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LEAVES OF LIFE
FOR DAILY INSPIRATION
BY
MARGARET BIRD STEINMETZ
1914
The Bible text used in this book is taken from the American Standard Edition of the Revised Bible, copyright, 1901, by Thomas Nelson & Sons, and is used by permission.
DEDICATED
TO THOSE WHO HAVE HELPED IN GATHERING THESE LEAVES—AND TO THOSE WHO MAY GATHER SOMETHING FROM THEM.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Macmillan Company, New York, N.Y. Shailer Mathews, Jane Addams, Newell Dwight Hillis, Marion Crawford.
The Century Company, New York, N.Y. S. Weir Mitchell, Theodore Roosevelt, John Kendrick Bangs, Richard Watson Gilder, Edith Thomas.
Oxford University Press, London, E.C. Annie Matheson.
The Saalfield Publishing Company, Akron, Ohio. Joseph Jefferson.
Mitchell Kennerley, New York. Theodosia Garrison: My Litany.
Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York, N.Y. Charles W. Eliot: The Durable Satisfactions of Life. J.R. Miller.
The Pilgrim Press, Boston, Mass. Henry Ward Beecher.
Harper & Brothers, New York, N.Y. Will Carleton: Farm Legends. Margaret E. Sangster: Easter Bells.
Elbert Hubbard, Roycroft Shop, East Aurora, N.Y. Printed by special permission of the publishers.
W.B. Conkey, Hammond, Ind. Ella Wheeler Wilcox, copyrighted 1912.
National W.C.T.U., Evanston, Ill. Frances E. Willard.
American Baptist Publication Society, Philadelphia, Pa. W.E. Winks.
Rand, McNally & Company, Chicago, Ill. Marie Bashkirtseff.
Tennesseean and American, Nashville, Tenn. G. Rice.
Cosmopolitan Magazine, New York, N.Y. O. Henry.
The H.M. Rowe Company, Baltimore, Md. Edwin Leibfreed: Poems.
Permission from President Wilson for the excerpts from his speeches.
Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Mass. Kate Douglas Wiggin, Richard Watson Gilder, Josephine Peabody, John Hay, Hugo Muensterberg, Edith Thomas, Lyman Abbott, John Burroughs, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Julia Ward Howe, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Joel Chandler Harris, Lucy Larcom, Bret Harte, Bayard Taylor, Alice Freeman Palmer, Thomas W. Higginson.
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, N.Y. Henry van Dyke: Music and Other Poems. Maltbie D. Babcock: Thoughts for Every Day Living. Sidney Lanier: Poems of Sidney Lanier. Robert Bridges: Robert Bridges' Poems. George Meredith: Last Poems. James Anthony Froude: Short Studies on Great Subjects. Robert Louis Stevenson: Poems and Works. W.E. Henley: Poems. Eugene Field: Western Verse.
G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London. Arthur Christopher Benson: Along the Road, Silent Isle, From a College Window, Joyous Gard, Lord Vyet and Other Poems.
Little, Brown & Company, Boston, Mass. Emily Dickinson, Laura E. Richards, Edward Everett Hale.
George H. Doran Company, New York, N.Y. Sir Oliver Lodge, Arnold Bennett, J. Stalker, A.H. Begbie.
Fleming H. Revell Company, New York, N.Y. Percy C. Ainsworth, E.H. Divall, Margaret E. Sangster, J.H. Jowett, George Matheson.
Longmans, Green & Company, New York and London. William James.
Dodd, Mead & Company, New York, N.Y. Maurice Maeterlinck, Hamilton Mabie, Ian Maclaren, Jerome K. Jerome, G.K. Chesterton, Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Small, Maynard & Company, Boston, Mass. Mrs. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, John B. Tabb, Ernest Crosby.
Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Company, Boston, Mass. Paul Hamilton Hayne.
Doubleday, Page & Company, Garden City, New York Charles Wagner, Edwin Markham, Helen Keller.
E.P. Dutton Company, New York. George Macdonald.
JANUARY
Janus am I; oldest of potentates; Forward I look, and backward, and below I count, as god of avenues and gates, The years that through my portals come and go.
I block the roads, and drift the fields with snow; I chase the wild fowl from the frozen fen; My frosts congeal the rivers in their flow, My fires light up the hearths and hearts of men.
—Henry W. Longfellow.
JANUARY FIRST
Bartolome Esteban Murillo, baptized 1618.
Paul Revere born 1735.
Betsy Ross born 1752.
Maria Edgeworth born 1767.
Arthur Hugh Clough born 1819.
Old things need not be therefore true, O brother men, nor yet the new; Ah! still awhile the old thought retain, And yet consider it again!
We! what do we see? each a space Of some few yards before his face; Does that the whole wide plan explain? Ah, yet consider it again!
Alas! the great world goes its way, And takes its truth from each new day; They do not quit, nor can retain, Far less consider it again.
—Arthur Hugh Clough.
There are two sorts of content; one is connected with exertion, the other habits of indolence. The first is a virtue; the other a vice.
—Maria Edgeworth.
Oh send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me: Let them bring me unto thy holy hill, And to thy tabernacles.
—Psalm 43. 3.
Almighty God, lead me in the search for life. Teach me what is important and what is unimportant; what is false, and what is true. Remove the hindrances that keep me from the worthiest deeds, and grant that I may have the peace that comes with surrender of self to thy will. Amen.
JANUARY SECOND
General James Wolfe born 1727.
Colonial flag first raised 1776.
Mary Carey Thomas born 1857.
To what profit we could use the time for our present task that we spend in impatient waiting and wondering over the future! So often the future is just one step up from the present, but some of us miss it by preferring to wait for an elevator.
—M. B. S.
Prepare to live by all means, but for heaven's sake do not forget to live. You will never have a better chance than you have at present. You may think you will have, but you are mistaken.
—Arnold Bennett.
He that riseth late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his business at night; while laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him. He that lives on hope will die fasting.
—Benjamin Franklin.
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, whither thou goest.
—Ecclesiastes 9. 10.
Gracious Father, my heart burns with shame when I think how much I claim, and how little I am. I pray that my body may not cast a shadow to-day, and cloud the light of my life to-morrow. Cleanse the windows of my soul that I may take in thy glory. Amen.
JANUARY THIRD
Marcus Tullius Cicero born B.C. 106.
Martin Luther excommunicated 1521.
Douglas Jerrold born 1803.
Charles Wagner (France) born 1852.
To be continually advancing in the paths of knowledge is one of the most pleasing satisfactions of the human mind. These are pleasures perfect consistent with every degree of advanced years.
—Cicero.
Fidelity in small things is at the base of every great achievement. We too often forget this and yet no truth needs more to be kept in mind particularly in the troubled eras of history and in the crises of individual life. In shipwreck a splintered beam, an oar, any scrap of wreckage saves us. To despise the remnants is demoralization.
—Charles Wagner.
He that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much and he that is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous also in much.
—Luke 16. 10
Almighty God, may I understand that thou art in everything and that I cannot hide from thee, for thou boldest me though I know it not. Give me the desire, and help me to learn of thy laws, that I may know that even in the least of things, I have the liberty to obtain happiness by obeying them. Amen.
JANUARY FOURTH
Archbishop Usher born 1580.
Jacob L. Carl Grimm born 1785.
Elizabeth Peabody died 1894.
Years rush by us like the wind, we see not whence the eddy comes, nor whitherward it is tending, and we seem ourselves to witness their flight without a sense that we are changed: and yet time is beguiling man of his strength, as the winds rob the trees of their foliage.
—Sir Walter Scott.
The bell strikes one. We take no note of Time But from its loss. To give it, then a tongue Is wise in man; as if an angel spoke I feel the solemn sound. If heard aright It is the knell of my departed hours: Where are they?
—Edward Young.
Days should speak, And multitude of years should teach wisdom. And the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding. It is not the great that are wise, Nor the aged that understand justice.
—Job 32. 7, 9.
Lord God, help me to see my mistakes, and bring me to the realization of my life. Grant that I may no longer use the time that thou gavest me to learn in, heedlessly, but to give it my best thought and care. Amen.
JANUARY FIFTH
Stephen Decatur born 1779.
Robert Morrison born 1782.
Thomas Pringle born 1789.
Let me go where'er I will, I hear a sky-born music still: It sounds from all things old, It sounds from all things young, From all that's fair, from all that's foul, Peals out a cheerful song.
It is not only in the rose, It is not only in the bird, Not only where the rainbow glows, Nor in the song of woman heard, But in the darkest, meanest things There alway, alway something sings.
'Tis not in the high stars alone, Nor in the cup of budding flowers, Nor in the redbreast's mellow tone, Nor in the bow that smiles in showers, But in the mud and scum of things There alway, alway something sings.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson.
The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament showeth his handiwork.
—Psalm 19. 1.
Almighty God, grant that my life may no longer be a noise, but be kept in tune with the sublimest melodies, that wherever I am, there may be no discords in the songs of my soul. Through thy loving-kindness may my songs resound. Amen.
JANUARY SIXTH
Epiphany, or Twelfth-Day.
Joan d'Arc born 1412.
David Dale born 1739.
'Twas even so! and thou the shepherd's child, Joanne, the lowly dreamer of the wild! Never before and never since that hour Hath woman, mantled with victorious power, Stood forth as thou beside the shrine didst stand, Holy amidst the knighthood of the land.
—Mrs. Felicia Hemans.
Every one must recognize the splendid work which has been done by women in social and educational fields. And it will, I believe, come more and more to be recognized that in some respects women are specially fitted for government and for official-municipal life.
—Sir Oliver Lodge.
Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill-country of Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
—Judges 4. 4, 5.
