Chapter L: H. Hammond

August 30

_The dark green summer, with its massive hues,
Fades into Autumn's tincture manifold;
A gorgeous garniture of fire and gold
The high slope of the ferny hill indues.
The mists of morn in slumbering layers diffuse
O'er glimmering rock, smooth lake, and spiked array
Of hedgerow thorns a unity of gray.
All things appear their tangible form to lose
In ghostly vastness. But anon the gloom
Melts, as the sun puts off his muddy veil.
And now the birds their twittering songs resume,
All summer silent in the leafy dale.
In spring they piped of love on every tree,
But now they sing the song of memory._

HARTLEY COLERIDGE.

Ever blessed Father, in Whose pleasant world we are glad to awake again, looking forward to a happy and useful day, we beseech Thy loving guidance through these hours. May we look abroad with gratitude and love upon this beautiful earth, doubly beautiful in the waning summer time, when a new splendor comes across the hills, and Thou dost reveal Thyself, as of old, in the burning bush. Grant that we may look through nature up to nature's God. Grant that the mists of doubt and uncertainty which often hide Thee from us may be dispersed in the sunlight of a happy faith, and that the heart, so often sad and silent, may once more lift its cheerful song to Thee. Amen.

ALFRED GOODING.

August 31

_No rare creative inspirations throng
My quiet spirit, silent, sad and lone;
No Sapphic flame hath on its altar shone;
No music to my nature doth belong.
Thou art the sunlight, I am Memnon's stone,
Thou art the zephyr, I give back its song;
The harp Aeolian can do no wrong
To the soft airs which wake an answering tone:
Upon my soul, Oh, then breathe tenderly;
Subdue the discord, still the jarring strain;
So may the harp-strings yield but melody.
If notes discordant give thy keen ear pain,
Set the fine chords again to harmony;
Let but sweet echoes of thyself remain._

ADA FOSTER MURRAY.

O Thou Who art the source of all that is and the giver of all that makes life blessed, we thank Thee that Thy providence abides through every change and that Thou dost cheer the loneliest lot with the comfort of Thy presence. Thou hast been with us in times past and now on this last day of the summer months, we would thank Thee for the blessings of the closing season and ask for the continuance of Thy unfailing care and the enrichment of our souls with the gifts of Thy Spirit. Bring us into harmony with all that is pure and good, and enable us to walk in the light of Thy favor and in the paths of Thy commandments. Amen.

CHARLES H. VAIL.

September 1

_'Neath harvest moon the stricken summer lies
Still smiling bravely in her brightest bloom,
Her heart yet holds no hint of gloom,
No trace of sadness in her sunlit eyes.
We love thee, Summer, child of Paradise--
A myriad host announce thy coming doom
Chanting the requiem of thy wintry tomb,
While lovingly look down the tender skies;
A holy hush is in the hazy air
As in thy radiant beauty thou dost sleep!
Nature, arrayed in rainbow colors fair,
Is strong of heart her vigil long to keep:
We know the secret thou dost seek to tell,--
Thou art immortal, Summer, fare thee well._

ANNA A. GORDON.

Heavenly Father, behind all changes dost Thou lurk in eternal constancy. Never lingering, each good of life gives place to the better Thou hast in store, and in glory and gladness resigns to that which comes after. From the good that is, may we learn to pass cheerfully to the better that is to be,--from the cool morning and sunny noon to the purple gloaming and the star-lit night, from the tender spring and glowing summer to the golden autumn and snow-pure winter, from the sweet life that now is to that fulness of realization whose sweeter splendors eye hath not seen nor the heart of man conceived. We place our hands in Thine and would walk with Thee in holiest trust and serenest peace. Amen.

THOMAS W. ILLMAN.

September 2

_"I will be happy all the day
Let come what may."
'Twas early morning when the word was said,
And like a journey 'cross a weary plain
There stretched the hours, but I was comforted
As heart and voice sung o'er the sweet refrain,
"I will be happy all the day
Let come what may."_

_"I will make hope and only hope
My horoscope."
The sombre, brooding clouds of discontent
Oppress one's spirit like a throbbing pain;
One frets and moans in one's environment,
But with a look ahead I sing again,
"I will make hope and only hope
My horoscope."_

FREDERICK A. BISBEE.

Yea, Lord, we thank Thee that we may hope and be happy all the day for Omnipotence is our Father and our changeless Friend, and we have naught to fear. We are glad of life and thank Thee for all that makes it heroic or beautiful or sweet. We rejoice in our home, in our dear ones, and in the precious human loves that reflect the love divine. Pardon our sins, we pray Thee, and work out Thy purposes in us. May we work and hope on and be glad in Thee filling this day so full of useful employ that when the night shall come, we shall lie down to sleep upon Thy loving children like tired but happy children, and so find rest and refreshment for another day with men and Thee. Amen.

CARL F. HENRY.

September 3

_There's a dance of leaves in that aspen bower,
There's a titter of winds in that beechen tree,
There's a smile on the fruit, and a smile on the flower,
And a laugh from the brook that runs to the sea._

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.

_O sweet September! thy first breezes bring
The dry leaf's rustle and the squirrel's laughter,
The cool, fresh air, whence health and vigor spring
And promise of exceeding joy hereafter._

GEORGE ARNOLD.

O Lord, we thank Thee for the spring, which brought her handsome promise, for the gorgeous preparation which the summer made in his manly strength, and we bless Thee for the months of autumn, whose sober beauty now is cast on every hill and every tree. We thank Thee for the harvests which the toil and the thought of man have gathered already from the surface of the ground, or digged from its bosom. We bless Thee for the other harvests still growing beneath the earth, or hanging abundant beauties in the autumnal sun from many a tree, all over our blessed Northern land. Amen.

