:a Dailv staff aiSii ^^--y ,<'^ s mV-'tM^':'^'^ ^' .J V M- mw' iriikri. /6 /. >- LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON, N. J. Presented by He-rbeLr"h Ac^ams G-iloloon^ BV 4811 .D46 1895 A daily staff for life's pathway %: K> WEARING THE WHITE FLOWER OF A BLAMELESS LIFE. — Tennyson, Page 243. A 1)AILY STAFF for %lfc'& patbwa? SELECTED AND ARRANGED MRS. C. S. DEROSE miustrate?) b? Ujora C. Cban^let. '''' Sometimes a book contai7ting a noble exemplar of life, taken up at random^ merely with the object of reading it as a /iastime, has been known to call forth energies whose existence had not before been sitspectedy — Samuel Smiles. "Wcw ISorft an5 Xon5on FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS Printed in America dcpsrfgbt, 1855, b^ gtctcxick B. Stoftcs Company ^0 tbe Pernors OF "T^HE inward man is renewed day by day.- 2 Cor. iv. i6. ''^'HEN, each one in his own place, we ^i^ must give light to other lives, and make the one little spot in this world that is close about us brighter and happier with love and grace. The great lighthouse lamp pours beams far out to sea, but it does not lighten the space around its base. Some people send brightness far away, working for the heathen and doing deeds which benefit the world, while they fail to brighten their own homes and the lives close beside them. We ought not to be such lights as these ; while we send our influence abroad as far as possible, we should live so that we shall be benedictions to those who are nearest us. Rev. J. R. Miller, D. D. He needs no other rosary whose thread of life is strung v/ith beads of love and thought. — Fro?n the Persian. 2 5anuarg 2* T ET your conversatioji be without covetous- ness ; and be content with such thi?igs as ye have ; foi' he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. — Hebrews xiii. 5. Men talk with their lips and dream with their soul Of better days hitherward pacing, To a happy, a glorious, golden goal See them go running and chasing. The world grows old and to youth returns, But still for the better man's bosom burns. From Schiller, by George MacDonald. 'J^HE work of a perfect man is to pass ^*^ through many cares, as it were, with- out a care; not with the indifference of a sluggard, but with that privilege of a mind at liberty. Thomas a Kempis. The most beautiful of altars is the soul of an unhappy creature, consoled, thanking God. Victor Hugo. Let the only motive to read be the love of truth. Thomas a Kempis. IKjTARY hath chosen that good part, which shall not be takefi away from her. — Luke X. 42. And thus from day to day we live, From others take, to others give; Each forms a part of one great whole. So live that they who meet with Thee May better, truer, nobler be: Thy own Christ-like divinity. E. B. MONTREUX. fF you trust in God and yourself, you can surmount every obstacle. Do not yield to restless anxiety. One must not always be asking what may happen to one in life, but one must advance fearlessly and bravely. Prince Bismarck. Life, like a dome of many-colored glass, stains the white radiance of eternity. Percy Bysshe Shelley. All that thou givest thou wilt carry away with thee. — Turkish Proverb. 4 ^anuar^ 4. nrHE Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the ivorks. — John xiv. lo. '^^HE crosses we make for ourselves, by ^1^ anxiety as to the future, are not the crosses sent by God. Fenelon. ►J- Consider the sea's listless chime: Time's self it is, made audible, — The murmur of the earth's own shell; Secret continuance sublime To the sea's end: our sight may pass No furlong further. Since time was, This sound hath told the lapse of time. Hark where the murmurs of throng'd men Surge and sink back and surge again, — Gather a shell from the strown beach And listen at its lips: they sigh The same desire and mystery, The echo of the whole sea's speech. And all mankind is thus at heart Not anything but what thou art: And Earth, Sea, Man, are all in each. Dante Gabriel Rossetti. JDLESSED are they which do htcnger a?id thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. — Matthew v. 6, I AM with thee ! He hath said it In His truth and tender grace; Sealed the promise, grandly spoken, With how many a mighty token Of His love and faithfulness. Frances Ridley Havergal. /T?OD is perfectly powerful because he is ^•^ perfectly and infinitely of use, and per- fectly good because he delights utterly and always in being of use, therefore we can become like God only in proportion as Vv^e become of use. All life, all devotion, all piety are only worth anything — only divine and God-like and God-beloved — as they are means to that one end — to be of use. Charles Kingsley. First keep thyself in peace, and then shalt thou be able to pacify others. Thomas a Kempis. 6 5anuarB 6, 'pOR I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hajid, saying unto thee, Fear not; I mill help thee. — Isaiah xli. 13. Lord, with glowing heart I'd praise Thee For the bliss Thy love bestows; For the pardoning grace that saves me. And the peace that from it flows. Let Thy grace, my soul's chief treasure, Love's pure flame within me raise; And since v/ords can never measure, Let my life show forth Thy praise. Francis Scott Key, ■i|JVERY human being has duties to be ^^ performed, and therefore has need of cultivating the capacity for doing them, whether the sphere of action be the manage- ment of a household, the conduct of a trade or profession, or the government of a nation. Samuel Smiles. ^0 Q ^ >- ^•- < 5 t-5 P-i ^ S^ >< 8 M E^ h K 1 O erf o ^ 01 w <: (^ w ^ trf Q t/5 o Q 2; J S erf o H ^ tf erf w O ffi % H - Z <; ffi H 5anuarg ?♦ 7 TT is the spirit that qidckeneth. — John vi. 6-7,. XITTLE sins mar the beauty of the character. Then, they are sure to grow. Ofttimes, too, they are infinite in their consequences. The little rift in the lute widens and by and by destroys all the music. The trickling leak in the dike be- comes a torrent deluging vast plains. We ought never to indulge even the smallest faults or evil habits, but should aim always at perfection. We ought to be satisfied with nothing less than perfection in character, and perfection is made up of trifles. Rev. J. R. Miller, D. D. More things are wrought by prayer Than the world dreams of; wherefore, Let thy voice rise like a fountain For me, night and day. Alfred Tennyson. In your patience possess ye your souls. Luke xxi. 19. 8 5atiuar^ S, J^E which sowefh sparingly, shall reap also sparingly ; and he which soweth bounti- fully^ shall reap also bountifully. — 2 Corin- thians ix. 6. New every morning is the love Our wakening and uprising prove, Through sleep and darkness safely broughtj Restored to life, and power, and tlwught. John Keble. '^^HE things which are seen are temporal; ^^ it is the things that are not seen which are eternal. Even the dry light of critical analysis has thrown a flood of knowledge on the Bible. Even the philosophers of the last century quickened and freshened the whole atmosphere of religion with a nobler influence. Science, if it cannot increase our faith, h-as at any rate purified and en- larged it. . . Even in the silence of death, even in the darkness of the unseen world, we have the assurance that there is One to whom the darkness and the light are both alike. Let us hold on — ''knowing, fearing nothing; trusting, hoping all." Dean Stanley. 3-anuarg 9» 9 r^OMMUNE with your rnvn heart upon your bedy atid be still. — Psalms iv. 4. Tribulation worketh patience j and patience^ expei'ience ; and experience^ hope. — Romans V. 3-4- Praise God, from whom all blessings flow ! Praise Him, all creatures here below! Praise Him, above, ye heavenly host! Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Thomas Ken. fF a man would but truly and impartially examine himself, he would find but little cause to judge severely of his neighbor. Thomas a Kempis. The mind that delights in that which is lofty and great, which feels there is some- thing higher than self, will undoubtedly be drawn toward Christ. George MacDonald. Hope is itself a species of happiness, and perhaps the chief happiness the world affords. Samuel Johnson. J-JE that followeth 7ne shall not walk m dark- ness, but shall have the light of life. — John viii. 12. ^RUST God in the dark. This is the Wi^ highest effort and triumph of faith. Pray on, trust on, believe on, hope on, and the still small voice will in due time come. Make use of time if thou lovest eternity: know yesterday cannot be recalled, to-mor- row cannot be assured; to-day only is thine; one to-day is worth tv/o to-morrows. — Enchiridion. New mercies, each returning day, Hover around us while we pray; Ncvat perils past, new sins forgiven, New thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven. If, on our daily course, our mind Be set to hallow all we find. New treasures still, of countless price, God will provide for sacrifice. John Keble. January ll» n jPOLLOW after righteousness^ godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. — i Tim- othy vi. II. '^^HE world is so waste and empty when Vl^ v/e figure only towns and hills and rivers in it; but to know of some one here and there whom we accord with, who is living on with us even in silence, this makes our earthly ball a people'd garden. Goethe. There's beauty all around our paths If but our watchful eyes Can trace it midst familiar things And through their lowly guise. Mrs. Hemans. It is only through the morning gate of the beautiful that you can penetrate into the realm of knowledge; that which we feel here as beauty, we shall one day know as truth. Schiller. I KNOW thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience. — Revelations ii. 2. 12 5anuar^ 12, ACQUAINT now thyself with him, and be at peace ; thereby good shall come tmto thee. — Job xxii. 21. ^ktOU have a disagreeable duty to do at <|J^ twelve o'clock. Do not blacken nine and ten and all between with the color of twelve. Do the work of each, and reap your reward in peace. So when the dreaded moment in the future becomes the present, you shall meet it walking in the light, and that light shall overcome its darkness. George MacDonald. In conversation be sincere: Keep conscience as the noontide clear; Think how all-seeing God thy ways And all thy secret thoughts surveys. By influence of the light divine Let thy own light to others shine; Reflect all Heaven's propitious rays. In ardent love and cheerful praise. Thomas Ken. January t3» 13 JDELIEVE in the light^ that ye may be the children of light. — John xii. 36. •I* He is with thee ! In thy dwelling, Shielding thee from fear or ill ; All thy burdens kindly bearing, For thy dear ones gently caring, Guarding, keeping, blessing still. Frances Ridley Havergal. ''^'HAT which a man thinks and feels, ^^ with his whole force of thought and feeling, the man is himself. Owen Meredith. The solitary side of our nature demands leisure for reflection upon subjects on which the dash and whirl of daily business, so long as its clouds rise above us, forbid the intel- lect to fasten itself. James Anthony Froude. •J* There is that within us which, all un- bidden, rises to answer to the voice of intellectual truth, come whence it may. Edersheim. 14 5anuar^ 14. TiVER Y good gift ^ and every perfect boon, is from above, coming down / "om the Father of light, with whom can be ,u variation, neither shadoiu that is cast by turning. — Revised Ed. Ja:jes i. 17. Now let us thank the Eternal Power : con- vinced That Heaven but tries our virtue by afflic- tion, That oft the cloud which wraps the present hour Serves but to brighten all our future days. John Brown. •^ ME must not expect too much. We must not look for miracles, but what we may reasonably look for, is progress, and progress in the adoption of principles which are recommended not merely by theory — not merely by some apparently plausible grounds of reason, but by the surest investigations v/e can make, and by the still sweeter testimony of long experience. Wm. Ewart Gladstone. 5anuars 15. ^5 TJ/HERE hast thou gleaned to-day .?