My Father, help me to be thoughtful and just. May I consider the great truths and broader visions that may not be seen from where I stand. May I be willing to accept a better view. Grant that I may realize that the battle of life is not a sham battle, but a struggle for the advancement of life. Amen.
JANUARY SEVENTH
General Putnam born 1718.
Robert Nicholl born 1814.
T. DeWitt Talmage born 1832.
Opportunities fly in a straight line, touch us but once and never return, but the wrongs we do others fly in a circle; they come back from the place they started.
—T. DeWitt Talmage.
Our share of night to bear, Our share of morning, Our blank is bliss to fill, Our blank is scorning.
Here a star, and there a star, Some lose their way, Here a mist, and there a mist, Afterwards—day!
—Emily Dickinson.
Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your resting-place.
—Micah 2. 10.
Lord God, give me the desire to be persistent in service, while I have health and strength. May I experience the sweetness that comes in doing the thing that I ought to have done, as well as that in which I took the most pleasure. Help me to so live that my days may be useful, and be recalled with bright and happy recollections. Amen.
JANUARY EIGHTH
John Earl of Stair died 1707.
Sir William Draper died 1787.
Alfred Russel Wallace born 1823.
William Wilkie Collins born 1824.
Sir Laurence Alma-Tadema born 1836.
A blue bird built his nest Here in my breast. "O bird of Light! Whence comest thou?" Said he, "From God above: My name is Love."
A mate he brought one day, Of plumage gray. "O bird of Night! Why comest thou?" Said she: "Seek no relief! My name is Grief."
—Laurence Alma-Tadema.
It is not so much resolution as renunciation, not so much courage as resignation, that we need. He that has once yielded thoroughly to God will yield to nothing but God.
—John Ruskin.
Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, Neither will he uphold the evildoers. He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter, And thy lips with shouting.
—Job 8. 20, 21.
Almighty God, help me to understand that peace does not come in rebellion or grieving, but is obtained through the calm of the soul. Grant that if I may be perplexed or worried to-day, I may have the power to control myself and wait in thy strength. Amen.
JANUARY NINTH
Dr. Thomas Brown born 1778.
Elizabeth O. Benger died 1822.
Caroline Lucretia Herschel died 1848, aged ninety-seven.
Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness altogether past calculation its powers of endurance. Efforts to be permanently useful must be uniformly joyous—a spirit of all sunshine.
—Thomas Carlyle.
Honest good humor is the oil and wine of a merry meeting.
—Washington Irving.
A laugh is worth a hundred groans in any market.
—Charles Lamb.
A glad heart maketh a cheerful countenance; But by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken.
Better is a dinner of herbs, where love is, Than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.
—Proverbs 15. 13, 17.
Gracious Father, if I am sorrowing over disappointment and am forgetful, grant that I may see the things thou hast made, for which I should be thankful. Help me to so live that I may have a right to claim a cheerful heart. Amen.
JANUARY TENTH
Dr. George Birkbeck born 1776.
Michel or Marshal Ney born 1769.
Karl von Linne, Linnaeus, died 1778.
Ethan Allen born 1737.
Shall I hold on with both hands to every paltry possession? All I have teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson.
The practical weakness of the vast mass of modern pity for the poor and the oppressed is precisely that it is merely pity; the pity is pitiful but not respectful. Men feel that the cruelty to the poor is a kind of cruelty to animals. They never feel that it is injustice to equals; nay, it is treachery to comrades.
—G.K. Chesterton.
Be ye all like-minded, compassionate, loving as brethren, tender-hearted, humble-minded: not rendering evil for evil, or reviling for reviling; but contrariwise blessing.
—1 Peter 3. 8, 9.
God of justice, may I pause to remember that while I may do a mean act and keep it hidden from others, I cannot keep it hidden from myself, nor from thee. Help me to have a nobler sense of the quality of life, and less anxiety for the quantity, that I may avoid harshness and selfishness, and be given to tenderness and justice. Amen.
JANUARY ELEVENTH
Alexander Hamilton born 1757.
Bayard Taylor born 1825.
William James born 1842.
Alice Caldwell Regan Rice born 1870.
The paternal relation to man was the basis of that religion which appealed directly to the heart; so the fraternity of each man with his fellow was its practical application.
—Bayard Taylor.
It is indeed a remarkable fact that sufferings and hardships do not, as a rule, abate the love of life; they seem on the contrary, usually to give it a keener zest; and the sovereign source of melancholy is repletion. Need and struggle are what excite and inspire. Our hour of triumph is what brings the void.
—William James.
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to them that love him.
—James 1. 12.
Lord God, I come to thee for help that the small things may not force themselves into my life, and keep me from pursuing the larger things which are continually open to me. May I not be blind to what I may have and be, through inspiration and work. Grant that I may not be satisfied to remain in that in which I have triumphed, but climb to greater endeavors. Amen.
JANUARY TWELFTH
Edmund Burke born 1729.
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi born 1746.
Francois Coppee born 1842.
John S. Sargent born 1856.
Show the thing you contend for to be reason; show it to be common sense; show it to be the means of attaining some useful end. The question with me is not whether you have a right to render your people miserable, but whether it is your interest to make them happy.
—Edmund Burke.
Like the star That shines afar, Without haste And without rest, Let each man wheel with steady sway Round the task that rules the day, And do his best.
—Goethe.
Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.
—1 Corinthians 13. 4.
Gracious Father, cause me to be critical of my life, that I may not be deceived in myself. Help me to look into my soul and see what thou dost find there; and with humility may I acknowledge what I am to thee, and seek thy wisdom and love. Amen.
JANUARY THIRTEENTH
George Fox, founder Society of Friends, died 1691.
Samuel Woodworth (Old Oaken Bucket) born 1785.
Order of King's Daughters founded 1886.
Have thy soul feel the universal breath With which all nature's quick, and learn to be Sharer in all that thou dost touch or see; Break from thy body's grasp thy spirit's trance; Give thy soul air, thy faculties expanse; Love, joy, even sorrow,—yield thyself to all! They make thy freedom, groveling, not thy thrall. Knock off the shackles which thy spirit bind To dust and sense, and set at large the mind! Then move in sympathy with God's great whole, And be like man at first, a Living Soul.
—Richard Henry Dana.
I was deeply impressed by what a gardener once said to me concerning his work. "I feel, sir," he said, "when I am growing the flowers or rearing the vegetables, that I am having a share in creation." I thought it a very noble way of regarding his work.
—J.H. Jowett.
For we are God's fellow workers: ye are God's husbandry, God's building.
—1 Corinthians 3. 9.
Creator of all, help me to see what there is for me to do; and help me to know that I cannot be productive if I am hovering in the choice of my work. May I learn from thy great works of heaven and earth the ways of selection and steadfastness. Give me the desire to work and the confidence that is needed to carry on my work. Amen.
JANUARY FOURTEENTH
Madame de Sevigne died 1696.
Edmund Halley died 1742.
Pierre Loti born 1850.
Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute What you can do, or dream you can; begin it; Boldness has genius, power magic in it. Only engage, and then the mind grows heated; Begin and then the work will be completed.
—Goethe.
Were half the power that fills the world with terror, Were half the wealth bestowed on camps and courts, Given to redeem the human mind from error, There were no need of arsenals or forts.
—Henry W. Longfellow.
Choose you this day whom ye will serve;... but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah.
—Joshua 24. 15.
Almighty God, help me to appreciate the sacredness of work while I have it to do. Grant that I may be spared the wretchedness that comes from working with fragments from idleness. May I do my part, even if it be in obscurity and the night overtakes me before it is done. Amen.
JANUARY FIFTEENTH
Moliere born 1622.
Dr. Samuel Parr born 1747.
Edward Everett died 1865.
The sun withholds his generous beam; Athwart my soul the shadows stream; The weird winds boisterously blow, And drift the melancholy snow.
When I, in sorrow and despair, Expect the storm, with tender care He rends the clouds and through the blue The glorious sun breaks forth anew.
—M.B.S.
So with the wan waste grasses on my spear, I ride forever seeking after God. My hair grows whiter than my thistle plume And all my limbs are loose; but in my eyes The star of an unconquerable praise; For in my soul one hope forever sings, That at the next white corner of the road My eyes may look on Him.
—G.K. Chesterton.
He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because he delighted in me.
—Psalm 18. 19.
Loving Father, if I may be discouraged to-day, strengthen my faith. May I not weary of waiting for thee, but trust in thy promises. Amen.
JANUARY SIXTEENTH
Edmund Spenser died 1599.
Johann August Neander born 1789.
Edward Gibbon died 1794.
Sir John Moore died 1809.
But lovely concord, and most sacred peace, Doth nourish vertue, and fast friendship breeds; Weake she makes strong, and strong thing does increase, Till it the pitch of highest praise exceeds.
—Edmund Spenser.
Perfect good-breeding is the result of nature and not of education; for it may be found in a cottage, and may be missed in a palace. 'Tis the genial regard for the feeling of others that springs from an absence of selfishness.
—Disraeli.
Can a fig tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a vine figs? neither can salt water yield sweet.
—James 3. 12.
Heavenly Father, help me to value my thoughts, words, and deeds. If at the close of the day, there may be one who has been wounded by my injustice, may I be willing to make quick atonement. May I avoid the ways and words that hurt; and not only wish rightly and work rightly, but speak to enrich others with tenderness. Amen.
JANUARY SEVENTEENTH
John Ray died 1705.
Benjamin Franklin born 1706.
George Bancroft died 1891.
Employ thy time well if thou meanest to gain leisure; and since thou art not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour! Leisure is time for doing something useful; this leisure the diligent man will obtain, but the lazy man never; a life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things.
—Benjamin Franklin.
