like the mountains of God;\n Thy judgments are a great deep:\n O Jehovah, thou preservest man and beast.\n\n --Psalm 36. 6.\n\nMy Father in heaven, may I hear thy voice to-day! May I be quiet as I\nlisten to thee. Above the clamor of the crowd may I hear thee calling\nme. May I hear thee in my joys and in my sorrows; in my work and in my\nleisure. May I listen to thee oftener, that I may be familiar with thy\nways. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER FIFTEENTH\n\nJames Fenimore Cooper born 1789.\n\nLouis Joseph Martel born 1813.\n\nPorfirio Diaz born 1830.\n\nWilliam Howard Taft, Ohio, twenty-sixth President United States, born 1857.\n\n Friendship is one of the cheapest and most accessible of pleasures;\n it requires no outlay and no very serious expenditure of time or\n trouble. It is quite easy to make friends, if one wants to... There\n is surely no greater pleasure in the world than to feel one is\n needed, welcomed, missed, and loved.\n\n --Arthur C. Benson.\n\n \"Friendship is love without his wings.\"\n\n --William H. Taft (from Byron).\n\n Without sympathy, in the highest sense of intellectual penetration,\n kindness may be a folly, and intended aid, oppression.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n He that maketh many friends doeth it to his own destruction; but\n there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.\n\n --Proverbs 18. 24.\n\nMy Father, may I know the delight of true friendship which is\nresponsive and sincere. May I never feel so secure in myself that I\nwill cease to want friends, or be so dependent on others that I will\nbe continually seeking them. May I understand the value of having a\nstanch friend and of being one. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER SIXTEENTH\n\nGabriel D. Fahrenheit died 1736.\n\nW. Augustus Muhlenberg born 1796.\n\nFrancis Parkman born 1823.\n\n Yes, to this thought I hold with firm persistence--\n The last result of wisdom stamps it true:\n He only earns his freedom and existence\n Who daily conquers them anew.\n\n --Goethe.\n\n For thee hath been dawning\n Another blue day;\n Look how thou let it\n Slip empty away.\n\n --Goethe.\n\n Happy the man, and happy he alone,\n Who can call to-day his own:\n He who, secure within, can say,\n \"To-morrow, do thy worst, for I have lived to-day.\"\n\n --John Dryden.\n\n Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is\n risen upon thee.\n\n --Isaiah 60. 1.\n\nGracious Father, help me to be alert this morning and select the\nnoblest that is in to-day. May I be diligent and not find in the\nevening that I have been unworthy of the day. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER SEVENTEENTH\n\nSamuel Prout born 1783.\n\nDr. John Kidd died 1851.\n\nWalter Savage Landor died 1864.\n\n In the hour of distress and misery the eye of every mortal turns to\n friendship; in the hour of gladness and conviviality, what is your\n want? It is friendship. When the heart overflows with gratitude or\n with other sweet and sacred sentiment, what is the word to which it\n would give utterance? A friend.\n\n --Walter Savage Landor.\n\n The hurried quest of some people to get hold of new friends is so\n perpetual that they never have time to get acquainted with anyone.\n\n --M.B.S.\n\n Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not;\n And go not to thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity:\n Better is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off.\n\n --Proverbs 27. 10.\n\nMy Lord and my Friend, I pray that my sympathy may be sincere and\ncomforting, and with a glad heart I may bring rejoicing to my friends.\nMay I learn from thee how I may be a permanent friend. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER EIGHTEENTH\n\nTrajan, Roman emperor, born 1584.\n\nJames Shirley born 1596.\n\nSamuel Johnson born 1709.\n\nJoseph Story born 1779.\n\n There is no greater happiness than to be able to look on a life\n usefully and virtuously employed: to trace our own purposes in\n existence by such tokens that excite neither shame nor sorrow.\n\n --Dr. Johnson.\n\n The perfect poise that comes-from self-control,\n The poetry of action, rhythmic, sweet--\n The unvexed music of the body and soul\n That the Greeks dreamed of, made at last complete.\n Our stumbling lives attain not such a bliss;\n Too often, while the air we vainly beat,\n Love's perfect law of liberty we miss.\n\n --Annie Matheson.\n\n Brethren, I have lived before God in all good conscience until this\n day.\n\n --Acts 23. 1.\n\nHeavenly Father, may I not confuse my life with rebellion, but through\nthy guidance find peace. Help me through the perplexities that may\nkeep me from the quietness of to-day. Keep me in sight of the great\nplan of life, that I may grow steadfastly toward thee. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER NINETEENTH\n\nBattle of Poitiers 1356.\n\nHartley Coleridge born 1796.\n\nPresident Garfield died 1881.\n\n Be not afraid to pray--to pray is right.\n Pray if thou canst, with hope; but ever pray\n Though hope be weak, or sick with long delay;\n Pray in the darkness, if there be no light.\n Far is the time, remote from human sight,\n When war and discord on earth shall cease:\n Yet every prayer for universal peace\n Avails the time to expedite.\n\n --Hartley Coleridge.\n\n More things are wrought by prayer\n Than the world dreams of. Wherefore let thy voice\n Rise like a fountain for me night and day.\n For what are men better than sheep or goats\n That nourish a blind life within the brain,\n If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer\n Both for themselves and those who call them friend?\n For so the whole world is every way\n Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.\n\n --Alfred Tennyson.\n\n Continue stedfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving.\n\n --Colossians 4. 2.\n\nO Lord, give me the desire to pray, and teach me to pray as thou\nwouldst have my needs. Sustain me, that I may overcome my weaknesses,\nand strengthen me, that I may have thine approval. May I be reverent\nand unselfish as I come to thee in prayer. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER TWENTIETH\n\nBattle of Salamis B. C. 480.\n\nAlexander the Great born B. C. 356.\n\nRobert Emmet died 1803.\n\nDavid Ross Locke (Petroleum V. Nasby) born 1833.\n\n 'Tis weary watching wave by wave,\n And yet the tide heaves onward;\n We climb, like corals, grave by grave,\n That pave a pathway sunward.\n We're driven back, for our next fray\n A newer strength to borrow;\n And where the vanguard camps to-day,\n The rear shall rest to-morrow.\n\n --Gerald Massey.\n\n Be like the bird, that, pausing in her flight\n A while on boughs too slight,\n Feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings,\n Knowing that she hath wings.\n\n --Victor Hugo.\n\n Trust in Jehovah, and do good;\n Dwell in the land, and feed on his faithfulness.\n\n --Psalm 37. 3.\n\nEternal God, help me to realize that life is not only endless but,\nwhether I live in love and obedience, or wait in neglect and\nindifference, that I can never separate myself from thee. May I be\ndiligent in worthy endeavors to do my best for thee. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER TWENTY-FIRST\n\nGirolamo Savonarola born 1452.\n\nEmperor Charles V died 1558.\n\nSir Walter Scott died 1832.\n\n It is the secret sympathy,\n The silver link, the silken tie,\n Which heart to heart and mind to mind\n In body and in soul can bind.\n\n --Sir Walter Scott.\n\n No action, whether foul or fair,\n Is ever done, but it carves somewhere\n A record, written by fingers ghostly,\n As a blessing or a curse, and mostly\n In the greater weakness or greater strength\n Of the acts which follow it.\n\n --Henry W. Longfellow.\n\n And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold,\n when I come to the outermost part of the camp, it shall be that, as\n I do, so shall ye do.\n\n --Judges 7. 17.\n\nLoving Father, may I remember that from the beginning, all things were\ncreated beautiful and were given for love. I pray that I may be\nwilling to be guided to the beautiful things of life and receive from\nthem the delight of thy love. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER TWENTY-SECOND\n\nPeter Simon Pallas born 1741.\n\nMichael Faraday born 1791.\n\nTheodore Edward Hook born 1788.\n\n Man learns to swim by being tossed into life's maelstrom and left to\n make his way ashore. No youth can learn to sail his life-craft in a\n lake sequestered and sheltered from all the storms, where other\n vessels never come. Skill comes through sailing one's craft amidst\n rocks and bars and opposing fleets, amidst storms and whirls and\n counter currents.\n\n --Newell Dwight Hillis.\n\n O, a trouble's a ton or a trouble's an ounce,\n Or a trouble is what you make it!\n And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts,\n But only--how did you take it?\n\n --Edmund C. Vance.\n\n And thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise.\n\n --Hebrews 6. 15.\n\nTender Father, may I not encourage the disposition to enlarge and make\nmuch of the troubles and disappointments of life, and make light of\nthe joys and privileges. I pray that I may keep a large place for\nhappiness. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER TWENTY-THIRD\n\nKarl Theodore K\u00f6rner born 1791.\n\nHjalmar Hjorth Boyesen born 1848.\n\nWilkie Collins died 1889.\n\nM.F.H. De Haas died 1895.\n\n When over the fair fame of friend or foe\n The shadow of disgrace shall fall; instead\n Of words to blame, or reproof of thus and so,\n Let something good be said.\n\n Forget not that no fellow-being yet\n May fall so low but love may lift his head;\n Even the cheek of shame with tears is wet\n If something good be said.\n\n --Author unknown.\n\n The right Christian mind will ... find its own image wherever it\n exists; it will seek for what it loves, and draw out of all dens and\n caves, and it will believe in its being, often when it cannot see\n it; and so it will lie lovingly over the faults and rough places of\n the human heart, as the snow from heaven does over the hard, and\n black, and broken mountain rocks.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n To him that is ready to faint kindness should be showed from his\n friend.\n\n --Job 6. 14.\n\nLord God, grant that after years of climbing I may not find the mist\nin my soul has dulled the vision of thy glory. Keep me from the habit\nof looking for faults, and missing the virtues in others. Forbid that\nI should be so occupied in taking measure of other lives that I\nneglect to measure my own. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER TWENTY-FOURTH\n\nJohn Marshall born 1755.\n\nZachary Taylor, Virginia, twelfth President United\nStates, born 1784.\n\nS.R. Crockett born 1860.\n\n Get the truth once uttered, and 'tis like\n A star newborn that drops into its place,\n And which, once circling in its placid round,\n Not all the tumult of the earth can shake.\n\n --James Russell Lowell.\n\n If you would be well spoken of, learn to speak well of others. And\n when you have learned to speak well of them, endeavor likewise to do\n well to them; and reap the fruit of being well spoken of by them.\n\n --Epictetus.\n\n He that slandereth not with his tongue,\n Nor doeth evil to his friend,\n Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor;\n He that doeth these things shall never be moved.\n\n --Psalm 15. 3, 5.\n\nLord God, I bless thee for the lives of men and women who are willing\nto be led by the truth, and who are worthy to follow thee. I pray that\nthou wilt make me truthful, and keep me steadfast, that none may go\nastray by the uncertainty of my way. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER TWENTY-FIFTH\n\nWilliam Romaine born 1714.\n\nFelicia D. Hemans born 1793.\n\nW.M. Rossetti born 1829.\n\n Not as the conqueror comes,\n They, the true-hearted, came;\n Not with the roll of the stirring drums,\n And the trumpet songs of fame:\n\n Amidst the storm they sang,\n And the stars heard and the sea;\n And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang\n To the anthem of the free.\n\n Ay, call it holy ground,\n The soil where first they trod;\n They have left unstained what there they found--\n Freedom to worship God.\n\n --Felicia D. Hemans.\n\n But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree;\n and none shall make them afraid.\n\n --Micah 4. 4.\n\nEternal God, may I look to the Pilgrims and learn that to pray by\nfaith with the heart is not to pray by faith of the imagination. Help\nme to pray, and have faith to struggle for that which I would\nrightfully have. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER TWENTY-SIXTH\n\nAdmiral Cuthbert Collingwood born 1750.\n\nDr. Mary Walker born 1832.\n\nIrving Bacheller born 1859.\n\nFrederic William Faber died 1863.\n\n God is never so far off as even to be near--\n He is within: Our spirit is the home he holds most dear.\n To think of him as by our side is almost as untrue\n As to remove his throne beyond the starry blue.\n\n --F.W. Faber.\n\n Nearer, my God, to thee,\n Nearer to thee!\n E'en though it be a cross\n That raiseth me;\n Still all my song shall be--\n Nearer, my God, to thee,\n Nearer to thee!\n\n --Sarah F. Adams.\n\n My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: My heart shall\n not reproach me so long as I live.\n\n --Job 27. 6.\n\nMy Father, may I consider the place in which I stand: and may I not be\ndeceived in thinking I am near thee while I am living far away. Teach\nme the way to draw nearer to thee each day, until my spirit may\ncontinually dwell with thee. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER TWENTY-SEVENTH\n\nGeorge Cruikshank born 1792.\n\nSamuel Francis Dupont born 1803.\n\nAim\u00e9 Millet born 1819.\n\nHenri Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Arniel born 1821.\n\n The man who has no refuge in himself, who lives, so to speak, in his\n front rooms, in the outer whirlwind of things and opinions, is not\n properly a personality at all; ... he is one of a crowd.\n\n --Amiel.\n\n Happy the heart that keeps its twilight hour,\n And in the depths of heavenly peace reclined,\n Loves to commune with thoughts of tender power--\n Thoughts that ascend, like angels beautiful.\n\n --Paul Hamilton Hayne.\n\n The art of meditation may be exercised at all hours and in all\n places; and men of genius in their walks, at table, and amidst\n assemblies, turning the eye of the mind inward, can form an\n artificial solitude; retired amidst a crowd, calm amidst\n distractions, and wise amidst folly.\n\n --Disraeli.\n\n Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.\n\n --Psalm 4. 4.\n\nHeavenly Father, save me from being so poor in spirit, that I will\nhave to be sustained by the bright spirits of others. May I be\ncontinually refreshed by the spirit of life that may be found at all\ntimes. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER TWENTY-EIGHTH\n\nFrancis Turner Palgrave born 1824.\n\nFrances E. Willard born 1839.\n\nGeneral John D. French born 1852.\n\nMary Anderson born 1859.