— Ruth ii. 19. "'" Strengthened with all might according to his glorious power ^ unto all patience. — Col. i. 11. That man may last, but never lives, Who much receives but nothing gives ; Whom none can love, whom none can thank, Creation's blot, creation's blank. Thomas Gibbons. •5- ^T^HE beautiful exists only for the sublime ^^ essence that seeks it ; the infinite exists only for the soul which desires it. If you could endow the smallest insect with the sense of the beautiful and the infinite, this imperceptible atom would comprehend eternity and would see God, and this vision would render it immortal. L'AiME Martin. If little labor, little are our gains ; Man's fortunes are according to his pains. Herrick. i6 5anuars 16. J^E 7vill shew you things to come. — John xvi. 13. "ilJACH day is like a furrow lying before ^^ us ; our thoughts, desires, and actions are the seed that each minute we drop into it, without seeming to perceive it. The furrow finished, we commence upon another, then another, and again another ; each day presents a fresh one, and so on to the end of life . . . sowing, ever sowing. And all we have sown springs up, grows, and bears fruit, almost unknown to us. . . Is there not a thought in this that should make us reflect ? — Gold Dust. Nothing, resting in its own completeness, Can have worth or beauty, but alone Because it leads and tends to farther sweet- ness. Fuller, higher, deeper, than its own. Anonymous. If thou hadst simplicity and purity, thou wouldst be able to comprehend all things Avithout error, and behold them without danger. Thomas a Kempis. n^HE laiv of the Lord is perfect^ converting the soul : the testi?nouy of the Lord is sure^ making wise the simple. — Psalinis xix. 7. All but God is changing day b}^ day; He who breathes in man the plastic spirit Bids us mold ourselves a robe of clay. Charles Kingsley. MHEN some splendid edifice is to be reared, its diversified materials are brought from this quarter and from that, according as nature and man favor their production. So did the wisdom of God, with slow but ever sure device, cause to ripen, amid the several races best adapted for the work, the several component parts of the noble fabric of a Christian manhood and a Christian civilization. Wm. Ewart Gladstone. We often do more good by our sympathy than by our labors. Canon Farrar. 1 8 5anuars 18. J/f/HO can understand his errors ? cleanse thou fne from secret faults. — Psalms Xix. 12. 'JT'HE delights of thought, of truth, of Vi^ work, and of well doing will not descend upon us like the dew upon the flower, without effort of our own. Labor, watchfulness, perseverance, self-denial, fortitude, are the elements out of which this kind of joy is formed. S. C. Jones. Since Thou hast added now, O God! Unto my life another day. And givst me leave to walk abroad. And labor in my lawful way; My walks and works with me begin, Conduct me forth, and bring me in. So till the evening of this morn My times shall then be so well spent. That when the twilight shall return I may enjoy it with content, And to Thy praise and honor say. That this has proved a happy day. George Wither. T INTO thee, O Lord, do I lift up viy sout.— Psalms xxv. i. •!- Let 7/s run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. — Hebrews xii. I, 2. He is with thee! with thee always, All the nights and all the days: Never failing, never frowning. With His loving kindness crowning, Turning all thy life to praise. Frances Ridley Havergal. mOTHING that is of real worth can be achieved without courageous working. Man owes his growth chiefly to that active striving of the will, that encounter with difficulty, which we call effort; and it is astonishing to find how often results appar- ently impracticable are thus made possible. Samuel Smiles. Every duty that is bidden to v/ait comes back with seven fresh duties at its back. Charles Kingslev. 20 5anuarB 20. T^EFORE they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. — Isaiah Ixv. 24. 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 Flower Adams. ^^HE life of man is made up of action Vi^ and endurance, and life is fruitful in the ratio in which it is laid out in noble action or in patient perseverance. What we do on some great occasion will probably depend on what we already are, and what we are will be the result of pre- vious years of self-discipline. Canon Liddon. It's good to live only a moment at a time . . . It isn't for you and me to lay plans: we've nothing to do but to obey and trust. George Eliot. Januarys 2 U 21 QHEIV me thy ways, O Lord j teach me thy J)aths. — Psalms xxv. 4. 'J^HERE are glimpses of heaven granted ^>i^ to us by every act, or thought, or word, which raises us above ourselves — which makes us think less of ourselves and more of others — v/hich has taught us of something higher and truer than we have in our own hearts. Dean Stanley. ►J* To thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. Shakspeare. Happy the heart that keeps its twilight hour, And in the depths of heavenly peace re- clined. Loves to commune with thoughts of tender power. Thoughts that ascend, like angels beautiful^ On shining Jacob's ladder of the mind. Paul H. Hayne. 2 2 5anuarB 22» T-TOLD up my goings in thy pat Its ^ thai my footsteps slip not. — Psalms xvii. 5. ^^^O see the hand of God in the present, ^1^ and to trust the future in the hand of God, is the secret of peace. Self-denial for the sake of self-denial does no good. Self-sacrifice for its own sake is no religious act at all. . . Self-sacrifice, illuminated by love, is warmth and life : the blessed- ness and only proper life of man. F. \V. Robertson. The trivial round, the common tas^, Will furnish all we ought to ask ; Room to deny ourselves — a road To bring us, daily, nearer God. Seek we no more : content with these Let present rapture, comfort, ease, As Heaven shall bid them, come and go ; The secret this of rest below. John Keble. 5anuacB 23. 23 TT is God that girdcth vie with stre?igth^ and inaketh 7ny way perfect. — Psalms xviii. 32. Life is only bright when it proceedeth Toward a truer, deeper Hfe above. Human love is sweetest when it leadeth To a more divine and perfect love. Adelaide A. Procter. yn^ANY are the valiant purposes formed, XII«J that end merely in words ; deeds in- tended that are never done ; designs pro- jected that are never begun ; and all for want of a little courageous decision. Better far the silent tongue but the eloquent deed. For in life and in business dispatch is better than discourse, and the shortest answer of all is, Doing. Samuel Smiles. It is not to taste sweet things, but to do noble and true things and vindicate him- self under God's heaven as a self-made man, that the poorest son of Adam dimly longs. Thomas Carlyle. 24 5anuarg 24. n^HE Lo7'd is far from the wicked : but he heareth the prayer of the righteous. — Prov- erbs XV. 29. Child of my Love, lean hard, And let me feel the pressure of thy care. I know thy burden, child : I shaped it, Poised it in mine own hand, made no pro- portion Of its height to thine unaided strength ; For even as I laid it on, I said, " I shall be near, and while she leans on me This burden shall be mine, not hers." So shall I keep my child within the circling arms Of mine own love. Thou lovest me ? I know it. Doubt not, But, loving me, lean hard. Anonymous. Life is only bright when it proceedeth Towards a truer, deeper Life above. Adelaide A. Procter. As fire drives out fire, so pity pity. Shakspeare. January 25. 25 'T'HOU hast put gladness in my heart. — Psalms iv. 7. •1- CouRAGE, the highest gift, that scorns to bend To mean devices for a sordid end. Courage — an independent spark from Heaven's bright throne, By which the soul stands raised, trium- phant, high, alone. Great in itself, not praised of the crowd. Above all vice, it stoops not to be proud. G. Farquhar. ^^RUE, modest, unobtrusive religion — ^i^ charitable, forgiving, indulgent Chris- tianity — is the greatest ornament and the greatest blessing that can dwell in the m^ind of man. Sydney Smith. There is no victory possible without humility and magnanimity, and no mag- nanimity or humility possible without an ideal; and there is not one who has not heard the call in his own heart to put aside all evil habits, and to live a brave, simple, truthful life. Thomas Hughes. 26 5anuari2 26. pOJv our heart shall rejoice in hi?n, because 7ue have trusted in his holy name. — Psali\is xxxiii. 21. •I- '^Y'HERE is an eventide in the day — an ^^ hour when the sun retires and the shadows fall, and when Nature assumes the appearance of soberness and silence. It is an hour from which everywhere the thought- less fly, as peopled only in their imagina- tions with images of gloom; it is the hour, on the other hand, which in every age the wise have loved, as bringing with it senti- ments and affections more valuable than all the splendors of the day. A. Alison. Faults are thick where love is thin. — Proverb. All men have their frailties, and whoever looks for a friend without imperfection will never find what he seeks. We love our- selves notwithstanding our faults, and we ought to love our friends in like manner. Cyrus. 5anuars 27, 27 Ti/TY vaice shali thou hear in the morni?ig, O Lord J in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. — Psalms V. 3- /T^HRISTIANS are like the several flowers ^i^ in a garden that have each of them the dews of heaven, which, being shaken with the wind, they let fall at each other's roots, whereby they are jointly nourished, and be- come nourishers of each other. John Bunyan. One moment now may give us more Than years of toiling reason: Our minds shall drink at every pore The spirit of the season. Some silent laws our hearts will make, Which they shall long obey: We from the year to come may take Our temper from to-day. Wm. Wordsw^orth. 28 5amiars 2S» J ET my sentence come forth from thy pres- ence ; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal. — Psalms xvii. 2. ♦(C^APPINESS is not like a large and ■■•/ beautiful gem, so uncommon and rare that all search for it is vain, all efforts to obtain it hopeless; but it consists of a series of smaller and commoner gems, grouped and set together, forming a pleas- ing and graceful whole. Happiness consists in the enjoyment of little pleasures scattered along the common path of life, which, in the eager search for some great and exciting joy, we are apt to overlook. Samuel Smiles. By trifles in our common ways. Our characters are slov/ly piled; We lose not all our yesterdays; The man hath something of the child; Part of the past to all the present cleaves, As the rose-odors linger in the fading leaves. Wm, Morley Punshon. S^anuarg 29. 29 A N'D his soul desireth, even that he doeth. — Job xxiii. 13. Greatness and goodness are not means but ends ! Hath he not always treasures, always friends, The good, great man ? three treasures — love, and light, And calm thoughts, regular as infants' breath. S. T. Coleridge. •J* MHAT is the measure of the love we owe to others ? It is the measure of what we think is owing to ourselves, ''Love him as thyself." Observe, if I may use such a word, the equity of this divine rule. It makes us the judge of what we ought to do. It imposes upon us no duty that we have not already acknowledged for ourselves. Dean Stanley. Why destroy present happiness by a dis- tant misery, which may never come at all ? . . for every substantial grief has tv/enty shadows, and most of them shadows of your own makinof. Sydney Smith. 3° 5anuar^ 30, ^HE Lord liveth: and blessed be my Rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted. — Psalms xviii. 46. He is with thee ! In thy service He is with thee '' certainly," Filling with the Spirit's power, Giving in the needing hour His own messages by thee. Frances Ridley Havergal. fN all lives there is a crisis in the forma- tion of character. It comes from many causes, and from, some which, on the sur- face, are apparent!}^ trivial. But the result is the same — a sudden revelation to our selves of our secret purposes, and a recogni- tion of our perhaps long shadowed, but nov/ masterful convictions. Lord Beaconsfield. It has done me good to be somewhat parched by the heat and drenched by the rain of life. Charles Kingsley. January 31, 3^^ 'T^HE Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not tt/^///. ^Psalms xxiii. i. The Lord my pasture shall prepare, And feed me with a shepherd's care ; His presence shall my wants supply, And guard me wnth a watchful eye ; My noonday walks he shall attend, And all my midnight hours defend. When in the sultry glebe I faint. Or on the thirsty mountain pant, To fertile vales and dewy meads My weary, wandering steps he leads. Where peaceful rivers soft and siov/ Amid the verdant landscape flow. Though in a bare and rugged way, Through devious, lonely wilds I stray, Thy bounty shall my pains beguile ; The barren wilderness shall smile. With sudden green and herbage crowned ; And streams shall murmur all around. Joseph Addison. 32 jfebcuarg I, ALL things ai-e possible to him that believeth. — Mark ix. 23. Not the labor of my hands Can fulfill Thy laws' demands ; Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears for ever flow, All for sin could not atone : Thou must save, and Thou alone. Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy Cross I cling. A. M. TOPLADY. '^^T'HERE is, indeed, an essence of immor- ^*^ tality in the life of man, even in this world. No individual in the universe stands alone ; he is a component part of a system of mutual dependencies ; and by his several acts he either increases or diminishes the sum of human good now and forever. Samuel Smiles. ►^ Life is a long lesson in humility. J. M. Barrie. /I UR fathers trusted in thee : they trusted^ and thou didst deliver them. — Psalms xxii, 4. He is with thee ! with thy spirit, With thy Hps, or with thy pen ; In the quiet preparation, In the heart-bowed congregation. Nevermore alone again ! Frances Ridley Havergal. BE true and real in all thy sacred acts ; remember with whom thou hast to do. Fr. Hall. Despondency is not a state of humility. On the contrary, it is the vexation and de- spair of a cowardly pride ; nothing is worse. Whether we stumble or whether we fall, we must only think of rising again and going on in our course. Fenelon. That ye be . . . followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. — Hebrews vi. 12. 34 f cbi'uars 3. J^HEN shall thy light break forth as the moi'iiing, and thine health shall spring forth speedily. — Isaiah Iviii. 8. HLL things are engaged in writing their history. Every act of man inscribes itself in the memories of his fellov/s, and in his own manners and face. The air is full of sounds ; the sky, of tokens ; the ground is all memoranda and signatures, and every object covered with hints which speak to the intelligent. Goethe. There are, within the range of every- one's life, processes of life which must be solitary ; passages of duty which throw one absolutely upon his individual moral forces, and admit of no aid whatever from another. Alone we must stand sometimes ; and if our better nature is not to shrink into weakness, we must take with us the thought which was the strength of Christ: ''Yet I am not alone, because the Father is v/ith me." James Martineau. 3fel?ruarg 4. 35 J EAD 7ne, O Lord, in thy righteousness, because of viiue enemies ; make thy way straight before my face. — Psalms v. 8. We should walk upright, bold, and earnest —gay, And when the last night closed on the last day. Should sleep like one that far-off music hears. George MacDonald. ^-\ 7j|;^VERY0NE knows the pleasure of ^'^^ receiving a kind look, a warm greet- ing, a hand held out to help in distress, a difficulty solved, a higher hope revealed for this world or the next. By that pain and by that pleasure let us judge what we should do to others. This is the root of all Christian charity, of all Christian forgiveness, of all Christian justice, of all Christian toleration. Dean Stanley, Manners are the happy ways of doing things — each one a stroke of genius or of love — now repeated and hardened into usage. R. W. Emerson. 3^ 3februari2 5. y^HOU wilt shew me the path of life : in thy presence is fulness of joy j at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. — Psalms xvi. II. We know the arduous strife, th' eternal laws To which the triumph of all good is given, . . . else wherefore should the eye Of man converse with immortality. Wm. Wordsworth. ♦jj^OW few persons are quite aware what li»/ resources and powers are stored up in the soul — or waiting within easy call — to serve them in all intellectual or moral emergencies. Rev. Charles G. Ames. What a healer, what a strength-giver is joy in the world ! Will not holy joy at last drive out every disease in the world ? Will it not be the elixir of life and drive out death ? George MacDonald, 2februars 6. 37 r^OD is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwell eth in God. and God in hi?n. — i John iv. i6. There is a stream whose gentle flow Supplies the city of our God; Life, love, and joy, still gliding through, And watering our divine abode. That sacred stream, thine holy word Supports our faith, our fear controls; Sweet peace thy promises afford. And give new strength to fainting souls. Isaac Watts. *a BELIEVE in Eternal Progression ; I ■■ believe in a God, a beauty and perfec- tion to which I am to strive all my life for assimilation. Margaret Fuller. Every man has experienced how feelings which end in themselves, and do not express themselves in action, leave the heart debili- tated. We get feeble and sickly in character when we feel keenly and cannot do the thing v/e feel. F. W. Robertson. 38 S'ebruary 7. jy'EEP thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. — Psalms x x x i v . 13. *^ Knowing ourselves, our world — our task so great, Our time so brief — 'tis clear if we refuse The means so limited, the tools so rude To execute our purpose, life will fleet, And we shall fade, and leave our task undone. Robert Browning. H LITTLE consideration of what takes place around us every day, would show us that a higher law than that of our w411 regulates events; that our painful labors are very unnecessary and altogether fruit- less; that only in our easy, simple, spon- taneous action are v/e strong, and b}^ con- tenting ourselves with obedience we become divine. Belief and love — a believing love will relieve us of a vast load of care. Oh, my brothers ! God exists. R. W. Emerson. As we advance in life we learn the limits of our abilities. James Anthony Froude. 3februarg S. 39 n^HE Lord is nigh unto tJiem that are of a broken hea?'tj aiid saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. — Psalms xxxiv. i8. ®H, what a wretched thing it is to be unkind ! I think, with the thought of the Precious Blood, I can better face my sins at the last judgment than my unkind- ness, with all its miserable fertility of evil consequences. Frederick W. Faber, D. D. 'Tis a little thing To give a cup of water; yet its draught Of cool refreshment, drained by fevered lips, May give a shock of pleasure to the frame More exquisite than when nectarean juice Renews the life of joy in happiest hours. It is a little thing to speak a phrase Of common comfort which by daily use. Has almost lost its sense; yet on the ear Of him who thought to die unmourned 'twill fall Like choicest music . . . To him who else v;ere lonely, that another Of the great family is near and feels. Wm. Cullen Bryant. 40 3fcbruari5 ^* I^JANY are the afflictions of the righteous ^ but the Lord delivercth him out of them all. — Psalms xxxiv, 19. He is with thee ! Thine own Master, Leading, loving to the end; Brightening joy and Hghtening sorrow, All to-day, yet more to-morrow, King and Saviour, Lord and Friend. Frances Ridley Havergal. ifjJNJOY the blessings of this day, if God >w sends them; and the evils of it bear patiently and sweetly: for this day is only ours, we are dead to yesterday, and we are not yet born to the morrow. Jeremy Taylor. •5- The most gladsome thing in the world is that few of us fall very low; the saddest that, with such capabihties, we seldom rise high. J. M. Barrie. We always knov/ what to do next^ and that is enough. George MacDonald. aFebruarg 10. 41 '^RUST in the Lord ^ aiid do good j so shalt thou dwell in the land^ and verily thou shalt be fed. — Psalms xxxvii. 3. The Shadow of the Rock ! All come alone ; All, ever since the sun hath shone, Who traveled by this road have come alone. Be of good cheer — A home is here — Rest in the Shadow of the PvOck. F. W. Faber. 'JT^O study the lives, to meditate the sor- ^i^ rows, to commune with the thoughts, of the great and holy men and women of this rich world, is a sacred discipline, which deserves at least to rank as the fore-court of the temple of true worship. James Martineau. Many of our cares are but a morbid way of looking at our privileges. Sir Walter Scott. Faith in God gives the ability to find God's plans. Rev. W. R. Newhall. 42 3fcbr«ar^ II. QHEIV thy marvelous loving -kindness^ O thoit that savest by thy right hand them li'hich put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them. — PsaL-AIS xvii. 7. HN opal lay in the case, cold and luster- less. It was held a few moments in a warm hand, wiien it gleamed and glowed with all the beauty of the rainbow. All about us are human lives of children or of older persons, which seem cold and un- beautiful, without spiritual radiance or the gleams of indwelling light which tell of immortality. Yet they need only the touch of a warm human hand, the pressure of love, to bring out in them the brightness of the spiritual beauty that is hidden in them. T. R. Miller, D. D. Let us only take care that, by the glance being turned inward, or strained onward, or lost in vacant reverie, we do not miss our turn of service, and pass by those to whom we might have been sent on an errand straight from God. Mrs. E. R. Charles. afebruars 12. 43 J HAD fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the latid of the living. — Psalms xxvii. it^. Here is a lesson that he who runs may read ; Though I fear but few have won it, — The best reward of a kindly deed Is the knowledge of having done it ! Edgar Fawcett. fF I can put one touch of rosy sunset into the life of any man or woman I shall feel that I have worked with God. George MacDonald. He only is advancing in life whose heart IS getting softer, whose blood warmer, whose brain quicker, whose spirit is entering into Living Peace. John Ruskin, 44 jfebruars 13. J^UT godliness with contaitmejit is great gain. — I Timothy vi. 6. My God protects; my fears begone, What can the Rock of Ages move '* Safe in Thine arms I lay me down, Thine everlasting arms of love. Charles Wesley. ^HOUGHTS clear and shape them- W^ selves, not like crystals and feelings by being still, but like tangled skeins by being unwound ; by being tossed about among other people's thoughts, or among other thoughts of our own. — Author^ Schon- berg-Cotta Fa7?iily. So long as men dispute whether or no a thing is their duty, they get never the nearer. Let them set ever so weakly about doing it, and the face of things alters. They find in themselves strength which they knew not of. Difficulties v/hich it seemed to them they could not get over, disappear. Rev. E. B. Pusey. 3februar^ 14. 45 n^HE Lord redeemet/i the sou I of his serva7its : and 710716 of them that t7'ust i7i hi7?i shall be desolate. — Psalms xxxiv. 22. He is with thee ! Yes, forever, Now, and through eternity; Then with Him forever dwelling, Thou shalt share His joy excelling. Thou with Christ and Christ with thee! Frances Ridley Havergal. ^JI^Y life! The words recall me to my JLiSJ senses. I am surely not about to drift into the ranks of the unemployed v/ho go about moaning, ''My life, and what shall I do with it ? " My life ! that is God's. He will know what to do with it. The "hands which came from darkness, molding men," will find what to do with it, my life! I have no "life " of my ovvm. I have only to-day. — Author, Schdnbe7-g-Cotta Fa77iily, Thrice blessed is he, who, v/hen ail is drear and cheerless within and without, v/hen his teachers terrify him, and his friends shrink from him, has obstinately clung to moral good. F. W. Robertson. 46 febniar^ 15, pGR ivith thee is the foicntain of life : in thy light shall we see light. — Psalms xxxvi. Q. I REST beneath the Almighty's shade, My griefs expire, my troubles cease, Thou, Lord, on whom my soul is stayed, Wilt keep me still in perfect peace. Charles Wesley. |BSERVE the object toward which this love is to extend — ''Thy neighbor." Here again there is, so to speak, a common sense and equity: what has been well called "The sweet reasonableness of Christ our Saviour." It is not an indiscriminate com- mand of love to show kindness to everybody and to all mankind. That, in its literal sense, would be impossible. But it is to love "our neighbor." And what is meant by our neighbor we cannot doubt; it is everyone with whom we are brought into contact. Dean Stanley. This world's no blot for us. Nor blank; it means intensely, and means good. Robert Browning. Jli'RET ?wt thyself because of evil doers^ neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. — Psalms xxxvii. i. I KNOW not what awaits me, God kindly veils ni}/ eyes, And o'er each step on my onward way He makes new scenes arise; And every joy He sends m.e comes A sweet and glad surprise. P. P. Bliss. 'TV'O wait patiently, men must work cheer- ^^ fully. Cheerfulness is an excellent working quality, imparting great elasticity to the character. As a bishop has said, '' Temper is nine-tenths of Christianity"; so are cheerfulness and diligence nine-tenths of practical wisdom. They are the life and soul of success, as well as of happiness; perhaps the very highest pleasure in life consisting in clear, brisk, conscious work- ing; energy, confidence, and every other good quality mainly depending upon it. Samuel Smiles. 