There is nothing to gain and everything to lose by despising the example of nature, and making arbitrary rules for oneself. Our liberty wisely understood is but a voluntary obedience to the universal laws of life.
—Amiel.
I will meditate on thy precepts, And have respect unto thy ways.
—Psalm 119. 15.
My Father, help me to understand the power of nature, that I may be willing to obey her laws. I pray that I may so live that my life will proclaim itself without need of boasting or deception. Forbid that I should spend my life in perfecting trifles, and have no leisure to enjoy thy great gifts. Amen.
JANUARY EIGHTEENTH
Charles de Montesquieu born 1689.
John Gillies born 1747.
Daniel Webster born 1782.
We would leave for the consideration of those who shall occupy our places some proof that we hold the blessings transmitted from our fathers in just estimation; some proof of our attachment to the cause of good government and of civil and religious liberty; some proof of a sincere and ardent desire to promote every thing which may enlarge the understanding and improve the hearts of men.
—Daniel Webster.
Brother and friend, the world is wide, But I care not whether there be The soothing song of a summer tide Or the thrash of a wintry sea, If but through shimmer and storm you bide, Brother and friend, with me.
—Percy C. Ainsworth.
Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the King.
—1 Peter 2. 17.
Almighty God, I thank thee for all the tender influences of life; for all the gentleness and strength that may be given and received through friendship. Help me to be careful of what I do, for my sake, and for the sake of those who may follow me. Amen.
JANUARY NINETEENTH
Hans Sachs died 1576.
William Congreve died 1729.
James Watt born 1736.
Robert E. Lee born 1807.
Edgar Allan Poe born 1809.
I stand amid the roar Of a surf-tormented shore, And I hold within my hand Grains of the golden sand— How few! Yet how they creep Through my fingers to the deep, While I weep—while I weep! O God, can I not save One from the pitiless wave? Is all that we see or seem But a dream within a dream?
—Edgar Allan Poe.
Do not train up your children in hostility to the government of the United States. Remember that we are one country now. Dismiss from your mind all sectional feeling, and bring them up to be Americans.
—Robert E. Lee.
Wait for Jehovah: Be strong, and let thy heart take courage; Yea, wait thou for Jehovah.
—Psalm 27. 14.
Lord God, I pray that if I have struggled for the wrong, and have worked with weak hands, thou wilt forgive me for my lost strength. Give me more light to shine upon my work, upon thy promises, and upon my duties; and with thy wisdom may I search for the truth that is behind every wrong, and for the purpose that is beyond all journeyings. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTIETH
Eve of Saint Agnes.
David Garrick died 1779.
John Howard died 1790.
John Ruskin died 1900.
Nathaniel P. Willis born 1806.
How like a mounting devil in the heart Rules the unreigned ambition! Let it once But play the monarch, and its haughty brow Glows with a beauty that bewilders thought And unthrones peace forever. Putting on The very pomp of Lucifer, it turns The heart to ashes.
—Nathaniel P. Willis.
Temperance, in the nobler sense, does not mean a subdued and imperfect energy; it does not mean a stopping short in any good thing, as love or in faith; but it means the power which governs the most intense energy, and prevents its acting in any way but as it ought.
—John Ruskin.
And thy gentleness hath made me great.
—Psalm 18. 35.
Gracious Father, I pray that I may be willing to profit by the experience of great teachers, and appreciate the value of strong principles. May I too live for the higher ideals of life, and through a sympathetic response add power and virtue to other lives, while gaining strength for my own. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTY-FIRST
Miles Coverdale died 1568.
John Fitch born 1743.
John C. Fremont born 1813.
Thomas Erskine born 1750.
Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson born 1824.
So long as we love we serve; so long as we are loved by others I would almost say that we are indispensable; and no man is useless while he has a friend.
—Robert L. Stevenson.
So to the calmly gathered thought The innermost of life is taught, The mystery dimly understood, That love of God is love of good: That to be saved is only this— Salvation from our selfishness.
—John Greenleaf Whittier.
Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the fulfillment of the law. And this, knowing the season, that already it is time for you to awake out of sleep: for now is salvation nearer to us than when we first believed.
—Romans 13. 10, 11.
Tender Father, may I not attempt to serve life for my own gratification. May I not interpret love through vanity, but from reality. Make me worth while, that I may be relied upon for my pledges, and needed for my services. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTY-SECOND
Andrea del Sarto died 1531.
Francis Bacon born 1561.
Lord George Byron born 1788.
Queen Victoria died 1901.
Father of light! to thee I call, My soul is dark within: Thou who canst mark the sparrow's fall, Avert the death of sin, Thou who canst guide the wandering star, Who calm'st the elemental war, Whose mantle is yon boundless sky, My thoughts, my words, my crimes forgive; And since I soon must cease to live, Instruct me how to die.
—Lord Byron.
Knowledge, whether it descend from divine inspiration or spring from human sense, would soon perish and vanish to oblivion if it were not preserved in books, traditions, conferences, and places appointed.
—Francis Bacon.
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein.
—Revelation 1. 3.
Almighty God, I would have thy counsel as I read the words and follow the deeds of helpful lives, that I may be inspired to nobler activities. Give me the desire to know more of thy holy word, that I may have a better knowledge of life. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTY-THIRD
John Hancock born 1737.
William Pitt died 1806.
Charles Kingsley died 1875.
Paul Gustave Dore died 1883.
Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful. Welcome it in every fair face, every fair sky, every fair flower, and thank Him for it, who is the fountain of all loveliness.
—Charles Kingsley.
Nature never did betray The heart that loved her; 'tis her privilege Through all the years of this life, to lead, From joy to joy; for she can so impress With quietness and beauty, and so feed With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues, * * * * * Nor all the dreary intercourse of daily life, Shall e'er prevail against us or disturb Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold Is full of blessings.
—William Wordsworth.
Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the height of the stars, how high they are! And thou sayest, What doth God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?
—Job 22. 12, 13.
Lord God, I pray that I may not overlook thy blessings of beauty while endeavoring to perform my duties. Guide me that I may not struggle to be where thou wouldst not have me go. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTY-FOURTH
Charles Earl of Dorset born 1637.
Frederick the Great born 1712.
Charles James Fox born 1749.
The great Gods pass through the great Time-hall, Stately and high; The little men climb the low clay wall To gape and spy; "We wait for the Gods," the little men cry, "But these are our brothers passing by."
The great Gods pass through the great Time-hall; Who can see? The little men nod by the low clay wall, So tired they be; '"Tis weary waiting for Gods," they yawn, "There's a world o' men, but the Gods are gone."
—A.H. Begbie.
But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
—Luke 24. 16.
My Father, may I be careful of getting weary and missing the best through the need of rest. Intensify my desire for the songs and glorious ways, that I may not settle into dullness and slumber, while others pass on in the light. I pray for a keener sense of the possessions made possible by the deeds and cares of noble men and women. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTY-FIFTH
Robert Burns born 1759.
Lord Frederick Leighton died 1896.
Daniel Maclise born 1811.
When ranting round in pleasure's ring Religion may be blinded: Or if she gie a random sting, It may be little minded: But when on life we're Tempest-driv'n— A conscience but a canker, A correspondence fixed wi' Heav'n, Is sure a noble anchor.
—Robert Burns.
Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever; Do noble things, not dream them, all day long: And so make life, death, and that vast forever One grand sweet song.
—Charles Kingsley.
O Lord, by these things men live; And wholly therein is the life of my spirit: Wherefore recover thou me, and make me to live.
—Isaiah 38. 16.
Gracious Father, grant that I may not be willing to spend my life for trivial needs, for thou dost measure me for what I am, and boldest me for what I lose in waste. Be with me in my judgment of what is best, that I may make the most of my life. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTY-SIXTH
Lord George Sackville born 1716.
Benjamin Robert Haydon born 1786.
Mary Mapes Dodge born 1838.
General Gordon (Chinese Gordon) killed 1885.
Ave Maria! blessed be the hour, That time, the clime, the spot, where I so oft Have felt that moment in its fullest power Sink o'er the earth so beautiful and soft, While swung the deep bell in the distant tower Or the faint dying day-hymn stole aloft, And not a breath crept through the rosy air, And yet the forest leaves seemed stirred with prayer.
—Lord Byron.
I am quite happy, thank God, and like Lawrence, I have tried to do my duty.
—General Gordon (just before death).
For in the day of trouble he will keep me secretly in his pavilion: In the covert of his tabernacle will he hide me; He will lift me up upon a rock.
—Psalm 27. 5.
Heavenly Father, teach me how to breathe in the sweetness of life. Reveal to me the life that will bring peace to the soul. May I not be dismayed, but find the "Peace that passeth all understanding," the perfect peace that comes from thee. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTY-SEVENTH
Johannes Wolfgang Mozart born 1756.
A.W. von Schlegel born 1767.
David Friedrich Strauss born 1808.
To keep young, every day read a poem, hear a choice piece of music, view a fine painting, and, if possible, do a good action. Man's highest merit always is, as much as possible, to rule external circumstances, and as little as possible to let himself be ruled by them.
—Goethe.
Let us not always say, "Spite of this flesh to-day I strove, made head, gained ground upon the whole!" As the bird wings and sings, Let us cry, "All good things Are ours, nor soul helps flesh more now than flesh helps soul!"
—Robert Browning.
Surely goodness and loving-kindness shall follow me all the days of my life.
—Psalm 23. 6.
Loving Father, help me to foresee that it is what I care for to-day that determines how I will find old age. May I not bring my closing years to weariness and lonesomeness, but may I have the restfulness that comes with communing with thee. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTY-EIGHTH
Charlemagne died 814.
Sir Francis Drake died 1596.
Peter the Great died 1725.