\n\n Unless there is a predominating and overmastering purpose to which\n all the accessories and incidents of life contribute, the character\n will be weak, irresolute, uncertain.\n\n --Frances E. Willard.\n\n Life is not an idle ore,\n But iron dug from central gloom,\n And heated hot with burning fears,\n And dipt in baths of hissing tears,\n And battered with the shocks of doom\n To shape and use.\n\n --Alfred Tennyson.\n\n He that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and\n tossed.... A double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.\n\n --James 1. 6, 8.\n\nO God, help me to be positive. May I not want to be in so many places,\nand in so many things, that I can never be found in anything. Help me\nto know that a purpose secured is worth many attempts, and that to\nhave a character I must build it. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER TWENTY-NINTH\n\nPompey killed B.C. 48.\n\nRobert Lord Clive born 1725.\n\nHoratio Nelson born 1758.\n\n O strange and wild is the world of men\n Which the eyes of the Lord must see--\n With continents, inlands, tribes, and tongues,\n With multitudes bond and free!\n All kings of the earth bow down to him,\n And yet--he can think of me.\n\n For none can measure the mind of God\n Or the bounds of eternity,\n He knows each life that has come from him,\n To the tiniest bird and bee,\n For the love of his heart is so deep and wide\n That it takes in even me.\n\n --Mary E. Allbright.\n\n Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? and not one of them shall\n fall on the ground without your Father: but the very hairs of your\n head are all numbered.\n\n --Matthew 10. 29, 30.\n\nAlmighty God, cause me to look out this morning, and open wide my\neyes, that I may see what great preparation thou hast made that I\nmight live. May I be ashamed to start wrong and be unworthy of the\nglory of this day. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTEMBER THIRTIETH\n\nGeorge Whitefield died 1770.\n\nWilliam Hutton born 1723.\n\nJohn Dollond died 1761.\n\n Up, up, my soul, the long-spent time redeeming;\n Sow thou the seeds of better deeds and thought;\n Light other lamps while yet thy lamp is beaming--\n The time is short.\n\n Think of the good thou might'st have done when brightly\n The suns to thee life's choicest season brought;\n Hours lost to God in pleasure passing lightly--\n The time is short.\n\n If thou hast friends, give them thy best endeavor,\n Thy warmest impulse, and thy purest thought,\n Keeping in mind and words and action ever--\n The time is short.\n\n --Elizabeth Prentiss.\n\n What is your life? For ye are a vapor that appeareth for a little\n time, and then vanisheth away.\n\n --James 4. 14.\n\nLoving Father, help me to realize that I am not living in the right\nway nor the right place if I am discontented, or happy in trifles and\nuntruth. Help me to find my place, and with thy help may I stand firm\nand confident. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER\n\n\n The morns are meeker than they were,\n The nuts are getting brown;\n The berry's cheek is plumper,\n The rose is out of town.\n The maple wears a gayer scarf,\n The field a scarlet gown;\n Lest I should be old-fashioned,\n I'll put a trinket on.\n\n --Emily Dickinson.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER FIRST\n\nSaint John Viscount Bolingbroke born 1678.\n\nPierre Corneille died 1684.\n\nRufus Choate born 1799.\n\n He speaks not well who doth his time deplore,\n Naming it new and a little obscure,\n Ignoble and unfit for lofty deeds.\n All times were modern in the time of them,\n And this no more than others. Do thy part\n Here in the living day, as did the great\n Who made old days immortal.\n\n --Richard Watson Gilder.\n\n He who is false to present duty breaks a thread in the loom, and\n will find the flaw when he may have forgotten the cause.\n\n --Henry Ward Beecher.\n\n For use almost can change the stamp of nature,\n And master the devil, or throw him out\n With wondrous potency.\n\n --William Shakespeare.\n\n And when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his\n house (now his windows were open in his chamber toward Jerusalem;)\n and he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and\n gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.\n\n --Daniel 6. 10.\n\nHeavenly Father, help me to get away from doubt that leads to despair.\nGive me a vision of hope that is stayed on faith. May I be conscious\nand appreciative of my privileges while they come to me and make them\nimmortal. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER SECOND\n\nAristotle died B.C. 322.\n\nMajor John Andre hanged 1780.\n\nWilliam Ellery Channing died 1842.\n\n I am not earth-born, though I here delay;\n Hope's child, I summon infiniter powers,\n And laugh to see the mild sunny day\n Smile on the shrunk and thin autumnal hours;\n I laugh, for hope hath a happy place for me--\n If my bark sinks, 'tis to another sea.\n\n --William E. Channing.\n\n The stars shall fade away, the sun himself\n Grow dim with age, and Nature sink in years;\n But thou shall flourish in immortal youth,\n Unhurt amidst the war of elements,\n The wreck of matter and the crush of worlds.\n\n --Thomas Addison.\n\n For with thee is the fountain of life:\n In thy light shall we see light.\n\n --Psalm 36. 9.\n\nMy Father, I would pray that my sense of gloom may not be more than\nthy grace. May the glorious light of thy love break through my\ndisheartened soul, and reveal the sincerity of thy promises, that I\nmay be happy in thy care. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER THIRD\n\nRobert Barclay died 1690.\n\nGeorge Bancroft born 1800.\n\nWilliam Morris died 1896.\n\n Come hither, lads, and harken,\n For a tale there is to tell\n Of the wonderful days a-coming,\n When all shall be better than well.\n\n Come, then, let us cast off fooling,\n And put by ease and rest,\n For the cause alone is worthy\n Till the good days bring the best.\n\n --William Morris.\n\n Man's life is but a working day\n Whose tasks are set aright;\n A time to work, a time to pray,\n And then a quiet night.\n And then, please God, a quiet night\n Where palms are green and robes are white;\n A long-drawn breath, a balm for sorrow,\n And all things lovely on the morrow.\n\n --Christina G. Rossetti.\n\n And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto\n Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.\n\n --Isaiah 61. 11.\n\nHeavenly Father, help me to see that before the night thou hadst\nplanned the morning, and that thou hast never sent the night without\nthe hope of the morning. Before I rest in the night may I be ready for\nthe morning. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER FOURTH\n\nFrancis of Assisi died 1226.\n\nEdmund Malone born 1741.\n\nFran\u00e7ois Guizot born 1787.\n\nJean Fran\u00e7ois Millet born 1814.\n\nRutherford B. Hayes, Ohio, nineteenth President\nUnited States, born 1822.\n\nM.E. Braddon born 1837.\n\n We ought to rise day by day with a certain zest, a clear intention,\n a design to make the most of every hour; not to let the busy hours\n shoulder each other or tread on each other's heels, but to force\n every action to give up its strength and sweetness. There is work to\n be done, and there are empty hours to be filled as well.... But,\n most of all, there must be something to quicken, enliven, practice\n the soul.\n\n --Arthur C. Benson.\n\n Men's souls ought to be left to see clearly; not jaundiced, blinded,\n twisted all awry, by revenge, moral abhorrence, and the like.\n\n --Thomas Carlyle.\n\n But there is a spirit in man,\n And the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding.\n\n --Job 32. 8.\n\nSpirit of life, I pray that thou wilt continually live within me. May\nmy days be spent neither in waste nor idleness, but planned to use,\nwith the best that is given me. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER FIFTH\n\nJonathan Edwards born 1703.\n\nDenis Diderot born 1713.\n\nHorace Walpole born 1717.\n\nNancy Hanks died 1818.\n\nChester A. Arthur, Vermont, twenty-first President\nUnited States, born 1830.\n\nH.R. Guy de Maupassant born 1850.\n\n Earth gets its price for what earth gives us;\n The beggar is taxed for a corner to die in,\n The priest has his fee who comes and shrives us,\n We bargain for the graves we lie in;\n At the devil's booth are all things sold,\n Each ounce of dross costs its ounce of gold;\n For a cap and bells our lives we pay,\n Bubbles we buy with a whole soul's tasking;\n 'Tis heaven alone that is given away,\n 'Tis only God may be had for the asking.\n\n --James Russell Lowell.\n\n\n The free gift of God is eternal life.\n\n --Romans 6. 23.\n\nGracious Father, may the world speak to me of thy gifts, and of the\npeace and power which it freely offers. May I not pass by thy great\nappeals, and prefer to purchase at a great cost my indolence and\ndissipation. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER SIXTH\n\nJenny Lind Goldschmidt born 1820.\n\nHarriet G. Hosmer born 1830.\n\nCharles Stewart Parnell died 1891.\n\nAlfred Tennyson died 1892.\n\n The heart which boldly faces death\n Upon the battlefield, and dares\n Cannon and bayonet, faints beneath\n The needle-points of frets and cares.\n The stoutest spirits they dismay--\n The tiny stings of every day.\n\n Ah! more than martyr's aureole\n And more than hero's heart of fire,\n We need the humble strength of soul\n Which daily toils and ills require.\n Sweet patience, grant us, if you may\n An added grace for every day.\n\n --Adelaide A. Procter.\n\n Sunset and evening star,\n And one clear call for me!\n And may there be no moaning of the bar,\n When I put out to sea.\n\n --Alfred Tennyson.\n\n Fret not thyself.\n\n --Proverbs 24. 19.\n\nMy Father, I pray that I may not be dismayed over life, and its\ntrifles. Help me to master difficulties great and small, and give me\npatience through all until I reach the untroubled way. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER SEVENTH\n\nSir Philip Sidney died 1586.\n\nEdgar Allan Poe died 1849.\n\nOliver Wendell Holmes died 1894.\n\nMary J. Holmes died 1907.\n\n Yet in opinions look not always back;\n Your wake is nothing, mind the coming track;\n Leave what you've done for what you have to do;\n Don't be \"consistent,\" but be simply true.\n\n --Oliver Wendell Holmes.\n\n A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by\n little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a\n great soul has nothing to do.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.\n\n --Exodus 14. 15.\n\nHeavenly Father, I pray that I may not be so consistent in the small\nthings of life that I will lose the great inspirations that come to\nthe soul. Broaden my life, that I may have the freedom of heart and\nmind to pass over the failures and interruptions, and with vigorous\nenergy continue in the progress of life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER EIGHTH\n\nCaroline Howard Gilman born 1794.\n\nEdmund Clarence Stedman born 1833.\n\nJohn Hay born 1838.\n\n He weren't no saint; them engineers\n Is pretty much alike--\n One wife in Natchez-under-the-Hill,\n Another one here in Pike;\n A keerless man in his talk was Jim,\n And an awkward hand in a row,\n But he never flunked, and he never lied--\n I reckon he never knowed how.\n\n --John Hay.\n\n He is brave whose tongue is silent\n Of the trophies of his word.\n He is great whose quiet bearing\n Marks his greatness well assured.\n\n --Edwin Arnold.\n\n The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee,\n that I am not as the rest of men.\n\n --Luke 18. 11.\n\nLord God, thou knowest what I am and where I belong. Have mercy upon\nme and strengthen me, that I may not through weakness stay in the\ndarkness. Lead me out into the light; and may I find my way and be\ncontented with it. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER NINTH\n\nMichael Cervantes born 1547.\n\nJacques Auguste de Thuanus (De Thou) born 1553.\n\nCharles Camilla Saint-Sa\u00ebns born 1835.\n\n I will not doubt, though all my ships at sea\n Come drifting home with broken masts and sails;\n I shall believe the Hand which never fails\n From seeming evil worketh good for me;\n And though I weep because those sails are battered,\n Still will I cry, while my best hopes lie shattered,\n \"I trust in Thee.\"\n\n --Ella Wheeler Wilcox.[1]\n\n Cease every joy to glimmer on my mind.\n But leave, O leave the light of hope behind.\n\n --Thomas Campbell.\n\n Hope deferred maketh the heart sick; But when the desire cometh, it\n is a tree of life.\n\n --Proverbs 13. 12.\n\nLoving Father, help me to pass by my discouragements of yesterday and\nlook into the hope of to-day. Make me more careful of my strength, and\nless forgetful of thy promises and of my trust. Amen.\n\n[Footnote 1: Special permission W.B. Conkey, Hammond, Indiana.\nCopyright 1912.]\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER TENTH\n\nHenry Cavendish born 1731.\n\nBenjamin West born 1738.\n\nHugh Miller born 1802.\n\nGiuseppe Verdi born 1813.\n\nFridtjof Nansen born 1861.\n\n We cannot make bargains for blisses,\n Nor catch them like fishes in nets;\n And sometimes the thing our life misses\n Helps more than the thing which it gets.\n For good lieth not in pursuing,\n Nor gaining of great nor small,\n But just in the doing and doing\n As we would be done by is all.\n\n --Alice Gary.\n\n True, it is most painful not to meet the kindness and affection you\n feel you have deserved, and have a right to expect from others; but\n it is a mistake to complain, for it is no use; you cannot extort\n friendship with a cocked pistol.\n\n --Sydney Smith.\n\n Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.\n\n --Matthew 22. 39.\n\nLord God, help me to understand that true affection is not that which\nas it gives feels it merits return. May I avoid being selfish and\nstubborn; and with my affections give peace and joy. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER ELEVENTH\n\nSir Thomas Wyatt died 1542.\n\nDr. Samuel Clarke born 1675.\n\nJames Barry born 1741.\n\n Ask God to give thee skill\n In comfort's art,\n That thou may'st consecrated be\n And set apart,\n Unto a life of sympathy;\n For heavy is the weight of ill\n In every heart;\n And comforters are needed much\n Of Christlike touch.\n\n --Alexander Hamilton.\n\n The man who melts\n With social sympathy though not allied,\n Is than a thousand kinsmen of more worth.\n\n --Euripides.\n\n Who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we may be able to\n comfort them that are in any affliction, through the comfort\n wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.\n\n --2 Corinthians 1. 4.\n\nHeavenly Father, thou hast made sympathy divine. May I never make it\ncommonplace. Grant that as thou dost bless and comfort me I may be\nwilling to comfort others, and do whatsoever thou wouldst have me do.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER TWELFTH\n\nColumbus discovered America 1492.\n\nLyman Beecher born 1775.\n\nGeorge W. Cable born 1844.\n\nHelena Modjeska born 1844.\n\n One poor day!\n Remember whose and how short it is!\n It is God's day, it is Columbus's.