Chapter 6

Almighty God, I pray that I may always be alive to my opportunities, but may I never leave others impoverished by taking advantage of them. May my prosperity be conducted with my eyes open, guarding what I give and receive, that my possessions may remain valuable through life. Amen.

APRIL SIXTEENTH

Charles Montagu, Earl of Halifax, born 1661.

Charles W. Peale born 1741.

Sir John Franklin born 1786.

Weary of myself and sick of asking What I am, and what I ought to be, At the vessel's prow I stand, which bears me Forward, forward, o'er the starlit sea

O air-born voice! long since severely clear, A cry like thine in my own heart I hear. Resolve to be thyself: and know that he Who finds himself, loses his misery.

--Matthew Arnold.

This above all to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou can'st not then be false to any man.

--William Shakespeare.

Let thine eyes look right on, And let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Make level the path of thy feet, And let all thy ways be established.

--Proverbs 4. 25, 26.

My Father, give me a sense of nearness to thee when I may be faltering from weariness in well doing. May I hold to my determinations. Help me to know what is useless, that I may not give unnecessary energy, and to know what is worth while, that I may acquire strength through the power of truth. Amen.

APRIL SEVENTEENTH

Bishop Benjamin Hoadley died 1761.

Benjamin Franklin died 1790.

William G. Simms born 1806.

Shall I ask the brave soldier who fights at my side, In the cause of mankind, if our creeds agree? Shall I give up the friend I have valued and tried, If he kneel not before the same altar as me?

--Thomas Moore.

I met a little Elf-man once, Down where the lilies blow. I asked him why he was so small And why he didn't grow.

He slightly frowned, and with his eye He looked me through and through. "I'm quite as big for me," said he "As you are big for you."

--John Kendrick Bangs.

Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

--Isaiah 5. 21.

Loving Father, grant that I may not barter love with formalities, nor sacrifice love for customs. But, may I have a fellowship that is true and sincere, and that may be counted on, though all and for all. Amen.

APRIL EIGHTEENTH

Lord Jeffreys died 1689.

George Henry Lewes born 1817.

Sir Francis Baring born 1740.

Nor can I count him happiest who has never Been forced with his own hand his chains to sever, And for himself find out the way divine; He never knew the aspirer's glorious pains, He never earned the struggler's priceless gains.

--James Russell Lowell.

There is not time for hate, O wasteful friend. Put hate away until the ages end. Have you an ancient wound? Forget the wrong-- Out in my West a forest loud with song Towers high and green over a field of snow, Over a glacier buried far below.

--Edwin Markham.

Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the life eternal, whereunto thou wast called, and didst confess the good confession in the sight of many witnesses.

--1 Timothy 6. 12.

Lord God, help me to realize the power of my life. I feel ashamed and alarmed when I think of the grievous wrongs I may have done for greed. May I have delight in the struggles I have made for the ways of righteousness. Make me careful to avoid the things that debase life. May I aspire for the highest and best. Amen.

APRIL NINETEENTH

Roger Sherman born 1721.

Lord Byron died 1824.

Lord Beaconsfield (Disraeli) died 1881.

Charles Darwin died 1882.

The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes. --Disraeli.

One sees, and the other does not see; one enjoys an unspeakable pleasure, and the other loses that pleasure which is as free to him as the air.... The whole outward world is the kingdom of the observant eye. He who enters into any part of that kingdom to possess it has a store of pure enjoyment in life which is literally inexhaustible and immeasurable. His eyes alone will give him a life worth living.

--Charles W. Eliot.

Having eyes, see ye not?

--Mark 8. 18.

My Father, help me to realize that I cannot feel the joy that breathes through the early morning unless I am with it. May I see distinctly the glory of to-day. Help me to be watchful and keep my spirit awake, that I may receive thy revelations. Amen.

APRIL TWENTIETH

Marcus Aurelius born 121.