Charles George Gordon (Chinese Gordon) born 1833.
He only is advancing in life whose heart is getting softer, whose blood warmer, whose brain quicker, and whose spirit is entering into living peace. And the men who have this life in them are the true lords and kings of the earth—they, and they only.
—John Ruskin.
Just where you stand in the conflict, There is your place! Just where you think you are useless, Hide not your face! God placed you there for a purpose, What e'er it be; Think you he has chosen you for it: Work loyally.
—Anonymous.
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!
—Romans 11. 33.
My Father, I thank thee that thou hast endowed me with a will; help me to use it aright. May I have the knowledge of what thou dost demand of my soul, that I may do my best with what thou hast given me. Help me that I may reach out for the highest ideals of life. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTY-NINTH
Emanuel Swedenborg born 1688.
Thomas Paine born 1737.
Adelaide Ristori born 1822.
William McKinley, Ohio, twenty-fourth President United States, born 1843.
God will keep no nation in supreme place that will not do supreme duty.
—William McKinley.
Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and the angels know of us.
—Thomas Paine.
The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another.
—George Eliot.
Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, Upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself. So shall we not go back from thee: Quicken thou us, and we will call upon thy name.
—Psalm 80. 17, 18.
My Father, I pray that I may be just and be given to kindness. May I be conscious of my virtues, and use them to overcome my faults. May I hear clearly thy call that I may be sure of the way as I lead others to duty and happiness. Amen.
JANUARY THIRTIETH
Archbishop Butler born 1774.
Walter Savage Landor born 1775.
Henri Rochefort born 1830.
Why, why repine, my pensive friend, At pleasures slipped away? Some the stern fates will never lend, And all refuse to stay. I see the rainbow in the sky, The dew upon the grass; I see them and I ask not why They glimmer or they pass. With folded arms I linger not To call them back; 'twere vain; In this, or in some other spot, I know they'll shine again.
—Walter Savage Landor.
When disappointment comes meet it, but do not carry it along with you; nor fetter your spirit by changeless haste. "Memory will always pursue some precious instance of itself," which will bring either renewed confidence or resignation.
—M. B. S.
For thou shalt forget thy misery; Thou shalt remember it as waters that are passed away.
—Job 11. 16.
Gracious Father, help me to "Lift mine eyes unto the hills" that glorify the discouraging ways. May I appreciate thy great love, and from my limitations find the possibilities that are limitless. Amen.
JANUARY THIRTY-FIRST
Cromwell dissolved Parliament 1655.
Charles Edward (Young Pretender) died 1788.
Franz Schubert born 1797.
James G. Elaine born 1830.
Nature demands that man be ever at the top of his condition. He who violates her laws must pay the penalty, though he sit on a throne.
—James G. Elaine.
Dig channels for the streams of love, Where they may broadly run; And love has overflowing streams To fill them every one.
For we must share if we must keep The good things from above; Ceasing to give, we cease to have— Such is the law of love.
—R. C. Trench.
And thy life shall be clearer than the noonday; Though there be darkness, it shall be as the morning.
—Job 11. 17.
My Father, I would remember that it is mostly from my inspirations that I conceive life. Take away hatred and vanity that keep me in faults, and awake in me the thoughts that are responsible for visions that lead to high ideals. Amen.
FEBRUARY
Then came old February, sitting In an old wagon, for he could not ride, Drawn of two fishes for the season fitting, Which through the flood before did softly slide And swim away; yet he had by his side His plow and harness fit to till the ground, And tools to prune the trees, before the pride Of hasting prime did make them bourgeon wide.
—Edmund Spenser.
FEBRUARY FIRST
Ben Jonson born 1574.
John Philip Kemble born 1757.
Arthur Henry Hallam born 1811.
George Cruikshank died 1878.
It is not growing like a tree In bulk, doth make man better be; Or standing long an oak, three hundred year, To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere: A lily of a day Is fairer far in May, Although it fall and die that night— It was the plant and flower of Light. In small proportions we just beauties see; And in short measure life may perfect be.
—Ben Jonson.
There are four things which are little upon the earth, But they are exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, Yet they provide their food in the summer; The conies are but a feeble folk, Yet make they their houses in the rocks; The locusts have no king, Yet go they forth all of them by bands; The lizard taketh hold with her hands, Yet is she in king's palaces.
—Proverbs 30. 24-28.
Creator of all, lead me to see the light, and instruct me that I may be able to reason. Guard me against spectacular endeavors, that I may be genuine. Amen.
FEBRUARY SECOND
Candlemas Day.
Nell Gwynn born 1650.
Hannah More born 1745.
William Henry Burleigh born 1812.
'Twas doing nothing was his curse— Is there a vice can plague us worse? The wretch who digs the mine for bread, Or plows, that others may be fed, Feels less fatigue than that decreed To him who cannot think, or read. Not all the peril of temptations, Not all the conflict of the passions, Can quench the spark of Glory's flame, Or quite extinguish Virtue's name.
—Hannah More.
Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife! To all the sensual world proclaim, One crowded hour of glorious life Is worth an age without a name.
—Sir Walter Scott.
He went out, and found others standing; and he saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard.
—Matthew 20. 6, 7.
Eternal God, who hath weighed the mountains and measured the seas, I pray that I may not be satisfied to wait in idleness, and let thy wisdom pass away from me as the days. Steady me in my weakness, and reveal to me my strength as I draw near and ask of thee. Amen.
FEBRUARY THIRD
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy born 1809.
Horace Greeley born 1811.
Frederick William Robertson born 1816.
Sidney Lanier born 1842.
My soul is sailing through the sea, But the past is heavy and hindereth me. The past hath crusted cumbrous shells That hold the flesh of cold sea-mells About my soul. The huge waves wash, the high waves roll, Each barnacle clingeth and worketh dole And hindereth me from sailing.
—Sidney Lanier.
To stand with a smile upon your face, against a stake from which you cannot get away—that no doubt is heroic. True glory is resignation to the inevitable. But to stand unchained, with perfect liberty to go away held only by the higher chains of duty, and let the fire creep up to the heart—that is heroism.
—F.W. Robertson.
We are pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not unto despair; pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not destroyed.
—2 Corinthians 4. 8, 9.
Gracious Father, thou knowest what I am and the condition of my life. May I seek thy will for me. Grant that I may never struggle for consolation through indulgence and indolence, but in my sorrow and failure may I reach out for thy enduring comfort. Amen.
FEBRUARY FOURTH
Mark Hopkins born 1802.
W. Harrison Ainsworth born 1805.
Jean Richepin born 1849.
Thomas Carlyle died 1881.
Life is not a May-game, but a battle and a march, a warfare with principalities and powers. No idle promenade through fragrant orange groves and green flowery spaces, waited on by coral muses, and the rosy hours; it is a stern pilgrimage through the rough, burning, sandy solitudes, through regions of thick-ribbed ice.
—Thomas Carlyle.
For all sweet and pleasant passages in the great story of life men may well thank God; for leisure and ease and health and friendship may God make us truly and humbly grateful; but our chief song of thanksgiving must be always for our kinship with him, with all that such divinity of greatness brings of peril, hardship, toil, and sacrifice.
—Hamilton Mabie.
Thy bars shall be iron and brass; And as thy days, so shall thy strength be.
—Deuteronomy 33. 25.
My Father, help me to choose the road that leads to my work, and may I not fail to reach it, by wandering away from it. Keep me in touch with the human side of life, holding in mind that "Truth and honesty are the noblest works of God." Amen.
FEBRUARY FIFTH
Sir Robert Peel born 1788.
Ole Boreman Bull born 1810.
John Muir born 1810.
Dwight L. Moody born 1837.
When a great man dies, then has the time come for putting us in mind that he was alive!
—Thomas Carlyle.
If I practice one day, I can see the result. If I practice two days, my friends can see it. If I practice three days, the great public can see it.
—Ole Bull.
Those who say they will forgive but can't forget an injury simply bury the hatchet while they leave the handle out, ready for immediate use.
—Dwight L. Moody.
But I hold not my life of any account as dear unto myself, so that I may accomplish my course.
—Acts 20. 24.
Almighty God, if I am uncertain, and tremble at the crossroads in doubt of the right way, may I wait and be led by thee, and follow on, even if the way be dark and rough. May I be faithful and have thy presence as thou promised at the end. Amen.
FEBRUARY SIXTH
Queen Anne of England born 1665.
Aaron Burr born 1756.
Sir Henry Irving born 1838.
Nothing earthly will make me give up my work in despair. I encourage myself in the Lord my God and go forward.
—David Livingstone.
To expect defeat is nine tenths of defeat itself.
—Marion Crawford.
I do not see how any man can afford, for the sake of his nerves and his nap, to spare any action in which he can partake.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Art is a jealous mistress, she requires the whole man.
—Michael Angelo.
Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
—1 Corinthians 16. 13.
Almighty God, help me to have true conceptions, that my life may not be secured to needless purposes. May my soul be influenced by high ideals, and my work be the production of truth and not of selfishness. Protect me from evil that I may be kept pure and strong for my work. Amen.
FEBRUARY SEVENTH
Millard Fillmore, New York, thirteenth President United States born 1800.
Sir Thomas More born 1478.
Charles Dickens born 1812.
Anne Radcliffe died 1823.
Sidney Cooper died 1902.
Let no man turn aside ever so slightly, from the broad path of honor, on the plausible pretense that he is justified by the goodness of his end. All good ends can be worked out by good means.
—Charles Dickens.
If evils come not, then our fears are vain; And if they do, fear but augments the pain.
—Sir Thomas More.
