Chapter VI: Part 6

Herein I also exercise myself to have a conscience void of offense
toward God and men always.

--Acts 24. 16.

Heavenly Father, help me to-day to look into my heart and see the truth of my life, and show me thy heart that I may see the truth of life. Amen.

AUGUST TWENTY-FIFTH

Thomas Chatterton died 1770.

Sir William Herschel died 1822.

Francis Bret Harte died 1902.

O teach me in the trying hour,
When anguish swells the dewy tear,
To still my sorrows, own thy power,
Thy goodness love, thy justice fear.

Then why, my soul, dost thou complain?
Why drooping seek the dark recess?
Shake off the melancholy chain,
For God created all to bless.

--Thomas Chatterton.

Each substance of a grief hath twenty shadows
which show like grief itself, but are not so:
For sorrow's eye, glazed with blinding tears,
Divides one thing entire to many shadows.

--William Shakespeare.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
And why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God.

--Psalm 42. 5.

Loving Father, forbid that I should be lonesome, and forget thou art my friend: and may I not pass over thy mercies while waiting for thy compassion. Help me to find contentment in the inheritances of the earth, where I may always draw from thee. Amen.

AUGUST TWENTY-SIXTH

Sir Robert Walpole born 1676.

Adam Clarke died 1832.

Henry Fawcett born 1833.

Lord, for to-morrow and its needs
I do not pray;
Keep me, my God, from stain of sin
Just for to-day.
Help me to labor earnestly,
And duly pray;
Let me be kind in word and deed,
Father, to-day.

Let me no wrong or idle word
Unthinking say;
Set thou a seal upon my lips
Through all to-day.
Let me in season, Lord, be grave,
In season gay;
Let me be faithful to thy grace,
Dear Lord, to-day.

--Ernest Wilberforce.

And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure
of his life?

--Matthew 6. 27.

My Lord, I pray that thou wilt control my life, and bless the going out of my work, be it ever so great or small. Help me to realize the necessity of earnestness, that I may "work while it is to-day," and I have the light, and not wait for the night, when it is too dark for work to be done. May I be faithful in my work until it is completed. Amen.

AUGUST TWENTY-SEVENTH

William Woollett born 1735.

James Thomson died 1748.

George W. F. Hegel born 1770.

Who are thy playmates, boy?
"My favorite is joy,
Who brings with him his sister Peace, to stay
The livelong day.
I love them both; but he
Is most to me!"

And where are thy playmates now,
O man of sober brow?
"Alas! dear joy, the merriest is dead,
But I have wed
Peace; and our babe, a boy
Newborn, is joy."

--John B. Tabb.

Depart from evil, and do good;
Seek peace, and pursue it.

--Psalm 34. 14.

Lord God, may I realize more my dependence on thee for the joys of life. I pray that as I accept thy gifts I will not neglect to take the peace and happiness which thou dost give with them. Grant that I may have the bright hope and cheerful courage that is the experience of power and truth. Amen.

AUGUST TWENTY-EIGHTH

Johann W. von Goethe born 1749.

Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel born 1809.

Jones Very born 1813.

Count Lyoff (Leo) Tolstoy born 1828.

Sir Edward Burne-Jones born 1833.

Leigh Hunt died 1859.

All truly wise thoughts have been already thought a thousand times;
but to make them truly ours we must think them over again honestly,
till they take firm root in our personal experience.

--Goethe.

The light that fills thy house at morn
Thou canst not for thyself retain;
But all who with thee here are born
It bids to share an equal gain.

The wave, the blue encircling wave,
No chain can bind, no fetter hold;
Its thunders tell of Him who gave
What none can ever buy for gold.

--Jones Very.

And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them

--John 17. 22.

Father of love, I thank thee for thy daily love and for thy daily bread. May I feel that thy gifts are for all, and not mine to keep and store from those who are in need. Help me as I say, "Thy will be done to me," to so will it to others. Amen.

AUGUST TWENTY-NINTH

John Locke born 1632.

John Fawcett born 1768.

Frederick D. Maurice born 1805.

Oliver Wendell Holmes born 1809.

Maurice Maeterlinck born 1862.

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low-vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,
Till thou at length art free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!

--Oliver Wendell Holmes.

We all live in the sublime. Where else can we live? That is the only
place of life. Though you have but a little room, do you fancy that
God is not there, too, and it is impossible to live therein a life
that shall be somewhat lofty? Do you imagine that you can possibly
be alone, that love can be a thing one knows, a thing one sees; that
events can be weighed like the gold and silver of ransom?

--Maurice Maeterlinck.

My soul waiteth in silence for God only:
From him cometh my salvation.

--Psalm 62. 1.

Loving Father, help me to live, that my spirit may always dwell in thy protecting love. Amen.

AUGUST THIRTIETH

Cleopatra died B. C. 30.

William Paley born 1743.

Julian A. Weir born 1852.

Thyself and thy belongings
Are not thine own so proper as to waste
Thyself upon thy virtues, they on thee.
Heaven doth with us as we with torches do,
Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues
Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike
As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touched
But to fine issues, nor Nature never lends
The smallest scruple of her excellence,
But, like a thrifty goddess, she determines
Herself the glory of a creditor,
Both thanks and use.

--William Shakespeare.

Brethren, be ye imitators together of me, and mark them that so walk
even as ye have us for an ensample.

--Philippians 3. 17.

My Father, I pray that I may not let my life become commonplace through habit. May I not be content to rest in my virtues and let the days pass neglected. Awaken my dull satisfactions to a desire to live for the greatest, that I may have the greatest to live for. Amen.

AUGUST THIRTY-FIRST

John Bunyan died 1686.