\n One day with life and heart is more than time enough to found a world.\n\n --James Russell Lowell.\n\n An illusion haunts us, that a long duration, as a year, a decade, a\n century, is valuable. But an old French sentence says, \"God works in\n moments.\" We ask for long life, but 'tis deep life or grand moments\n that signify. Let the measure of Time be spiritual, not mechanical.\n Life is unnecessarily long. Moments of insight, of fine personal\n relation, a smile, a glance--what ample borrowers of eternity they\n are!\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years\n as one day.\n\n --2 Peter 3. 8.\n\nMy Father, I pray that when the \"sun sets to-day my hope may not set\nwith it.\" Be with me earlier than the dawn, that I may plan with thee\na new day. I pray that thou wilt release me from anything that keeps\nme from reaching the highest. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER THIRTEENTH\n\nTheodore Beza died 1605.\n\nMurat, King of Naples, shot 1815.\n\nElizabeth Fry died 1845.\n\n What stronger breast-plate than a heart untainted! Thrice is he\n armed that hath his quarrel just, And he but naked, though locked up\n in steel, Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.\n\n --William Shakespeare.\n\n A man's accusations of himself are always believed, his praises\n never.\n\n --Montaigne.\n\n Justice needs that two be heard.\n\n --From Goethe's Autobiography.\n\n That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest\n live.\n\n --Deuteronomy 16. 20.\n\nLord of justice, if I may be influenced this morning by doubt and am\ninclined to be resentful, wilt thou cause me to have a generous spirit\nand keep my faith. May I never descend to anything base or deceitful,\nbut may I remember that if I lay down my life, I may have the power to\ntake it up again. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER FOURTEENTH\n\nWilliam Penn born 1644.\n\nJames Fenimore Cooper died 1851.\n\nDuke of Wellington died 1852.\n\n Do good with what thou hast, or it will do thee no good. If thou\n wouldst be happy, bring thy mind to thy condition, and have an\n indifferency for more than what is sufficient.\n\n --William Penn.\n\n The finest fruit earth holds up to its Maker is a finished man.\n\n --Humboldt.\n\n I considered Napoleon's presence in the field equal to forty men in\n the balance.\n\n --Duke of Wellington.\n\n What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that\n thou visitest him? For thou hast made him but little lower than God,\n And crownest him with glory and honor.\n\n --Psalm 8. 4, 5.\n\nEternal God, may I know the value of the gift of life. May I think\nseriously of it, and not through abuse or neglect cripple it,\nremembering that it is mine to sow, to grow, and to reap. I pray that\nI may care more for the food and raiment of my soul than I care for\nthe food and raiment of my body. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER FIFTEENTH\n\nVirgil born B.C. 70.\n\nEvangelista Torricelli born 1608.\n\nEdward Fitzgerald born 1763.\n\n Being not unacquainted with woe, I learned to help the unfortunate.\n\n --Virgil.\n\n There are some hearts like wells green-mossed and deep\n As ever summer saw,\n And cool their water is, yea, cool and sweet;\n But you must come to draw.\n They hoard not, yet they rest in calm content,\n And not unsought will give;\n They can be quiet with their wealth unspent,\n So self-contained they live.\n\n --Author unknown.\n\n For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you\n with many tears; not that ye should be made sorry, but that ye might\n know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.\n\n --2 Corinthians 2. 4.\n\nGracious Father, help me to understand that while I may be content to\nrest with what I have gathered, I cannot preserve the strength of my\nsoul unless I share my possessions. Give me a passion for humanity\nthat will advance gifts through love, and offer service without the\nneed of an appeal. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER SIXTEENTH\n\nBishop Hugh Latimer burned at Oxford 1555.\n\nAlbrecht von Haller born 1708.\n\nNoah Webster born 1758.\n\nRobert Stephenson born 1803.\n\n As ships meet at sea--a moment together, when words of greeting must\n be spoken, and then away upon the deep--so men meet in this world;\n and I think we should cross no man's path without hailing him, and\n if he needs, giving him supplies.\n\n --Henry Ward Beecher.\n\n Nothing is more unaccountable than the spell that often lurks in a\n spoken word. A thought may be present to the mind, and two minds\n conscious of the same thought, but as long as it remains unspoken\n their familiar talk flows quietly over the hidden idea.\n\n --Nathaniel Hawthorne.\n\n And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?\n\n --Matthew 5. 47.\n\nHeavenly Father, I pray that thou wilt give me a generous heart. May I\nnot lose sight of the truth, that thou hast made others to have the\nsame needs and wants that I may have. May I not through pride or\negoism fail to help, and neglecting to speak, miss an opportunity to\nassist. May I be self-forgetful in friendly service. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER SEVENTEENTH\n\nAndreas Osiander died 1552.\n\nFrederic Chopin died 1849.\n\n Good name, in man or woman, dear my Lord, Is the immediate jewel of\n their souls; Who steals my purse, steals trash; 'tis something,\n nothing; 'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands; But\n he that filches from me my good name Robs me of that which not\n enriches him, And makes me poor indeed.\n\n --William Shakespeare.\n\n Keep back your tears when a soul is untrue;\n \"Sorrow is shallow\"; and one can wade through\n The mud and the marshes, and still endure\n If he finds he has kept his spirit pure.\n\n The rose near died when it fell to its lot\n To break its heart for forget-me-not;\n But after its heart was healed by the dew,\n Right by its side a sweet violet grew!\n\n --M.B.S.\n\n A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, And loving\n favor rather than silver and gold.\n\n --Proverbs 22. 1.\n\nMy Father, teach me the value of the possessions that can neither be\nhandled nor seen; and may I not take them away from others. Help me to\nkeep thy commandment \"Thou shalt not steal,\" and interpret it in all\nits relations to life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER EIGHTEENTH\n\nMatthew Henry born 1662.\n\nMargaret (Peg) Woffington born 1720.\n\nHelen Hunt Jackson born 1831.\n\nFrederick Harrison born 1831.\n\n Yet I argue not against heaven's hand or will, nor bate a jot of\n heart of hope;, but still bear up and steer right onward.\n\n --John Milton.\n\n Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.\n No man has learned anything rightly until he knows that every day is\n doomsday.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n He mourns that day so soon has glided by:\n E'en like the passage of an angel's tear\n That falls through the clear ether silently.\n\n --John Keats.\n\n I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go:\n I will counsel thee with mine eye upon thee.\n\n --Psalm 32. 8.\n\nMy Father, if I may be living in bad habits, help me to get out of\nthem. If I may be neglectful of good deeds, help me to get at them.\nMay I reach for the highest purposes as I search for the realities,\nand may I not delay, but start to-day. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER NINETEENTH\n\nDean (Jonathan) Swift died 1745.\n\nLeigh Hunt born 1784.\n\nHenry Kirke White died 1806.\n\n Don't look too hard except for something agreeable; we can find all\n the disagreeable things we want, between our own hats and boots.\n\n --Leigh Hunt.\n\n Instead of a gem or a flower, cast the gift of a lovely thought into\n the heart of a friend.\n\n --George Macdonald.\n\n For the want of common discretion the very end of good breeding is\n wholly perverted; and civility, intended to make us easy, is\n employed in laying chains and fetters upon us, in debarring our\n wishes, and in crossing our most reasonable desires and\n inclinations.\n\n --Jonathan Swift.\n\n If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all\n men.\n\n --Romans 12. 18.\n\nMy Lord, help me to adjust my life to what I ought to be, rather than\nbe content in what I am. May I not spend my time in dreaming of\nobstacles, or searching for things that hurt, but may I be gentle and\nkind, and as I see the truth speak for it and follow it. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER TWENTIETH\n\nSir Christopher Wren born 1632.\n\nThomas Hughes born 1823.\n\nCharles Dudley Warner died 1900.\n\n There has always seemed to me something impious in the neglect of\n health. I could not do half the good I do if it were not for the\n strength and activity some consider coarse and degrading.\n\n --Charles Kingsley.\n\n To keep well drink often, but water;\n Eat not that which makes life shorter;\n But first, with all your might and skill,\n Just chain your habits to your will.\n\n --M.B.S.\n\n I will be lord over myself. No one who cannot master himself is\n worthy to rule, and only he can rule.\n\n --Goethe.\n\n Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is\n in you, which ye have from God?\n\n --1 Corinthians 6. 19.\n\nLord God, may I not wait until I am afflicted and cannot use them to\nthank thee for my blessings. Guard me against infirmities that are\nbrought on through indulgences, and help me to control my life. May I\nnever forget that regret will not retrieve the life that is spent,\neven if it brings forgiveness and hope for the days to come. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER TWENTY-FIRST\n\nSamuel Taylor Coleridge born 1772.\n\nAlphonse Lamartine born 1790.\n\nSamuel F. Smith born 1808.\n\nWill Carleton born 1845.\n\n He prayeth best who loveth best\n All things both great and small;\n For the dear God who loveth us,\n He made and loveth all.\n\n --Samuel Taylor Coleridge.\n\n We thank thee, O Father, for all that is bright--\n The gleam of the day and the stars of the night,\n The flowers of our youth and the fruits of our prime,\n And the blessings that march down the pathway of time.\n\n --Will Carleton.\n\n Thanklessness is a parching wind, drying up the fountain of pity,\n the dew of mercy, the streams of grace. For doth not that rightly\n seem to be lost which is given to one ungrateful?\n\n --Saint Bernard.\n\n O give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good; For his lovingkindness\n endureth for ever.\n\n --Psalm 136. 1.\n\nMy Father, help me to understand that I cannot have self-development\nunless the spirit of truth drills my character. Cleanse my heart from\nall impurity, and strengthen me for all usefulness: help me to daily\nlive this prayer. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER TWENTY-SECOND\n\nCharles Martel died 741.\n\nFranz Liszt born 1811.\n\nGeorge Eliot born 1819.\n\nSarah Bernhardt born 1844.\n\n O may I join the choir invisible\n Of those immortal dead who live again\n In minds made better by their presence: live\n In pulses stirred to generosity,\n In deeds of daring rectitude, in scorn\n For miserable aims that end with self,\n In thoughts sublime that pierce the night like stars,\n And with their mild persistence urge man's search\n To vaster issues.\n\n This is life to come,\n Which martyred men have made more glorious\n For us to strive to follow. May I reach\n That purest heaven, be to other souls\n The cup of strength in some great agony,\n Enkindle generous ardor, feed pure love,\n Beget the smiles that have no cruelty,\n Be the sweet presence of a good diffused,\n And in diffusion ever more intense!\n So shall I join the choir invisible\n Whose music is the gladness of the world.\n\n --George Eliot.\n\n And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish.\n\n --John 10. 28.\n\nMy Father, I pray that I may be more generous with my smiles and\ngladness, and more saving with my tears and sadness. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER TWENTY-THIRD\n\nAnne Oldfield died 1730.\n\nRobert Bridges born 1844.\n\nMollie Elliot Seawell born 1860.\n\n O youth whose hope is high,\n Who doth to truth aspire,\n Whether thou live or die,\n O look not back nor tire.\n\n Thou that art bold to fly\n Through tempest, flood and fire,\n Nor dost not shrink to try\n Thy heart in torments dire--\n\n If thou canst Death defy,\n If thy faith is entire,\n Press onward, for thine eye\n Shall see thy heart's desire.\n\n --Robert Bridges.\n\n Doubt indulged becomes doubt realized. To determine to do anything\n is half the battle. Courage is victory, timidity is defeat.\n\n --Nelson.\n\n And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of\n their words, though briers and thorns are with thee, and thou dost\n dwell among scorpions.\n\n --Ezekiel 2. 6.\n\nGracious Father, try me again by the courage I have to-day, if thou\nart judging me by the fear I held yesterday. Help me to see that\nwavering is misleading and temperament is deceptive. May I learn\nself-control. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER TWENTY-FOURTH\n\nHugh Capet died 996.\n\nSir Moses Montefiore born 1784.\n\nDaniel Webster died 1852.\n\n Exceeding peace made Ben Adhem bold,\n And to the presence in the room he said,\n \"What writest thou?\" The vision raised its head,\n And, with a look made of all sweet accord,\n Answered, \"The names of those who love the Lord.\"\n \"And is mine one?\" said Abou. \"Nay, not so,\"\n Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,\n But cheerily still; and said, \"I pray thee, then,\n Write me as one that loves his fellow men.\"\n\n The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night\n It came again, with a great awakening light,\n And showed the names whom love of God had blessed--\n And, lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest!\n\n --Leigh Hunt.\n\n Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and will show thee great\n things.\n\n --Jeremiah 33. 3.\n\nLord God, may I keep within my heart that secret sympathy that adds to\nthe power of life. Help me to seek the things that are real, and not\nbe deceived by the things which only appear to be. May all with whom I\nhave to do feel the better for my companionship. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER TWENTY-FIFTH\n\nGeoffrey Chaucer died 1400.\n\nWilliam Hogarth died 1764.\n\nGeorge W. Faber born 1773.\n\nThomas B. Macaulay born 1800.\n\n Wav'ring as winds the breath of fortune blows,\n No power can turn it, and no prayers compose.\n Deep in some hermit's solitary cell,\n Repose, and ease, and contemplation dwell.\n Let conscience guide thee in the days of need,\n Judge well thy own, and then thy neighbor's deed.\n\n --Geoffrey Chaucer.\n\n To every man upon this earth\n Death cometh soon or late;\n And how can man die better\n Than facing fearful odds,\n For the ashes of his fathers\n And the temples of his gods.\n\n --Thomas B. Macaulay.\n\n Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to\n minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.\n\n --Matthew 20. 28.