A human heart knows aught of littleness, Suspects no man, compares with no one's ways, Hath in one hour most glorious length of days, A recompense, a joy, a loveliness;
Like eaglet keen, shoots into azure far, And always dwelling nigh is the remotest star.
—William Ellery Channing.
Teach me thy way, O Jehovah; I will walk in thy truth: Unite my heart to fear thy name.
—Psalm 86. 11.
Gracious Father, I pray that thou wilt control my impulses, and protect me from false interpretations. May I have wisdom, and search for the high and holy ways. Help me to be patient for thy purposes, and may my relations to life be triumphant in thy standards. Amen.
FEBRUARY EIGHTH
Samuel Butler born 1612.
John Ruskin born 1819.
General Sherman born 1820.
Jules Verne born 1828.
Richard Watson Gilder born 1844.
If you want knowledge, you must toil for it; and if pleasure, you must toil for it. Toil is the law. Pleasure comes through toil, and not by self-indulgence and indolence. When one gets to love work his life is a happy one.
—John Ruskin.
Whatever sceptic could inquire for, For every why he had a wherefore.
—Samuel Butler.
Through love to light! O wonderful the way, That leads from darkness to the perfect day! From darkness and from sorrow of the night To morning that comes singing o'er the sea. Through love to light! through light O God to Thee! Who art the love, the eternal light of light!
—Richard Watson Gilder.
We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
—John 9. 4.
My Father, I pray that I may not weight my life with worthless efforts. May I be guided to the right work, and through the love of it find strength for my soul. Amen.
FEBRUARY NINTH
C.F. Volney born 1757.
William Henry Harrison, Virginia, ninth President United States, born 1773.
Anthony Hope (Hawkins) born 1863.
George Ade born 1866.
A man's own observation, what he finds good of, and what he finds hurt of, is the best physic to preserve health. But it is a safer conclusion to say, "This agreeth not well with me, therefore I will not continue it"; than to say, "I find no offense of this, therefore I may use it." For strength of nature in youth passeth over many excesses, which are owing a man till his age.
—Francis Bacon.
Though man a thinking being is defined, Few use the grand prerogative of mind. How few think justly of the thinking few! How many never think, who think they do!
—Jane Taylor.
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life.
—James 1. 12.
Almighty God, I would learn that while thou art a forgiving Lord, nature has no mercy on them that break her laws. Forgive me for all my neglect, and help me to see the way in which thou hast through mercy led me. Give me the power to endure and the strength to resist temptation. May I seek to understand thy laws, that I may not fail through ignorance. Amen.
FEBRUARY TENTH
Rev. Henry Hart Milman born 1791.
Charles Lamb born 1775.
Sir William Napier died 1860.
Never let the most well-intended falsehood escape your lips; for Heaven, which is entirely Truth, will make the seed which you have sown of untruth to yield miseries a thousandfold.
—Charles Lamb.
We cannot command veracity at will; the power of seeing and reporting truly is a form of health that has to be distinctly guarded, and as an ancient rabbi has solemnly said, "The penalty of untruth is untruth."
—George Eliot.
The bat hangs upside down and laughs at a topsy-turvy world.
—Unknown.
The lip of truth shall be established for ever; But a lying tongue is but for a moment.
—Proverbs 12. 19.
Lord God, give me the will to hold to the truth and the strength to help keep the world true; and may I help others to look up and catch the truth from the purest light. Amen.
FEBRUARY ELEVENTH
Mary, Queen of England, born 1516.
Daniel Boone born 1735.
Lydia M. Child born 1802.
Washington Gladden born 1836.
Thomas A. Edison born 1847.
Few, in the days of early youth, Trusted like me in love and truth. I've learned sad lessons from the years; But slowly and with many tears; For God made me to kindly view The world that I was passing through.
And all who tempt a trusting heart From faith and hope to drift apart, May they themselves be spared the pain Of losing power to trust again! God help us all to kindly view The world that we are passing through!
—Lydia M. Child.
For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing; and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
—Isaiah 55. 12.
Lord God, I pray that I may not rest my hope in self alone, but know that the greatest joy is in the hope of the world. Help me to have faith in mankind; and with a loyal heart and a brave spirit be as kind to the world as I can. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWELFTH
Dr. Cotton Mather born 1663.
Peter Cooper born 1791.
Abraham Lincoln, Kentucky, sixteenth President United States, born 1809.
Robert Charles Darwin born 1809.
George Meredith born 1828.
With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds, ... to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
—Abraham Lincoln.
The great moral combat between human life and each human soul must be single.... When a soul arms for battle she goes forth alone.
—Owen Meredith.
According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon.
—1 Corinthians 3. 10.
Almighty God, I thank thee for the courage that comes with a great life. Help me to be brave, even if it is only that others may be blest. May I lay a careful foundation and plan to build the best that I can afford. Amen.
FEBRUARY THIRTEENTH
David Allan born 1744.
Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord born 1754.
Richard Wagner died 1883.
A man is not his hope, nor yet his despair, nor yet his past deed. We know not yet what we have done; still less what we are doing. Wait till evening, and other parts of our work will shine than we had thought at noon, and we shall discover the real purport of our toil.
—Henry D. Thoreau.
When you make a mistake don't look back at it long. Take the reason of the thing into your mind, and look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom.... The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.
—Hugh White.
He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
—Psalm 126. 6.
My Father, help me to survey my life. Make me compassionate and considerate, that I may be qualified to promote that which is helpful. May I appreciate that what is worth keeping I can obtain from thee. Amen.
FEBRUARY FOURTEENTH
Saint Valentine's Day.
Captain James Cook killed 1779.
Jean Ernest Reynaud born 1808.
Oh! little loveliest lady mine, What shall I send for your valentine? Summer and flowers are far away; Gloomy old Winter is king to-day; Buds will not blow, and sun will not shine: What shall I do for a valentine?
I've searched the gardens all through and through For a bud to tell of my love so true; But buds are asleep and blossoms are dead, And the snow beats down on my poor little head: So, little loveliest lady mine, Here is my heart for your valentine.
—Laura E. Richards.
Oh rank is gold, and gold is fair, And high and low mate ill; But love has never known a law Beyond its own sweet will!
—John G. Whittier.
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God.
—1 John 4. 7.
Loving Father, may I not fall to nodding in the balmy air of luxury and miss the messages of love. Arouse me, that I may give and take in the treasures of love as they come my way, and that they may not pass unnoticed. Amen.
FEBRUARY FIFTEENTH
Galileo Galilei born 1564.
Louis XV born 1710.
S. Weir Mitchell born 1829.
Sir Frederick Treves born 1853.
The night I know is nigh at hand, The mists lie low on hill and bay, The autumn sheaves are brown and dry, But I have had the day.
Yes, I have had, dear Lord, the day. When at thy call I have the night Brief be the twilight as I pass From light to dark, from dark to light.
—S. Weir Mitchell.
If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small—too small to be worth talking about, for the day of adversity is its first real opportunity.
—Maltbie Babcock.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
—Romans 8. 37.
My Father, may my daily work not be the means of separating me from thee, but may I have thee for my companion through my work. Forbid that I should ever submit to despair from weakness of body, but that I may be blest and grow strong as my spirit lives in thee. Amen.
FEBRUARY SIXTEENTH
Philip Melanchthon born 1497.
Gasper de Coligny born 1517.
Thomas Robert Malthus born 1766.
Ernst Heinrich Haeckel born 1834.
Thy love shall chant its own beatitudes After its own life working. A child's kiss Set on thy sighing lips shall make thee glad. A poor man served by thee shall make thee rich; A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong; Thou shalt be served thyself by every sense Of service which thou renderest.
—Elizabeth B. Browning.
Ask nothing more of me, sweet; All I can give you I give. Heart of my heart, were it more, More would be laid at your feet: Love that should help you to live, Song that should help you to soar.
—Algernon Charles Swinburne.
All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them.
—Matthew 7. 12.
Lord God, I pray that I may not neglect the help and happiness that I may give with compassion and love. Make me strong in all the senses that answer to the call of humanity. Help me to guide and protect little children, and to care for the comforts of the old. Amen.
FEBRUARY SEVENTEENTH
Kate Greenaway born 1846.
Michael Angelo Buonarroti died 1563.
Giordano Bruno burned at Rome 1600.
Moliere died 1673.
Rose Terry Cooke born 1827.
Frances E. Willard died 1898.
It is not much To give a gentle word or kindly touch To one gone down Beneath the world's cold frown,
And yet who knows How great a thing from such a little grows? O, oftentimes, Some brother upward climbs And hope again Uplifts its head, that in the dust had lain, Gives place to morning's light.
—E. H. Divall.
I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick.
—Ezekiel 34. 16.
My Father, may I not sorrow so that I fail to comfort the sorrowing, and may I not be so happy that I fail to see that others need to be glad. I thank thee for thy providences. May I serve thee in helping others to brighter lives. Amen.
FEBRUARY EIGHTEENTH
Martin Luther died 1546.
George Peabody born 1795.
Wilson Barrett born 1846.
A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing: Our helper he amid the flood Of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe Doth seek to work us woe; His craft and power are great: And, armed with cruel hate, On earth is not his equal.
—Martin Luther.
Let us stand by our duty fearlessly and effectively. I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to the light that I have.
—Abraham Lincoln.
Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; My God, my rock, in whom I will take refuge.
—Psalm 18. 2.
Lord God, help me to lay my life in the rocks of thy foundation, and not in moving sands which are tossed from shore to shore. May I cling to the rock that was cleft for me and trust for thy care. Amen.
FEBRUARY NINETEENTH
Copernicus born 1473.
Leonard Bacon born 1802.
W.W. Story born 1819.
Adelina Patti born 1843.