Elizabeth Barton (Maid of Kent) executed 1534

Sir Francis T. Baring born 1796.

Alice Cary born 1820.

Do not act as if you had ten thousand years to throw away. Death stands at your elbow. Be good for something while you live and it is in your power.

--Marcus Aurelius.

And O, my heart, my heart, Be careful to go strewing in and out The way with good deeds, lest it come about That when thou shalt depart, No low lamenting tongue be found to say, The world is poorer since thou went'st away

--Alice Cary.

A good man prolongs his life; to be able to enjoy one's past life is to live twice.

--Martial.

The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance.

--Psalm 112. 6.

Heavenly Father, thou hast made my life dear; forgive me if I have made dearer the things that I have put around it. Many days have been used for costly things that have faded and are laid aside. May I realize the meaning of days that have been lost. Make me more concerned for what I put in the days to come. Amen.

APRIL TWENTY-FIRST

Peter F. Abelard died 1142.

Friedrich Fröbel born 1782.

Reginald Heber born 1783.

James Martineau born 1805.

Charlotte Brontë born 1816.

Henry Shaw (Josh Billings) born 1818.

Education should lead and guide man to clearness concerning himself and in himself, to peace with nature, and to unity with God.

--Friedrich Fröbel.

When spring unlocks the flowers, to paint the laughing soil; When summer's balmy showers refresh the mower's toil; When winter binds in frosty chains the fallow and the flood, In God the earth rejoiceth still, and owns its maker good.

--Reginald Heber.

A memory without a blot or contamination must be an inexhaustible source of pure refreshment.

--Charlotte Brontë.

For ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

--1 Thessalonians 5. 5.

Lord of light, thou art the light of my life. May I make thee the joy and light of my soul. Call me to where it is clear and high, that I may see above the mist. May I not weary in climbing to reach thee in the high places. Amen.

APRIL TWENTY-SECOND

Henry Fielding born 1707.

Immanuel Kant born 1724.

Philip James Bailey born 1816.

We live in deeds, not years: in thoughts, not breaths: In feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.

--Philip James Bailey.

Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations. The only sin is limitation. As soon as you once come up with a man's limitations it is all over with him.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson.

But he that looketh into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so continueth, being not a hearer that forgeteth but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing.

--James 1. 25.

Lord God, help me to break away from habits that fasten me in the ruts of life. Draw me out to thy broad way, where there are no limits to thy wonderful works, that I may expand my life. Amen.

APRIL TWENTY-THIRD

William Shakespeare born 1564, died 1616.

Cervantes died 1616.

J.M.W. Turner born 1775.

James Buchanan, Pennsylvania, fifteenth President United States, born 1791.

James Anthony Froude born 1818.

Thomas Nelson Page born 1853.

Edwin Markham born 1852.

My crown is in my heart, not on my head: Not decked with diamonds and Indian Stones, Nor to be seen. My crown is called content. A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy.

--William Shakespeare.

At the heart of the cyclone tearing the sky And flinging the clouds and the towers by Is a place of central calm: So here in the roar of mortal things, I have a place where my spirit sings, In the hollow of God's Palm.

--Edwin Markham.

Rest in Jehovah, and wait patiently for him: Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way.

--Psalm 37. 7.

Almighty God, my heart beats quicker and the desire for thy care grows stronger when I remember thy promises are given for all eternity. May I be grateful and contented with thy love and care. Amen.

APRIL TWENTY-FOURTH

Edmund Cartwright born 1743.

Anthony Trollope born 1815.

Arthur Christopher Benson born 1862.

By religion I mean the power, whatever it be, which makes a man choose what is hard rather than what is easy; what is lofty and noble rather than what is mean and selfish; that puts courage into timorous hearts and gladness into clouded spirits.

--Arthur C. Benson.

For all noble things the time is long and the way rude.... For every start and struggle of impatience there shall be so much attendant failure.... But the fire which Patience carries in her own hand is that truly stolen from heaven--unquenchable incense of life.