48 iPebcuars 17. nrHE wise^ and their works^ a7'e in the hand of God. — EccL. ix. I. When gathering clouds around I view, And da3^s are dark and friends are few, On Him I lean, who not in vain Experienced every human pain; He sees my wants, allays my fears, And counts and treasures up my tears. Sir Robert Grant. 'J^HE lightning m^ay dart out of a black ^m/ cloud: but the day sends his bright heralds before him, to prepare the world for his com.ing. So should we endeavor to render our lives here on earth as it were the dawn of heaven's eternal day: we should endeavor to ^'walk as children of light." . . Thus the children of light will walk as having the light of knowledge, stead- fastly, firmly, right onward to the end that is set before them. Julius Charles Hare. >%. ''Now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the orreatest of these is love." 3fcbnmri2 IS. 49 T^UT to do good J and to comtnunicate^ forget not^ for ivith such sasrifices God is luell pleased. — Hebrews xiii. i6. I AWAKE this morn and all my life Is freshly mine to live. The future, with sweet promise rife, Has crowns of joy to give. Chambers s Journal. ''^^HE poor Buddhist pilgrim who prayed ^^ to, he knew not what, for support, and in the strength of that prayer was sustained body and soul long days and nights, was blessed, and that blessing was enough for him. The Samoyede, who said in her morning prayer, ''Sun, arise; I arise with thee;" and in her evening prayer, ''Sun, go to rest; I rest with thee," expressed a harmony with the order of the world which raised her above her own sluggish life. Dean Stanley. The thing which makes one man greater than another, the quality by which we ought to measure greatness, is a man's capacity for loving. Sir Arthur Helps. 50 3februar^ 19. T ET the words of my mouthy and the medita. tion of my heart, be accei>table in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. — Psalms xix. 14. '^P^HE moral discipline of bearing v/ith ^sdi/ evil patiently is a great deal better and more ennobling than the most vigorous assertion of one's personal rights. H. B. Stowe. Unless above himself he can Erect himself, how poor a thing is man. Wm. Wordsworth. The greatest thing, says someone, a man can do for his Heavenly Father is to be kind to some of his other children. I wonder why it is that v/e are not all kinder than we are ? How much the world needs it! How easily it is done. How instan- taneously it acts! How infallibly it is remembered ! Henry Drummond. >!. Good to forgive; best to forget. Robert Browning. jFcbruarB 20. 5^ jDRINGING into captivity every thought to the obedience of Chi'ist. — 2 Corintians X. 5. Long did I toil, and knew no earthly rest; Far did I rove, and found no certain home; At last I sought them in His sheltering breast Who opes His arms, and bids the weary come. With Him I found a home, a rest divine; And I since then am His, and He is mine. Henry Francis Lyte. mOTHING m.akes the soul so pure, so religious, as the endeavor to create something perfect; for God is perfection, and whoever strives for it strives for some- thing that is God-like. Michael Angelo. Now the God of patience and consola- tion grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus. — Romans xv. 4-5. 52 3Fet)ruare 21. QU RELY goodness and mercy shall follotv me all the days of my life ; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. — Psalms xxiii. 6. I SEE my way as birds their trackless way. I shall arrive! what time, what circuit first I ask not. In some time — His good time, I shall arrive. He guides me and the birds — In His good time. Robert Browning. '^^HE whole course of things goes to ^^ teach us faith. We need only obey. There is guidance for each of us, and by lowly listening we shall hear the right word. . . Place yourself in the middle of the stream of power and wisdom which flows into you as life, place yourself in the full center of that flood; then you are without effort impelled to truth, to right, and a per- fect contentment. John P>.uskin. •J- Hundreds of people can talk for one who can think, but thousands can think for one v/ho can see. John Ruskin. -..r^: ^ it out that a blade of useful grass, a drop of nourishing milk, may grow there instead. I'he v\'aste cotton shrub, gather its waste white down, spin it, weave it ; that in place of idle litter, there may be folded webs, and the naked skin of man be covered. Bat above all, where thou findest Ignorance, Stupidity, Brute-mindedness — attack it, I say ; smite it wisely, un- weariedly, and rest not v/hile thou livest and it lives ; but smite, smite in the name of God ! The highest God, as I understand it, does audibly so command thee. Thomas Carlyle. Blessed is the man who has the gift of making friends, for it is one of God's best gifts. It involves man}^ things, but above all the pov/er of going out of one's self and seeing and appreciating what is noble and loving in another man. Thomas Hughes. 56 3februarT5 25. T^E loveth righteousness and judgment ; the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. — Psalms xxxiii. 5. It is not blessedness to know that thou thyself art blessed ; True joy was never yet by one, nor yet by two possessed. Nor to the many is it given, but only to the all ; The joy that leaves one heart unblessed would be for mine too small. And he who holds this faith will strive with firm and ardent soul, And work out his own proper good in work- ing for the whole. God only sees this perfect good : the way to it is dim ; God only then is truly blessed ; man only blessed in him. JVisdoni of the Brahmins. MALK as children of Hght." It is to light that all nations and languages have had recourse whenever they wanted a symbol for anything excellent in glory. Julius Charles Hare. Ifedniarg 26. 57 TF the root be holy, so are the branches. — Romans xi. i6. fT takes long to learn practically that spiritual truth has really different aspects, without sin, simply from our dif- ferent points of view; and that even the differences which spring from, faults of character and that ought not to be, have to be corrected slowly, like the character itself. We talk philosophically about the pendulum, vibrating, or truth advancing in a spiral But when the pendulum begins to swing back from our own point of the vibration, it is difficult not to feel as if the sun v>'ere standing still, or the whole machinery being reversed. — Author, Schonberg-Cotta Family. I HOLD it truth, with him v/ho sings To one clear harp in divers tones, That men may rise on stepping-stones Of their dead selves, to higher things. Alfred Tennvson. 58 I'ebruar^ 27. TF we live in the Spirit^ let us also walk in the Spirit. — Galatians v. 25. If aught should tempt my soul to stray From heavenly wisdom's narrow way, To fl}^ the good I would pursue, Or do the sin I would not do, Still He, who felt temptation's power, Shall guard me in that dangerous hour. Sir Robert Grant. ♦jK^OME is the one place in aJI this world ii«/ where hearts are sure of each other. It is the place of confidence. It is the place where we tear off that mask of guarded and suspicious coldness which the \vorld forces us to wear in self-defense; v/here v/e pour out the unreserved com- munication of full and confiding hearts. It is the spot where expressions of tenderness gush out without any dread of ridicule. Let a man travel where he will, home is the place to ''vv^hich his heart, untrammeled, fondly turns." . . A happy home is the single spot of rest which a man has upon this earth for the cultivation of his noblest sensibilities. F. W. Robertson. 3Febniar^ 2S. 59 'ight- IDE glad in the Lord^ and rejoice^ ye r. eotis ; and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. — Psalms xxxii, ii. O WAKE and live ! No dream can give A shadow'd bliss, tiie real excelling. Sir V/alter Scott. '•^^HE watchful Christian is one who ^i^ would not be over-surprised if he found Christ coming at once; he would not have something to do first, something to get ready. J. H. Newman. A sorrow comes upon you. . . Meet the dreadful hour with prayer, cast your care on God, claim him as your Father, — and the degrading, paralyzing, embittering effects of pain and sorrow pass away, a stream of sanctifying and softening thought pours into the soul, and that which might have wrought your fall but works in you the peaceful fruits of righteousness. Stopford Brooke. 6o ^ebruarig 29. T^O good, that they be ricJi m good works. Timothy vi. i8. I HROUGH every age, Through every moment up the tract of time, His parent-hand, with ever-new increase Of happiness and virtue, has adorned The vast harmonious frame: his parent- hand, From the mute shell-fish gasping on the shore. To men, to angels, to celestial minds, Forever leads the generations on To higher scenes of being; while, supplied From day to day with his enlivening breath, Inferior orders in succession rise To fill the void below. As flame ascends, As bodies to their proper center move, As the poised ocean to the attracting Moon Obedient swells, and every headlong stream Devolves its w^inding waters to the main; — So all things which have life aspire to God, The Sun of being, boundless, unim.paired. Center of souls! Mark Akenside /iRarcb l» 6 1 jy'NOW ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost? . . . there/ore glorify God i?i your body. — i Cor. vi. 19, 20, /T^OD has a vocation for each one of us. ^i^ God cannot spare anyone. . . It is not merely the shapely stones which are neces- sary for a building, but those that are un- shapely. The stones that are hidden from sight are just as needful for the compact firmness of the edifice as those that show in an honorable place. But we like to appear. We like to shine and be conspicuous. . . If we are unnoticed and lost to outward view, we are not lost to the Eye of God. We still form part of His plan. He has a use for us, and we have, each of us, a true vocation. H. Collins. •I* To know That v/hich before us lies in daily life, Is the prime wisdom. John Milton. '^ That life is long which answers life's great end. Edward Young. 62 /IBarcb 2, /] ND Ms heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the ivood are moved with the wind. — Isaiah vii. 2. The Lord my pasture shall prepare, And feed me with a shepherd's care ; His presence shall my wants supply, And guard me with a watchful eye. Joseph Addison. 'J^RUE glory consists in doing what VI*' deserves to be written, in writing what deserves to be read, and in so living as to make the world happier and better for our living in it. Pliny. Every right action and true thought sets the seal of its beauty on person and face. John Ruskin. Full souls are double mirrors, making still An endless vista of fair things before, Repeating things behind. George Eliot. /iBarcb 3. 63 jy^EEP thy heart all with diligence j for out of it are the issues of life. — Proverbs iv. 23. XIFE is not made up of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, of which smiles and kindness and small obligations, given habitually, are what win and preserve the heart. Sir Humphrey Davy. Old friends, old scenes will lovelier be, As more of Heaven in each we see; Some softening gleam of love and prayer Shall dawn on every cross and care. As for some dear familiar strain Untired we ask, and ask again, Ever, in its melodious store, Finding a spell unheard before. John Keble. '^ The golden beams of Truth and the silken cords of Love, twisted together, will draw men on with a sweet violence, whether they will or not. Rev. W. Cudworth. 64 ^arcb 4. TN the siveat of thy face shalt thou eat hread. . . . jFor dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. — Genesis iii. 19. Hope springs eternal in the human breast; Man never is, but always to be blest. The soul uneasy, and confined from home, Rests and expatiates in a life to come. Alexander Pope. HS a man thinketh, so is he, and as a man chooseth, so is he and so is nature. . . He is like one of those booms which are set out from the shore on rivers to catch drift- wood, or like the loadstone among splinters of steel. R. W. Emerson. Those who love God here will love Him far more in heaven, because they will know Him far better. . . They who served Him here in sincerity, will there serve Him in perfection. Hannah More. Long do we live upon the husks of corn, While 'neath untasted lie the kernels still. Jones Very. /iBarcb 5. 