Chapter 4

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.