So mine are these new fruitings rich, The simple to the common brings; I keep the youth of souls who pitch Their joy in this old heart of things;
Full lasting is the song, though he The singer passes; lasting too, For souls not lent in usury, The rapture of the forward view.
—George Meredith.
All deep things are Song. It seems, somehow, the very central essence of us, Song; as if all the rest were wrappages and hulls! the primal element of us; of us, and all things.
—Thomas Carlyle.
Ye shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of Jehovah.
—Isaiah 30. 29.
Lord God, help me to feel the power of praise. "As words without thoughts never to heaven go," so the highest praises are never sung alone, but rendered with service and love. May I have the heart to sing thy praises far and near, and rejoice in him from whom all blessings flow. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTIETH
J.H. Voss born 1828.
Joseph Jefferson born 1829.
Mihaly Munkacsy (Michael Lieb) born 1844.
Who serves his country well has no need of ancestors.
—Voltaire.
Lo, Spring comes forth with all her warmth and love, She brings sweet justice from the realms above; She breaks the chrysalis, she resurrects the dead; Two butterflies ascend encircling her head. And so this emblem shall forever be A sign of immortality.
—Joseph Jefferson.
Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel, And afterward receive me to glory.
—Psalm 73. 24.
Lord God, I pray that I may not neglect my soul in trying to fathom immortal life. If I may be hesitating between comfort and work, remind me of the greatness of the place which I started to reach. May I not grow weary of climbing and falter on the stair. Breathe upon me thy inspiration and love, that I may continue in faith all the way. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTY-FIRST
Edmund William Gosse born 1849.
Karl Czerny born 1791.
Cardinal John H. Newman born 1801.
Jean L.E. Meissonier born 1815.
Alice Freeman Palmer born 1855.
Prune thou thy words, the thoughts control That o'er thee swell and throng; They will condense within thy soul, And change to purpose strong.
—John H. Newman.
Think truly, and thy thoughts Shall the world's famine feed; Speak truly, and each word of thine Shall be a fruitful seed; Live truly, and thy life shall be A great and noble creed.
—Horatio Bonar.
We ought to love everybody and make everybody love us. Then everything else is easy.
—Alice Freeman Palmer.
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy healing shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of Jehovah shall be thy rearward.
—Isaiah 58. 8.
Almighty God, look upon me with pity; so often I have obeyed the thoughts that have been misleading and profitless. Make me more careful of what I think and say, and may I learn from my mistakes the forbidden paths. Help me to keep my mind in unity with thy will. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTY-SECOND
George Washington, Virginia, first President United States, born 1732.
James Russell Lowell born 1819.
Margaret E. Sangster born 1838.
Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.
—George Washington.
Life is a sheet of paper white Whereon each one of us may write His word or two, and then comes night. Greatly begin! though thou hast time But for a line, be that sublime. Not failure, but low aim is crime.
—James Russell Lowell.
God keep us through the common days, The level stretches white with dust, When thought is tired, and hands upraise Their burdens feebly since they must; In days of slowly fretting care Then most we need the strength of prayer.
—Margaret E. Sangster.
Make level the path of thy feet, And let all thy ways be established.
—Proverbs 4. 26.
Lord God, help me to realize the influence of the individual life. And as I would care for my own, may I seek to do for others; and may I not criticize, but help all who are trying to make the world better. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTY-THIRD
Samuel Pepys born 1633.
George F. Handel born 1685.
George Frederick Watts born 1817.
John Keats died 1821.
Margaret Deland born 1857.
Labor is life! 'tis the still water faileth; Idleness ever despaireth, bewaileth: Keep the watch wound, or the dark rust assaileth; Flowers droop and die in the stillness of noon. Labor is glory! the flying cloud lightens; Only the waving wing changes and brightens, Idle hearts only the dark future frightens, Play the sweet keys, wouldst thou keep them in tune.
—Frances S. Osgood.
KEATS
Palled death, with kisses ghostly, Wooed and won him while too young, And the world reveres him mostly, For the songs he might have sung.
—Samuel A. Wood.
Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations; spare not: lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.
—Isaiah 54. 2.
Almighty God, I pray for the will to do my finest work. Disclose to me if I am being detained by serving selfishness in myself or in others. Lead me to what is right for me to do; and may I diligently tarry in it. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTY-FOURTH
Samuel Lover born 1797.
Robert Fulton died 1815.
George William Curtis born 1824.
'Tis not to enjoy that we exist, For that end only; something must be done; I must not walk in unreproved delight These narrow bounds, and think of nothing more, No duty that looks further and no care.
—William Wordsworth.
We weave our thoughts into heart-spun plans, And weave secure for a fitful day, But lose in the web of earthly things The pattern of sublimity.
Shall days spring up as wild vines grow, Unheeding where they climb or cling? Consider, child, before you sow, And wait not until harvesting.
—M.B.S.
Jehovah is my strength and my shield; My heart hath trusted in him, and I am helped: Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; And with my song will I praise him.
—Psalm 28. 7.
Loving Father, command my judgment for the influences which I permit to come into my life. Grant that I may not delay my purposes for the lack of comforts which are so often made more than life. With thy strength may I be steadfast in what I would achieve. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTY-FIFTH
William Seely died 1521.
Sir Christopher Wren died 1723.
Jane Goodwin Austin born 1831.
Camille Flammarion born 1842.
In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes. All other passions do occasionally good; but wherever pride puts in its word everything goes wrong.
—John Ruskin.
He that is proud eats up himself: pride is his own glass, his own trumpet, his own chronicle; and whatever praises itself but in the deed, devours the deed in the praise.
—William Shakespeare.
Save me alike from foolish pride Or impious discontent; At aught Thy wisdom hath denied, Or aught Thy wisdom lent.
—Alexander Pope.
A man's pride shall bring him low; But he that is of a lowly spirit shall obtain honor.
—Proverbs 29. 23.
Heavenly Father, I pray that I may not let pride keep me down when it may be mine to be carried to the heights. With tenderness take me out of myself, that I may see how pride deceives, and destroys an humble spirit. Help me to master both stubbornness and pride. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTY-SIXTH
Christopher Marlowe (baptized 1564).
Victor Hugo born 1802.
Lord Cromer born 1841.
Thomas Moore died 1852.
When I go down to the grave I can say, like so many others, I have finished my work; but I cannot say I have finished my life; my day's work will begin again the next morning. My tomb is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare. It closes in the twilight to open in the dawn.
—Victor Hugo.
There's nothing bright above, below, From flowers that bloom to stars that glow, But in the light my soul can see Some feature of the Deity.
There's nothing dark below, above, But in its gloom I trace God's love, And meekly wait that moment when His truth shall turn all bright again.
—Thomas Moore.
Jehovah redeemeth the soul of his servants; And none of them that take refuge in him shall be condemned.
—Psalm 34. 22.
Lord God, may I not only feel the need of thee when I am burdened with sorrow and care, but may I have need of thee in my pleasures and joys. I thank thee for thy gracious kindness, thy mercy and thy protection. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTY-SEVENTH
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow born 1807.
Ellen Terry born 1848.
Mary F. Robinson born 1857.
Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time—
Footprints that perhaps another, Sailing o'er life's wintry main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again.
—Henry W. Longfellow.
They are slaves who fear to speak For the fallen and the weak; They are slaves who will not choose Hatred, scoffing, and abuse, Rather than in silence shrink From the truth they needs must think; They are slaves who dare not be In the right with two or three.
—James Russell Lowell.
Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
—Matthew 5. 16.
Merciful Father, help me to know that my shadow cannot fall without me, and that my footprints cannot be found where I have never trodden. I pray that thou wilt make me so familiar with the right path that it may be mine to have the privilege of leading others to the right places. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTY-EIGHTH
Montaigne born 1533.
Mary Lyon born 1797.
Sir John Tenniel born 1820.
Soul, rule thyself; on passion, deed, desire, Lay thou the laws of thy deliberate will. Stand at thy chosen post, Faith's sentinel: Though Hell's lost legions ring thee round with fire, Learn to endure.
—Arthur Symonds.
The confidence in another man's virtue is no slight evidence of a man's own, and God willingly favors such a confidence.
—Montaigne.
Though a host should encamp against me, My heart shall not fear: Though war should rise against me, Even then will I be confident.
—Psalm 27. 3.
My Father, may I ever be kept in remembrance of my virtue, and may I be sensitive to its strength. As I go on my way, keep me within control of the impetuous desires of my nature, and in call of the duties and obligations of my daily life. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTY-NINTH
Anne Lee born 1736.
G.A. Rossini born 1792.
John Landseer died 1852.
Happy is he and more than wise Who sees with wondrous eyes and clean This world through all the gray disguise Of sleep and custom in between.
—G.K. Chesterton.
In the morning, when thou findest thyself unwilling to rise, consider with thyself presently, if it is to go about a man's work that I am stirred up. Or was I made for this, to lay me down, and make much of myself in a warm bed.
—Marcus Aurelius.
Arise and be doing, and Jehovah be with thee.
—1 Chronicles 22. 16.
Gracious Father, help me to take of the wealth of my day, while it is in season, and accessible. May I not be ignorant of the abundance in which I live, and be found in overwhelming regret. Forgive me for all that I have missed in life, and make me more watchful of that which is to come. Amen.
MARCH
Spring still makes spring in the mind, When sixty years are told; Love makes anew this throbbing heart, And we are never old. Over the winter glaciers, I see the summer glow, And through the wild-piled snowdrift The warm rosebuds below.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson.
MARCH FIRST
Alexander Balfour born 1767.
Frederick Francois Chopin born 1809.
Augustus Saint-Gaudens born 1848.
William Dean Howells born 1837.