Charles James Lever born 1806.

Theophile Gautier born 1811.

Queen Wilhelmina of Holland born 1880.

Let us be patient, and endure a while; the time may come that God
may give us a happy release; but let us not be our own murderers.

--John Bunyan.

He that is down need fear no fall;
He that is low no pride;
He that is humble ever shall
Have God to be his guide.

--John Bunyan.

Time delivers fools from grief and reason wise men.

--Epictetus.

For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us
more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory.

--2 Corinthians 4. 17.

My Lord, if I may be walking through fields that are rough with grief and care, may I have the courage to continue on to the smooth pastures, where I may walk with comfort and peace. May I not let the weariness and sorrow that may come to my heart to-day dwarf my hope and enjoyment of the future. Amen.

SEPTEMBER

Go forth at eventide,
The eventide of summer, when the trees
Yield their frail honors to the passing breeze,
And woodland paths with autumn tints are dyed;
When the mild sun his paling luster shrouds
In gorgeous draperies of golden clouds,
Then wander forth, mid beauty and decay,
To meditate alone--alone to watch and pray.

--Emma C. Embury.

SEPTEMBER FIRST

Edward Alleyn born 1566.

Lydia Sigourney born 1791.

James Gordon Bennett, Sr., born 1795.

William Stanley Jevons born 1835.

O ye, who proudly boast,
In your veins, the blood of sires like these,
Look to their lineaments. Dread lest ye lose
Their likeness in your sons. Should mammon cling
Too close around your heart, or wealth beget
That bloated luxury which eats the core
From manly virtue, or the tempting world
Make faint the Christian purpose in your soul,
Turn ye to Plymouth Rock, and where they knelt
Kneel, and renew the vow they breathed to God.

--Lydia Sigourney.

Educate children without religion, and you make a race of clever
devils.

--Duke of Wellington.

Remember his covenant for ever,
The word which he commanded to a thousand generations.

--1 Chronicles 16. 15.

O Lord of wisdom, kindle me with a love for true knowledge, that I may strive, in the moments I have now, to culture my life. Not by might, not by power, but by thy spirit, O Lord, may I learn and teach thy children. Amen.

SEPTEMBER SECOND

John Howard born 1726.

Henry George born 1839.

George R. Sims born 1842.

Eugene Field born 1850.

Newell Dwight Hillis born 1858.

And thus we sat in darkness,
Each one busy in his prayer;
"We are lost!" the captain shouted,
As he staggered down the stair.
But the little daughter whispered,
As she took his icy hand,
"Isn't God upon the ocean,
Just the same as on the land?"

--Eugene Field.

Happiness is through helpfulness. Every morning let us build a booth
to shelter some one from life's fierce heat. Every noon let us dig
some life-spring for thirsty lips.

--Newell Dwight Hillis.

Jehovah is nigh unto all them that call upon him,
To all that call upon, him in truth.

--Psalm 145. 18.

Heavenly Father, may I live that my spirit may never feel lost from thee; and when I am in great need of thee, even unto death, may I know that thou art very near. Amen.

SEPTEMBER THIRD

Oliver Cromwell died 1658.

George Lillo died 1739.

Bishop James Harrington born 1847.

Sarah Orne Jewett born 1849.

Love thyself last: cherish those hearts that hate thee:
Corruption wins not more than honesty.
Still in thy right hand carry peace,
To silence envious tongues. Be just and fear not:
Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's,
Thy God's and truth's; then if thou fallest, O Cromwell,
Thou fallest a blessed martyr.

--William Shakespeare.

Surely, the only true knowledge of our fellow man is that which
enables us to feel with him, which gives us a fine ear for the
heart-pulses that are beating under the mere clothes of circumstance
and opinion.

--George Eliot.

With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one
another in love.

--Ephesians 4. 2.

Lord, give thy people consistency of judgment, one heart, and mutual
love; and go on to deliver them, and with the work of the
reformation; and make the name of Christ glorious in the world.
Teach those who look too much on thy instruments to depend more upon
thyself. Pardon the folly of this short prayer: Even for Christ's
sake. And give us a good night, if it be thy pleasure. Amen.

--Prayer by Oliver Cromwell, just before death.

SEPTEMBER FOURTH

Pindar, poet, born B. C. 522.

William E. Dodge born 1805.

Phoebe Cary born 1824.

Sir Wilfred Lawson born 1829.

I ask not wealth, but power to take
And use the things I have, aright;
Not years, but wisdom that shall make
My life a profit and delight.

--Phcebe Gary.

Another day may bring another mind,
A mind to learn when there is none to teach;
To follow when no leader we can find;
To enjoy when good is now beyond our reach.

A better mind, but not a better time,
A mind to will, but not a time to do
What had been done, if we in life's bright prime,
When God was ready, had been ready too.

--Thomas T. Lynch.

Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed.

--2 Timothy 2. 15.

My Father, help me to have lofty thoughts, and may I not be content until they are carried into purpose. Help me to conquer that which will keep me from an act of happiness, and grant that by thinking of that which is pure, and doing that which is good, I may be made helpful and true. Amen.

SEPTEMBER FIFTH

Catherine Parr died 1548.

Cardinal Richelieu born 1585.

Robert Fergusson born 1750.

Giacomo Meyerbeer born 1791.

Richard C. Trench born 1807.

Be patient! O, be patient! Put your ear against the earth;
Listen there how noiselessly the germ o' the seed has birth--
How noiselessly and gently it upheaves its little way,
Till it parts the scarcely broken ground, and the blade stands up in day.

