| How like a mounting devil in the heart Rules the unreigned ambition! Let it once But play the monarch, and its haughty brow Glows with a beauty that bewilders thought And unthrones peace forever. Putting on The very pomp of Lucifer, it turns The heart to ashes.—Nathaniel P. Willis. Temperance, in the nobler sense, does not mean a subdued and imperfect energy; it does not mean a stopping short in any good thing, as love or in faith; but it means the power which governs the most intense energy, and prevents its acting in any way but as it ought. —John Ruskin. And thy gentleness hath made me great. —Psalm 18. 35. Gracious Father, I pray that I may be willing to profit by the experience of great teachers, and appreciate the value of strong principles. May I too live for the higher ideals of life, and through a sympathetic response add power and virtue to other lives, while gaining strength for my own. Amen. JANUARY TWENTY-FIRSTTable of Contents Miles Coverdale died 1568.John Fitch born 1743.John C. Fremont born 1813.Thomas Erskine born 1750.Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson born 1824. So long as we love we serve; so long as we are loved by others I would almost say that we are indispensable; and no man is useless while he has a friend. —Robert L. Stevenson. So to the calmly gathered thought The innermost of life is taught, The mystery dimly understood, That love of God is love of good: That to be saved is only this— Salvation from our selfishness.—John Greenleaf Whittier. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the fulfillment of the law. And this, knowing the season, that already it is time for you to awake out of sleep: for now is salvation nearer to us than when we first believed. —Romans 13. 10, 11. Tender Father, may I not attempt to serve life for my own gratification. May I not interpret love through vanity, but from reality. Make me worth while, that I may be relied upon for my pledges, and needed for my services. Amen. JANUARY TWENTY-SECONDTable of Contents Andrea del Sarto died 1531.Francis Bacon born 1561.Lord George Byron born 1788.Queen Victoria died 1901.Father of light! to thee I call, My soul is dark within: Thou who canst mark the sparrow's fall, Avert the death of sin, Thou who canst guide the wandering star, Who calm'st the elemental war, Whose mantle is yon boundless sky, My thoughts, my words, my crimes forgive; And since I soon must cease to live, Instruct me how to die. —Lord Byron. Knowledge, whether it descend from divine inspiration or spring from human sense, would soon perish and vanish to oblivion if it were not preserved in books, traditions, conferences, and places appointed. —Francis Bacon. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein. —Revelation 1. 3. Almighty God, I would have thy counsel as I read the words and follow the deeds of helpful lives, that I may be inspired to nobler activities. Give me the desire to know more of thy holy word, that I may have a better knowledge of life. Amen. JANUARY TWENTY-THIRDTable of Contents John Hancock born 1737.William Pitt died 1806.Charles Kingsley died 1875.Paul Gustave Doré died 1883. Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful. Welcome it in every fair face, every fair sky, every fair flower, and thank Him for it, who is the fountain of all loveliness. —Charles Kingsley. Nature never did betray The heart that loved her; 'tis her privilege Through all the years of this life, to lead, From joy to joy; for she can so impress With quietness and beauty, and so feed With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues, * * * * * Nor all the dreary intercourse of daily life, Shall e'er prevail against us or disturb Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold Is full of blessings.—William Wordsworth.Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the height of the stars, how high they are! And thou sayest, What doth God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?—Job 22. 12, 13. Lord God, I pray that I may not overlook thy blessings of beauty while endeavoring to perform my duties. Guide me that I may not struggle to be where thou wouldst not have me go. Amen. JANUARY TWENTY-FOURTHTable of Contents Charles Earl of Dorset born 1637.Frederick the Great born 1712.Charles James Fox born 1749.The great Gods pass through the great Time-hall, Stately and high; The little men climb the low clay wall To gape and spy; "We wait for the Gods," the little men cry, "But these are our brothers passing by." The great Gods pass through the great Time-hall; Who can see? The little men nod by the low clay wall, So tired they be; '"Tis weary waiting for Gods," they yawn, "There's a world o' men, but the Gods are gone." —A. H. Begbie. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. —Luke 24. 16. My Father, may I be careful of getting weary and missing the best through the need of rest. Intensify my desire for the songs and glorious ways, that I may not settle into dullness and slumber, while others pass on in the light. I pray for a keener sense of the possessions made possible by the deeds and cares of noble men and women. Amen. JANUARY TWENTY-FIFTHTable of Contents Robert Burns born 1759.Lord Frederick Leighton died 1896.Daniel Maclise born 1811.When ranting round in pleasure's ring Religion may be blinded: Or if she gie a random sting, It may be little minded: But when on life we're Tempest-driv'n— A conscience but a canker, A correspondence fixed wi' Heav'n, Is sure a noble anchor. —Robert Burns. Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever; Do noble things, not dream them, all day long: And so make life, death, and that vast forever One grand sweet song. —Charles Kingsley. O Lord, by these things men live; And wholly therein is the life of my spirit: Wherefore recover thou me, and make me to live. —Isaiah 38. 16. Gracious Father, grant that I may not be willing to spend my life for trivial needs, for thou dost measure me for what I am, and boldest me for what I lose in waste. Be with me in my judgment of what is best, that I may make the most of my life. Amen. JANUARY TWENTY-SIXTHTable of Contents Lord George Sackville born 1716.Benjamin Robert Haydon born 1786.Mary Mapes Dodge born 1838.General Gordon (Chinese Gordon) killed 1885.Ave Maria! blessed be the hour, That time, the clime, the spot, where I so oft Have felt that moment in its fullest power Sink o'er the earth so beautiful and soft, While swung the deep bell in the distant tower Or the faint dying day-hymn stole aloft, And not a breath crept through the rosy air, And yet the forest leaves seemed stirred with prayer. —Lord Byron. I am quite happy, thank God, and like Lawrence, I have tried to do my duty. —General Gordon (just before death). For in the day of trouble he will keep me secretly in his pavilion: In the covert of his tabernacle will he hide me; He will lift me up upon a rock.—Psalm 27. 5. Heavenly Father, teach me how to breathe in the sweetness of life. Reveal to me the life that will bring peace to the soul. May I not be dismayed, but find the "Peace that passeth all understanding," the perfect peace that comes from thee. Amen. JANUARY TWENTY-SEVENTHTable of Contents Johannes Wolfgang Mozart born 1756.A. W. von Schlegel born 1767.David Friedrich Strauss born 1808. To keep young, every day read a poem, hear a choice piece of music, view a fine painting, and, if possible, do a good action. Man's highest merit always is, as much as possible, to rule external circumstances, and as little as possible to let himself be ruled by them. —Goethe. Let us not always say, "Spite of this flesh to-day I strove, made head, gained ground upon the whole!" As the bird wings and sings, Let us cry, "All good things Are ours, nor soul helps flesh more now than flesh helps soul!"—Robert Browning. Surely goodness and loving-kindness shall follow me all the days of my life. —Psalm 23. 6. Loving Father, help me to foresee that it is what I care for to-day that determines how I will find old age. May I not bring my closing years to weariness and lonesomeness, but may I have the restfulness that comes with communing with thee. Amen. JANUARY TWENTY-EIGHTHTable of Contents Charlemagne died 814.Sir Francis Drake died 1596.Peter the Great died 1725.Charles George Gordon (Chinese Gordon) born 1833. He only is advancing in life whose heart is getting softer, whose blood warmer, whose brain quicker, and whose spirit is entering into living peace. And the men who have this life in them are the true lords and kings of the earth—they, and they only. —John Ruskin. Just where you stand in the conflict, There is your place! Just where you think you are useless, Hide not your face! God placed you there for a purpose, What e'er it be; Think you he has chosen you for it: Work loyally.—Anonymous. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out! —Romans 11. 33. My Father, I thank thee that thou hast endowed me with a will; help me to use it aright. May I have the knowledge of what thou dost demand of my soul, that I may do my best with what thou hast given me. Help me that I may reach out for the highest ideals of life. Amen. JANUARY TWENTY-NINTHTable of Contents Emanuel Swedenborg born 1688.Thomas Paine born 1737.Adelaide Ristori born 1822.William McKinley, Ohio, twenty-fourth President United States, born 1843. God will keep no nation in supreme place that will not do supreme duty. —William McKinley. Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and the angels know of us. —Thomas Paine. The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another. —George Eliot. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, Upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself. So shall we not go back from thee: Quicken thou us, and we will call upon thy name.—Psalm 80. 17, 18. My Father, I pray that I may be just and be given to kindness. May I be conscious of my virtues, and use them to overcome my faults. May I hear clearly thy call that I may be sure of the way as I lead others to duty and happiness. Amen. JANUARY THIRTIETHTable of Contents Archbishop Butler born 1774.Walter Savage Landor born 1775.Henri Rochefort born 1830.Why, why repine, my pensive friend, At pleasures slipped away? Some the stern fates will never lend, And all refuse to stay. I see the rainbow in the sky, The dew upon the grass; I see them and I ask not why They glimmer or they pass. With folded arms I linger not To call them back; 'twere vain; In this, or in some other spot, I know they'll shine again. —Walter Savage Landor. When disappointment comes meet it, but do not carry it along with you; nor fetter your spirit by changeless haste. "Memory will always pursue some precious instance of itself," which will bring either renewed confidence or resignation. —M. B. S. For thou shalt forget thy misery; Thou shalt remember it as waters that are passed away.—Job 11. 16. Gracious Father, help me to "Lift mine eyes unto the hills" that glorify the discouraging ways. May I appreciate thy great love, and from my limitations find the possibilities that are limitless. Amen. JANUARY THIRTY-FIRSTTable of Contents Cromwell dissolved Parliament 1655.Charles Edward (Young Pretender) died 1788.Franz Schubert born 1797.James G. Elaine born 1830. Nature demands that man be ever at the top of his condition. He who violates her laws must pay the penalty, though he sit on a throne. —James G. Elaine. Dig channels for the streams of love, Where they may broadly run; And love has overflowing streams To fill them every one.For we must share if we must keep The good things from above; Ceasing to give, we cease to have— Such is the law of love.—R. C. Trench.And thy life shall be clearer than the noonday; Though there be darkness, it shall be as the morning.—Job 11. 17. My Father, I would remember that it is mostly from my inspirations that I conceive life. Take away hatred and vanity that keep me in faults, and awake in me the thoughts that are responsible for visions that lead to high ideals. Amen. FEBRUARYTable of Contents 0102030405060708091011121314151617181920212223242526272829Then came old February, sitting In an old wagon, for he could not ride, Drawn of two fishes for the season fitting, Which through the flood before did softly slide And swim away; yet he had by his side His plow and harness fit to till the ground, And tools to prune the trees, before the pride Of hasting prime did make them bourgeon wide. —Edmund Spenser. FEBRUARY FIRSTTable of Contents Ben Jonson born 1574.John Philip Kemble born 1757.Arthur Henry Hallam born 1811.George Cruikshank died 1878.It is not growing like a tree In bulk, doth make man better be; Or standing long an oak, three hundred year, To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere: A lily of a day Is fairer far in May, Although it fall and die that night— It was the plant and flower of Light. In small proportions we just beauties see; And in short measure life may perfect be. —Ben Jonson. There are four things which are little upon the earth, But they are exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, Yet they provide their food in the summer; The conies are but a feeble folk, Yet make they their houses in the rocks; The locusts have no king, Yet go they forth all of them by bands; The lizard taketh hold with her hands, Yet is she in king's palaces. —Proverbs 30. 24–28. Creator of all, lead me to see the light, and instruct me that I may be able to reason. Guard me against spectacular endeavors, that I may be genuine. Amen. FEBRUARY SECONDTable of Contents Candlemas Day.Nell Gwynn born 1650.Hannah More born 1745.William Henry Burleigh born 1812.'Twas doing nothing was his curse— Is there a vice can plague us worse? The wretch who digs the mine for bread, Or plows, that others may be fed, Feels less fatigue than that decreed To him who cannot think, or read. Not all the peril of temptations, Not all the conflict of the passions, Can quench the spark of Glory's flame, Or quite extinguish Virtue's name. —Hannah More. Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife! To all the sensual world proclaim, One crowded hour of glorious life Is worth an age without a name. —Sir Walter Scott. He went out, and found others standing; and he saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard. —Matthew 20. 