Thy soul shall enter on its heritage Of God's unuttered wisdom. Thou shalt sweep With hand assured the ringing lyre of life, Till the fierce anguish of its bitter strife, Its pain, death, discord, sorrow, and despair, Break into rhythmic music. Thou shalt share The prophet-joy that kept forever glad God's poet-souls when all a world was sad. Enter and live! Thou hast not lived before.
—S. Weir Mitchell.
Return unto thy rest, O my soul; For Jehovah hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, Mine eyes from tears, And my feet from falling.
—Psalm 116. 7, 8.
Almighty God, grant that I may never be so discouraged that I feel my life has been spent. Help me to so live, that I may not follow into hopeless days, but look for the bright and beautiful in to-morrow. Forgive me for all that I have asked for and accepted through willful judgment, and make me more careful in selecting my needs. Amen.
MARCH SECOND
Juvenal born A.D. 40.
John Wesley died 1791.
Horace Walpole died 1797.
Nature never says one thing, Wisdom another.
—Juvenal.
By all means, use some times to be alone; Salute thyself—see what thy soul doth wear; Dare to look in thy chest, for 'tis thine own, And tumble up and down what thou findest there.
—William Wordsworth.
Lonesomeness is part of the cost of power. The higher you climb, the less can you hope for companionship. The heavier and the more immediate the responsibility, the less can a man delegate his tasks or escape his own mistakes.
—Shailer Mathews.
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee.
—Matthew 6. 6.
My Father, I pray that thou wilt take care of my thoughts when I am alone and tired, and keep them strong and clean. Grant that while I commune with thee I may yield to my needs and be restored with keener energy for worthier deeds. May I ask of thy wisdom every day. Amen.
MARCH THIRD
Edmund Waller born 1605.
George Herbert died 1633.
Christine Nilsson born 1843.
Pitch thy behaviour low, thy projects high, So shalt thou humble and magnanimous be; Sink not in spirit: who aimeth at the sky, Shoots higher than he that means a tree.
—George Herbert.
We and God have business with each other; and in opening ourselves to his influence our deepest destiny is fulfilled.
—William James.
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
—2 Corinthians 4. 18.
Almighty God, help me to remember that "the power of character is the highest point of success," and that thou hast put within reach of all the choice ideals of life. May I have the desire to cultivate strong purposes, and strive for high endeavors, that I may not aim for the low. Amen.
MARCH FOURTH
Casimer Pulaski born 1748.
Sir Henry Raeburn born 1756.
E.W. Bull, originator Concord grape, born 1806.
Alexander Graham Bell born 1847.
It is perfectly obvious that men do necessarily absorb, out of the influences in which they grow up, something which gives a complexion to their whole after-character.
—Anthony Froude.
All common things, each day's events That with the hour begin and end, Our pleasures and our discontents Are rounds by which we may ascend.
—Henry W. Longfellow.
Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt. I
—Shakespeare.
And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead; and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth.
—1 Samuel 17. 49.
My Father, I would remember that my life may decline from the neglect of small things; for as thou dost nourish the wheat from flakes of snow, and supply the springs from drops of rain, so thou wilt strengthen my soul from every little blessing. I pray that I may not forget to watch my habits, and keep track of the hours that culture and sustain my life. Amen.
MARCH FIFTH
Correggio died 1534.
Howard Pyle born 1853.
Arthur Foote born 1853.
When I have the time so many things I'll do, To make life happier and more fair For those whose lives are crowded now with care, I'll help to lift them from their low despair When I have time.
When I have time the friend I love so well Shall know no more the weary, toiling days; I'll lead his feet in pleasant paths always, And cheer his heart with words of sweetest praise, When I have time.
Now is the time! Speed, friend; no longer wait To scatter loving smiles and words of cheer To those around whose lives are drear; They may not need you in the far-off year: Now is the time.
—Unknown.
Behold now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
—2 Corinthians 6. 2.
Lord God, teach me this day to know that the veriest trifle often keeps happiness alive, and that the smallest trifle often may kill it. I pray that now thou wilt put within my heart that touch of love, which brings consideration for others, and the care that brings the greatest happiness. Amen.
MARCH SIXTH
Michael Angelo Buonarroti born 1475.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning born 1806.
George du Maurier born 1831.
Beloved, let us love so well Our work shall still be better for our love, And still our love be sweeter for our work: And both commended for the sake of each By all true workers and true lovers born.
—Elizabeth B. Browning.
Earth saddens, never shall remove, Affections purely given; And e'en that mortal grief shall prove The immortality of love, And heighten it with heaven.
—Elizabeth B. Browning.
And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing.
—1 Corinthians 13. 3.
Loving Father, I pray that I may not try to change the standard of love by grafting on my own selfishness and infirmities. May I remember that it is mostly for gratification that love is held to the base in life; may I follow it to the summits, where it is divine. Amen.
MARCH SEVENTH
Sir Thomas Wilson died 1755.
Sir Edwin Landseer born 1802.
Luther Burbank born 1849.
Earth gets its price for what it gives us; The beggar is taxed for a corner to die in, The priest has his fee who comes and shrives us, We bargain for the graves we lie in; At the devil's booth are all things sold, Each ounce of dross costs its ounce of gold; For a cap and bells our lives we pay, Bubbles we buy with a whole soul's tasking; 'Tis heaven alone that is given away, 'Tis only God may be had for the asking.
—James Russell Lowell.
We are our own fates. Our own deeds Are our doomsmen. Man's life was made Not for men's creeds, But men's actions.
—Owen Meredith.
The free gift of God is eternal life.
—Romans 6. 23.
Gracious Father, may the world speak to me of thy love, and of thy gifts of peace and power, which it freely offers. May I not pass by its great values, and prefer to purchase at a great cost my indolence and dissipation.
—Amen.
MARCH EIGHTH
Dr. John Fothergill born 1712.
C.P. Cranch born 1813.
Anna Letitia Barbauld died 1825.
O boundless self-contentment voiced In flying air-born bubbles! O joy that mocks our sad unrest, And frowns our earth-born troubles!
The life that floods the happy fields With song and light and color, Will shape our lives to richer states And heap our measures fuller.
—C.P. Cranch.
One may secure and preserve that repose in the turbulence of a great city—as Shakespeare surely found and preserved it in the London of the sixteenth century. For repose does not depend on external conditions; it depends on sound adjustment to tasks, opportunities, pleasures, and the general order of life.
—Hamilton Mabie.
That we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in godliness and gravity.
—1 Timothy 2.2.
Gracious Father, help me to understand that peace cannot abide in misery, nor can it stay with every mood. May I be able to overcome the depression that may keep me in sadness and isolation, and have delight in the gladness of friends, and live in the peace of strong resolutions. Amen.
MARCH NINTH
Americus Vespucius born 1451.
Lewis Gonzaga born 1568.
Comte de Mirabeau born 1749.
William Cobbett born 1762.
Edwin Forrest born 1806.
Yet nerve thy spirit to the Proof, and blanch not at thy chosen lot; The timid good may stand aloof, the sage may frown—yet faint thou not; Nor heed the shaft too surely cast, the foul and hissing bolt of scorn; For with thy Side shall dwell, at last, the victory of endurance born.
—William C. Bryant.
You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself into one.
—James Anthony Froude.
Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee?
—Ezekiel 22.14.
Loving Father, search me, and if there be any evil ways in me, correct them, and lead me into the ways everlasting. I pray that I may not be deformed from selfishness, but with a lowly and expectant heart run with patience and triumph the race that is set before me. Amen.
MARCH TENTH
Bishop Duppa born 1698.
Professor Playfair born 1748.
Charles Loyson (Pere Hyacinthe) born 1827.
So he died by his faith. That is fine— More than the most of us do. But stay. Can you add to that line That he lived for it too?
It is easy to die. Men have died For a wish or a whim— From bravado or passion or pride. Was it hard for him?
But to live: every day to live out All the truth that he dreamt, While his friends met his conduct with doubt, And the world with contempt.
Was it thus that he plodded ahead, Never turning aside? Then we'll talk of the life that he led. Never mind how he died.
—Ernest Crosby.
For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord Jehovah: wherefore turn yourselves, and live.
—Ezekiel 18. 32.
Almighty God, help me to live an upright life. Give me courage to abandon useless customs, and seeming duties that keep me from perfecting my life. Amen.
MARCH ELEVENTH
Torquato Tasso born 1544.
Alexander Mackenzie died 1820.
Henry Drummond died 1897.
There is nothing that is puerile in nature; and he who becomes impassioned of a flower, a blade of grass, a butterfly's wing, a nest, a shell, wraps around a small thing that always contains a great truth. To succeed in modifying the appearance of a flower is insignificant in itself, if you will; but reflect upon it for however short a while and it becomes gigantic.
—Maurice Maeterlinck.
O world, as God has made it! All is beauty: And knowing this, is love, and love is duty: What further may be sought for or declared?
—Robert Browning.
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
—Matthew 6. 28, 29.
Creator of all, I do know that if I may hold myself close enough, I can hear restful music through the breeze, and find secrets in the flowers and leaves. I rejoice that thou hast made the woods and rivers that thou dost love, so I too might possess them, and not be a tenant of them only. May I look and study deeper the things which bring me closer to thee. Amen.
MARCH TWELFTH
Cesare Borgia killed 1507.
Bishop Buckley born 1684.
Simon Newcomb born 1835.
Among the happiest and proudest possessions of a man is his character. It is a wreath, it is a bank in itself. What is the essence and life of character? Principle, integrity, independence.
—Bulwer Lytton.
No great genius was ever without some mixture of madness, nor can anything grand or superior to the voice of common mortals be spoken except by the agitated soul.
—Aristotle.
Handsome is that handsome does.
—Oliver Goldsmith.