Be patient! O, be patient!--though yet our hopes are green,
The harvest fields of freedom shall be crowned with sunny sheen.
Be ripening! be ripening--mature your silent way,
Till the whole broad land is tongued with fire on freedom's harvest day.

--Richard C. Trench.

And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and
entire, lacking in nothing.

--James 1. 4.

Gracious Father, help me to see the truth as thou hast made it, and may I not be indifferent to the beauty and patience of the earth's revelations. May I not mistake indolence for patient ambition, which I would have for anxious hours, and which I need for my heart's desires. Amen.

SEPTEMBER SIXTH

Moses Mendelssohn born 1729.

Marquis de Lafayette born 1757.

Jane Addams born 1860.

God will not seek thy race,
Nor will he ask thy birth;
Alone he will demand of thee,
What hast thou done on earth?

--Persian.

One dreams of the time when the interest and capacity of each person
shall be studied with reference to the industry about to be
undertaken.

--Jane Addams.

Honor is purchased by deeds we do, honor is not won, until some
honorable deed is done.

--Sir Christopher Marlowe.

In diligence not slothful; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.

--Romans 12. 11.

Gracious Father, wilt thou bring to my mind and heart the important things which are needed in preparing life. Help me to use the strength that is given to me for to-day, that I may not have to give to-morrow to learning what I should have known. Amen.

SEPTEMBER SEVENTH

Queen Elizabeth born 1533.

Comte de Buffon born 1707.

Victorien Sardou born 1831.

Hannah More died 1833.

John G. Whittier died 1892.

Side by side
In the low sunshine by the turban stone
They knelt; each made his brother's woe his own,
Forgetting, in the agony and stress
Of pitying love, his claim of selfishness;
Peace, for his friend besought, his own became;
His prayers were answered in another's name;
And when at last they rose up to embrace,
Each saw God's pardon in his brother's face.

--John G. Whittier.

My care is like my shadow in the sun,
Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it;
Stands and lies by me, does what I have done,
This too familiar care does make me rue it.
No means I find to rid him from my breast,
Till by the end of things it be suppressed.

--Queen Elizabeth.

Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

--Galatians 6. 2.

Lord God, help me to look for those who are in need of help. Forgive me for my failures, and may I gather up my broken promises and try to redeem them. I ask for thy forgiveness, as I ask that thou wilt help me to forgive them who may have trespassed against me. Amen.

SEPTEMBER EIGHTH

Richard Coeur de Lion born 1157.

A.W. Schlegel born 1767.

Antonin Dvorak born 1841.

All service ranks the same with God,--
With God, whose puppets, best and worst,
Are we: there is no last nor first.

--Robert Browning.

Thou needest not man's little life of years,
Save that he gather wisdom from them all;
That in thy fear he lose all other fears,
And in thy calling heed no other call.
Then shall he be thy child to know thy care,
And in thy Self the eternal Sabbath share.

--Jones Very.

He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his soul;
But he that is careless of his ways shall die.
--Proverbs 191. 6.

My Lord, forbid that I should want to live to be known only for power and pride. Help me to strive for that which is helpful and lovely. May I never be restrained from thee, but delight to follow in thy way. Help me to be obedient to thy laws, that I may learn thy truths. Amen.

SEPTEMBER NINTH

Battle of Flodden.

James the Fourth of Scotland killed 1513.

Luigi Galvani born 1737.

Then welcome each rebuff
That turns earth's smoothness rough,
Each sting that bids nor sit, nor stand but go!
Be our joys three-parts pain!
Strive and hold cheap the strain;
Learn, nor account the pang; dare, never grudge the throe.

--Robert Browning.

Life without industry is guilt; and industry without art is
brutality.

--John Ruskin.

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, help me as I start this day to remember how easy it is to drive the peace from it. May I do my best to keep it, and defy any indolence or disposition, that may make me spoil it. May I lay me down at night in peace and sleep because of the contentment that has filled the hours. Amen.

SEPTEMBER TENTH

William the Conqueror died 1087.

Dr. Thomas Sheridan died 1788.

Mungo Park born 1771.

Mrs. Godwin (Mary Wollstonecraft) died 1797.

Let the wind blow east, west, north, or south, the immortal soul
will take its flight to the destined point.

--Thomas Sheridan.

He is void of true taste who strives to have his house admired by
decorating it with showish outside; but to adorn our character by
gentleness of a communicative temper is a proof of good taste and
good nature

--Epictetus.

Let fortune empty her whole quiver on me.
I have a soul that, like an empty shield,
Can take it all, and verge enough for more.

--Thomas Dryden.

The Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will save me unto
his heavenly kingdom.

--2 Timothy 4. 18.

Almighty God, I bless thee that it is thou who brought me to live on earth; and I rejoice that it is thou who wilt judge my life when thou takest me away. May I be saving thy rich gifts that I may not be found poor; and may I be worthy to receive thine inheritance and hear thee say, "Well done." Amen.

SEPTEMBER ELEVENTH

Battle of Marathon B. C. 490.

William Lowth born 1661.

James Thomson born 1700.

But what is virtue but repose of mind,
A pure ethereal calm, that knows no storm;
Above the reach of wild ambitious wind,
Above the passions that this world deform.

--James Thomson.

And if I pray, the only prayer
That moves my lips for me
Is, "Leave the heart that now I bear,
And give me liberty!"

Yes, as my swift days near their goal,
'Tis all that I implore;
In life and death, a chainless soul
With courage to endure.

--Emily Brontë.

Cast not away therefore your boldness, which hath great recompense
of reward.

--Hebrews 10. 35.

