Chapter II: Part 2

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.

Molière 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 François 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 (Père 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 Cæsar 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.

--Epictetus.

Set a watch, O Jehovah, before my mouth;
Keep the door of my lips.

--Psalm 141. 3.

My Lord, make me a lover of the truth. Make me careful of my thoughts, and the words I would speak, that I may not think selfishly and speak cruelly, but keep myself holy unto thee. Amen.

MARCH TWENTY-FOURTH

Queen Elizabeth died 1603.

Fanny Crosby born 1820.

Henry W. Longfellow died 1882.

Sir Edwin Arnold died 1904.

Every quivering tongue of flame Seems to murmur some great name, Seems to say to me "Aspire!" No endeavor is in vain; Its reward is in the doing, And the rapture of pursuing Is the prize of vanquished gain.

--Henry W. Longfellow.

Never be sad or desponding
If thou hast faith to believe;
Grace for the duties before thee
Ask of thy God and receive.

--Fanny Crosby.

I spread forth my hands unto thee:
My soul thirsteth after thee, as a weary land.

--Psalm 143. 6.

Almighty God, make me conscious of my weaknesses, and make me ashamed of my indulgences. Give me a victory over self; and may I consider more what I put in my life. May I be eager for that which will inspire me for greater aspirations. Amen.

MARCH TWENTY-FIFTH

Archbishop John Williams born 1582.

Joachim Murat born 1771.

Anna Seward died 1809.

How awful is the thought of the wonders underground,
Of the mystic changes wrought in the silent, dark profound!
How each thing upward tends by necessity decreed,
And the world's support depends on the shooting of a seed!

The summer's in her ark, and this sunny-pinioned day
Is commissioned to remark whether Winter holds her sway:
Go back, thou dove of peace, with myrtle on thy wing,
Say that floods and tempests cease, and the world is ripe for Spring.

--Horace Smith.

I should never have made my success in life if I had not bestowed
upon the least thing I have ever undertaken the same attention and
care that I have bestowed upon the greatest.

--Charles Dickens.

Gather up the broken pieces which remain over, that nothing be lost.

--John 6. 12.

Loving Father, cause me to learn from nature that to have perfection I must be attentive at the beginning of growth. Help me to select with care the soil wherein I plant; and to weed and cultivate my life that it may grow to beauty and usefulness. Amen.

MARCH TWENTY-SIXTH

Konrad von Gesner born 1516.

W. E. H. Lecky born 1838.

Gustave Guillaumet born 1840.

Walt Whitman died 1892.

Every man takes care that his neighbor shall not cheat him, but a
day comes when he begins to care that he do not cheat his neighbor.
Then all goes well. He has changed his market-cart into a chariot of
the sun.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson.

He that is unacquainted with the nature of the world must be at a
loss to know where he is. And he that cannot tell the ends he was
made for is ignorant both of himself and the world too.

--Marcus Aurelius.

Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.

--2 Timothy 2. 15.

Almighty God, may I not only approve of justice and kindness, but practice it. Grant that I may be attentive to the call of work and steadfast in completing it. May I be sincere to those who are dear to me, and never falter in my support to those who are dependent upon me. Amen.

MARCH TWENTY-SEVENTH

Alfred Vigny born 1799.

General A. W. Greely born 1847.

Sir Gilbert Scott died 1878.

It takes great strength to bring your life up square
With your accepted thought and hold it there:
Resisting the inertia that drags it back
From new attempts, to the old habit's track.
It is so easy to drift back, to sink.
So hard to live abreast of what you think.

--Charlotte Perkins Stetson.

If a person had delivered up your body to anyone whom he met in his
way, you would certainly be angry. And do you feel no shame in
delivering up your own mind to be disconcerted and confounded by
anyone who happens to give you ill language.

--Epictetus.

Wherefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly
vision.

--Acts 26. 19.

My Father, my soul sinks with shame when I think of the great moments that I have given over to mean little things. Help me that I may reckon more on the value of time, and live not to tolerate life, but to have a great need for it, that day by day I may have a deeper consciousness of its appropriate use. Amen.

MARCH TWENTY-EIGHTH

Santi d'Urbino Raphael born 1483.

Sir Thomas Smith born 1514.