--John Ruskin.

But they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.

--Isaiah 40. 31.

My Father, I pray that I may not be indifferent to the call of my soul. May I not seek to serve the disappearing and neglect to make life worthy. Acquaint me with the permanent values of life. Make clear the way of strength, that I may not be misled by ease and carried to weakness. May my life be ennobled by the power of my possessions. Amen.

APRIL TWENTY-FIFTH

Oliver Cromwell born 1599.

John Keble born 1792.

Alexander Duff born 1806.

Guglielmo Marconi born 1874.

Mrs. Burton Harrison (Constance Cary) born 1846.

Samuel Wesley died 1735.

Truly God follows us with encouragements: let him not lose his blessing upon us! They come in season, and with all the advantages of heartening, as if God should say, "Up and be doing, and I will stand by you and help you!" There is nothing to be feared but our own sin and sloth.

--Oliver Cromwell.

Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear, It is not night if thou be near; O may no earthborn cloud arise To hide thee from thy servants' eyes.

--John Keble.

For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield: Jehovah will give grace and glory; No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

--Psalm 84. 11.

My Father, may I not err in choosing thy benefits, nor fail from the neglect to use them. Make me appreciative of all thy gifts, and, through thy wisdom and power, may I find the best use for them. Amen.

APRIL TWENTY-SIXTH

David Hume born 1711.

Daniel Defoe died 1791.

Charles F. Browne (Artemus Ward) born 1834.

How strange a chequer-work of Providence is the life of man! and by what secret different springs are the affections hurried about, as different circumstances present! To-day we love what to-morrow we hate; to-day we seek what to-morrow we shun; to-day we desire what to-morrow we fear; nay, even tremble at the apprehension of.

--Daniel Defoe.

Now don't do nothin' which isn't your Fort, for ef you do you'll find yourself splashin' round in the Kanawl, figgeratively speakin'.

--Artemus Ward.

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are diversities of ministrations, and the same Lord. And there are diversities of workings, but the same God, who worketh all things in all.

--1 Corinthians 12. 4-6.

Lord forbid that I should fear to change for the better or be so pleased with myself and the things which surround me that I feel no need for a higher life. Make me dissatisfied if I am not trying to grow in truth and to live in noble deeds. Amen.

APRIL TWENTY-SEVENTH

Samuel Morse born 1791.

Lajos Kossuth born 1802.

Herbert Spencer born 1820.

Ulysses S. Grant, Ohio, eighteenth President United States, born 1822.

Ralph Waldo Emerson died 1882.

People who are dishonest, or rash, or stupid will inevitably suffer the penalties of dishonesty, or rashness, or stupidity.

--Herbert Spencer.

Abide in the simple and noble regions of thy life; obey thy heart.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Well, then, we must cut our way out.

--General Grant.

Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.

--Ephesians 6. 13.

Loving Father, help me to live a simple and noble life. Grant that I may have the blessedness that comes through peace, and escape the misery that comes from cruelty and untruth. Through my life may what I reap show that I have been careful in choosing and cultivating what I have sown. Amen.

APRIL TWENTY-EIGHTH

Charles Cotton born 1630.

James Monroe, Virginia, fifth President United States, born 1758.

Anthony Ashley, Earl of Shaftesbury, born 1801.

During a long life I have proved that not one kind word ever spoken, not one kind deed ever done, but sooner or later returns to bless the giver, and becomes a chain, binding men with golden bands to the throne of God.

--Earl of Shaftesbury.

There's many a time when the bitterest thing Is said without reason, and God knows The courage it takes to suffer the sting, By hiding the wounds that the heart shows.

There's many a sob we bravely keep down For the sake of old times revered so, There's many a head with thorns for a crown Where kisses would soon make the heart glow.

--Edwin Leibfreed.

So shalt thou know wisdom to be unto thy soul; If thou hast found it, then shall there be a reward, And thy hope shall not be cut off.