Tender Father, may I pause this morning to look at that which I keep uppermost in my life; and if it may not be worthy of thy esteem, may I be bold enough to revise my ideals. With thy compassion may I free my heart and mind of all unworthiness, and be given endurance to restore the empty places. Amen.

SEPTEMBER TWELFTH

Jean-Philippe Rameau born 1693.

Griffith Jones died 1786.

Charles Dudley Warner born 1829.

Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires, but
according to our powers.

--Amiel.

How good is man's life, the mere living! how fit to employ
All the heart and the soul and the senses for ever in joy!

--Robert Browning.

Do something! No man is born with a mortgage on his soul; but every
man is born a debtor to Time. Meet this obligation before you find
too late that your life is impoverished and you cannot redeem it.

--M.B.S.

Let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that
he may have whereof to give to him that hath need.

--Ephesians 4. 28.

My Father, what I have left out of my life I know I cannot recover now. I pray that I may give the best to what is left. Make me deliberate, that I may prove my earnestness. Make me industrious, that I may use my best resources to develop my life and further thy kingdom. Amen.

SEPTEMBER THIRTEENTH

William Cecil born 1520.

Michael de Montaigne died 1592.

General Wolfe died 1759.

Charles James Fox died 1806.

And thou, O river of to-morrow, flowing
Between thy narrow adamantine walls,
But beautiful, and white with waterfalls
And wreaths of mist, like hands the pathway showing;
I hear the trumpets of the morning blowing.

It is the mystery of the unknown
That fascinates us; we are children still,
Wayward and wistful; with one hand we cling
To the familiar things we call our own,
And with the other, resolute of will,
Grope in the dark for what the day will bring.

--Henry W. Longfellow.

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth.

--Job 5. 17.

Almighty God, I pray that thou wilt help me to correct my life to-day that I may know a better way to-morrow; and may I be mindful and try to do right. Grant that I may be patient and kind if I may be sick or in need, and always keep uppermost the faith of deliverance and eternal care. Amen.

SEPTEMBER FOURTEENTH

Alighieri Dante died 1321.

Alexander Baron von Humboldt born 1769.

Julia Magruder born 1854.

Charles Dana Gibson born 1867.

Since it is Providence that determines the fates of men, their inner
nature is thus brought into unison. There is such harmony, as in all
things of nature, that one might explain the whole without referring
to a higher Providence. But this only proves the more clearly and
certainly this higher Providence, which has given existence to this
harmony.

--Wilhelm von Humboldt.

The good mariner, when he draws near the port, furls his sails and
enters it softly; so ought we to lower the sails of our worldly
operations, and turn to God with all heart and understanding.

--Dante.

Thy righteousness is like the mountains of God;
Thy judgments are a great deep:
O Jehovah, thou preservest man and beast.

--Psalm 36. 6.

My Father in heaven, may I hear thy voice to-day! May I be quiet as I listen to thee. Above the clamor of the crowd may I hear thee calling me. May I hear thee in my joys and in my sorrows; in my work and in my leisure. May I listen to thee oftener, that I may be familiar with thy ways. Amen.

SEPTEMBER FIFTEENTH

James Fenimore Cooper born 1789.

Louis Joseph Martel born 1813.

Porfirio Diaz born 1830.

William Howard Taft, Ohio, twenty-sixth President United States, born 1857.

Friendship is one of the cheapest and most accessible of pleasures;
it requires no outlay and no very serious expenditure of time or
trouble. It is quite easy to make friends, if one wants to... There
is surely no greater pleasure in the world than to feel one is
needed, welcomed, missed, and loved.

--Arthur C. Benson.

"Friendship is love without his wings."

--William H. Taft (from Byron).

Without sympathy, in the highest sense of intellectual penetration,
kindness may be a folly, and intended aid, oppression.

--John Ruskin.

He that maketh many friends doeth it to his own destruction; but
there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

--Proverbs 18. 24.

My Father, may I know the delight of true friendship which is responsive and sincere. May I never feel so secure in myself that I will cease to want friends, or be so dependent on others that I will be continually seeking them. May I understand the value of having a stanch friend and of being one. Amen.

SEPTEMBER SIXTEENTH

Gabriel D. Fahrenheit died 1736.

W. Augustus Muhlenberg born 1796.

Francis Parkman born 1823.

Yes, to this thought I hold with firm persistence--
The last result of wisdom stamps it true:
He only earns his freedom and existence
Who daily conquers them anew.

--Goethe.

For thee hath been dawning
Another blue day;
Look how thou let it
Slip empty away.

--Goethe.

Happy the man, and happy he alone,
Who can call to-day his own:
He who, secure within, can say,
"To-morrow, do thy worst, for I have lived to-day."

--John Dryden.

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is
risen upon thee.

--Isaiah 60. 1.

Gracious Father, help me to be alert this morning and select the noblest that is in to-day. May I be diligent and not find in the evening that I have been unworthy of the day. Amen.

SEPTEMBER SEVENTEENTH

Samuel Prout born 1783.

Dr. John Kidd died 1851.

Walter Savage Landor died 1864.

In the hour of distress and misery the eye of every mortal turns to
friendship; in the hour of gladness and conviviality, what is your
want? It is friendship. When the heart overflows with gratitude or
with other sweet and sacred sentiment, what is the word to which it
would give utterance? A friend.

--Walter Savage Landor.

The hurried quest of some people to get hold of new friends is so
perpetual that they never have time to get acquainted with anyone.

--M.B.S.

Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not;
And go not to thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity:
Better is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off.

--Proverbs 27. 10.

My Lord and my Friend, I pray that my sympathy may be sincere and comforting, and with a glad heart I may bring rejoicing to my friends. May I learn from thee how I may be a permanent friend. Amen.