65 n^O guide our feet into the way of peace. — Luke i. 79, Such as have not gold to bring Thee, They bring thanks — Thy grateful sons; Such as have no song to sing Thee, Live Thy praise — Thy silent ones. Jean Ingelow. ♦ITF we but knew the present joy and the I" future glory of those that turn many to righteousness, we should be willing to take the lowest place among all those who have part in this work. A. T. Pierson. O HOW great the dignity of man's estate, that human nature, united to God in one Person, should far excel every creature in heaven and in earth. Thomas a Kempis. It is not by attending to our friends in our way, but in theirs^ that we can really avail them. Margaret Fuller. 66 /iRarcb 6, pOR ivhat is a man profited, if he gain the whole worlds and lose [or forfeit ] his own self, — (Revised Version) Luke ix. 25. He* A sacred burden is this life ye bear; Look on it, lift it, bear it solemnly; Stand up, and walk beneath it steadfastly; Fail not for sorrow, falter not for sin. But onward, upward, till the goal ye win. Frances Anne Kemble. fT is not possible for a Christian man to walk across so much as a rood of the natural earth, with mind unagitated and rightly poised, without receiving strength and hope from some stone, flower, or leaf, or sound; nor without a sense of bliss fall- ing upon him out of the sky. John Ruskin. Two things excite my awe — the infinitely great and the infinitely small. Hindu, Yes, ye are made immortal on that day Ye cease the dusty grains of time to weigh. Wm. Morris. 'T^HE coimsel of the Lord sta^ideth forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. — Psalms xxxiii. 11. |k|OU and I, working in our several Ji/ spheres, and toiling for earth, may toil also for heaven, and every day's work may be a Jacob's ladder reaching up nearer to our God. Theodore Parker. Tell me, my secret soul, Oh, tell me, Hope and Faith, Is there no resting place From sorrow, sin, and death ? Is there no happy spot Where mortals may be bless'd, Where grief may find a balm, And weariness a rest ? Faith, Hope, and Love, best boon to mortals given. Waved their bright wings, and whisper'd, ^'Yes, in heaven." Charles Mackay. 68 /iBarcb 8. JJ/AITon the Lord; be of good courage^ a?id he shall strengthen thine heart : waity I say, on the Lord. — Psalms xxvii. 14. A CHARGE to keep I have, A God to glorify; A never dying soul to save, And fit it for the sky. Charles Wesley. -rt^VERY time a man bethinks himself that '•w he is not walking in the light, that he has been forgetting himself and must repent, that he has been asleep and must awake, that he has been letting his garments trail and must gird up the loins of his mind — every time this takes place, there is a resur- rection in the world. George MacDonald. Our sweetest songs are those that tell of Percy Bysshe Shelley. saddest thought /Obarcb 9* 69 r EAD me in thy truth, and teach 7ne ; for thou art the God of my salvation : on thee do I wait all the day. — Psalms xxv. 5. I NEED not be missed, if another succeed me, To reap down those fields which, in spring, I have sown. He who plowed and who sowed is not missed by the reaper ; He is only remembered by what he has done. HORATIUS BONAR. ®UR eyes are holden that we cannot see things that stare us in the face, until the hour arrives when the mind is ripened ; then we behold them, and the time when we saw them not is like a dream. R. W. Emerson. Do not expect that, in your own strength, you can make use of even the best oppor- tunity of doing good. Jean Ingelow. 7° ^arcb 10. ALL the paths of the Lord m-e me7'cy and truth luito such as keep his covefiant aud his testimonies. — Psalms xxv. io. How can a man learn to know himself ? In the measure in which thou seekest to Do thy duty shall thou know what is in thee. But what is thy duty ? The demand of the hour. Goethe. ME often do more good by our sym- pathy than by our labor. Canon Farrar. But there is something which is sure of success ; it is the determination which, hav- ing entered upon a career with full convic- tion that it is right, pursues it in calm defiance to all opposition. With such a feeling a man cannot but be mighty. Bishop Thomson. One God, one law, one element, And one far-off divine event. To which the whole creation moves. Alfred Tennyson. jfllbarcb U. 71 T ET us draw near with a true hearty in full assurance of faith. — Hebrews x. 22. There is in souls a sympathy with sounds, And as the mind is pitched the ear is pleased With melting airs or martial, brisk or grave ; Some chord in unison with what we hear Is touched within us, and the heart replies. How soft the music of those village bells Falling at intervals upon the ear In cadence sweet ! Wm. Cowper. fT is a truth worth remembering, that this mortal life is given to us that we may prepare for life immortal. S. Francis de Sales. In many things it is v/ise to believe before experience — until you may know : and believe me when I tell you that the thrift of time will repay you in after life, with an usury of profit beyond your most sanguine dreams, and that the waste of it will make you dwindle, alike in intellectual and in moral stature, beyond your darkest reckon- ings. Wm. Ewart Gladstone. 72 /iRarcb 12, 'T^HE Lord will give strength unto his people : the Lord will bless his people with peace. — Psalms xxix. ii. ►I* ||VLEASANT it is to entertain the picture ll^ of ourselves in some future scene, planning wisely, feeling nobly, and execut- ing with the holy triumph of the will : but it is a different thing — not in the green avenues of the future, but in the hot dust of the present moment, to do the duty that waits and wants us. James Martineau. Who made the heart, 'tis He alone Decidedly can try us ; He knows each chord — its various tone ; Each spring — its various bias ; Then at the balance let's be mute. We never can adjust it ; What's done we partly may compute But know not what's resisted. Robert Burns. Time tries the troth of everything God sendeth and giveth, both mouth and the meat. Thomas Tusser. i^arcb 13. 73 C/JVG unto the Lord, O yc saints of his , and give tha?iks at the remembrance of his holi- ness. — Psalms xxx. 4. Why should we faint and fear to live alone, Since all alone, so Heaven has willed, v/e die; Nor even the tenderest heart, and next our own, Knov/s half the reasons vvhy we smile or sigh ? John Keble. 'Tis sweet, as year by year we lose Friends out of sight, in faith to muse How grows in Paradise our store. John Keble. •^ '^HE Christian life is the Christly life. ^1*' It is having the mind of Christ. It is having the spirit of Christ. The Christian life, the Christly life, is the life of God in the soul. J. F. W. Ware. Here our love of spiritual things is super- induced: there [Heaven] it will be our natural frame. Hannah More. 74 /nbarcb 14. JJ/HA T 7nan is he that feareth the Lord ? him shall he teach in the luay that he shall choose. — Psalms xxv. 12. In the still air the music lies unheard; In the rough marble beauty hides unseen; To make the music and the beauty needs The master's touch, the sculptor's chisel keen. Great Master, touch us with Thy skillful hand ; Let not the music that is in us die; Great Sculptor, hew and polish us; nor let, Hidden and lost. Thy form within us lie! HORATIUS BONAR. ^T^HERE is a struggle for love as well as ^i^ for food. The web of life is not woven wholly upon the threads of discord. Henry Drummond. Teach self-denial and make its practice pleasurable, and you create for the world a destiny more sublime than ever issued from the brain of the wildest dreamer. Sir Walter Scott. /Ilbarcb 15. 75 'l^HE secret of the Lord is luith them that fear him: and he will shew them his covenant. — Psalms xxv. 14. HHOLY life is the very gate of Heaven. But let us always remember that holi- ness does not consist in doing uncommon things, but in doing everything with purity of heart. H. Manning. Higher by far than the power of accumu- lating is the power of distributing. Hoard- ing is a capability which man holds in com- mon with the bee, the ant, and the squirrel; but distributing to the wants of others is a power which man is gradually acquiring, and makes him akin to the angels. — Unity. Guard within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesi- tation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness. Know how to replace in your heart, by the happiness of those you love, the happiness that may be wanting in yourself. F. W. Faber. 7^ /Iftarcb 16. T ET integ7'ity and t/prig/itness preserve 7ne ; for I watt on thee. — Psalms xxv. 12. Life is but a day, at best, Sprung from night, in darkness lost; Hope not sunshine every hour; Fear not clouds will always lower. Robert Burns. 'T is a sad weakness in us, after all, that the thought of a man's death hallows him anew to us; as if life were not sacred too — as if it were comparatively a light thing to fail in love and reverence to the brother who has to climb the whole toilsome steep with us, and all our tears and tender- ness were due to the one who is spared the Hard journey. George Eliot. Share everything you have with some- one else, and you will have plenty to give. Is not that why God gave you the things ? Fr. Osborne. May we have — *'high erected thoughts seated in the heart of courtesy." Sir Philip Sidney. /IRarcb 17. 77 HTHE Lord is my strength and 7ny shield j my heart trusted in hi?n^ and I am helped; therefore my hea7't greatly rejoiceth : and with my song ivill I praise him. — Psalms xxviii. 7. A POOR man 'served by thee shall make thee rich ; A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong ; Thou shalt be served thyself by every sense Of service which thou renderest. Mrs. Browning. XIFE should be spent in a strong, con- tinuous effort to improve the appa- ratus for the guidance of life, both in thought and action. We must ever be trying to know more and more what are the things to be believed and done. Wm. Ewart Gladstone. If you enable yourselves to distinguish, by the truth of your own lives, what is true in those of other men, you will perceive that all good has its origin in good, never in evil. John Ruskin, 78 /Hbarcb IS. J J /AIT on the Lord^ and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land. — Psalms xxxvii. 34. Time revels 'mid your dearest joys. Death smites your brightest rose, And sin your bower of peace destroys : Where will ye find repose ? Ye're wearied in your pilgrim race, Sharp thorns your path infest : Come hither^ rise to our embrace, And Christ shall give you rest. Mrs. Sigourney. '^^HANK God every morning when you Vi*' get up that you have something to do that day which must be done, whether you like it or not. Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle never know. Charles Kingsley. /Dbarcb 19, 79 J J /HEN thou saidst^ Seek ye my face ; my heart said unto thee, Thy face^ Lord, will I seek. — Psalms xxvii. 8 ^- My fairest child, I have no song to give you ; No lark would pipe to skies so dull and gray: Yet, ere we part, one lesson I can leave you, For every day : 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 for- ever One grand sweet song. Charles Kingsley. '^ 'IJJVERY real and searching effort at self- ^^^ improvement is of itself a lesson of profound humility. For we cannot move a step without learning and feeling the way- wardness, the weakness, the vacillation of our movements, or without desiring to be set upon the Rock that is higher than ourselves. Wm. Ewart Gladstone. 8o ^arcb 20» TJO WBEIT, when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth. — John xvi. 13. Abide with me from morn till eve, For without Thee I cannot live ; Abide with me when night is nigh, For without Thee I dare not die. John Keble. /^OME what may, hold fast to love, ^i^ Though men should rend your heart, let them not embitter or harden it. We win by tenderness, we conquer by for- giveness. F. W. Robertson. It is not from the crowded warehouse of prosperity that men first or clearest see the eternal stars of heaven. It is often from the humble spot where we have laid down our dear ones that we find our best observatory, which gives us glimpses into the far-off world of never-ending time. Theodore Parker. 'h/TAN shall not live by bread alone. — Mat- thew iv. 4. MHOEVER tries to do each day's work in the spirit of patient loyalty to God is weaving the texture whose other side is fairer than the one he sees. Dean Stanley. A Christian man's life is lain in the loom of time, to a pattern which he does not see, but God does ; and his heart is the shuttle. On one side of the loom is sorrow, and on the other is joy ; and the shuttle, struck alternately by each, flies back and forth, carrying the thread, which is white or black as the pattern needs ; and in the end, when God shall lift up the finished garment, and all its changing hues shall glance out, it will then appear that the dark and deep colors were as needful to beauty as the bright and high ones. Henry Ward Beecher. 