Since thou hast been precious in my sight, and honorable, and I have loved thee; therefore will I give men in thy stead, and peoples instead of thy life.
—Isaiah 43. 4.
Lord God, forbid that I should try to supplant character with manners and worldly goods. May I remember that thou seest me, and knowest me, and I need no shield from thee. Help me that I may be found acceptable while thou dost search me to the depths of the soul. Amen.
MARCH THIRTEENTH
Joseph Priestley born 1733.
Esther Johnson (Stella) born 1681.
Regina Maria Roche died 1845.
If stores of dry and learned lore we gain We keep them in the memory of the brain; Names, things, and facts—whate'er we knowledge call, There is the common ledger for them all; And images on this cold surface traced Make slight impressions and are soon effaced. But we've a page more glowing and more bright On which our friendship and our love to write; That these may never from the soul depart, We trust them to the memory of the heart. There is no dimming—no effacement here; Each pulsation keeps the record clear; Warm golden letters all the tablet fill, Nor lose their luster till the heart stands still.
—Daniel Webster.
I often wonder why it is that we are not all kinder than we are. How much the world needs it! How easily it is done! How instantaneously it acts! How infallibly it is remembered!
—Henry Drummond.
Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days.
—Ecclesiastes 11. 1.
My Father, thou hast taught me through the gifts of life, that there is no labor or price too dear to pay for love. I pray to love thee more that I may have more love to bestow on others. Amen.
MARCH FOURTEENTH
Thomas H. Benton born 1782.
Johann Strauss born 1804.
Victor Emmanuel born 1820.
Rivers to the ocean run, Nor stay in all their course; Fire ascending seeks the sun; Both speed them to their source; So a soul that's born of God, Pants to view his glorious face, Upward tends to his abode, To rest in his embrace.
—Robert Seagrave.
As the bird trims her to the gale I trim myself to the storm of time; I man the rudder, reef the sail, Obey the voice at eve obeyed at prime; Lowly faithful, banish fear, The port well worth the cruise is near And every wave is charmed.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson.
As the hart panteth after the water brooks, So panteth my soul after thee, O God.
—Psalm 42. 1.
My Father, I pray that if I meet with difficulty, I may not go backward, nor stand still, and fear to go forward. Unfold to me the depth and breadth of the ideal and beautiful, that I may not be content to succeed in the shallowness of life: but may I aspire to the height of the soul, even if I fail to acquire great things. Amen.
MARCH FIFTEENTH
Julius Caesar killed B.C. 44.
Peasants War began 1512.
Andrew Jackson, North Carolina, seventh President United States, born 1767.
John Davenport died 1670.
I will take the responsibility!
—Andrew Jackson.
What ought to be possible for everyone is to arrive at a sort of harmony of life, to have definite things that they want to do.... The people whom it is hard to fit into any scheme of benevolent creation are the vague, insignificant, drifting people, whose only rooted tendency is to do whatever is suggested to them.
—Arthur C. Benson.
Heard are the voices, Heard are the sages, The worlds, and the ages; Choose well! your choice is Brief and endless.
—Goethe.
Only be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according to all the law....
—Joshua 1. 7.
Gracious Father, I pray that thou wilt free me from evil thoughts before they become a habit. Create in me that freedom which makes me not ashamed to acknowledge the wrong, and which will enable me to stand for the right. Quicken my thoughts, that they may keep my heart inspired. Amen.
MARCH SIXTEENTH
James Madison, Virginia, fourth President United States, born 1751.
Caroline Lucretia Herschel born 1750.
Alexander Watts born 1797.
If we live truly we shall see truly. It is as easy for the strong man to be strong as it is for the weak to be weak. When we have new perception we shall gladly disburthen the memory of the hoarded treasures as old rubbish. When a man lives with God his voice shall be as sweet as the murmur of the brook and the rustle of the corn.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson.
The tissue of the life to be, We weave with colors all our own, And in the field of Destiny We reap as we have sown.
—Raphael.
Now when they beheld the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
—Acts 4. 13.
Lord God, quiet me if I am not calm, that my soul may be able to contemplate and have an opportunity to grow. Help me, that I may be able even in discouragements to have the true perception of life. Amen.
MARCH SEVENTEENTH
Saint Patrick's Day.
Ebenezer Elliott born 1781.
Dr. Thomas Chalmers born 1780.
Moncure D. Conway born 1832.
Clara Morris born 1849.
What is really wanted is to light up the spirit that is within a child. In some sense and in some effectual degree there is in every child the material of good work in the world; and in every child, not only in those who are brilliant, not only in those who are quick, but in those who are stolid, and even in those who are dull.
—William Gladstone.
If you make children happy now, you will make them happy twenty years hence by the memory of it.
—Kate Douglas Wiggin.
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
—Deuteronomy 6. 6, 7.
Lord God, may I be diligent for the progress of little children. Show me how I may minister unto them; and grant that I may be able to see the necessity of giving, more than I do the pleasure of receiving. Amen.
MARCH EIGHTEENTH
William Byrd died 1674.
John C. Calhoun born 1782.
Grover Cleveland, New Jersey, twenty-second President United States, born 1837.
My minde to me a kingdom is: Such perfect joy therein I finde As far exceeds all earthly blisse That God or nature hath assignede.
—William Byrd.
Teach your proud will to make those nobler choices Which bring to soul and heart enduring health. Deafen your ears to those contending voices, Look in your heart, learn your own being's wealth. Its resources vast, its undiscovered treasure Waiting for these same idle hands to mine. Learn that the grandest of Nature's creations May not be bounded by man's limitations.
—Rose E. Cleveland.
But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? And what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
—Job 23. 13.
Almighty God, grant that I may never succumb to the controlling influences of the body, and lose the power of my mind. May I guard the dictates of my heart and keep my mind in command to obey thy will. Amen.
MARCH NINETEENTH
David Livingstone born 1813.
Alice French (Octave Thanet) born 1850.
William Jennings Bryan born 1860.
Isn't it interesting to get blamed for everything? But I must be thankful in feeling that I would rather perish than blame another for my misdeeds and deficiencies.
—David Livingstone.
Criticism is helpful. If a man makes a mistake, criticism enables him to correct it; if he is unjustly criticized, the criticism helps him. I have had my share of criticism since I have been in public life, but it has not prevented me from doing what I thought proper to do.
—William Jennings Bryan.
For himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee. So that with good courage we say, The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.
—Hebrews 13. 5, 6.
Loving Father, I thank thee that thou art the same yesterday, to-day, and forever; and I am glad I cannot receive from thee the slights and wounds that I may give or receive from my friends. May I be considerate and more forgiving, and by my sincerity be worthy of the purpose which I pursue. Amen.
MARCH TWENTIETH
Publius Ovidius (Ovid) born B.C. 43.
Sir Isaac Newton died 1727.
Karl August Nicander born 1799.
Henrik Ibsen born 1828.
Whoever is not with me in the essential things of life, him I no longer know—I owe him no consideration.
—Henrik Ibsen.
Only he who lives in truth finds it. The deepest truth is not born of conscious striving, but comes in the quiet hour when a noble nature gives itself into the keeping of life, to suffer, to feel, to think, and to act as it is moved by a wisdom not its own.
—Hamilton Mabie.
Forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God.
—Philippians 3. 13, 14.
Lord God, I thank thee for the silent ways of revelation which bring hopeful communion with thee. Help me to be composed, that my life may not create a noise and my soul miss the messages that come from the depths of truth and love. Amen.
MARCH TWENTY-FIRST
Johann Sebastian Bach born 1685.
Archbishop Cranmer burnt at Oxford 1556.
Jean Paul Richter born 1763.
Henry Kirke White born 1785.
Go through life with soft influences breathing around thee. Keep thy heart high above the many-colored mist of earth and above its storm clouds.
—Jean Paul Richter.
Recollection is the only paradise from which we cannot be turned out.
—Jean Paul Richter.
Come, Disappointment, come! Thou art not stern to me; Sad monitress! I own thy sway, A votary sad in every day, I bend my knee to thee, From sun to sun My race will run; I only bow, and say, My God, thy will be done!
—Henry Kirke White.
If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad countenance, and be of good cheer.
—Job 9. 27.
Gracious Father, help me to respond cheerfully when called upon to give. May I never repent of tenderness which others fail to appreciate, but may I be glad of all that I give and for all I receive. Amen.
MARCH TWENTY-SECOND
Sir Anthony Vandyke born 1599.
Caroline Sheridan Norton born 1808.
Johann Goethe died 1832.
Dr. Farrar, Dean of Canterbury, died 1903.
Rosa Bonheur born 1822.
Red Love still rules the day, white Faith enfolds the night, And hope, green-mantled, leads the way by the walls of the City of Light. Therefore I walk as one who sees the joy shine through Of the other Life behind our life, like the stars behind the blue.
—Dean Farrar.
There can be no greater delight than is experienced by a man who, by his own unaided resources, frees himself from the consequences of error: Heaven looks down with satisfaction upon such a spectacle.
—Goethe.
Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold a land that reacheth afar.
—Isaiah 33. 17.
Lord God, help me to remember that I may not only be forgiven for my transgression, but with thy help I may be led away from the wrong. May I be content to follow where thou dost lead. Amen.
MARCH TWENTY-THIRD
Pierre Savant La Place born 1749.
Schuyler Colfax born 1823.
Richard A. Proctor born 1837.
Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves together; that at length they may emerge, full-formed and majestic, into the daylight of life.... Nay, in thy own mean perplexities, do thou thyself but hold thy tongue for one day; on the morrow how much clearer are thy purposes and duties!
—Thomas Carlyle.
Deliberate much before you say and do anything; for it will not be in your power to recall what is said or done. |
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