SEPTEMBER EIGHTEENTH

Trajan, Roman emperor, born 1584.

James Shirley born 1596.

Samuel Johnson born 1709.

Joseph Story born 1779.

There is no greater happiness than to be able to look on a life
usefully and virtuously employed: to trace our own purposes in
existence by such tokens that excite neither shame nor sorrow.

--Dr. Johnson.

The perfect poise that comes-from self-control,
The poetry of action, rhythmic, sweet--
The unvexed music of the body and soul
That the Greeks dreamed of, made at last complete.
Our stumbling lives attain not such a bliss;
Too often, while the air we vainly beat,
Love's perfect law of liberty we miss.

--Annie Matheson.

Brethren, I have lived before God in all good conscience until this
day.

--Acts 23. 1.

Heavenly Father, may I not confuse my life with rebellion, but through thy guidance find peace. Help me through the perplexities that may keep me from the quietness of to-day. Keep me in sight of the great plan of life, that I may grow steadfastly toward thee. Amen.

SEPTEMBER NINETEENTH

Battle of Poitiers 1356.

Hartley Coleridge born 1796.

President Garfield died 1881.

Be not afraid to pray--to pray is right.
Pray if thou canst, with hope; but ever pray
Though hope be weak, or sick with long delay;
Pray in the darkness, if there be no light.
Far is the time, remote from human sight,
When war and discord on earth shall cease:
Yet every prayer for universal peace
Avails the time to expedite.

--Hartley Coleridge.

More things are wrought by prayer
Than the world dreams of. Wherefore let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friend?
For so the whole world is every way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.

--Alfred Tennyson.

Continue stedfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving.

--Colossians 4. 2.

O Lord, give me the desire to pray, and teach me to pray as thou wouldst have my needs. Sustain me, that I may overcome my weaknesses, and strengthen me, that I may have thine approval. May I be reverent and unselfish as I come to thee in prayer. Amen.

SEPTEMBER TWENTIETH

Battle of Salamis B. C. 480.

Alexander the Great born B. C. 356.

Robert Emmet died 1803.

David Ross Locke (Petroleum V. Nasby) born 1833.

'Tis weary watching wave by wave,
And yet the tide heaves onward;
We climb, like corals, grave by grave,
That pave a pathway sunward.
We're driven back, for our next fray
A newer strength to borrow;
And where the vanguard camps to-day,
The rear shall rest to-morrow.

--Gerald Massey.

Be like the bird, that, pausing in her flight
A while on boughs too slight,
Feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings,
Knowing that she hath wings.

--Victor Hugo.

Trust in Jehovah, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on his faithfulness.

--Psalm 37. 3.

Eternal God, help me to realize that life is not only endless but, whether I live in love and obedience, or wait in neglect and indifference, that I can never separate myself from thee. May I be diligent in worthy endeavors to do my best for thee. Amen.

SEPTEMBER TWENTY-FIRST

Girolamo Savonarola born 1452.

Emperor Charles V died 1558.

Sir Walter Scott died 1832.

It is the secret sympathy,
The silver link, the silken tie,
Which heart to heart and mind to mind
In body and in soul can bind.

--Sir Walter Scott.

No action, whether foul or fair,
Is ever done, but it carves somewhere
A record, written by fingers ghostly,
As a blessing or a curse, and mostly
In the greater weakness or greater strength
Of the acts which follow it.

--Henry W. Longfellow.

And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold,
when I come to the outermost part of the camp, it shall be that, as
I do, so shall ye do.

--Judges 7. 17.

Loving Father, may I remember that from the beginning, all things were created beautiful and were given for love. I pray that I may be willing to be guided to the beautiful things of life and receive from them the delight of thy love. Amen.

SEPTEMBER TWENTY-SECOND

Peter Simon Pallas born 1741.

Michael Faraday born 1791.

Theodore Edward Hook born 1788.

Man learns to swim by being tossed into life's maelstrom and left to
make his way ashore. No youth can learn to sail his life-craft in a
lake sequestered and sheltered from all the storms, where other
vessels never come. Skill comes through sailing one's craft amidst
rocks and bars and opposing fleets, amidst storms and whirls and
counter currents.

--Newell Dwight Hillis.

O, a trouble's a ton or a trouble's an ounce,
Or a trouble is what you make it!
And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts,
But only--how did you take it?

--Edmund C. Vance.

And thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

--Hebrews 6. 15.

Tender Father, may I not encourage the disposition to enlarge and make much of the troubles and disappointments of life, and make light of the joys and privileges. I pray that I may keep a large place for happiness. Amen.

SEPTEMBER TWENTY-THIRD

Karl Theodore Körner born 1791.

Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen born 1848.

Wilkie Collins died 1889.

M.F.H. De Haas died 1895.

When over the fair fame of friend or foe
The shadow of disgrace shall fall; instead
Of words to blame, or reproof of thus and so,
Let something good be said.

Forget not that no fellow-being yet
May fall so low but love may lift his head;
Even the cheek of shame with tears is wet
If something good be said.

--Author unknown.

The right Christian mind will ... find its own image wherever it
exists; it will seek for what it loves, and draw out of all dens and
caves, and it will believe in its being, often when it cannot see
it; and so it will lie lovingly over the faults and rough places of
the human heart, as the snow from heaven does over the hard, and
black, and broken mountain rocks.

--John Ruskin.

To him that is ready to faint kindness should be showed from his
friend.

--Job 6. 14.

Lord God, grant that after years of climbing I may not find the mist in my soul has dulled the vision of thy glory. Keep me from the habit of looking for faults, and missing the virtues in others. Forbid that I should be so occupied in taking measure of other lives that I neglect to measure my own. Amen.