82 /Hbarcb 22. A M AN' S life consisteth not in the abundance of the things he possesseth. — Luke xii. 15. God is enough ! Thou who in hope and fear Toilest through desert sands of Hfe, sore tried, CHmb trustful over death's black ridge, for near The bright wells shine ; thou wilt be satisfied God doth suffice ! O, thou, the patient one, Who puttest faith in Him, and none besides. Bear yet thy load ; under the setting sun The glad tents gleam ; thou wilt be satis- fied. Edwin Arnold. ® UR humanity were a poor thing but for the divinity which stirs within us. F. Bacon. Whoever fears God, fears to sit at ease. Mrs. Browning. Love divine, all love excelling, Joy of heaven, to earth come down. A, M. Toplady. jfBbarcb 23. 83 DUT as for me^ I will walk in mine in- tegrity : redee7n fne^ and be 7?ierciful unto me. — Psalms xxvi. 11. There are some days that die not out, Nor alter by reflection's power, Whose converse calm, whose words devout, Forever rest, the spirit's dower. And there are days when drops a veil — A mist upon the distance passed ; And while we to peace — " All Hail ! " We hope that always it shall last, Jean Ingelow. MHO, under all circumstances, is so faithful a friend, who so powerful a helper in every trouble as Thou, our God. . . Wait a little, and call upon the gracious Lord Jesus, and it shall go well with you after your night's toil. Thomas a Kempis. 84 ^arcb 24» T^E of good courage^ and he shall strengthen your hearty all ye that hope ift the Lord. — Psalms xxxi. 24. 4- GivE unto me, made lowly wise, The spirit of self-sacrifice ; The confidence of reason give ; And, in the light of truth, Thy Bondman let me live. Wm. Wordsworth. 'tk^OU remember our Lord's beatitude for ^j^ purity, '' Blessed are the pure in heart ; for they shall see God." . . Purity of heart purifies the whole soul, and trans- figures the commonest life until it shines with almost angelic radiance. '' It is purity, gentleness, and grace in the heart, which, like the perfume of a flower, breathes out and bathes all the air about it in sweet- ness." J. R. Miller, D. D. There is always the battle to be fought before the victory is won. Dean Stanley. TT is your Father s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. — Luke xii. 32. To guide our feet into the way of peace. — Luke i. 79. Thus heavenly hope is all serene; But earthly hope, how bright so e'er, Still fluctuates o'er this changing scene, As false and fleeting as 'tis fair. Reginald Heber. '^T^HEY are never alone that are accom- Vir' panied with noble thoughts. Sir Philip Sidney, Truth lies in character. Christ did not simply speak truth; He was truth, through and through; for truth is a thing not of words, but of life and being. F. W. Robertson. There is always the wine-press to be trodden before we drink the juice of the grapes. Dean Stanley. 86 /Iftarcb 26» ''pHE Lord knoweth the days of the upright : and their inheritance shall be forever. — Psalms xxxvii. i8. s UBMISSION, courage, exertion — these seem to be the weapons with which we must fight life's long battle, Charlotte Bronte. Life cannot be spent in a triumphal prog- ress; and is seldom spent without some necessity for retracing false steps. — Author^ Schonberg-Cotta Fa-mily. Oh, for faith and strength to win Every battle we begin ! Oh, for patience to put through Every task we planned to do. James Buckham. Where you are is of no moment, but only what you are doing there. It is not the place that ennobles you, but you the place : and this is only by doing that which is great and noble. Petrarch. /IRarcb 27. 87 T-TE that soiveth the good seed is the So?i of man. — Matthew xiii. 37. Whither thou goest^ I will go j and where thou lodgest, I will lodge : thy people shall be my people^ and thy God my God. — Ruth i. 16. Better trust all, and be deceived, And weep that trust and that deceiving, Than doubt one heart, that, if believed. Had blessed one's life with true believing. Frances Anne Kemble, T is moral courage that characterizes the highest order of manhood and womanhood, the courage to seek and to speak the truth; the courage to be just; the courage to be honest; the courage to resist temptation; the courage to do one's duty. Samuel Smiles. Our character is but the stamp on our souls of the free choice of good or evil we have made through life. C. Geikie. 8S jflBarcb 28. (~10D is our refuge and stre?igth, a very pres- ent help in trouble. — Psalms xlvi. i. Live for to-day ! to-morrow's light To-morrow's cares shall bring to sight. Go sleep like closing flowers at night, And Heaven thy morn will bless. John Keble. XET us remember that greatness of actio* depends on two other kinds of greatness; on our appreciation of the great- ness of the manner of doing what is good, and our appreciation of the greatness of the occasion when it can be done. . . It has been well said, by an eminent French writer, that the true calling of a Christian is not to do extraordinary things, but to do ordinary things in an extraordinary way. The most trivial tasks can be accomplished in a noble, gentle, regal spirit, which over- rides and puts aside all petty, paltry feel- ings, and which elevates all little things. Dean Stanley. /HSarcb 29. 89 T^OR as many as are led by the Spirit of God^ they are the sons of God. — Romans viii. 14. •i- ♦|pOBERT BURNS lamented that he ■■^ could not "pour out his inmost soul without reserve to any human being, with- out danger of one day repenting his confi- dence." He commenced a journal of his own mental history, "as a substitute," he said, "for a confidential friend." He would have something " which he could record hij?iself m^*' without peril of having his con- fidence betrayed. We all need prayer, as a means of such intercourse with a friend who will be true to us. Austin Phelps. Hold fast upon God with one hand, and open wide the other to your neighbor, that is religion ; that is the law and the prophets, and the true way to all better things. George Macdonald. -I- 'Tis not the whole of life to live, Nor all of death to die. James Montgomery. 9° /libarcb 30» AND also that every man should eat atid drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor, it is the gift of God. — Eccl. iii. 13. Few know of life's beginnings — men behold The goal achieved ; the warrior, when his sword Flashes red triumph in the noonday sun ; The poet, when his lyre hangs on the palm; The statesman, when the crowd proclaim his voice, And mold opinion on his gifted tongue ; They count not life's first steps, and never think Upon the many miserable hours When hope deferred was sickness to the heart. They reckon not the battle and the march. The long privation of a wasted youth : They never see the banner till unfurled. L. E. Landon. z ELL me upon what you pride yourself, and I will tell you vv-hat you are not. Amiel. ^arcb 31. 91 /OZT how great is thy good?tess, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee ; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men ! — Psalms xxxi. 19. Lord of earth, thy bounteous hand Well this glorious frame hath planned ; Woods that wave and hills that tower, Ocean rolling in his power ; All that strikes the gaze unsought. All that charms the lonely thought ; Friendship — gem transcending price ; Love — a flower from Paradise ! Yet amid this scene so fair. Should I cease Thy smiles to share, What were all its joys to me ! Whom have I in earth but Thee ? Sir Robert Grant. ©OD does not take away trials or carr)^ us over them, but strengthens us through them. E. B. PUSEY. 92 Bprll l» jDUTtt is good for lue to draw 7iear to God. — Psalms Ixxxiii. 28. Envy detects the spots in the clear orb of light, And Love, the little stars in the gloomiest night. R. C. Trench. •!- In truthfulness of act, be faith seen. Edwin Arnold. '^ mINDNESS, and honesty, and truth, are of themselves, and irrespective of their rightness, sweet unto the taste of the inner man. Thomas Chalmers. ►J- Morning devotion anchors the soul, so that it will not drift away from God during the day. Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. The answer to prayer is slow ; the force of prayer is cumulative. Not till life is over is the v/hole answer given ; the whole strength it has brought understood. Stopford Brooke. Bprll 2. 93 QEEK goodj and not evil, that you may live. — Amos v. 15. mOTHING deepens the mind so much as a habit of charity. Charity cannot feed on surfaces. Its instinct is always to go deeper. Roots are its natural food. A man's surfaces are always worse than his real depths. . . Self is the only person who does not improve on acquaintance. Frederick W. Faber, D. D. God loves from whole to parts ; but human soul Must rise from individual to the whole. Self-love but serves the virtuous m.ind to wake, As the small pebble stirs the peaceful lake : The center moved, a circle straight succeeds, Another still, and still another spreads ; Friend, parent, neighbor, first it will embrace ; His country next, and next all human race; Wide and more wide, th' o'erflowings of the mind Take every creature in, of every kind. \VlLLIAM ShAKSPEARE. 94 Bpril 3. 'T^RUL V God is good to Israel^ even to such as are of a clean heart. — Psalms Ixxxiii. i. Aly days are S7uifter than a weaver s shuttle. — Job vii. 6. ►J* fN the morning fix thy good purpose; and at night examine thyself what thou hast done, how thou hast behaved thyself in word, deed, and thought. Thomas a Kempis. •!• All that springs out of perverted desire — Envy and hatred and jealousy's fire, Gaunt misconceptions, in ignorance bred, Misunderstandings by selfishness led, The tongueless silences of the soul's night. Crude, aimless stirrings toward some phan- tom height — These through life's portals may not enter in. Fruits of iniquity, ignorance, sin. These are the perishing parts of the soul, These have no place in the grand perfect whole. Eliza Lamb Martyn. Bprfl 4, 95 l\/fy mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditations of my heart shall be of under- standing. — Psalms xlix. 3. HRE there not two kinds of gift and of charitable worlc in the world — benevo- lence and sympathy ? The works of benevolence, it seems to me, can be counted, and measured, and reported. But the work of sympathy, who can see or measure that ? And yet without the sympathy, which can no more be measured than sunlight, the works of benevolence are apt to stiffen into mere machinery. — Author^ Schonberg-Cotta Family. O Time flies fast, he winna wait My friend for you or me ; He works his wonders day by day, And onward still doth flee. P. Livingstone. Moses received the tablets from Mt. Sinai, and even we, when weary, lift up our eyes to the hills for strength. C. H. Capen. 9^ Bpril 5» T^OR there is no poiver but of God. — Romans xiii. i. ^^^HERE is something prophetic in Wl^ thought and in emotion. In the heart of our imperfect knowledge there is lodged the hope of a perfect wisdom. At the end of our broken reasonings there shines the light of a higher truth. All our conclusions, all our theories, all our aspirations, point forward. Our very defects are intimations of a future development, and our limita- tions are but barriers which we are gaining strength to overleap. What is it all worth unless there be a beyond ? What are the attainments and acquisitions of our three- score and ten years, unless they are to be completed and perfected and applied in a hereafter? But Reason herself breaks the chains of such a despairing doctrine. She shapes her wings to fly. She anticipates immortality. H. J. Van Dyke. Be patient, be patient : for Patience hath power, To ward us in danger, like m.antle in shower. Sir Walter Scott. Bprll 6. 97 T WAIT for the Lord, 7ny soul doth wait, and in his ivord do I hope. — Psalms cxxx. 5. ♦I|5UT the life of man upon this earth i« ^W made up, for the most part, of little pains and little pleasures. The great v/onder-flowers bloom but once in a life- time. Anonymous. The sea of fortune doth not ever flov/, She draws her favors to the lowest ebb. Her time hath equal times to come and go. Her loom doth weave the fine and coarsest web; No joy so great but runneth to an end, Nor hap so hard but may in time amend. Not always fall of leaf, nor ever spring. No endless night, yet not eternal day; The saddest birds a season find to sing. The roughest storm a calm may soon allay; Thus with succeeding turns God tempereth all, That man may hope to rise, yet fear to fall. Robert Southwell. 