\n\nHeavenly Father, help me to remember that I am to cover life's\njourney, even though I may go the way carelessly and aimlessly. May I\nmake an estimate of what I am losing, by waiting so long at the\nresting places, \"For the road winds up hill all the way to the end,\nand the journey takes the whole day long, from morn to night.\" Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER TWENTY-SIXTH\n\nDr. Philip Doddridge died 1751.\n\nCount Von Moltke born 1800.\n\nElizabeth Cady Stanton died 1902.\n\n One of the notable eddies of the present-day world currents is what\n has been loosely called the \"Woman Movement.\" The sensitive and\n vicarious spirit of womanhood has been enlisted for service in\n behalf of those who have been denied a fair chance, or who are the\n victims of oppression, greed, and ignorance.\n\n --William T. Ellis.\n\n And whether consciously or not, you must be in many a heart\n enthroned: queens you must always be: queens to your lovers; queens\n to your husbands and sons; queens of higher mystery to the world\n beyond, which bows itself, and will forever bow, before the myrtle\n crown, and the stainless scepter of womanhood.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n O woman, great is thy faith: be it done unto thee even as thou wilt.\n\n --Matthew 15. 28.\n\nLord and Master of all, I pray that thou wilt make me see through my\nprejudices and beyond my desires to the very \"top of my condition.\"\nMay I not wait for places or circumstances that are dimly in the\ndistance or that are near at hand, but accomplish the work I should do\nto-day. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER TWENTY-SEVENTH\n\nJames Cook born 1728.\n\nNicolo Paganini born 1782.\n\nTheodore Roosevelt, New York, twenty-fifth President\nUnited States, born 1858.\n\n The vice of envy is not only a dangerous, but a mean vice; for it is\n always a confession of inferiority. It may promote conduct which\n will be fruitful of wrong to others, and it must cause misery to the\n man who feels it.\n\n --Theodore Roosevelt.\n\n Of all the passions, jealousy is that which exacts the hardest\n service, and pays the bitterest wages. Its service is to watch the\n success of one's enemy; its wages to be sure of it.\n\n --C.C. Colton.\n\n Dear to me is the friend, yet I can also make use of an enemy. The\n friend shows me what I can do, the foe teaches me what I should.\n\n --Schiller.\n\n Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another.\n\n --Galatians 5. 26.\n\nAlmighty God, I would ask thee that my days be filled with aspiration,\nand that my heart may know no envy. Help me to love humanity. May I be\nso glad of the success of others that I may never know what it is to\nbe envious. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER TWENTY-EIGHTH\n\nDesiderius Erasmus born 1465.\n\nJohn Locke died 1704.\n\nGeorges Jacques Danton born 1759.\n\n Not so in haste, my heart!\n Have faith in God and wait;\n Although he linger long,\n He never comes too late.\n\n Until he cometh, rest,\n Nor grudge the hours that roll;\n The feet that wait for God\n Are soonest at the goal;\n\n Are soonest at the goal\n That is not gained by speed;\n Then hold thee still, my heart,\n For I shall wait his lead.\n\n --Bayard Taylor.\n\n It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation\n of Jehovah.\n\n --Lamentations 3. 26.\n\nLord of life, may I pause to remember that rest may not be obtained\nwith wretched thoughts, nor can it be enjoyed in discontent. In my\nmoments of rest wilt thou show me how to relax, and with tranquillity\nmay I gather hope for renewed ambition. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER TWENTY-NINTH\n\nSir Walter Raleigh beheaded 1618.\n\nJames Boswell born 1740.\n\nJohn Keats born 1795.\n\nThomas Bayard born 1828.\n\nThomas Edward Brown died 1897.\n\n Rise, O my soul, with thy desires to heaven,\n And with divinest contemplation use\n Thy time where time's eternity is given,\n And let vain thoughts no more thy thoughts abuse;\n But down in darkness let them lie:\n So live thy better, let thy worse thoughts die!\n\n --Sir Walter Raleigh.\n\n The great elements we know of are no mean comforters; the open sky\n sits upon our senses like a sapphire crown--the air is our robe of\n state, the Earth is our throne, and the Sea a mighty minstrel\n playing before it.\n\n --John Keats.\n\n Ah Lord Jehovah! behold, thou hast made the heavens and the earth by\n thy great power and by thine outstretched arm; there is nothing too\n hard for thee.\n\n --Jeremiah 32. 17.\n\nAlmighty God, I thank thee for the power that gives me the breath of\nlife. May I be willing to be controlled by its guiding care. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER THIRTIETH\n\nRev. John Whitaker died 1808.\n\nJohn Adams, Massachusetts, second President\nUnited States, born 1735.\n\nAdelaide Anne Procter born 1825.\n\n And yet thou canst know,\n And yet thou canst not see;\n Wisdom and sight are slow\n In poor humanity.\n If thou couldst trust, poor soul,\n In Him who rules the whole,\n Thou wouldst find peace and rest;\n Wisdom and right are well, but trust is best.\n\n --Adelaide Anne Procter.\n\n The heart to speak in vain essayed,\n Nor could his purpose reach--\n His will nor voice nor tongue obeyed,\n His silence was his speech.\n\n --John Quincy Adams.\n\n But still believe that story wrong\n Which ought not to be true.\n\n --Richard Brinsley Sheridan.\n\n Blessed is the man that maketh Jehovah his trust.\n\n --Psalm 40. 4.\n\nMy Father, may I not be given to unkindly speech. Deliver me from a\ncritical spirit; and may I not encourage mistrust, but cultivate the\nkindly considerations in which life abounds. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nOCTOBER THIRTY-FIRST\n\nAll Hallow's Eve.\n\nJohn Evelyn born 1620.\n\nChristopher Anstey born 1724.\n\n Ere, in the northern gale\n The summer tresses of the trees are gone,\n The woods of autumn, all around our vale,\n Have put their glory on.\n\n The mountains that unfold,\n In their wide sweep, the colored landscape round,\n Seem groups of giant kings, in purple and gold,\n That guard the enchanted ground.\n\n Ah! 'twere a lot too blessed\n Forever in thy colored shades to stray;\n Amid the kisses of the soft southwest\n To rove and dream for aye;\n\n And leave the vain low strife\n That makes men mad; the tug for wealth and power,\n The passions and the cares that wither life,\n And waste its little hour.\n\n --William Cullen Bryant.\n\n Let the field exult, and all that is therein; Then shall all the\n trees of the wood sing for joy.\n\n --Psalm 96. 12.\n\nMy Father, may I have an appreciation of the wonderful creations of\nthe earth. Give me a discriminating eye, that I may know the precious\nthings that thou art growing; and throughout my life may I love the\nbeautiful, and choose that which will make my life worthy of growth.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER\n\n\n Who said November's face was grim?\n Who said her voice was harsh and sad?\n I heard her sing in wood paths dim,\n I met her on the shore so glad,\n So smiling, I could kiss her feet!\n There never was a month so sweet.\n\n --Lucy Larcom.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER FIRST\n\nSir Matthew Hale born 1609.\n\nWilliam M. Chase born 1849.\n\nSir Robert Grant died 1892.\n\n O worship the King, all glorious above,\n O gratefully sing his power and his love;\n Our Shield and Defender, the ancient of days,\n Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.\n\n Thy bountiful care what tongue can recite?\n It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;\n It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,\n And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.\n\n --Robert Grant.\n\n Ye shall walk in all the way which Jehovah your God hath commanded\n you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye\n may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.\n\n --Deuteronomy 5. 33.\n\nAlmighty God, help me to make my life refulgent while I have the\nabundance of summer, that I may not find the November of life bleak\nand barren. Help me to live in the realities of life, that I may gain\nenergy and repose, to use for the lonesome and anxious hours. May I be\nwatchful for the conditions that thwart life, and with patience wait\nfor the awakening of truth. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER SECOND\n\nMarie Antoinette born 1755.\n\nField-Marshal Radetzky born 1766.\n\nJames Knox Polk, North Carolina, eleventh President\nUnited States, born 1795.\n\n Overmastering pain--the most deadly and tragical element in\n life--alas! pain has its own way with all of us; it breaks in, a\n rude visitant, upon the fairy garden where the child wanders in a\n dream, no less surely than it rules upon the field of battle, or\n sends the immortal war-god whimpering to his father; and innocence,\n no more than philosophy, can protect us from this sting.\n\n --Robert Louis Stevenson.\n\n My hopes retire; my wishes as before\n Struggle to find their resting place in vain;\n The ebbing sea thus beats against the shore;\n The shore repels it; it returns again.\n\n --W.S. Landor.\n\n Yet Jehovah will command his loving-kindness in the day-time, And in\n the night his song shall be with me.\n\n --Psalm 42. 8.\n\nLoving Father, I bless thee for thy goodness and tender mercy which is\nover all. May I trust thy provision and love through all\ncircumstances, and as I trust myself to thee may I have faith to\nbelieve that thou wilt give me strength for what I may have to endure,\nand believe that thou wilt care for me, as thou dost care for all.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER THIRD\n\nLucan born A.D. 39.\n\nWilliam Cullen Bryant born 1794.\n\nFrancis D. Millet born 1846.\n\nJohn Watson (Ian Maclaren) born 1850.\n\nPearl Mary Teresa Craigie (John Oliver Hobbes)\nborn 1867.\n\n Whither, midst falling dew,\n While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,\n Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue\n Thy solitary way!\n\n Vainly the fowler's eye\n Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong,\n As, darkly painted on the crimson sky,\n Thy figure floats along.\n\n He who, from zone to zone,\n Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,\n In the long way that I must tread alone,\n Will lead my steps aright.\n\n --William Cullen Bryant.\n\n For Jehovah your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before\n you, until ye were passed over.\n\n --Joshua 4. 23.\n\nAlmighty God, help me to guard against gratification that leads to\ndisappointment, that I may not miss the true way. I pray that thou\nwilt lift me in my weakness, and carry me over the rough and\ndiscouraging places, that I may be made strong in thy loving care, and\nbe able to continue alone. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER FOURTH\n\nGuido Reni born 1575.\n\nJames Montgomery born 1771.\n\nEdmund Keane born 1787.\n\nErnest Howard Crosby born 1856.\n\nEugene Field died 1895.\n\n Keep me, I pray, in wisdom's way,\n That I may truths eternal seek;\n I need protecting care to-day--\n My purse is light, my flesh is weak.\n\n --Eugene Field.\n\n No one could tell me where my Soul might be,\n I searched for God, but God eluded me.\n I sought my brother out, and found all three.\n\n --Ernest H. Crosby.\n\n In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he will direct thy paths.\n\n --Proverbs 3. 6.\n\nMy Father, may I not face the going down of the sun to-day, looking at\nlife, in a mirror that reflects my own privileges and prejudices, but\nmay I see it as it is, known to those who are living to make it\nbetter. May the days to come prove my sincerity in wanting the truth\nthat I might live by it, and help to do good with it. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER FIFTH\n\nHans Sachs born 1494.\n\nDr. John Brown born 1715.\n\nBenjamin Butler born 1818.\n\n The thing that goes the farthest\n Toward making life worth while,\n That costs the least, and does the most,\n Is just a pleasant smile.\n That smile that bubbles from a heart\n That loves its fellow men\n Will drive away the cloud of gloom\n And coax the sun again.\n\n --Anonymous.\n\n One whom I knew intimately, and whose memory I revere, once in my\n hearing remarked that, \"Unless we love people we cannot understand\n them.\" This was a new light to me.\n\n --Christina G. Rossetti.\n\n Oil and perfume rejoice the heart; So doth the sweetness of a man's\n friend that cometh of hearty counsel.\n\n --Proverbs 27. 9.\n\nLord God, I pray that I may be worthy of my friends. May I not fear to\ngo where I am called, and may I go cheerfully, even though the way be\ndark and lonesome. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER SIXTH\n\nJames Gregory born 1638.\n\nJohn Bright born 1811.\n\nSir George Williams died 1905.\n\n Look full into thy spirit's self,\n The world of mystery scan;\n What if thy way to faith in God\n Should lie through faith in man?\n\n --John Bright.\n\n Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends, for it is one\n of God's best gifts. It involves many things, but above all, the\n power of going out of oneself and seeing and appreciating whatever\n is noble and loving in another.\n\n --Thomas Hughes.\n\n Be perfected; be comforted; be of the same mind; live in peace: and\n the God of love and peace shall be with you.\n\n --2 Corinthians 13. 11.\n\nLord God, I earnestly entreat thee to show me if I may be cramping the\nhappiness in another's life by forcing in my selfishness and demands.\nMay I understand that perfect gifts are those that come through loving\nsacrifice. Make me ashamed to ask for what I refuse or prefer not to\ngive. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER SEVENTH\n\nSir Martin Frobisher died 1594.\n\nWilliam Stukeley born 1687.\n\nFriedrich Leopold, Count von Stolberg, born 1750.\n\n Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide,\n In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the good or evil side;\n Some great cause, God's new Messiah offering each the bloom or blight,\n Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the sheep upon the right;\n And the choice goes by forever 'twixt that darkness and that light.\n\n --James Russell Lowell.\n\n We cannot command veracity at will; the power of seeing and\n reporting truly is a form of health that has to be delicately\n guarded, and as an ancient rabbi has solemnly said, \"The penalty of\n untruth is untruth.\"\n\n --George Eliot.\n\n Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they\n have sought out many inventions.\n\n --Ecclesiastes 7. 29.\n\nMy Father, help me to speak the truth and guard the truth, that\nrighteousness may be an abiding influence in my life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER EIGHTH\n\nEdmund Halley born 1656.\n\nJohn Milton died 1674.\n\nOwen Meredith (Bulwer Edward Lytton) born 1831.\n\n The morning drum-call on my eager ear\n Thrills unforgotten yet! the morning dew\n Lies yet undried along my field of noon.\n But now I pause a while in what I do,\n And count the bell, and tremble lest I hear\n (My work untrimmed) the sunset gun too soon.