SEPTEMBER TWENTY-FOURTH

John Marshall born 1755.

Zachary Taylor, Virginia, twelfth President United States, born 1784.

S.R. Crockett born 1860.

Get the truth once uttered, and 'tis like
A star newborn that drops into its place,
And which, once circling in its placid round,
Not all the tumult of the earth can shake.

--James Russell Lowell.

If you would be well spoken of, learn to speak well of others. And
when you have learned to speak well of them, endeavor likewise to do
well to them; and reap the fruit of being well spoken of by them.

--Epictetus.

He that slandereth not with his tongue,
Nor doeth evil to his friend,
Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor;
He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

--Psalm 15. 3, 5.

Lord God, I bless thee for the lives of men and women who are willing to be led by the truth, and who are worthy to follow thee. I pray that thou wilt make me truthful, and keep me steadfast, that none may go astray by the uncertainty of my way. Amen.

SEPTEMBER TWENTY-FIFTH

William Romaine born 1714.

Felicia D. Hemans born 1793.

W.M. Rossetti born 1829.

Not as the conqueror comes,
They, the true-hearted, came;
Not with the roll of the stirring drums,
And the trumpet songs of fame:

Amidst the storm they sang,
And the stars heard and the sea;
And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang
To the anthem of the free.

Ay, call it holy ground,
The soil where first they trod;
They have left unstained what there they found--
Freedom to worship God.

--Felicia D. Hemans.

But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree;
and none shall make them afraid.

--Micah 4. 4.

Eternal God, may I look to the Pilgrims and learn that to pray by faith with the heart is not to pray by faith of the imagination. Help me to pray, and have faith to struggle for that which I would rightfully have. Amen.

SEPTEMBER TWENTY-SIXTH

Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood born 1750.

Dr. Mary Walker born 1832.

Irving Bacheller born 1859.

Frederic William Faber died 1863.

God is never so far off as even to be near--
He is within: Our spirit is the home he holds most dear.
To think of him as by our side is almost as untrue
As to remove his throne beyond the starry blue.

--F.W. Faber.

Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!
E'en though it be a cross
That raiseth me;
Still all my song shall be--
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!

--Sarah F. Adams.

My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: My heart shall
not reproach me so long as I live.

--Job 27. 6.

My Father, may I consider the place in which I stand: and may I not be deceived in thinking I am near thee while I am living far away. Teach me the way to draw nearer to thee each day, until my spirit may continually dwell with thee. Amen.

SEPTEMBER TWENTY-SEVENTH

George Cruikshank born 1792.

Samuel Francis Dupont born 1803.

Aimé Millet born 1819.

Henri Frédéric Arniel born 1821.

The man who has no refuge in himself, who lives, so to speak, in his
front rooms, in the outer whirlwind of things and opinions, is not
properly a personality at all; ... he is one of a crowd.

--Amiel.

Happy the heart that keeps its twilight hour,
And in the depths of heavenly peace reclined,
Loves to commune with thoughts of tender power--
Thoughts that ascend, like angels beautiful.

--Paul Hamilton Hayne.

The art of meditation may be exercised at all hours and in all
places; and men of genius in their walks, at table, and amidst
assemblies, turning the eye of the mind inward, can form an
artificial solitude; retired amidst a crowd, calm amidst
distractions, and wise amidst folly.

--Disraeli.

Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.

--Psalm 4. 4.

Heavenly Father, save me from being so poor in spirit, that I will have to be sustained by the bright spirits of others. May I be continually refreshed by the spirit of life that may be found at all times. Amen.

SEPTEMBER TWENTY-EIGHTH

Francis Turner Palgrave born 1824.

Frances E. Willard born 1839.

General John D. French born 1852.

Mary Anderson born 1859.

Unless there is a predominating and overmastering purpose to which
all the accessories and incidents of life contribute, the character
will be weak, irresolute, uncertain.

--Frances E. Willard.

Life is not an idle ore,
But iron dug from central gloom,
And heated hot with burning fears,
And dipt in baths of hissing tears,
And battered with the shocks of doom
To shape and use.

--Alfred Tennyson.

He that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and
tossed.... A double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

--James 1. 6, 8.

O God, help me to be positive. May I not want to be in so many places, and in so many things, that I can never be found in anything. Help me to know that a purpose secured is worth many attempts, and that to have a character I must build it. Amen.

SEPTEMBER TWENTY-NINTH

Pompey killed B.C. 48.

Robert Lord Clive born 1725.

Horatio Nelson born 1758.

O strange and wild is the world of men
Which the eyes of the Lord must see--
With continents, inlands, tribes, and tongues,
With multitudes bond and free!
All kings of the earth bow down to him,
And yet--he can think of me.

For none can measure the mind of God
Or the bounds of eternity,
He knows each life that has come from him,
To the tiniest bird and bee,
For the love of his heart is so deep and wide
That it takes in even me.

--Mary E. Allbright.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? and not one of them shall
fall on the ground without your Father: but the very hairs of your
head are all numbered.

--Matthew 10. 29, 30.

Almighty God, cause me to look out this morning, and open wide my eyes, that I may see what great preparation thou hast made that I might live. May I be ashamed to start wrong and be unworthy of the glory of this day. Amen.

SEPTEMBER THIRTIETH

George Whitefield died 1770.

William Hutton born 1723.

John Dollond died 1761.

Up, up, my soul, the long-spent time redeeming;
Sow thou the seeds of better deeds and thought;
Light other lamps while yet thy lamp is beaming--
The time is short.