THEODORE PARKER.

September 4

_Do right, and God's recompense to you will be the power to do more
right. Give, and God's reward to you will be the spirit of giving
more: blessed spirit, for it is the Spirit of God Himself, whose
Life is the blessedness of giving. Love, and God will pay you with
the capacity of more love; for love is Heaven, love is God within
you._

FREDERICK W. ROBERTSON.

O Lord, we thank Thee for Thy manifold gifts unto the children of men. Thou givest life and all the sustenance of life. Thou givest our fair and beautiful world. Thou givest us the power of hope and faith and thought. From Thine own giving may we learn that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Teach us, O Lord, to give more freely and more gladly, and may we learn how our own life, and joy and growth are involved in the spirit in which we give and serve. In all our giving and all our serving may we keep before us the vision of the Master who gave Himself that we might live. Amen.

GEORGE L. PERIN.

September 5

_Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The soul that rises with us, our life's star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar.
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory, do we come
From God who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy,
At length the man perceives it die away
And fade into the light of common day._

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.

O Eternal God, Who art without beginning of days or end of years, from Whom cometh all our life; pardon, we beseech Thee, the sins of Thy children, wherein we have darkened Thine own image within us. Let not our light die away amid the common toil and daily care, but so glorify our life with Thy spirit, that we may gladly present both souls and bodies to Thy service an acceptable sacrifice, and, learning to love Thee above all things, may be approved in Thy sight as true disciples of Thy Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

WILLIAM E. GASKIN.

September 6

_A haze on the far horizon,
The infinite tender sky,
The ripe, rich tint of the corn-fields,
And the wild geese sailing high,
And all over upland and lowland
The charm of the goldenrod--
Some of us call it Autumn,
And others call it God._

WILLIAM H. CARRUTH.

Once more, O God, Thou partest the curtains of night to bless us with a new day. In its dawning Thou revealest Thyself to us anew. Fresh beauties break upon our vision; new evidences of Thy goodness appear; new joys rise in our hearts. We thank Thee for the harvest of corn that feeds our bodies and the harvest of beauty that feeds our souls; for the blue of the distant hills and the wide stretch of meadow and prairie; for golden flower and flying bird; for the nearness of Thy presence in the brooding haze; for the thoughts unutterable that rise within us. In thankfulness may we go forth to our daily tasks and live in consciousness of Thy eternal presence and love. Amen.

RODNEY F. JOHONNOT.

September 7

_I come under your windows, some fine morning, and play you one of
my adagio movements, and some of you say,--This is good, play us so
always. But, dear friends, if I did not change the stop sometimes,
the machine would wear out in one part and rust in another. How
easily this or that tune flows! you say, there must be no end of
such melodies in him. I will open the poor machine for you one
moment, and you shall look. Every note marks where a spur of steel
has been driven in. It is easy to grind out the song, but to plant
these bristling points which make it was the painful task of time._

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.

We thank Thee, Father, for Thy love which, like the morning light, fails not to greet us at each opening day. While its radiant beams light up the pathway from our hearts to Thine, we come, with eager steps, for morning worship and for praise. Take Thou, we pray, the hand outstretched out to Thee and lead us safely through another day. Grant us the strength to do our very best and leave results with Thee. We do not ask for ease, but victory; not for the praise of men, but for the blessing of our God upon our heaven-appointed task. Grant us the joy supreme of knowing, when the sun has set, that we have left undone no duty to our God or fellowman. Amen.

J. W. ANNAS.

September 8

_Admit into thy silent breast
The notes of but one bird
And instantly thy soul will join
In jubilant accord._

_The perfume of a single flow'r
Inhale like breath of God,
And in the garden of thy heart
A thousand buds will nod._

_Toward one star in heaven's expanse
Direct thy spirit's fight,
And thou wilt have in the wide world,
My child, enough delight._

JOHANNA AMBROSIUS.

Our Father In Heaven, as Thou turnest the earth once more toward the light to give us another day may we not forget that all things come of Thee. Thou givest us this beautiful earth, adorned with a thousand varied beauties, crowded with opportunities and possibilities, for our home. Day and night, sunshine and the rain, labor and trial, joy and victory, all are from Thy hand. Whatever the circumstances of our life, whatever our labor and place, help us to remember that life is a school in which to learn, an arena where we may fight and win. May we gain wisdom and strength to win the victory which is life eternal, and in finding that may we find peace and content in Thee. Amen.

FREDERICK A. TAYLOR.

September 9

_Give me the gospel of the fields and woods--
The sermons written in the book of books;
The sweet communion of the things of earth
Fresh with the warm baptism of the sun.
Give me the offertory of bud and bloom,
The perfect caroling of happy birds.
Give me the creed of one of God's fair days
Wrought in the beauty of its loveliness;
And then, the benediction of the stars,
His eloquent ministers of the night._

JAMES RAVENSCROFT.

Heavenly Father, we praise Thee for the breaking day, the singing birds, the dew in the meadows, the fragrance of the flowers, ascending like old-time incense from Jewish altar, the sun gilding the hill-tops, the veiled stars, the gliding river, mirroring in its depths, sedge and tree and overhanging sky. Thou hast ordained that we nestle in the bosom of nature and feel the touch of God. Pour strength into our beings from bird and flower, and Thy spirit which moves in them, that our youth may be renewed like the eagle's. So shall the memories of earth enrich our heaven. We praise and supplicate in the name of Jesus. Amen.