\n\n --Robert Louis Stevenson.\n\n I fear\n Life's many changes, not Death's changelessness.\n So perfect is this moment's passing cheer,\n I needs must tremble lest it pass to less.\n Thus in fickle love of life I live,\n Lest fickle life me of my love deprive.\n\n --Owen Meredith.\n\n And Jehovah said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore art thou thus\n fallen upon thy face?\n\n Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against\n to-morrow.\n\n --Joshua 7. 10, 13.\n\nAlmighty God, help me in these fleeting days that I may not use my\ntime to consider and hesitate, but be positive in my desires and\npursue them. Grant that I may have the strength to hold each day\nprecious, and live it more than consistently. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER NINTH\n\nMark Akenside born 1721.\n\nWilliam Sotheby born 1757.\n\nCharles F. Thwing born 1853.\n\n The victor's road is the easy way.\n Straight it stretches and climbs to where\n Fame is waiting with garlands gay\n To wreathe the fighter who clambers there.\n There's applause in plenty and gold's red gleam\n For the man who plays on the winning team.\n\n The loser travels a longer lane;\n Level it leads to a lonely land.\n There's little glory for him to gain\n The voices mock him on either hand;\n But the man who wins in the greater game\n Is the man who, beaten, fights on the same.\n\n --G. Rice.\n\n The hero is not fed on sweets,\n Daily his own heart he eats;\n Chambers of the great are jails,\n And head-winds right for royal sails.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n He thanked God, and took courage.\n\n --Acts 28. 15.\n\nO Lord, I pray that whether I may be successful in the sight of the\nworld, or whether I may be successful in my own sacrifices, I may have\nthe freedom of courage, and be master of my life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER TENTH\n\nMartin Luther born 1483.\n\nWilliam Hogarth born 1697.\n\nOliver Goldsmith born 1728.\n\nJohann von Schiller born 1759.\n\nJoaquin Miller born 1841.\n\nHenry van Dyke born 1852.\n\n As faith, so is God.\n\n --Martin Luther.\n\n Learn the luxury of doing good.\n\n --Oliver Goldsmith.\n\n Love is the ladder by which we climb up to the likeness of God.\n\n --Johann von Schiller.\n\n And who will walk a mile with me\n Along life's weary way?\n A friend whose heart has eyes to see\n The stars shine out o'er the darkening lea,\n And the quiet rest at the end of the day--\n A friend who knows and dares to say,\n The brave sweet words that cheer the way\n Where he walks a mile with me.\n\n --Henry van Dyke.\n\n And whosoever shall compel thee to go one mile, go with him two.\n\n --Matthew 5. 41.\n\nMy Father, may I not dwell in the appearances of life, where I may\ngrow selfish; but live in the realities of simplicity. May I not only\nseek those who may return me pleasure, but may I find delight in\nbrightening the walk of a weary friend. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER ELEVENTH\n\nAlfred de Musset born 1810.\n\nThomas Bailey Aldrich born 1836.\n\nRev. Joshua Brookes died 1821.\n\n I'll not confer with Sorrow\n Till to-morrow,\n But joy shall have her way\n This very day.\n\n --Thomas Bailey Aldrich.\n\n Shall we have ears on the stretch for the footfalls of sorrow that\n never come, but be deaf to the whirr of the wings of happiness that\n fill all space?\n\n --Maurice Maeterlinck.\n\n This day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we\n tarry till the morning light, punishment will overtake, us; now\n therefore come, let us go and tell the king's household.\n\n --2 Kings 7. 9.\n\nLoving Father, I pray that thou wilt help me to overcome unhappiness.\nMay I not let depression overpower me, but claim the promises of joy\nthat are open to every life. May I be blest by my own cheerfulness and\nencourage others to possess it. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER TWELFTH\n\nSaint Augustine died A. D. 354.\n\nRichard Baxter born 1615.\n\nAmelia Opie born 1769.\n\nElizabeth Cady Stanton born 1815.\n\nThomas Lord Fairfax died 1671.\n\n In life it is difficult to say who do you the most mischief--enemies\n with the worst intentions or friends with the best.\n\n --Edward Bulwer.\n\n The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them to thy\n soul with hooks of steel.\n\n --William Shakespeare.\n\n Where persons who ought to esteem and love each other are kept\n asunder, as often happens, by some cause which three words of frank\n explanation would remove, they are fortunate if they possess an\n indiscreet friend who blurts out the whole truth.\n\n --Thomas B. Macaulay.\n\n Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,\n Who did eat of my bread,\n Hath lifted up his heel against me.\n\n --Psalm 41. 9.\n\nLord God, help me to consider more carefully what I offer to my\nfriends; and may I not be critical of what I receive from my friends.\nMay I not be a hindrance instead of a help to those who would have my\ncompanionship. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER THIRTEENTH\n\nSir John Moore born 1761.\n\nRobert Louis Stevenson born 1850.\n\nSir John Forbes died 1861.\n\n Little do we know our own blessedness; for to travel hopefully is a\n better thing than to arrive, and the True Success is to labor.\n\n --Robert Louis Stevenson.\n\n Whether thy work be fine or coarse, planting corn or writing epics,\n so only it be honest work, done to thine own approbation, it shall\n earn a reward to sense as well as to the thought.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n Nature gives to labor; and to labor alone. In a very garden of Eden\n a man would starve but for human exertion.\n\n --Henry George.\n\n But let each man prove his own work, and then shall he have his\n glorying in regard of himself alone, and not of his neighbor.\n\n --Galatians 6. 4.\n\nMy Father, make pure living clear to me, that I may not be deceived in\nmy work; and may I not use my working hours searching for more\nsuitable work, but may I be sure in what I am that I may feel secure\nin what I undertake to do. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER FOURTEENTH\n\nBishop Hoadley born 1676.\n\nFanny Mendelssohn-Hensel born 1805.\n\nRobert Smythe Hichens born 1864.\n\n Give us, O give us, the man who sings at his work! Be his occupation\n what it may, he is better than any of those who follow the same\n pursuit in silent sullenness.\n\n --Thomas Carlyle.\n\n What doctor possesses such curative resources as those latent in a\n single ray of hope? The mainspring of life is in the heart. Joy is\n the vital air of the soul, and grief is a kind of asthma complicated\n by atony.\n\n --Amiel.\n\n I will sing unto Jehovah as long as I live:\n I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.\n\n --Psalm 104. 33.\n\nLoving Father, restore the spirit of gentleness and meekness if it may\nbe withered within me, that I may be contented. May I make it a habit\nto be happy over my work and cheerful about my duties. May I never\nlose the view of the glory of thy kingdom. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER FIFTEENTH\n\nWilliam Pitt, Earl of Chatham, born 1708.\n\nWilliam Cowper born 1731.\n\nSir William Herschel born 1738.\n\nJohann Lavater born 1741.\n\nRichard Henry Dana born 1787.\n\nIda Tarbell born 1857.\n\n The parting sun sends out a glow\n Across the placid bay,\n Touching with glory all the show--\n A breeze! Up helm! Away!\n\n Careening to the wind, they reach,\n With laugh and call, the shore.\n They've left their footprints on the beach,\n But them I hear no more.\n\n --Richard Henry Dana.\n\n Art little? Do thy little well:\n And for thy comfort know\n The great can do their greatest work\n No better than just so.\n\n --Goethe.\n\n But be thou an ensample to them that believe, in word, in manner of\n life, in love, in faith, in purity.\n\n --1 Timothy 4. 12.\n\nLord God, grant that if I may be complaining of what Providence has\nnot sent me, I may not be neglecting what Providence has given me. May\nI not pause too long over what I have done, or over what I might have\ndone, but may I be appreciative of what thou dost expect of me and\nendeavor to accomplish it. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER SIXTEENTH\n\nTiberius born B.C. 42.\n\nGustavus Adolphus killed 1632.\n\nFrancis Danby born 1793.\n\n Judge not the workings of his brain\n And of his heart thou canst not see;\n What looks to thy dim eyes a stain\n In God's pure light may only be\n A scar, brought from some well-won field,\n Where thou would'st only faint and yield.\n\n And judge none lost; but wait and see,\n With hopeful pity, not disdain;\n The depth of the abyss may be\n The measure of the height of pain\n And love and glory that may raise\n The soul to God in after days!\n\n --Adelaide A. Procter.\n\n I am more afraid of deserving criticism, than of receiving it.\n\n --William Gladstone.\n\n Judge not, that ye be not judged.\n\n --Matthew 7.1.\n\nLord Jehovah, judge of all mankind, forbid that I should set myself as\na judge of another's life, and neglect to live for the higher judgment\nof my own. May I not be absorbed in that which thrives in darkness,\nbut live in the light of honesty and gentleness. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER SEVENTEENTH\n\nQueen Mary of England died 1558.\n\nJoost van den Vondel born 1587.\n\nGeorge Grote born 1794.\n\n There are evergreen men and women in the world, praise be to\n God!--not many of them, but a few. They are not the showy folk.\n (Nature is an old-fashioned shopkeeper; she never puts her best\n goods in the window.) They are only the quiet, strong folk; they are\n stronger than Fate. The storms of life sweep over them, and the\n biting frosts creep round them; but the winds and the frosts pass\n away, and they are still standing, green and straight.\n\n --Jerome K. Jerome.\n\n And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water,\n That bringeth forth its fruit in its season,\n Whose leaf also doth not wither;\n And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.\n\n --Psalm 1.3.\n\nGracious Lord, may I not spend most in equipment and forget the tides,\nwhich may desert me on the sands, or the rocks in the channels, which\nmay crush the finest vessel. May I be prepared for the hard knocks if\nthey come, but may I know how to keep clear of them. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER EIGHTEENTH\n\nSir David Wilkie born 1785.\n\nLouis J. M. Daguerre born 1789.\n\nCyrus Field born 1819.\n\nWilliam S. Gilbert born 1836.\n\n If e'er when man had fallen asleep,\n I heard a voice, \"Believe no more,\"\n A warmth within the breast would melt\n The freezing reason's colder part,\n And like a man in wrath, the heart\n Stood up and answered, \"I have felt.\"\n\n --Alfred Tennyson.\n\n Faith is the deep want of the soul. We have faculties for the\n spiritual, as truly as for the outward world. God, the foundation of\n all existence, may become to the mind the most real of all beings.\n The believer feels himself resting on an everlasting foundation.\n\n --William Henry Channing.\n\n And they said one to another, Was not our heart burning within us,\n while he spake to us in the way, while he opened to us the\n scriptures?\n\n --Luke 24. 32.\n\nLord God, save me from a hard and doubting heart. May I be trustful\nand come to thee in faith. All the days of my life may my lips sing\nthy praise as I unfold thy love and purposes. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER NINETEENTH\n\nNicolas Poussin died 1665.\n\nAlbert Thorwaldsen born 1770.\n\nJames A. Garfield, Ohio, twentieth President United\nStates, born 1831.\n\nMary Hallock Foote born 1847.\n\nCount Lyoff (Leo) Tolstoy died 1910.\n\n And son I live, you see,\n Go through the world, try, prove, reject,\n Prefer, still struggling to effect\n My warfare; happy that I can\n Be crossed and thwarted as a man,\n Not left in God's contempt apart,\n With ghastly smooth life, dead at heart,\n Tame in earth's paddock, as her prize.\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n Be good at the depths of you, and you will discover that those who\n surround you will be good even to the same depths. Therein lies a\n force that has no name; a spiritual rivalry that has no resistance.\n\n --Maurice Maeterlinck.\n\n First of all, I must make myself a man; if I do not succeed in that,\n I can succeed in nothing.\n\n --James A. Garfield.\n\n That we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried\n about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in\n craftiness, after the wiles of error.\n\n --Ephesians 4. 14.\n\nEternal God, I thank thee for all the sterling elements that greaten\nthe individual life. I pray that I may not desire to be kept a small\ncreature, but seek to grow in wisdom and love, and qualify for mighty\npurposes and achievements. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER TWENTIETH\n\nPaul Potter born 1625.\n\nThomas Chatterton born 1752.\n\nWilliam Ellery Channing born 1818.\n\nSir Wilfred Laurier born 1841.\n\n Then why, my soul, dost thou complain?\n Why drooping seek the dark recess?\n Shake off the melancholy chain,\n For God created all to bless.\n\n The gloomy mantle of the night,\n Which on my sinking spirits steals,\n Will vanish at the morning light,\n Which God, my East, my Sun, reveals.\n\n --Thomas Chatterton.\n\n Lady, there is a hope that all men have--\n Some mercy for their faults, a grassy place\n To rest in, and a flower-strewn, gentle grave:\n Another hope which purifies our race,\n That when that fearful bourne forever past,\n They may find rest--and rest so long to last.\n\n I seek it not, I ask no rest forever,\n My path is onward to the farthest shores.\n\n --William Ellery Channing.\n\n He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay;\n And he set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.\n And he put a new song in my mouth.\n\n --Psalm 40. 2, 3.\n\nMy Father, I pray that I may have patience to live through the\ndifficulties of life. May I correct my faults, that they may not\ndestroy my peace and take from me my strength; help me to center my\nlife in brightness and hope. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER TWENTY-FIRST\n\nClaude Lorraine died 1682.\n\nBryan Waller Procter (Barry Cornwall) born 1787.\n\nMary Johnston born 1870.\n\n There is not a creature from England's king\n To the peasant that delves the soil,\n Who knows half the pleasures the seasons bring\n If he had not his share of toil.\n\n --Barry Cornwall.\n\n It may be proved, with much certainty, that God intends no man to\n live in this world without working; but it seems to me no less\n evident that he intends every man to be happy in his work. Now, in\n order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are\n needed: they must be fit for it; and they must not do too much of\n it; and they must have a sense of success in it.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n Let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that\n he may have whereof to give to him that hath need.\n\n --Ephesians 4. 28.