Think of the good thou might'st have done when brightly
The suns to thee life's choicest season brought;
Hours lost to God in pleasure passing lightly--
The time is short.

If thou hast friends, give them thy best endeavor,
Thy warmest impulse, and thy purest thought,
Keeping in mind and words and action ever--
The time is short.

--Elizabeth Prentiss.

What is your life? For ye are a vapor that appeareth for a little
time, and then vanisheth away.

--James 4. 14.

Loving Father, help me to realize that I am not living in the right way nor the right place if I am discontented, or happy in trifles and untruth. Help me to find my place, and with thy help may I stand firm and confident. Amen.

OCTOBER

The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry's cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown;
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I'll put a trinket on.

--Emily Dickinson.

OCTOBER FIRST

Saint John Viscount Bolingbroke born 1678.

Pierre Corneille died 1684.

Rufus Choate born 1799.

He speaks not well who doth his time deplore,
Naming it new and a little obscure,
Ignoble and unfit for lofty deeds.
All times were modern in the time of them,
And this no more than others. Do thy part
Here in the living day, as did the great
Who made old days immortal.

--Richard Watson Gilder.

He who is false to present duty breaks a thread in the loom, and
will find the flaw when he may have forgotten the cause.

--Henry Ward Beecher.

For use almost can change the stamp of nature,
And master the devil, or throw him out
With wondrous potency.

--William Shakespeare.

And when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his
house (now his windows were open in his chamber toward Jerusalem;)
and he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and
gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

--Daniel 6. 10.

Heavenly Father, help me to get away from doubt that leads to despair. Give me a vision of hope that is stayed on faith. May I be conscious and appreciative of my privileges while they come to me and make them immortal. Amen.

OCTOBER SECOND

Aristotle died B.C. 322.

Major John Andre hanged 1780.

William Ellery Channing died 1842.

I am not earth-born, though I here delay;
Hope's child, I summon infiniter powers,
And laugh to see the mild sunny day
Smile on the shrunk and thin autumnal hours;
I laugh, for hope hath a happy place for me--
If my bark sinks, 'tis to another sea.

--William E. Channing.

The stars shall fade away, the sun himself
Grow dim with age, and Nature sink in years;
But thou shall flourish in immortal youth,
Unhurt amidst the war of elements,
The wreck of matter and the crush of worlds.

--Thomas Addison.

For with thee is the fountain of life:
In thy light shall we see light.

--Psalm 36. 9.

My Father, I would pray that my sense of gloom may not be more than thy grace. May the glorious light of thy love break through my disheartened soul, and reveal the sincerity of thy promises, that I may be happy in thy care. Amen.

OCTOBER THIRD

Robert Barclay died 1690.

George Bancroft born 1800.

William Morris died 1896.

Come hither, lads, and harken,
For a tale there is to tell
Of the wonderful days a-coming,
When all shall be better than well.

Come, then, let us cast off fooling,
And put by ease and rest,
For the cause alone is worthy
Till the good days bring the best.

--William Morris.

Man's life is but a working day
Whose tasks are set aright;
A time to work, a time to pray,
And then a quiet night.
And then, please God, a quiet night
Where palms are green and robes are white;
A long-drawn breath, a balm for sorrow,
And all things lovely on the morrow.

--Christina G. Rossetti.

And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto
Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.

--Isaiah 61. 11.

Heavenly Father, help me to see that before the night thou hadst planned the morning, and that thou hast never sent the night without the hope of the morning. Before I rest in the night may I be ready for the morning. Amen.

OCTOBER FOURTH

Francis of Assisi died 1226.

Edmund Malone born 1741.

François Guizot born 1787.

Jean François Millet born 1814.

Rutherford B. Hayes, Ohio, nineteenth President United States, born 1822.

M.E. Braddon born 1837.

We ought to rise day by day with a certain zest, a clear intention,
a design to make the most of every hour; not to let the busy hours
shoulder each other or tread on each other's heels, but to force
every action to give up its strength and sweetness. There is work to
be done, and there are empty hours to be filled as well.... But,
most of all, there must be something to quicken, enliven, practice
the soul.

--Arthur C. Benson.

Men's souls ought to be left to see clearly; not jaundiced, blinded,
twisted all awry, by revenge, moral abhorrence, and the like.

--Thomas Carlyle.

But there is a spirit in man,
And the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding.

--Job 32. 8.

Spirit of life, I pray that thou wilt continually live within me. May my days be spent neither in waste nor idleness, but planned to use, with the best that is given me. Amen.

OCTOBER FIFTH

Jonathan Edwards born 1703.

Denis Diderot born 1713.

Horace Walpole born 1717.

Nancy Hanks died 1818.

Chester A. Arthur, Vermont, twenty-first President United States, born 1830.

H.R. Guy de Maupassant born 1850.

Earth gets its price for what earth 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.

The free gift of God is eternal life.

--Romans 6. 23.

Gracious Father, may the world speak to me of thy gifts, and of the peace and power which it freely offers. May I not pass by thy great appeals, and prefer to purchase at a great cost my indolence and dissipation. Amen.

OCTOBER SIXTH

Jenny Lind Goldschmidt born 1820.

Harriet G. Hosmer born 1830.

Charles Stewart Parnell died 1891.

Alfred Tennyson died 1892.

The heart which boldly faces death
Upon the battlefield, and dares
Cannon and bayonet, faints beneath
The needle-points of frets and cares.
The stoutest spirits they dismay--
The tiny stings of every day.

Ah! more than martyr's aureole
And more than hero's heart of fire,
We need the humble strength of soul
Which daily toils and ills require.
Sweet patience, grant us, if you may
An added grace for every day.