--Proverbs 24. 14.

My Father, if I am to-day without happiness, may I go in search of it. Help me to remember that the will thou hast given me to overcome evil with good I may use to overcome misery with happiness. Make me careful that I may not be trapped by selfishness as I look for joy. May I delight in the sweet sensations that are felt in having consideration for others, and may I make kindness a daily habit. Amen.

APRIL TWENTY-NINTH

Michel Ruyter died 1676.

Abbe Charles de St. Pierre died 1743.

Matthew Vassar born 1792.

Edward Rowland Sill born 1841.

Never yet was a springtime, Late though lingered the snow, That the sap stirred not at the whisper Of the south wind, sweet and low; Never yet was a springtime When the buds forgot to blow.

Ever the wings of the summer Are folded under the mold; Life that has known no dying, Is Love's, to have and to hold, Till, sudden, the burgeoning Easter! The song! the green and the gold![1]

--Margaret E. Sangster.

In tracing the shade, I shall find out the sun.

--Owen Meredith.

All chastening seemeth for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby, even the fruit of righteousness.

--Hebrews 12. 11.

Almighty God, grant that as the fulfillment of the green comes to the withered grass, so thy restoring may come to me with the glory of life that comes in the resurrection of the soul. I trust thee to bring me out of winter's seal, that I may help make the spring. Amen.

[Footnote 1: From Easter Bells. Copyright, 1897, by Harper & Brothers.]

APRIL THIRTIETH

Chevalier de Bayard killed 1524.

Sir John Lubbock born 1834.

James Montgomery died 1854.

David Livingstone died 1873.

We scatter seeds with careless hands, And dream we ne'er shall see them more; But for a thousand years Their fruit appears In weeds that mar the land.

--John Keble

And there came up a sweet perfume From the unseen flowers below, Like the savor of virtuous deeds, Of deeds done long ago.

--Mrs. Southey.

Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of pure nard, very precious, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment.

--John 12. 3.

My Father, I pray that it may be mine to have the recollection of happy deeds, and not the memory of unkept promises. Help me to remember that one act is worth a thousand intentions, and that memory is the storehouse that supplies old age. Make me careful of my memory, that it may not be burdened. Amen.

MAY

I cannot see what flowers are at my feet, Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs, But, in the embalmed darkness, guess each sweet Wherewith the seasonable month endows The grass, the thicket, and the fruit tree wild; White hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine; Fast-fading violets covered up in leaves; And mid-May's wildest child, The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine, The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves.

--John Keats.

Such a starved bank of moss Till that May morn, Blue ran the flash across: Violets were born.

--Robert Browning.

MAY FIRST

Arbor Day.

Joseph Addison born 1672.

Arthur, Duke of Wellington, born 1769.

If you wish to succeed in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius.

--Joseph Addison.

He who plants a tree, he plants love; Tents of coolness spreading out above Wayfarers, he may not live to see. Gifts that grow are best; Hands that bless are blest; Plant-life does the rest! Heaven and earth help him who plants a tree, And his work his own reward shall be.

--Lucy Larcom.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, That bringeth forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also doth not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

--Psalm 1. 3.

My Creator, give me joyful eyes for joyful nature. May I be alive to the gentle influences of a May day which bring new experiences to all who may receive them: and may I serve thee by unfolding to others the love of truth, the love of good, and the love of beauty. Amen.

MAY SECOND

Leonardo da Vinci died 1519.

Robert Hall born 1764.

Jerome K. Jerome born 1859.

William Henry Hudson born 1862.

Without a false humility; For this is love's nobility,-- Not to scatter bread and gold, Goods and raiment bought and sold; But to hold fast his simple sense, And speak the speech of innocence, And with hand and body and blood, To make his bosom-counsel good. He that feeds man serveth few; He serves all who dares be true.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Small service is true service while it lasts: Of humblest friends scorn not one: The daisy, by the shadow it casts, Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun.