6, 7. Eternal God, who hath weighed the mountains and measured the seas, I pray that I may not be satisfied to wait in idleness, and let thy wisdom pass away from me as the days. Steady me in my weakness, and reveal to me my strength as I draw near and ask of thee. Amen. FEBRUARY THIRDTable of Contents Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy born 1809.Horace Greeley born 1811.Frederick William Robertson born 1816.Sidney Lanier born 1842.My soul is sailing through the sea, But the past is heavy and hindereth me. The past hath crusted cumbrous shells That hold the flesh of cold sea-mells About my soul. The huge waves wash, the high waves roll, Each barnacle clingeth and worketh dole And hindereth me from sailing. —Sidney Lanier. To stand with a smile upon your face, against a stake from which you cannot get away—that no doubt is heroic. True glory is resignation to the inevitable. But to stand unchained, with perfect liberty to go away held only by the higher chains of duty, and let the fire creep up to the heart—that is heroism. —F. W. Robertson. We are pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not unto despair; pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not destroyed. —2 Corinthians 4. 8, 9. Gracious Father, thou knowest what I am and the condition of my life. May I seek thy will for me. Grant that I may never struggle for consolation through indulgence and indolence, but in my sorrow and failure may I reach out for thy enduring comfort. Amen. FEBRUARY FOURTHTable of Contents Mark Hopkins born 1802.W. Harrison Ainsworth born 1805.Jean Richepin born 1849.Thomas Carlyle died 1881. Life is not a May-game, but a battle and a march, a warfare with principalities and powers. No idle promenade through fragrant orange groves and green flowery spaces, waited on by coral muses, and the rosy hours; it is a stern pilgrimage through the rough, burning, sandy solitudes, through regions of thick-ribbed ice. —Thomas Carlyle. For all sweet and pleasant passages in the great story of life men may well thank God; for leisure and ease and health and friendship may God make us truly and humbly grateful; but our chief song of thanksgiving must be always for our kinship with him, with all that such divinity of greatness brings of peril, hardship, toil, and sacrifice. —Hamilton Mabie. Thy bars shall be iron and brass; And as thy days, so shall thy strength be.—Deuteronomy 33. 25. My Father, help me to choose the road that leads to my work, and may I not fail to reach it, by wandering away from it. Keep me in touch with the human side of life, holding in mind that "Truth and honesty are the noblest works of God." Amen. FEBRUARY FIFTHTable of Contents Sir Robert Peel born 1788.Ole Boreman Bull born 1810.John Muir born 1810.Dwight L. Moody born 1837. When a great man dies, then has the time come for putting us in mind that he was alive! —Thomas Carlyle. If I practice one day, I can see the result. If I practice two days, my friends can see it. If I practice three days, the great public can see it. —Ole Bull. Those who say they will forgive but can't forget an injury simply bury the hatchet while they leave the handle out, ready for immediate use. —Dwight L. Moody. But I hold not my life of any account as dear unto myself, so that I may accomplish my course. —Acts 20. 24. Almighty God, if I am uncertain, and tremble at the crossroads in doubt of the right way, may I wait and be led by thee, and follow on, even if the way be dark and rough. May I be faithful and have thy presence as thou promised at the end. Amen. FEBRUARY SIXTHTable of Contents Queen Anne of England born 1665.Aaron Burr born 1756.Sir Henry Irving born 1838. Nothing earthly will make me give up my work in despair. I encourage myself in the Lord my God and go forward. —David Livingstone. To expect defeat is nine tenths of defeat itself. —Marion Crawford. I do not see how any man can afford, for the sake of his nerves and his nap, to spare any action in which he can partake. —Ralph Waldo Emerson. Art is a jealous mistress, she requires the whole man. —Michael Angelo. Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. —1 Corinthians 16. 13. Almighty God, help me to have true conceptions, that my life may not be secured to needless purposes. May my soul be influenced by high ideals, and my work be the production of truth and not of selfishness. Protect me from evil that I may be kept pure and strong for my work. Amen. FEBRUARY SEVENTHTable of Contents Millard Fillmore, New York, thirteenth President United States born 1800.Sir Thomas More born 1478.Charles Dickens born 1812.Anne Radcliffe died 1823.Sidney Cooper died 1902. Let no man turn aside ever so slightly, from the broad path of honor, on the plausible pretense that he is justified by the goodness of his end. All good ends can be worked out by good means. —Charles Dickens. If evils come not, then our fears are vain; And if they do, fear but augments the pain.