98 april 7. J ET thine Jiand help inc: for I have chosen thy precepts. — Psalms cxix. 173. Thought is deeper than all speech, Feeling deeper than all thought; Souls to souls can never teach What unto themselves was taught. Christopher T. Cranch. jpROM the sunlit heights of life, the Jl deep vales and hollows of its necessi- ties look darkest; but to the faithful whose path lies there, there is still light enough to show the way, and to no other eyes do the everlasting hills and blue heavens seem so brilliant. James Martineau. The serene, silent beauty of a holy life is the most powerful influence in the world next to the might of the spirit of God. Rev. Charles H. Spurgeon. The character is the radical impress which the will assumes from the series of its acts. Fr. Hall. Bprfl 8, 99 lUTAKEme to go in the path of thy cojnmand- ments. — Psalms cxix. 35, '^^HERE is a beautiful precept which he Vl^ who has received an injury, or thinks he has, would, for his own sake, do well to follow — '' Excuse half, and forgive the rest." Anonymous. ►J- The honey-bee that wanders all day long The field, the woodland, and the garden o'er, To gather in his fragrant winter store, Humming in calm^ content his quiet song, Seeks not alone the rose's glowing breast, The lily's dainty cup, the violet's lips, But from all rank and noxious weeds he sips The single drop of sweetness closely pressed Within the poison chalice. Thus, if we Seek only to draw forth the hidden sv/eet In all the varied human flowers vv^e meet In all the wide garden of humanity. And, like the bee, if home the spoil we bear. Hived in our hearts it turns to nectar there. Mrs. Anne (Lynch) Botta. loo Bpril 9, l/'OU'J^ Father hioweth what things ye have need of . — Matthew vi. 8. LovEj Truth, and Beauty — all are one ! If life may expiate The wilderings of its dimness, death be known But as the mighty ever-living gate Into the Beautiful — All things flow on Into one Heart, into one Melody, Eternally. Wm. James Linton. ||VREPARE thy soul to obey; such l|V offering will be more acceptable to God than every other sacrifice. Metastasio. III weeds grow apace — covetousness, discontent, and murmuring are as natural to man as thorns are to the soil. AVe need not sow thistles and brambles; they come up naturally enough, because they are indigenous to earth: but the precious things of the earth must be cultivated. P.EV. Charles H. Spurgeon. J/f/^ then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. — Romans xv. i. For if a man find his enemy ^ will he let him go well away 2 wherefore the Lord reward thee good, for that thou hast done unto me this day. Saul to David. Oft, unknowingly, the tongue Touches on a chord so aching That a word or accent wrong Pains the heart almost to breaking. Many a tear of wounded pride, Many a fault of human blindness. Has been soothed or turned aside By a voice of quiet kindness. Hannah More. ME can hardly tell what we should have been had we been treated less kindly than we have been. Have we not sometimes been on the verge of doing some- thing which a life would have been short to repent of ? Frederick W. Faber. I02 2lpdl 11. 1\^ ARK the perfect man^ and behold the up- right J for the end of that man is peace. — Psalms xxxvii. 37. Make thy life A gift of use to thee; A joy, a good, a golden hope, A heavenly argosy. B. W. Procter. •J* '^'HE life here and the life hereafter are ^J^ one. There is but one ideal set before us. We are to think by it, work by it, aspire to it in this world, and then, lest our heart fail at the sad disparity between us and the divine type, lo ! the heavens are opened to us, and we see our Lord putting His own hand to our work so feebly begun. He presents us at last faultless to His Father and our Father, before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Jacob H. Ecob. Love is the emblem of eternity. Mme. De Stael. Do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. — Micah vi. 8. Bprtl 12. 103 J^OR he is our God ; and ive are the people of his pasture, a fid the sheep of his hand. To-day if ye will hear his voice. — Psalms xcv. 7. '^ I BELIEVE it ! 'Tis thou, God, that givest, 'tis I who receive: In the first is the last, in Thy will is my power to believe; All's one gift : Thou canst grant it more- over, as prompt to my prayer. As I breathe out this breath, as I open these arms to the air. Robert Browning. ♦ITT is right to look our self-accounts ■I bravely in the face now and then, and to settle them bravely. Charlotte Bronte. >^ The thoughts which nestle within us, and issue from us in language and in act, deter- mine our moral character. The most ex- quisite piece of sculpture which a Powers or a Palmer ever carved, was once only a thought. Theodore L. Cuyler. I04 Bpril 13, TN God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust ; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. — Psalms Ivi. 4. 1^ HUMBLE man is a joyous man. '^'V There is no worship where there is no joy. For worship is something more than either the fear of God or the love of Him. It is delight in Him. Frederick W. Faber. We judge men by our own standards : judge our nearest and dearest often wrong. Thackeray. Angels of light, spread your bright wings and keep Near me at morn; Nor in the starry eve, nor midnight deep, Leave me forlorn. From all foreboding thoughts and danger- ous fears Keep me secure. Adelaide A. Procter. Bpril 14, 105 n^O depart from evil is understanding. — Job xxviii. I, 28. '^f^HERE is no noble life save that which ^^ is lived above the uncharitableness, the discontent, which fills human inter- course every day. . . At the last there can be no beauty for you or me but the beauty of holiness. Mrs. Mary Clemmer Hudson. There is no road to the attainment of the ideal except by a bold and successful dealing with the real. Anonymous. •^ Nay ; song and love and lofty aims May never be where faith is not : Strong souls within the present live ; The future veiled, the past forgot : Grasping what is, with hands of steel, They bend alike to doubt and dread. The end, for which they are, fulfill. Lewis Morris. io6 :apru 15. J^LESSED are they that keep judgment^ and he that doeth righteousness at all times. — Psalms cvi. 3. ►^ COMMONPLACE though it may appear, this doing of one's duty embodies the highest ideal of life and character. There may be nothing heroic about it ; but the common lot of men is not heroic. Samuel Smiles. The most delicate, the most sensible of all pleasure, consists in promoting the pleasure of others. La Bruyere. ►i- There is no action so slight nor so mean but it may be done to a great purpose, and ennobled therefor ; nor is any purpose so great but that slight actions may help it, may be so done as to help it much, most especially that chief of all purposes — the pleasing of God. John Ruskin. This is the vital principle in Christian life ; we can give out to others only what God has given to us. Rev. J. R. Miller, D. D. Bprfl 16. 107 /O GIVE thajiks unto the Lord; call upon his na?7ie : 7nakc known his deeds mnong the people. — Psalms cv. i. '^T^O be our own is to be full of anxiet}-. ^^ To be His is to cast all our care upon Him. Anonymous. Our Father rules ! why should we shrink in fear ; Why should we mourn because our path is drear ? Why heed the petty ills that line life's way ; Mere wayside weeds, they flourish for a day ; Immortal life is ours ! and heaven is near. Julia A. F, Carney. He in whom God lives, liveth evermore. Dinah Mulock Craik. We know that Heaven chastens those whom it loves best ; being pleased, by repeated trials, to make . . . pure spirits more pure. Thackeray. Freely ye have received, freely give. — Matthew x. 8. io8 Bpril 17» A/fy meditation of Jmn shall be siveet: I will be glad in the Lo7'd. — Psalms civ. 34. >^||V Y idea is this : ever onward. If God XllJ had intended that man should go backward, he would have given him an eye in the back of his head. Let us look always toward the dawn, the blossom-time, the hour of birth. Victor Hugo. Onward forever flows the tide of Life, Still broadening, gathering to itself the rills That made dim music in the primal hills, And tossing crested waves of joy and strife. We watch it rising where no seeds are rife, But fire the elemental vortex fills ; Through plant and beast it streams, till human wills Unfold the sanctities of human life. Further we see not. But here faith joins hands With reason. Life that onvv^ard came to us From simple to more complex, still must flow Forward and forward through far wider lands. John Addington Symonds. Bpril 18. 109 T^VER V one that lovetJi is born of God. — I John iv, 7. ME cannot measure the strength and peace and hope and joy which is brought to many a troubled soul by the thought of any pure and blameless youth, even in the humblest station of life, strug- gling manfully and successfully against the evil influences which would lead him astray from the paths of innocence. . . May God bless them, whoever and wherever they may be, for the inestimable blessing which they unconsciously, but most surely, confer on the world. Dean Stanley. If you have known yourself to have failed, you may trust, when it comes, the strange consciousness of success; if you have faith- fully loved the noble work of others, you need not fear to speak of things duly done, of your own. John Ruskin. ^^o 2lpr« 19. r IGHT is S01V71 for the righteous, a7id glad- ness for the upright in heart. — Psalms xcvii. II. -ifJVERY yesterday is talking to, instruct- >*^ ing to-day. . . We must live in, and because of, yesterdays. Their life enters into ours. Not only yesterday speaks to to- day, but what yesterday says decides what to-day is. He lives well and wisely who has the speech of each day as it goes, vv^ho hears and heeds the voice it utters. J. F. W. Ware. When a great man has a dark corner in him, it is terribly dark. Goethe. Providence is like a curious piece of needlework, made up of a thousand shreds, which, singly, we know not what to make of, but put together in order, they represent a beautiful history to the eye. Flavel. I COUNSEL thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire. — Rev. iii. i8. Bpril 20. ^ i^i HTHE heaven is 7ny throne, and the earth is my footstool. — Isaiah Ixvi. i. ♦flp^AVE soine convictions, some real opin- ■B*^ ions, some worthy hopes; and be loyal to, and in earnest about, whatever you do pin your faith to. Mrs. J. EwiNG. Conscience is nothing else but the echo of God's voice within the soul. Fr. Hall. •I- Lord my God, 'tis early dawn, And I would walk with Thee to-day ! Clothe me in garments white and clean, All bright and beautiful, I pray. Grant I may walk with greatest care. So I may keep their luster bright; To-day, my Father, hear my prayer, And let me walk with Thee in white. S. J. Currier. God dwells in the soul whose stainless days Are sweet in His sight as a hymn of praise. Frances T. Gill. 112 BprU 21. ATOT every o?ie that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heavefi j but he that docth fJie will of my Father which is in heaven. — Matthew vii. 21. ►I* True knowledge leads to love; True dignity abides with him alone Who, in the silent hour of inward thought, Can still respect and still revere himself. In lowliness of heart. Wm. Wordsworth. ♦JI^EVERENCE is the chief joy and ll\ power of life: reverence for that which is pure and bright in youth; for what is true and tried in age; for all that is gracious among the living, great among the dead, and marvelous in the powers that cannot die. John Ruskin. All the grandest enterprises of benevo- lence, and all the most stupendous crimes, were once only invisible phantoms in some man's or woman's busy brain. . . The very Bible is only God's blessed and holy thought revealed to us; by it we are made wise unto salvation. Theodore L. Cuyler. Bpril 22, 113 HTHE effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. — James v. 16. F instead of a gem, or even a flower, we could cast the gift of a lovely thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels must give. George MacDonald. Neglect not to improve life in the pres- ent with superior persons: for opportunity is precious. Persian — Saadi. ►I- What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. It is easy in the v/orld to live after the world's opinion: it is easy in solitude to live after our ov/n: but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps, with perfect sweetness, the independence of solitude. R. W. Emerson. God does not demand impossibilities. Do what you can. St. Augustine. 