\n\nMy Father, if my work seems hard to-day, may I not cease working if I\ngrow weary, but may my strength be renewed to continue my work. May\nthe aim of my work be to please thee, and to help in the progress of\nhumanity. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER TWENTY-SECOND\n\nSaint Cecilia martyred A.D. 230.\n\nSir Henry Havelock died 1857.\n\nJustin M'Carthy born 1830.\n\n Sometimes the sun, unkindly hot,\n My garden makes a desert spot,\n Sometimes a blight upon the tree\n Takes all my fruit away from me;\n And then with throes of bitter pain\n Rebellious passions rise and swell;\n And so I sing and all is well.\n\n --Paul Laurence Dunbar.\n\n Such songs have power to quiet\n The restless pulse of care,\n And come like benediction\n That follows after prayer.\n\n --Henry W. Longfellow.\n\n Songs consecrate to truth and liberty.\n\n --Percy Bysshe Shelley.\n\n David took the harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was\n refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.\n\n --1 Samuel 16. 23.\n\nAlmighty God, I thank thee that thou wilt come to me as my heart cries\nfor need. I bless thee that thou dost come to me as my lips sing thy\npraise. I pray that I may be saved from a cruel and cheerless heart,\nand be a sharer of the songs that are sung to the soul. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER TWENTY-THIRD\n\nThomas Tallis died 1585.\n\nFranklin Pierce, New Hampshire, fourteenth President\nUnited States, born 1804.\n\nMarie Bashkirtseff born 1860.\n\n Asleep, awake, by night or day,\n The friends I seek are seeking me;\n No word can drive my bark astray,\n Nor change the tide of destiny.\n\n The stars come nightly to the sky,\n The tidal wave unto the sea;\n Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high,\n Can keep my own away from me.\n\n --John Burroughs.\n\n If a man could make a single rose we would give him an empire; yet\n flowers no less beautiful are scattered in profusion over the world,\n and no one regards them.\n\n --Martin Luther.\n\n Let patience have its perfect work.\n\n --James 1. 4.\n\nMy Creator, may I remember that after thou didst create the earth thou\ndidst say it was good. May I love the fragrance and beauty of the\nflowers which were made to nourish the soul, and the fruits and herbs\nwhich were made to nourish the body. May my song of thanksgiving be\nnew every morning, as I awake in the abundance of what thou hast\nprepared. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER TWENTY-FOURTH\n\nJohn Knox died 1572.\n\nBaron Spinoza born 1632.\n\nGrace Darling born 1815.\n\nFrances Hodgson Burnett born 1849.\n\n I waited long until the sky\n Should give me of its blue\n To weave and wear, and share, and weave\n The very stars into.\n The days they went, the years they went,\n And left my hands instead\n Another thing for wonderment,\n The mending and the bread.\n\n Ah me, and one must set a hand\n To burnish up the task,\n And hush and hush the old demand\n A wakeful heart will ask.\n But with a star's clear eye on me,\n O, I can hear it said,\n \"What souls there be that only see\n The mending and the bread!\"\n\n --Josephine P. Peabody.\n\n The riches of a commonwealth\n Are free, strong minds and hearts of health.\n And more to her than gold or grain,\n The cunning hand and cultured brain.\n\n --John G. Whittier.\n\n For the life is more than the food, and the body than the raiment.\n\n --Luke 12. 23.\n\nMy Father, I pray that thou wilt help me, that I may not consume my\nlife in preparing clothes and food for my body. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER TWENTY-FIFTH\n\nCharles Kemble born 1775.\n\nJohn Bigelow born 1817.\n\nPaul Haupt born 1858.\n\nJohn Kitto died 1854.\n\n I will not kill or hurt any living creature needlessly, nor destroy\n any beautiful thing, but will strive to save and comfort all gentle\n life and guard and perfect all natural beauty on earth. I will\n strive to raise my own body and soul daily into all the higher\n powers of duty and-happiness, not in rivalship or contention with\n others, but for help, delight, and honor of others and for the joy\n and peace of my own life.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the\n earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover\n the sea.\n\n --Isaiah 11. 9.\n\nLord God, I rejoice in the blessedness of peace. May I not try to\nforce peace where cruelty has entered, but keep a watch for what may\ncome into my life. I pray that if I may be in turbulence to-day, thou\nwilt quiet me with thy peace which knows no fear or wrong. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER TWENTY-SIXTH\n\nSir William Ware born 1594.\n\nJohn Elwes died 1789.\n\nJohn Loudoun Macadam died 1836.\n\n I'd like a way\n To change the clouds that bring us sorrow,\n And build to-day a bright to-morrow;\n To banish cares that tarry long,\n And have the days like the blue-bird's song--\n I'd like a way.\n\n I'll find a way--\n I'll set sail when the breeze is high,\n And calmly drift when pleasure's nigh;\n I'll steer a course afar from tears,\n And take in joy the coming years--\n I'll find a way.\n\n I've lost the way!\n Out through the gloom a beam of light\n Looks like a purpose looming bright!\n Up with the sail! I'll out to sea\n And bring that purpose back with me,\n Or go its way.\n\n --M.B.S.\n\n Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: He is\n gracious, and merciful, and righteous.\n\n --Psalm 112. 4.\n\nMy Father, I pray that I may not through indifference wander without a\npurpose, or through discouragement stumble through the darkness. May I\nbe drawn to the light by the vision of hopeful and useful days. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER TWENTY-SEVENTH\n\nHorace died B.C. 8.\n\nMarquise d'Aubign\u00e9 Maintenon born 16324.\n\nGeneral Artemus Ward born 1727.\n\nFanny Kemble born 1809.\n\nAlexandra Dumas died 1895.\n\n Be this thy brazen bulwark of defense, to preserve a conscience void\n of offense, and never turn pale with guilt.\n\n --Horace.\n\n Is life a noxious weed which whirlwinds sow?\n A useless flint o'er which the waters flow?\n Not so!\n A life well spent has not its weight in gold;\n It is the clearest crystal earth doth hold,\n A gem beside which suns seem dull and cold.\n\n --Robert Louis Stevenson.\n\n That they may lay hold on the life which is life indeed.\n\n --1 Timothy 6. 19.\n\nLord God, I pray that my life may not be impoverished by neglect, nor\nburdened with indulgences, but that it may be kept in condition for\nhigh endeavors. Grant that I may never be content to rest in\nsatisfaction and ease when I could struggle and accomplish a good\nwork. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER TWENTY-EIGHTH\n\nWilliam Blake born 1757.\n\nAnton G. Rubinstein born 1829\n\nWashington Irving died 1859.\n\n The sorrow for the dead is the only sorrow from which we refuse to\n be divorced. Every other wound we seek to heal, every other\n affliction to forget. Take warning by the bitterness of this thy\n contrite affliction over the dead, and henceforth be more faithful\n and affectionate in the discharge of thy duties to the living.\n\n --Washington Irving.\n\n Joy and woe are woven fine,\n A clothing for the soul divine;\n Every grief and pine\n Runs a joy with a silken twine.\n\n --William Blake.\n\n Ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.\n\n --John 16. 20.\n\nHeavenly Father, grant that I may not lose the kindness that I may\ngive and receive to-day. I thank thee for the memories of yesterday,\nthe hope of to-morrow, and the wisdom of to-day. May I have a vision\nof immortality that will keep me through the closest sorrow. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER TWENTY-NINTH\n\nSir Philip Sidney born 1554.\n\nA. Bronson Alcott born 1799.\n\nWendell Phillips born 1811.\n\nLouisa M. Alcott born 1832.\n\n Truth is sensitive and jealous of the least encroachment of its\n sacredness.\n\n --A. Bronson Alcott.\n\n Faith that withstood the shocks of toil and time,\n Hope that defied despair,\n Patience that conquered care,\n And loyalty whose courage was sublime;\n\n Teaching us how to seek the highest goal,\n To earn the true success;\n To live to love, to bless,\n And make death proud to take a royal soul.\n\n --Louisa M. Alcott.\n\n Nor is it\n Wiser to weep a true occasion lost,\n But trim our sails, and let old bygones be.\n\n --Alfred Tennyson.\n\n In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before\n times eternal.\n\n --Titus 1. 2.\n\nHeavenly Father, I pray that I may live in truth; and without fear of\nlife or death live content in the faith of eternal life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNOVEMBER THIRTIETH\n\nPeregrine White born New England 1620.\n\nJonathan Swift born 1687.\n\nSamuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) born 1835.\n\nWinston Churchill born 1874.\n\n He gave it for his opinion that whoever could make two ears of corn,\n or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one\n grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential\n service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put\n together.\n\n --Jonathan Swift.\n\n That man may last, but never lives,\n Who much receives, but nothing gives;\n Whom none can love, whom none can thank,--\n Creation's blot, creation's blank.\n\n --Thomas Gibbons.\n\n Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down,\n shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For\n with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.\n\n --Luke 6. 38.\n\nMy Father, preserve my soul from all selfishness. May I delight in thy\nteaching as I trust in thy word. I pray that I may not only speak\ntruthfully, but that I may leave the door of my spirit open, that\ntruth may always enter and abide continually. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER\n\n\n He comes--he comes--the Frost Spirit comes:\n You may trace his footsteps now\n On the naked woods and the blasted fields,\n And the brown hill's withered brow.\n He has smitten the leaves of the gray old trees,\n Where their green came forth,\n And the winds, which follow wherever he goes,\n Have shaken them down to earth.\n\n He comes--he comes--the Frost Spirit comes!\n Let us meet him as we may,\n And turn with the light of the parlor fire\n His evil power away;\n And gather closer the circle round,\n Where the firelight dances high,\n And laugh at the shriek of the baffled fiend,\n As his sounding wing goes by.\n\n --John G. Whittier.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER FIRST\n\nDr. George Birkbeck died 1841.\n\nQueen Alexandra born 1844.\n\nR.W. Dale born 1829.\n\nEbenezer Elliott died 1849.\n\n We would fill the hours with the sweetest things,\n If we had but a day:\n We should drink alone at the purest springs,\n In our upward way:\n We should guide our wayward or wearied will,\n By the clearest light:\n We should keep our eyes on the heavenly hills,\n If they lay in sight:\n We should be from our clamorous selves set free,\n To work and pray:\n And be what the Father would have us to be,\n If we had but a day.\n\n --Margaret E. Sangster.\n\n Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable,\n whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever\n things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be\n any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.\n\n --Philippians 4. 8.\n\nGracious Father, help me to understand that my life grows out of what\nI put into my days. Forgive me for the unspoken words and the kind\ndeeds which I kept for rare days, and had so few occasions to use. May\nI be as useful in kindness as I am in work, remembering that to thee\nevery day is a golden day. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER SECOND\n\nDavid Masson born 1822.\n\nJohn Brown hanged, Charlestown, West Virginia\n1859.\n\nHugh Miller died 1856.\n\n The solitude of life is known to us all; for the most part we are\n alone, and the voices of friends come only faint and broken across\n the impassable gulfs which surround every human soul.\n\n --Hamilton Mabie.\n\n To have an ideal or to have none, to have this ideal or that--this\n is what digs gulfs between men, even between those who live in the\n same family circle, under the same roof, or in the same room. You\n must love with the same love, think with the same thoughts as some\n one else if you are to escape solitude.\n\n --Amiel.\n\n The plans of the heart belong to man;\n But the answer of the tongue is from Jehovah.\n\n --Proverbs 16. 1.\n\nLord God, help me to take in the glory of life, that my spirit may\nnever be lonely, even though I may have to be much alone. I pray that\nthou wilt spare me the loneliness and the solitude that may be brought\non by selfishness. Make me considerate of others. May I soar above the\ndisappointments and losses that may come to me, and stay where I may\nhave thy companionship. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER THIRD\n\nSamuel Crompton born 1753.\n\nSir Frederick Leighton born 1830.\n\nRobert Louis Stevenson died 1894.\n\n To know what you prefer, instead of humbly saying \"Amen\" to what the\n world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul\n alive.\n\n --Robert Louis Stevenson.\n\n There is precious instruction to be got by finding we were wrong.\n Let a man try faithfully, manfully to be right. He will grow daily\n more and more right.\n\n --Thomas Carlyle.\n\n The hero is the man who is immovably centered.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n Let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our\n hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience: and having our body washed\n with pure water.\n\n --Hebrews 10. 22.\n\nGracious Father, grant that I may not be content to follow through\nignorance and indolence and be led to the lowly paths of life. Make my\nHie positive; and from my surroundings may I look out and struggle to\nmount to the highest ideals, that I may be qualified to select the\nbest in life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER FOURTH\n\nCardinal Richelieu died 1642.\n\nWilliam Drummond died 1649.\n\nMadame Recamier born 1777.\n\nThomas Carlyle born 1795.\n\nJohn Kitto born 1804.\n\n It is with a man's soul as it is with nature: the beginning of\n Creation is--Light. Till the eye have visions the whole members are\n in bonds. Divine moment, when over the tempest-tost Soul, as once\n over the wild-weltering Chaos, it is spoken: Let there be Light!\n\n --Thomas Carlyle.\n\n What in me is dark\n Illumine, what is low raise and support;\n That to the light of this great argument\n I may assert eternal Providence\n And justify the ways of God to men.\n\n --John Milton.\n\n For thou art my lamp, O Jehovah; And Jehovah will lighten my\n darkness.\n\n --2 Samuel 22. 29.\n\nMy Lord, forgive me if I have allowed bitterness and misery to darken\nmy life, for my soul yearns continually for the light. In thy\ncompassion lead me to the \"sunny side of the road where the beautiful\nflowers grow,\" that my path may be made bright and cheerful all the\nrest of the way. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER FIFTH\n\nMartin Van Buren, New York, eighth President\nUnited States, born 1782.\n\nChristina G. Rossetti born 1830.\n\nAlice Brown born 1857.\n\n A cold wind stirs the blackthorn\n To burgeon and to blow,\n Besprinkling half-green hedges\n With flakes and sprays of snow.\n\n Through coldness and through keenness,\n Dear hearts take comfort so:\n Somewhere or other doubtless\n These make the blackthorn blow.\n\n --Christina G. Rossetti.\n\n There are some men and women in whose company we are always at our\n best. All the best stops in our nature are drawn out by their\n intercourse, and we find a music in our souls never there before.\n\n --Henry Drummond.\n\n And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works.\n\n --Hebrews 10. 24.\n\nMy Father, I thank thee for life. Make me sensitive to the unseen\ninfluences that bring thy messages. May I be led where great riches\nmay be found through small kindnesses, and where I may learn from the\nmeek the beauty of earth. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER SIXTH\n\nGeneral George Monk born 1608.\n\nWarren Hastings born 1732.\n\nDr. Richard Barham born 1786.\n\n That low man seeks a little thing to do,\n Sees it and does it:\n This high man, with a great thing to pursue,\n Dies ere he knows it.\n That low man goes on adding one to one,\n His hundred's soon hit:\n This high man, aiming at a million,\n Misses an unit.\n That, has the world here--should he need the next,\n Let the world mind him!\n This, throws himself on God, and unperplexed\n Seeking shall find him.\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n Hitch your wagon to a star.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy\n face, Jehovah, will I seek.\n\n --Psalm 27. 8.\n\nAlmighty God, show me what thou hast given for me to do, that I may\nnot leave undone that which is mine. Forgive me for useless planning\nand blind asking for the things which cannot be mine. I pray that my\nwork may be honest work, well done, and acceptable for thy service.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER SEVENTH\n\nCicero assassinated B.C. 43.\n\nJohn Dalton born 1766.\n\nMary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, born 1542.\n\n It is virtue--yes, let me repeat it again--it is virtue alone that\n can give birth, strength, and permanency to friendship. For virtue\n is a uniform and steady principle ever acting consistently with\n itself.\n\n --Cicero.\n\n A common friendship--who talks of a common friendship? There is no\n such thing in the world. On earth no word is more sublime.\n\n --Henry Drummond.\n\n But thou shalt surely open thy hand unto him, and shalt surely lend\n him sufficient for his need.\n\n --Deuteronomy 15. 8.\n\nLord God, wilt thou reveal to me my weakness if I may be insincere;\nand give me the strength that I lack to keep me true. May I not take\nadvantage of the ignorant, or thoughtlessly lead the innocent into\ntemptation. Grant that I may be a trustful and kind friend. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER EIGHTH\n\nJohn Pym died 1643.\n\nRichard Baxter died 1691.\n\nThomas De Quincey died 1859.\n\nElihu Burritt born 1810.\n\nRobert Collyer born 1823.\n\n Into the dusk of the East,\n Gray with the coming of night,\n This may we know at least--\n After the night comes light!\n Over the mariners' graves,\n Grim in the depths below,\n Buoyantly breasting the waves,\n Into the East we go.\n\n On to a distant strand,\n Wonderful, far, unseen,\n On to a stranger land,\n Skimming the seas between;\n On through the days and nights,\n Hope in each sailor's breast,\n On till the harbor lights\n Flash on the shores of rest!\n\n J.H. Jowett.\n\n So he bringeth them unto their desired haven.\n\n --Psalm 107. 30.\n\nLord God, I pray that thou wilt provide me with thy indwelling peace.\nMay it keep me reconciled to the decline of years, and enable me to\nbear the earthly separation from those whom I love. May I always have\nhope and trust in thee. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER NINTH\n\nJohn Milton born 1608.\n\nSir Anthony Van Dyck died 1641.\n\nJoel Chandler Harris born 1848.\n\n Doth God exact day labor, light denied?\n I fondly ask: but Patience, to prevent\n That murmur, soon replies, \"God doth not need\n Either man's work, or his own gifts; who best\n Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best; his state\n Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed,\n And post o'er land and ocean without rest;\n They also serve who only stand and wait.\"\n\n --John Milton.\n\n \"'Tain't on'y chilluns w'at got de consate er doin' eve'ything dey\n see yuther folks do. Hit's grown folks w'at oughter know better,\"\n said Uncle Remus.\n\n --Joel Chandler Harris.\n\n Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have\n grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with\n reverence and awe.\n\n --Hebrews 12. 28.\n\nMy Father, teach me to select my work from that which is noble and\ntrue. May I not mold my life in affectation or feel that I must\nimitate the lives of others, but grant that I may perfect my life\nthrough experiences which are worthy of increasing endeavors. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER TENTH\n\nThomas Holcroft born 1745.\n\nDr. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet born 1787.\n\nEugene Sue born 1804.\n\n Be of good cheer. Do not think of to-day's failures, but of success\n that may come to-morrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task,\n but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will have a joy in\n overcoming obstacles--a delight in climbing rugged paths which you\n would perhaps never know if you did not sometimes slip backward, if\n the road were always smooth and pleasant. Remember, no effort that\n we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.\n\n --Helen Keller.\n\n We rise by things that are beneath our feet,\n By what we have mastered by good and gain,\n By the pride deposed and passion slain,\n And the vanquished ills that we hourly meet.\n\n --J.G. Holland.\n\n He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with, me in my\n throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his\n throne.\n\n --Revelation 3. 21.\n\nMy Father, I pray that I may not be given to contradicting and\ndoubting, nor take for granted that which needs to be considered.\nGrant that I may have the faith and strength of heart to fulfill the\nlongings of my soul. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER ELEVENTH\n\nSir Roger L'Estrange died 1704.\n\nDr. William Cullen born 1712.\n\nColley Cibber died 1757.\n\n Lord, subdue our selfish will;\n Each to each our tempers suit,\n By thy modulating skill,\n Heart to heart, as lute to lute.\n\n --Charles Wesley.\n\n One of the last, slowly murmured sayings of Whittier, was this:\n \"Give--my--love--to--the--world.\" And this is the world's supreme\n need to-day; more than our eloquence, or our knowledge, or our\n wealth, or all else besides, it needs our love. True, even love may\n sometimes err; but the cure for love's mistakes is just more love;\n we often blunder because we do not love enough. God help us all\n that, like Whittier, we may live and die, giving our love to the\n world.\n\n --George Jackson.\n\n Love never faileth.\n\n --1 Corinthians 13. 8.\n\nLord God, help me to see the beauty of the world, and through my duty\nmay I find the love in the world. May I not spend my life in\ndiscontent, but may I remember that thou hast said, \"The meek shall\ninherit the earth.\" Fill my heart with compassion, that I may love my\nfellow man as I love myself. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER TWELFTH\n\nChief Justice John Jay born 1745.\n\nGustav Flaubert born 1821.\n\nRobert Browning died 1889.\n\n A people is but the attempt of many\n To rise to the completer life of one.\n And those who live for models for the mass\n Are singly of more value than they all.\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n Give me the power to labor for mankind;\n Make me the mouth of such as cannot speak;\n Eyes let me be to groping men and blind;\n A conscience to the base; and to the weak\n Let me be hands and feet, and to the foolish, mind;\n And lead still further on such as thy kingdom seek.\n\n --Theodore Parker.\n\n I was eyes to the blind,\n And feet was I to the lame.\n\n --Job 29. 15.\n\nAlmighty God, wilt thou guide me in the direction where I may choose a\nuseful life; open wide my heart as well as my eyes, that I may early\nsee my work and be diligent in its prosecution. Reveal to me, when I\nmay have failed, that I may do better to-morrow. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER THIRTEENTH\n\nWilliam Drummond born 1585.\n\nDr. Samuel Johnson died 1784.\n\nJoseph Noel Paton born 1821.\n\nPhillips Brooks born 1835.\n\nHamilton Mabie born 1846.\n\n When the clouds of sorrow gather over us, we see nothing beyond\n them, nor can imagine how they can be dispelled; yet a new day\n succeeded to the night, and sorrow is never long without a dawn of\n ease.\n\n --Dr. Samuel Johnson.\n\n The fountains of joy and sorrow are for the most part locked up in\n ourselves.... There come to great, solitary, and sorely smitten\n souls moments of clear insight, of assurance of victory, of\n unspeakable fellowship with truth and life and God, which outweigh\n years of sorrow and bitterness.\n\n --Hamilton Mabie.\n\n And ye therefore now have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your\n heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one taketh away from you.\n\n --John 16. 22.\n\nMy Father, may I remember that the days of my life that I give over to\ngrief can never be reclaimed. Help me that I may not want to keep\nsorrow in my life, but with faith may I believe that \"weeping may\nendure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.\" Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER FOURTEENTH\n\nDaniel Neal born 1678.\n\nRev. Charles Wolfe born 1791.\n\nGeorge Washington died 1799.\n\nFrances Ridley Havergal born 1836.\n\n Seldom can the heart be lonely,\n If it seek a lonelier still;\n Self-forgetting, seeking only\n Emptier cups of love to fill.\n\n --Frances R. Havergal.\n\n When to the sessions of sweet silent thought\n I summon up remembrance of things past,\n I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought.\n And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste\n\n * * * * *\n\n But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,\n All losses are restored, and sorrows end.\n\n --William Shakespeare.\n\n The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of them that are taught,\n that I may know how to sustain with words him that is weary.\n\n --Isaiah 50. 4.\n\nGracious Father, keep me cheerful and courageous, that I may not be\ngiven to weary murmurings. May my hours of solitude be spent\nprofitably as they pass. Grant that I may be a help to those who are\nin need of sympathy and encouragement, and through the peace that is\ngiven to me help them to a tranquil life. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER FIFTEENTH\n\nCatherine of Aragon born 1485.\n\nGeorge Romney born 1734.\n\nFranklin B. Sanborn born 1831.\n\n Yet frequent visitors shall kiss the shrine,\n And ever keep its vestal lamp alight;\n All noble thoughts, all dreams divinely bright,\n That waken or delight this soul of mine.\n\n --F.B. Sanborn.\n\n One small cloud can hide the sunlight;\n Loose one string, the pearls are scattered;\n Think one thought, a soul may perish;\n Say one word, a heart may break.\n\n --A.A. Procter.\n\n Self-scrutiny is often the most unpleasant, and always the most\n difficult, of moral actions. But it is also the most important and\n salutary; for, as the wisest of the Greeks said, \"An unexamined life\n is not worth living.\"\n\n --J. Strachan.\n\n Try your own selves, whether ye are in the faith; prove your own\n selves.\n\n --2 Corinthians 13. 5.\n\nGracious Father, help me that I may not be thoughtless and unkind. May\nI be gentle and sympathetic. Forgive me for any unhappiness which I\nmay have made, and may it be mine to know the rejoicing that comes hi\nlifting a discouraged life in time. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER SIXTEENTH\n\nJohn Selden born 1584.\n\nFran\u00e7ois La Rochefoucauld born 1610.\n\nGeorge Whitefield born 1714.\n\nJane Austen born 1775.\n\n So live that when thy summons comes to join\n The innumerable caravan that moves\n To that mysterious realm where each shall take\n His chamber in the silent halls of death,\n Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night,\n Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed\n By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave\n Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch\n About him and lies down to pleasant dreams.\n\n --William Cullen Bryant.\n\n As the wind extinguishes a taper but kindles the fire, so absence is\n the death of an ordinary passion, but lends strength to the greater.\n\n --La Rochefoucauld.\n\n If a man die, shall he live again?\n\n --Job 14. 14.\n\nHeavenly Father, with thy help may I enter into the hope that\novercomes the fear of death. May my days be full of aspiration, and\nthrough faith may my life move toward the eternal and the sublime.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER SEVENTEENTH\n\nSir Roger L'Estrange born 1616.\n\nLudwig van Beethoven born 1770.\n\nSir Humphry Davy born 1779.\n\nJohn Greenleaf Whittier born 1807.\n\n The night is mother of the day,\n The winter of the spring;\n And ever upon old decay\n The greenest mosses cling.\n Behind the cloud the starlight lurks,\n Through showers the sunbeams fall;\n For God, who loveth all his works,\n Has left his hope with all.\n\n --John Greenleaf Whittier.\n\n The sun set; but not his hope:\n Stars rose; his faith was earlier up.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n What I am I have made myself.\n\n --Sir Humphry Davy.\n\n Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth:\n My flesh also shall dwell in safety.\n\n --Psalm 16. 9.\n\nMy Father, may I never be content to pass by thy beautiful offerings\nand keep on in wretched despair. Save me if I may 'be inclining toward\nmisery. Give me the spirit of repose, and help me to confide in thee\nas I daily seek the strength of thy love. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER EIGHTEENTH\n\nCharles Wesley born 1708.\n\nLyman Abbott born 1835.\n\nSamuel Rogers died 1855.\n\nSir Joseph John Thomson born 1845.\n\n And let this feeble body fail,\n And let it faint or die;\n My soul shall quit this mournful vale,\n And soar to worlds on high.\n\n --Charles Wesley.\n\n It were better to live an immortal life and be robbed of immortality\n hereafter by some supernal power, than to live the mortal, fleshly\n animal life, and live it endlessly. Who would not rather have a\n right to immortality than to be immortal without a right to be?\n\n --Lyman Abbott.\n\n So when a great man dies,\n For years beyond our ken,\n The light he leaves behind him lies\n Upon the paths of men.\n\n --Henry W. Longfellow.