—Sir Thomas More.A human heart knows aught of littleness, Suspects no man, compares with no one's ways, Hath in one hour most glorious length of days, A recompense, a joy, a loveliness;Like eaglet keen, shoots into azure far, And always dwelling nigh is the remotest star.—William Ellery Channing.Teach me thy way, O Jehovah; I will walk in thy truth: Unite my heart to fear thy name.—Psalm 86. 11. Gracious Father, I pray that thou wilt control my impulses, and protect me from false interpretations. May I have wisdom, and search for the high and holy ways. Help me to be patient for thy purposes, and may my relations to life be triumphant in thy standards. Amen. FEBRUARY EIGHTHTable of Contents Samuel Butler born 1612.John Ruskin born 1819.General Sherman born 1820.Jules Verne born 1828.Richard Watson Gilder born 1844. If you want knowledge, you must toil for it; and if pleasure, you must toil for it. Toil is the law. Pleasure comes through toil, and not by self-indulgence and indolence. When one gets to love work his life is a happy one. —John Ruskin. Whatever sceptic could inquire for, For every why he had a wherefore.—Samuel Butler.Through love to light! O wonderful the way, That leads from darkness to the perfect day! From darkness and from sorrow of the night To morning that comes singing o'er the sea. Through love to light! through light O God to Thee! Who art the love, the eternal light of light!—Richard Watson Gilder. We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. —John 9. 4. My Father, I pray that I may not weight my life with worthless efforts. May I be guided to the right work, and through the love of it find strength for my soul. Amen. FEBRUARY NINTHTable of Contents C. F. Volney born 1757.William Henry Harrison, Virginia, ninth President United States, born 1773.Anthony Hope (Hawkins) born 1863.George Ade born 1866. A man's own observation, what he finds good of, and what he finds hurt of, is the best physic to preserve health. But it is a safer conclusion to say, "This agreeth not well with me, therefore I will not continue it"; than to say, "I find no offense of this, therefore I may use it." For strength of nature in youth passeth over many excesses, which are owing a man till his age. —Francis Bacon. Though man a thinking being is defined, Few use the grand prerogative of mind. How few think justly of the thinking few! How many never think, who think they do!—Jane Taylor. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life. —James 1. 12. Almighty God, I would learn that while thou art a forgiving Lord, nature has no mercy on them that break her laws. Forgive me for all my neglect, and help me to see the way in which thou hast through mercy led me. Give me the power to endure and the strength to resist temptation. May I seek to understand thy laws, that I may not fail through ignorance. Amen. FEBRUARY TENTHTable of Contents Rev. Henry Hart Milman born 1791.Charles Lamb born 1775.Sir William Napier died 1860. Never let the most well-intended falsehood escape your lips; for Heaven, which is entirely Truth, will make the seed which you have sown of untruth to yield miseries a thousandfold. —Charles Lamb. We cannot command veracity at will; the power of seeing and reporting truly is a form of health that has to be distinctly guarded, and as an ancient rabbi has solemnly said, "The penalty of untruth is untruth." —George Eliot. The bat hangs upside down and laughs at a topsy-turvy world. —Unknown. The lip of truth shall be established for ever; But a lying tongue is but for a moment.—Proverbs 12. 19. Lord God, give me the will to hold to the truth and the strength to help keep the world true; and may I help others to look up and catch the truth from the purest light. Amen. FEBRUARY ELEVENTHTable of Contents Mary, Queen of England, born 1516.Daniel Boone born 1735.Lydia M. Child born 1802.Washington Gladden born 1836.Thomas A. Edison born 1847.Few, in the days of early youth, Trusted like me in love and truth. I've learned sad lessons from the years; But slowly and with many tears; For God made me to kindly view The world that I was passing through. And all who tempt a trusting heart From faith and hope to drift apart, May they themselves be spared the pain Of losing power to trust again! God help us all to kindly view The world that we are passing through! —Lydia M. Child. |