--Adelaide A. Procter.

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea.

--Alfred Tennyson.

Fret not thyself.

--Proverbs 24. 19.

My Father, I pray that I may not be dismayed over life, and its trifles. Help me to master difficulties great and small, and give me patience through all until I reach the untroubled way. Amen.

OCTOBER SEVENTH

Sir Philip Sidney died 1586.

Edgar Allan Poe died 1849.

Oliver Wendell Holmes died 1894.

Mary J. Holmes died 1907.

Yet in opinions look not always back;
Your wake is nothing, mind the coming track;
Leave what you've done for what you have to do;
Don't be "consistent," but be simply true.

--Oliver Wendell Holmes.

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by
little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a
great soul has nothing to do.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.

--Exodus 14. 15.

Heavenly Father, I pray that I may not be so consistent in the small things of life that I will lose the great inspirations that come to the soul. Broaden my life, that I may have the freedom of heart and mind to pass over the failures and interruptions, and with vigorous energy continue in the progress of life. Amen.

OCTOBER EIGHTH

Caroline Howard Gilman born 1794.

Edmund Clarence Stedman born 1833.

John Hay born 1838.

He weren't no saint; them engineers
Is pretty much alike--
One wife in Natchez-under-the-Hill,
Another one here in Pike;
A keerless man in his talk was Jim,
And an awkward hand in a row,
But he never flunked, and he never lied--
I reckon he never knowed how.

--John Hay.

He is brave whose tongue is silent
Of the trophies of his word.
He is great whose quiet bearing
Marks his greatness well assured.

--Edwin Arnold.

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee,
that I am not as the rest of men.

--Luke 18. 11.

Lord God, thou knowest what I am and where I belong. Have mercy upon me and strengthen me, that I may not through weakness stay in the darkness. Lead me out into the light; and may I find my way and be contented with it. Amen.

OCTOBER NINTH

Michael Cervantes born 1547.

Jacques Auguste de Thuanus (De Thou) born 1553.

Charles Camilla Saint-Saëns born 1835.

I will not doubt, though all my ships at sea
Come drifting home with broken masts and sails;
I shall believe the Hand which never fails
From seeming evil worketh good for me;
And though I weep because those sails are battered,
Still will I cry, while my best hopes lie shattered,
"I trust in Thee."

--Ella Wheeler Wilcox.[1]

Cease every joy to glimmer on my mind.
But leave, O leave the light of hope behind.

--Thomas Campbell.

Hope deferred maketh the heart sick; But when the desire cometh, it
is a tree of life.

--Proverbs 13. 12.

Loving Father, help me to pass by my discouragements of yesterday and look into the hope of to-day. Make me more careful of my strength, and less forgetful of thy promises and of my trust. Amen.

[Footnote 1: Special permission W.B. Conkey, Hammond, Indiana. Copyright 1912.]

OCTOBER TENTH

Henry Cavendish born 1731.

Benjamin West born 1738.

Hugh Miller born 1802.

Giuseppe Verdi born 1813.

Fridtjof Nansen born 1861.

We cannot make bargains for blisses,
Nor catch them like fishes in nets;
And sometimes the thing our life misses
Helps more than the thing which it gets.
For good lieth not in pursuing,
Nor gaining of great nor small,
But just in the doing and doing
As we would be done by is all.

--Alice Gary.

True, it is most painful not to meet the kindness and affection you
feel you have deserved, and have a right to expect from others; but
it is a mistake to complain, for it is no use; you cannot extort
friendship with a cocked pistol.

--Sydney Smith.

Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

--Matthew 22. 39.

Lord God, help me to understand that true affection is not that which as it gives feels it merits return. May I avoid being selfish and stubborn; and with my affections give peace and joy. Amen.

OCTOBER ELEVENTH

Sir Thomas Wyatt died 1542.

Dr. Samuel Clarke born 1675.

James Barry born 1741.

Ask God to give thee skill
In comfort's art,
That thou may'st consecrated be
And set apart,
Unto a life of sympathy;
For heavy is the weight of ill
In every heart;
And comforters are needed much
Of Christlike touch.

--Alexander Hamilton.

The man who melts
With social sympathy though not allied,
Is than a thousand kinsmen of more worth.

--Euripides.

Who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we may be able to
comfort them that are in any affliction, through the comfort
wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

--2 Corinthians 1. 4.

Heavenly Father, thou hast made sympathy divine. May I never make it commonplace. Grant that as thou dost bless and comfort me I may be willing to comfort others, and do whatsoever thou wouldst have me do. Amen.

OCTOBER TWELFTH

Columbus discovered America 1492.

Lyman Beecher born 1775.

George W. Cable born 1844.

Helena Modjeska born 1844.

One poor day!
Remember whose and how short it is!
It is God's day, it is Columbus's.
One day with life and heart is more than time enough to found a world.

--James Russell Lowell.

An illusion haunts us, that a long duration, as a year, a decade, a
century, is valuable. But an old French sentence says, "God works in
moments." We ask for long life, but 'tis deep life or grand moments
that signify. Let the measure of Time be spiritual, not mechanical.
Life is unnecessarily long. Moments of insight, of fine personal
relation, a smile, a glance--what ample borrowers of eternity they
are!

--Ralph Waldo Emerson.

One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years
as one day.

--2 Peter 3. 8.

My Father, I pray that when the "sun sets to-day my hope may not set with it." Be with me earlier than the dawn, that I may plan with thee a new day. I pray that thou wilt release me from anything that keeps me from reaching the highest. Amen.

OCTOBER THIRTEENTH

Theodore Beza died 1605.