--William Wordsworth.

Surely then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; Yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear.

--Job 11. 15.

Heavenly Father, I would be thankful for the blessings I am inclined to forget. Give me a heart of gratitude, and forbid that I should hold my friends for material gain or selfish ends. May I through the truthfulness of my lips, and the honor of my acts, be a necessary friend. Amen.

MAY THIRD

Niccolo Machiavelli born 1469.

Thomas Hood died 1845.

Jacob Riis born 1849.

The longing for ignoble things; The strife for triumph more than truth; The hardening of the heart that brings Irreverence for the dreams of youth;

All these must first be trampled down Beneath our feet, if we would gain In the bright fields of fair renown The right of eminent domain.

--John Keble.

One lesson, and only one, history may be said to repeat with distinctness; that the world is built somehow on moral foundations; that in the long run, it is well with the good; in the long run it is ill with the wicked.

--James Anthony Froude.

No soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life; that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier. And if also a man contend in the games, he is not crowned, except he have contended lawfully.

--2 Timothy 2. 4, 5.

Gracious Father, may my heart be mindful of thee, that I may discover the truth and possess it. Steady me in my affections and save me from wandering impulses; and may I help to put wrong down and uplift humanity. Amen.

MAY FOURTH

Frederick Edwin Church born 1826.

Isaac Barrow died 1677.

John James Audubon born 1780.

Horace Mann born 1796.

Thomas Henry Huxley born 1825.

The chess board is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the universe, the rules of the game we call the laws of nature. My metaphor will remind some of you of the famous picture in which Retzsch has depicted Satan playing chess with man for his soul. Substitute for the mocking fiend in that picture a calm, strong angel, who is playing "for love," as we say, and would rather lose than win, and I should accept it as an image of human life.

--Thomas Henry Huxley.

Riches and nobility fade together. O, my God! be thou praised for having made love for all time, and immortal as thyself.

--George Sand.

He hath given food unto them that fear him: He will ever be mindful of his covenant. The works of his hands are truth and justice; All his precepts are sure.

--Psalm 111. 5, 7.

Father of life, I know I cannot hold youth. I may have prosperity or poverty. I thank thee that thou hast taught me that love may be kept changeless through all. Amen.

MAY FIFTH

Napoleon Bonaparte died 1821.

Empress Eugenie born 1826.

Bret Harte died 1902.

As I stand by the cross, on the lone mountain's crest, Looking over the ultimate sea, In the gloom of the mountain a ship lies at rest, And one sails away from the lea; One spreads its white wings on the far-reaching track, With pennant and sheet flowing free; One hides in the shadow with sails laid aback-- The ship that is waiting for me.

But lo! in the distance the clouds break away, The gate's glowing portals I see, And I hear from the outgoing ship in the bay The song of the sailors in glee. So I think of the luminous footprints that bore The comfort o'er dark Galilee, And wait for the signal to go to the shore To the ship that is waiting for me.

--Bret Harte.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

--Psalm 23. 4.

Eternal God, I praise thee, that "thy love is broader than the measure of man's mind," and that through all my years I may hide myself in thee, trusting thee to the end. Amen.

MAY SIXTH

Plato born B.C. 427.

Robespierre born 1758.

General Andrea Messena born 1758.

Hard ye may be in the tumult, Red to your battle hilts; Blow give blow in the foray, Cunningly ride in the tilts. But tenderly, unbeguiled-- Turn to a woman a woman's Heart, and a child's to a child.

Test of the man if his worth be In accord with the ultimate plan That he be not, to his marring, Always and utterly man. That he may bring out of the tumult, Fetter and undefiled, To woman the heart of a woman-- To children the heart of a child.[1]

--O. Henry.

A man's concern is only whether in doing anything he is doing right or wrong--acting the part of a good man or a bad.

--Plato.

A faithful man shall abound with blessings.

--Proverbs 28. 20.