Margaret (Peg) Woffington died 1760.

They may not need me,
Yet they might;
I'll let my heart be
Just in sight--

A smile so small
As mine might be
Precisely their
Necessity.

--Unknown.

You hear that boy laughing?--you think he's all fun;
But the angels laugh too at the good he has done;
The children laugh loud as they troop to his call,
And the poor man that knows him laughs loudest of all.

--Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing,
be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to
another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other.

--Ephesians 4. 31.

Lord God, I pray that I may be fair, and not pass judgment on those whom I like or those whom I dislike, and so bring unhappy regrets. May I remember that, though hasty judgment often may be temporary, the gain or loss of a friend may be permanent. Amen.

MARCH TWENTY-NINTH

Dr. John Lightfoot born 1602.

John Tyler, Virginia, tenth President United States, born 1790.

Amelia Barr born 1831.

The year's at the spring
And the day's at the morn;
The hillside's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing:
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in his heaven:
All's well with the world.

--Robert Browning.

Dear Lord and Father of mankinds
Forgive our feverish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind;
In purer lives thy service find,
In deeper reverence praise.

--John G. Whittier.

In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.

--Isaiah 30. 15.

Lord God, I beseech thee to give me the strength which endures. Grant that I may have the ceaseless content which is secured by choosing and continuing in the right way. From the wealth of each day renew my hope, and quiet my soul with the calm of thy peace. Amen.

MARCH THIRTIETH

Sir Henry Wotton born 1568.

Archbishop Somner born 1606.

John Fiske born 1842.

John Constable died 1837.

I said, "Let us walk in the field."
He said, "Nay walk in the town."
I said, "There are no flowers there."
He said, "No flowers but a crown."

I said, "But the air is thick,
And the fogs are veiling the sun."
He answered, "Yet souls are sick
And souls in the dark undone."

I cast one look at the field,
Then set my face to the town.
He said: "My child, do you yield?
Will ye leave the flowers for the crown?"

Then into his hand went mine
And into my heart came He,
And I walked in a light divine
The path I had feared to see.

--George Macdonald.

Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of
Jehovah your God.

--Jeremiah 26. 13.

Eternal God, teach me the way of a complete and unbroken trust. In my disappointments, and in my devotions, may my faith and hope be as immortal as my soul. May I listen for thy voice and answer thy call. Amen.

MARCH THIRTY-FIRST

Ludwig von Beethoven died 1827.

Joseph Francis Haydn born 1732.

Andrew Lang born 1844.

Charlotte Brontë died 1855.

The Great Being unseen, but all-present, who in his beneficence
desires only our welfare, watches the struggle between good and evil
in our hearts, and waits to see whether we obey his voice, heard in
the whispers of conscience, or lend an ear to the Spirit Evil, which
seeks to lead us astray. Rough and steep is the path indicated by
divine suggestion; mossy and declining the green way along which
temptation strews flowers. Then conscience whispers, "Do what you
feel is right, obey me, and I will plant for you firm footing."

--Charlotte Brontë.

God help us do our duty, and not shrink,
And trust in heaven humbly for the rest.

--Owen Meredith.

I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have
set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse:
therefore choose life.

--Deuteronomy 30. 19.

My Father, as I review my life I am impressed how accurately my deeds have copied my thoughts. And though I have failed the so often, yet I pray that thou wilt accept my yearnings, to think and work for the best in every day. Amen.

APRIL

God's April is coming up the hill, and the noisy winds are quieting
down, subdued by the fragrance of the wild flowers on the way. Lest
we miss the richness of life, while pursuing the world, God
continues to pour out precious fragrance from his storehouse, and
unconsciously, our souls are lulled to peace through the sweetness
of April days.

--M.B.S.

APRIL FIRST

All Fools' Day.

William Harvey born 1578.

Prince von Bismarck born 1815.

Edwin A. Abbey born 1852.

Agnes Repplier born 1858.

It is a peculiar quality of a fool to perceive the faults of others,
and to forget his own.

--Cicero.

A man may be as much a fool from the want of sensibility as the want
of sense.

--Mrs. Jameson.

He that knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool: shun
him.

--Arabian Maxim.

Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit?
There is more hope of a fool than of him.

--Proverbs 26. 12.