\n\n But he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal\n life.\n\n --Galatians 6. 8.\n\nMy Father, I pray that I may be spared the deprivations that may come\nfrom years spent in selfishness. Help me to realize before it is too\nlate how little self can hold and how much remorse may accumulate.\nHelp me to aspire to ideals that compel me to live an immortal life.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER NINETEENTH\n\nGustavus Adolphus born 1594.\n\nHoratio Bonar born 1808.\n\nF. Delsarte born 1811.\n\nMary A. Livermore born 1820.\n\nJ.M.W. Turner died 1851.\n\n If a man is to be a pillar in the temple of his God by and by, he\n must be some kind of a prop in God's house to-day. We are here to\n support, not to be supported. No one can be a living stone on the\n foundations of the Spiritual House which is God's habitation without\n being a foundation to the stones above him.\n\n --Maltbie Babcock.\n\n Since trifles make the sum of human things,\n And half our misery from our foibles springs;\n Since life's best joys consist in peace and ease,\n O let th' ungentle spirit learn from hence,\n A small unkindness is a great offense.\n\n --Hannah More.\n\n He that overcometh I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and\n he shall go out thence no more.\n\n --Revelation 3. 12.\n\nMy Father, grant that I may not deceive myself and expect big results\nfrom little efforts; nor be willing to receive assistance and refuse\nmy support. May I not only be anxious to give others all that I can,\nand share their burdens, but may I be glad to help make fewer burdens\nfor others to bear. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER TWENTIETH\n\nLouis the Dauphin died 1765.\n\nJohn Wilson Croker born 1780.\n\nCyrus Townsend Brady born 1861.\n\n Love is not love\n Which alters when it alteration finds,\n Or bends with the remover to remove.\n O no! it is an ever-fixed mark\n That looks on tempests and is never shaken.\n It is the star to every wandering bark,\n Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.\n\n --William Shakespeare.\n\n I will not doubt the love untold\n Which not my worth nor want hath bought,\n Which wooed me young and wooes me old,\n And to this evening hath me brought.\n\n --Henry David Thoreau.\n\n Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with\n lovingkindness have I drawn thee.\n\n --Jeremiah 81. 3.\n\nLoving Father, teach me the secret of constancy, that none may ever be\ndisappointed in me. May I not reckon what I give on recompense, but\nhave the spirit of giving which has no measure for what it may receive\nin return. May I not be forgetful of thy love which will hold me to\ndeeper reverence and devotion. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER TWENTY-FIRST\n\nJean Baptiste Racine born 1639.\n\nRobert Moffat born 1795.\n\nLaura Bridgman born 1829.\n\n To think and to feel constitute the two grand divisions of men and\n genius--the men of reasoning and the men of imagination.\n\n --Disraeli.\n\n Grow old along with me! the best is yet to be,\n The last of life, for which the first was made:\n Our times are in his hand who saith, a whole I planned,\n Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n But the path of the righteous is as the dawning light, That shineth\n more and more unto the perfect day.\n\n --Proverbs 4. 18.\n\nAlmighty God, I pray that I may have the grace to penetrate the deep\nthings of life and test their truth and greatness. May I have faith in\nthy power and train for the best which thou hast made possible for me\nto live. Help me to think and feel aright, that I may be thine to-day,\nand in the days of to-morrow may I still be thine, ever keeping bright\nmemories of past days. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER TWENTY-SECOND\n\nFranz Abt born 1819.\n\nThomas W. Higginson born 1823.\n\nGeorge Eliot died 1880.\n\n Love and Pain\n Make their own measure of all things that be.\n No clock's slow ticking marks their deathless strain;\n The life they own is not the life we see;\n Love's single moment is eternity.\n\n --Thomas W. Higginson.\n\n Life is made stronger\n Giving, receiving;\n Love is made longer\n Hoping, believing.\n\n Life is made sweeter,\n Truly worth living;\n Love is completer,\n Trusting, forgiving.\n\n --M.B.S.\n\n In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another; in\n honor preferring one another.\n\n --Romans 12. 10.\n\nLoving Father, I thank thee that every morn breaks in a new day\nwithout the sadness of yesterday or the gladness of to-morrow. I pray\nthat I may not lose the love and joy that it brings to-day. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER TWENTY-THIRD\n\nMichael Drayton died 1631.\n\nRobert Barclay born 1648.\n\nJames Sargent Storer died 1854.\n\n When heaven endows you with all gifts, you are an incomplete being\n if you stay still in your corner instead of taking advantage of your\n real value.\n\n --Marie Bashkirtseff.\n\n Life, which ought to be a thing complete in itself, and ought to be\n spent partly in gathering materials, and partly in drawing\n inferences, is apt to be a hurried accumulation lasting to the edge\n of the tomb. We are put into the world, I cannot help feeling, to be\n rather than do.\n\n --Arthur C. Benson.\n\n Jehovah is the strength of my life.\n\n --Psalm 27. 1.\n\nHeavenly Father, I pray that thou wilt reverse my standards of life if\nI may be striving only for selfish gain. May I care for all that I\ncould be, and may I care for where I should be found, but, most of\nall, may I care for what I really am. Help me to keep my mind on thee\nthat I may find delight in doing thy will. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER TWENTY-FOURTH\n\nGeorge Crabbe born 1754.\n\nKit Carson born 1809.\n\nMatthew Arnold born 1822.\n\nJohn Morley born 1838.\n\nWilliam Makepeace Thackeray died 1863.\n\n Ah, friend, let us be true\n To one another! For the world, which seems\n To lie before us like a land of dreams,\n So various, so beautiful, so new,\n Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,\n Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain,\n And we are here as on a darkling plain\n Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,\n Where ignorant armies clash by night.\n\n --Matthew Arnold.\n\n We take care of our health, we lay up money, we make our roof tight\n and our clothing sufficient, but who provides wisely that we shall\n not be wanting in the best property of all--friends?\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n Faithful are the wounds of a friend.\n\n --Proverbs 27. 6.\n\nGracious Lord, fill my life with the spirit of love and sacrifice. I\nbless thee for the deep fellowships and tender intimacies; and on the\neve of this Christmas ask thy blessing for all, as my heart rings with\njoy for those whom I love. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER TWENTY-FIFTH\n\nChristmas Day.\n\nSir Isaac Newton born 1642.\n\nWilliam Collins born 1721.\n\nFather Taylor born 1794.\n\n This is the month, and this is the happy morn,\n Wherein the Son of heaven's eternal King,\n Of wedded maid, and virgin mother born,\n Our great redemption from above did bring.\n\n --John Milton.\n\n Christmas is here;\n Winds whistle shrill,\n Icy and chill,\n Little care we;\n Little we fear\n Weather without,\n Shelter'd about\n The Mahogany tree.\n\n --William M. Thackeray.\n\n And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you\n good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people: for\n there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is\n Christ the Lord.\n\n --Luke 2. 10, 11.\n\nAlmighty God, I give honor and praise to express my joy for thy great\nlove in the gift of thy Son, Jesus Christ. With a glad heart I wish\nall mankind \"A merry Christmas,\" and may I ever remember, where the\nangels sang, \"Peace on earth, good will toward men.\" Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER TWENTY-SIXTH\n\nThomas Gray born 1716.\n\nMrs. Southworth born 1818.\n\nStephen Girard died 1831.\n\n Let not ambition mock their useful toil,\n Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;\n Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile\n The short and simple annals of the poor.\n\n Nor you, ye proud, impute to those the fault,\n If memory o'er their tomb no trophies raise,\n Where, through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault,\n The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.\n\n Full many a gem of purest ray serene\n The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear;\n Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,\n And waste its sweetness on the desert air.\n\n --Thomas Gray.\n\n Jehovah, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty;\n Neither do I exercise myself in great matters,\n Or in things too wonderful for me.\n\n --Psalm 131. 1.\n\nGracious Father, give me the courage to live my life, and the\nendurance to overcome the disappointments that may come to me. May I\nnot be neglectful of the great opportunities of which I am privileged\nto take advantage. May I not be pretentious of what I have not done,\nor boastful of what I am, but with my best ability live in truth.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER TWENTY-SEVENTH\n\nJacques Bernoulli born 1654.\n\nJohann Kepler born 1571.\n\nCharles Lamb died 1834.\n\n There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the\n conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that\n he must take himself for better or worse, as his portion; that,\n though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing\n corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of\n ground which is given him to till.\n\n --Ralph Waldo Emerson.\n\n Knowing ourselves, our world, our task so great,\n Our time so brief, 'tis clear if we refuse\n The means so limited, the tools so rude\n To execute our purpose, life will fleet,\n And we shall fade, and leave our task undone.\n\n --Robert Browning.\n\n Study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with\n your hands.\n\n --1 Thessalonians 4. 11.\n\nLord God of life, give me the desire to learn, and the wisdom to live\nin my best. May I not fail to culture my mind and heart and make life\nproductive and worthy. Help me to see the mistakes that I have made in\nthe past, and in the year that is approaching not only try to avoid\nthem, but try to make amends for them. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER TWENTY-EIGHTH\n\nCatherine M. Sedgwick born 1789.\n\nWoodrow Wilson, Virginia, twenty-seventh President\nUnited States, born 1856.\n\nThomas B. Macaulay died 1859.\n\n The government might be serviceable for many things. It might assist\n in a hundred ways to safeguard the lives and the health and promote\n the comfort and happiness of the people; but it can do these things\n only if they respond to public opinion, only if those who lead\n government see the country as a whole, feel a deep thrill of\n intimate sympathy with every class and every interest in it.\n\n --Woodrow Wilson.\n\n The hearts of men are their books; events are their tutors; great\n actions are their eloquence.\n\n --Thomas B. Macaulay.\n\n Be of good courage, and let us play the man for our people, and for\n the cities of our God: and Jehovah do that which seemeth him good.\n\n --2 Samuel 10. 12.\n\nLord God, I pray that my estimate of life may not be as I take it, but\nas thou hast given it for peace and prosperity. Teach me my duty to my\ncountry, and make me useful in uplifting and serving humanity. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER TWENTY-NINTH\n\nThomas a Becket died 1170.\n\nAndrew Johnson, Tennessee, seventeenth President\nUnited States, born 1808.\n\nWilliam E. Gladstone born 1809.\n\nMargaret Bottome born 1827.\n\nPauline O. Louise, Queen of Roumania (Carmen\nSylva), born 1843.\n\nChristina G. Rossetti died 1894.\n\n One example is worth a thousand arguments.\n\n --William E. Gladstone.\n\n One day at a time! That's all it can be\n No faster than that is the hardest of fate,\n And days have their limit, however we\n Begin them too early or stretch them late.\n\n --J.R. Miller.\n\n He lives happy and master of himself\n Who can say, as each day passes on,\n I have lived! no matter whether to-morrow\n The great Father shall give us a clouded sky or a clear day.\n\n --Horace.\n\n Give us this day our daily bread.\n\n --Matthew 6. 11.\n\nEternal God, guard me against the love of praise, that I may not lose\nthe sense of duty. Start me for the right places and give me strength\nwith my days, that I may press toward their possession. Deliver me\nfrom drifting when it is mine to pull against the tide, that I may not\nbe carried out of my course. Shield me from the storms that may gather\nabout me, and bring us all to the desired haven safe in thy keeping.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER THIRTIETH\n\nTitus born A.D. 40.\n\nWilliam R. Alger born 1822.\n\nRudyard Kipling born 1865.\n\n God of our fathers, known of old,\n Lord of our far-flung battle line,\n Beneath whose awful hand we hold\n Dominion over palm and pine:\n Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,\n Lest we forget--lest we forget!\n\n For heathen heart that puts her trust\n In reeking tube and iron shard;\n All valiant dust that builds on dust,\n And guarding calls not thee to guard:\n For frantic boast and foolish word,\n Thy mercy on thy people, Lord! Amen.\n\n --Rudyard Kipling.\n\n But thou shalt remember Jehovah thy God, for it is he that giveth\n thee power to get wealth.\n\n --Deuteronomy 8. 18.\n\nAlmighty God, as I come to thee wilt thou forgive me for the errors I\nhave made, and for the promises that I have broken. Help me to be as\ntrue as the holly that keeps itself red through the snow. Remind me of\nmy opportunities as I breathe in thy blessings, \"Lest I forget!\" Amen.\n\n\n\n\nDECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST\n\nNew Year's Eve.\n\nJohn Wycliffe died 1384.\n\nBattle of Wakefield 1460.\n\nCharles Marquis Cornwallis born 1738.\n\n Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,\n The flying cloud, the frosty light:\n The year is dying in the night;\n Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.\n\n Ring out old shapes of foul disease,\n Ring out the narrow lust of gold:\n Ring out the thousand wars of old,\n Ring in the thousand years of peace.\n\n --Alfred Tennyson.\n\n Let every dawn of morning be to you as the beginning of life, and\n every setting sun be to you as its close.\n\n --John Ruskin.\n\n The night is far spent, and the day is at hand: let us therefore\n cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of\n light.\n\n --Romans 13. 12.\n\nMy Father, as I look to the past days, I feel much of my happiness and\nmuch of my misery has come from my own choice. May I be more watchful\nof my standards and less wasteful of my time, and keep a poise in life\nthat will leave a memory of well-spent days. For the year that has\npassed and for its blessings I thank thee. Amen.","title":"Leaves of life, for daily inspiration","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":68798}