114 Bpril 23 /O SING unto the Lord a new song : for he hath ' ' " * ^ xcviii. I hath done marvelous things. — Psalms '' What shall I do to gain eternal life ? Discharge aright The simple dues with which each day is rife ? " Yea, with thy might. Ere perfect scheme of action thou devise, Will life be fled; While he who ever acts as conscience cries, Shall live, though dead. Schiller. fT was once said in mournful complaint of the highest ecclesiastic in Christen- dom. " For the sake of gaining to-day, he has thrown away to-morrow forever." Be our policy the reverse of this; be it ours to fasten our thoughts, not on the passions and parties of the brief to-day, but on the hopes of the long to-morrow. The day, the year may perchance belong to the destruc- tives, the cynics, and the partisans. But the morrow . . . belongs to the catholic, comprehensive, discriminating, all-embrac- ing Christianity. Dean Stanley. BpvU 24 115 (^HALL the clay say to him that fashioneth ity what makest thou ? — Isaiah xlv. 9. -^T^HE sense of right can more readily ^*^ indurate the tender than melt the rocky soul, and that is the most finished character which begins in beauty and ends in power; that leans on the love of kindred while it may, and when it may not can stand erect in the love of God; that shelters itself amid the domesticities of life while duty wills, and when it forbids can go forth under the expanse of immortality, and face any storm that beats, and traverse any wilderness that lies beneath that canopy. James Martineau. If what shows afar so grand. Turn to nothing in thy hand, On again; the virtue lies In the struggle, not the prize. R. M. MiLNES. Wise in heart, and mighty in strength. Job ix. 4. ii6 Bprll 25. J OVE is of God. — I John iv, 7. ^J;JOME little act done, all secretly and <^ unknov/n, for Jesus, is not forgotten by Him; every victory gained over some habit, or temper, or inclination; every earnest and prayerful resolution carried into effect by His spirit helping you, does not lose its rev/ard. C. I. Atherton. Be patient; oh, 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 the day. Richard C. Trench. Lean, then, securely on the Eternal Lav/, which underlies all life and death. Dean Stanley. Serve the Lord with gladness: come be- fore his presence with singing. — Psalms c. 2. Bprll 26, 117 /JJVD now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self. — John xvii. 5. mIND thoughts are rarer than either kind words or kind deeds. They imply a great deal of thinking about others. . . They imply also a great deal of think- ing about others without the thoughts being criticisms. . . But kind thoughts imply also a contact with God, and a divine ideal in our minds. Frederick W. Faber. There are tones that will haunt us, though lonely Our path be o'er mountain or sea; There are looks that will part from us only When memory ceases to be; There are hopes which our burden can lighten. Though toilsome and steep be the way; And dreams that, like moonlight, can brighten, With a light that is clearer than day. WiNTHROP MaCKWORTH PrAED. ii8 Bprfl 27» r^ LORY ye in his holy nanie : let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. — Psalms cv. 3, DI- DOES the road wind up hill all the way ? Yes! to the very end. But will the journey take the whole long day ? From morn till night, my friend. Christina Rossetti. •I- " And for success, I ask no more than this : To bear unflinching witness to the truth." MHAT can we say of success in life — that noble success which is not merely that of personal pride but of general advancement — that is truer than these v/ords ? and how can anyone '^ bear unflinching witness to the truth " who knows little and cares less what the truth of to-day is ? Lilian Whiting. Destiny is not About thee, but within; thyself must make Thyself the agonizing throes of Thought: These bring forth glory, bring forth destiny. Coates Kinney. Bprtl 2S. 119 n^HEY helped everyone his neighbour ; and every one said to his brother^ Be of good courage. — Isaiah xli. 6. BUT the great reasons are self-command and trust unagitated, and deep-looking Love, and Faith, which, as she is above Reason, so she best holds the reins of it from her high seat. John Ruskin. The straightest way, perhaps, which may be sought Lies through the great highway men call — I ought. Anonymous. Words are good ; but there is something better. The best is not to be explained by words. The spirit in which we act is the chief matter. Action can only be understood and repre- sented by the spirit. Goethe. Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a Heaven for ? Robert Browning. I20 Bprll 20. QEEK the Lord^ and his strength : seek his face evermore. — Psalms cv. 4. '^T'HE Christian is he whose life-work ^^ glows and grows under his hand; who is conscious of an unceasing call for strenu- ous activity; who takes for his watchword the great apostle's question, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? " Rev. a. p. Peabody. . . . Far through the misty future, With a crown of starry light. An hour of joy you know not Is winging her silent flight. Pray : though the gift you ask for May never comfort your fears, May never repay your pleading, Yet pray, and with hopeful tears An ansv^er — not that you long for. But diviner — v/ill come one day: Your eyes are too dim to see it. Yet strive, and wait, and pray. Adelaide A. Procter. Bpril 30. 121 T WILL lift tip jmne eyes unto the hills, fj-om whence coineth my help. — Psalms cxxi. i. . . . The high-born soul Disdains to rest her heaven-aspiring wing Beneath its native quarry. Tired of Earth And this diurnal scene, she springs aloft Through fields of air ; pursues the flying storm ; Rides on the volleyed lightning through the heavens ; Or, yoked with whirlwinds and the northern blast, Sweeps the long tract of day. . . . . . For, from the birth Of mortal man, the sovereign Maker said That not in humble nor in brief Delight, The soul should find enjoyment : but from these. Turning disdainful to an equal good, Through all the ascent of things enlarge her view. Till every bound at length should disappear. And infmite perfection close the scene. Mark Akenside. 122 ^ag U r^OD is love. — I John iv. 8. Behold ivJiat manner of love the Father hath bcstoived upon iis, that we should be ealled the sons of God. — i John iii. i. May I reach That purest heaven ; be to other souls The cup of strength in some great agony, Enkindle generous ardor, feed pure love, Beget the smiles that have no cruelty, Be the sweet presence of a good diffused, And in diffusion even more intense. So shall I join the choir invisible Whose music is the gladness of the world. George Eliot. /T^OD is a kind Father. He sets us all ia ^l^ the places where He wishes us to be employed, and that employment is truly '^our Father's business." . . And we may always be cure, whatever we are doing, that we cannot be pleasing Him if we are not happy ourselves. John Ruskin. T JNTO the upright there ariseth light in the darkness : he is gracious, and full of com- passion, and righteous. — Psalms cxii. 4. BE wise to do good. Invent ways, create means, find subjects. There is also the importance of keep- ing in touch with life. . . To touch life at all points — to touch it with some per- ception of its ideal possibilities and of its actual realization, and to hold the golden mean of fidelity to noble standards and charity for imperfect results is the educa- tion in that education which makes wisdom. Lilian Whiting. Love all, trust a few, Do wrong to none : be able for thine enemy Rather in power than use ; and keep thy friend Under thy own life's key: be checked for silence, But never taxed for speech. William Shakspeare. 124 /iftas 3. f~^REA T peace have they which love thy law: a7id 7iothing shall offend them. — Psalms cxix. 165. -!- HGOOD deed is never lost ; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love. Basil. You resemble the spirit which you under- stand. Goethe. The traces of human deeds fade swiftly away from the sunlighted earth, as the transient shades of thought from the brow, but nothing is lost and dissipated, which the rolling hours, replete w^ith secrets, have received into their dark, creative bosom. Time is a blooming field ; nature is ever teeming with life, and all is seed and all is fruit. Schiller. Not wealth, nor ancestry, but honorable conduct and a noble disposition will make men great. Ovid. My heart trusted in him, and I am helped. — Psalms xxviii. 7. "Y^HEY that sow i?i tea7's shall reap in joy. — Psalms cxxvi. 5. ♦fTN the common things of everyday life H the soul must prove her presence and power, if they be proved at all. Rev. Annis L. Ex\stman. Know, then, this truth (enough for man to know), *' Virtue alone is happiness below." Slave to no sect, who takes no private road, But looks through nature up to Nature's God ; Pursues that chain which links the immense design, Joins heaven and earth, and mortal and divine ; Sees that no being any bliss can know But touches some above and some below : Learns from this union of the rising whole The first, last purpose of the human soul ; And knows where faith, law, morals all began. All end in love of God, and love of man. William Shakspeare, 126 ^a^ 5» n^HERE is a spirit in man : and the inspira- tion of the Almighty giveth them under staiid- ing. — Job xxxii. 8. jISCOURAGEMENT serves no possi- ble purpose ; it is simply the despair of wounded self-love. Nothing but the con- sciousness of your own weakness can make you indulgent and pitiful to that of others. Love God, and you will be humble ; love God, and you will throw off the love of self ; love God, and you will love all that He gives you to love for love of Him. Fenelon. Doing good is the only certainly happy action of a man's life. Sir Philip Sidney. Every sound that breaks the silence only makes it more profound, Like a crash of deafening thunder in the sweet blue stillness drowned ; Let thy soul walk softly in thee, as a saint in heaven unshod. For to be alone with silence is to be alone with God. Samuel Miller Hageman. /IRa^ 6. 127 AJO W faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. — Hebrews xi. i. Released from earth's dull round of cares, The aspiring soul her vigor tries; Plumes her soiled pinions, and prepares To soar amid ethereal skies. Around us float in changing light The dazzling forms of distant years, And earth becomes a glorious sight. Beyond which opening heaven appears. O. W. P. Peabody. What appears at sight Extremely heavy, love will make most light. Christopher Harvey. If the heart v/as rightly disposed every creature would be a book of divine knowl- edge. Thomas a Kempis. 128 ^a^ 7» r^IVE us help fro?}i trouble : for vain is the help of man. — Psalms cviii, 12. '^^HE effective life and the receptive life ^^ are one. No sweep of arm that does some work for God but harvests also some more of the truth of God, and sweeps it into the treasury of life. TOANNA BaTLLIE. **WiTH joy the stars perform their shining, And the sea its long, moon-silvered roll; . For alone they live, nor pine with noting All the fever of some differing soul. ** Bounded by themselves, and unobservant In what state God's other works may be. In their own tasks all their powers pouring, These attain the mighty life you see." 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. WITH JOY THE STARS PERFORM THEIR SHINING AND THE SEA ITS LONG, MOON-SILVERED ROLL." — Tennyson, Page 128. /IBai? 8. 129 J^E thoiL a?i example of the believers^ in word, in conversation^ in charity^ in spirit, in faith, in purity. — i Timothy iv. 12. If vexing thoughts within me rise, And sore dismayed my spirit dies, Still He, who once vouchsafed to bear The sickening anguish of despair, Shall sv/eetly soothe, shall gently dry, The throbbing heart, the streaming eye. Sir Robert Grant. HLWAYS the unseen will be more than the seen ; always the unknown will encompass and interfuse the known; ahvays we must walk by faith more than by sight. The higher we aspire and reach, the further will the ideal recede; the purer and truer we become, the more commanding will be our sense of right, and the more sweet and strong will be the attractions of the true, the beautiful, and the good. Rev. Charles G. Ames. With a strong soul, and a noble aim, one can do what one wills, morally speaking. Samuel Smiles. I30 /Bias 9» A LL things work togethet^ for good to them that love God. — Romans viii. 28. •J* Speak gently ! 'tis a little thing, Dropped in the heart's deep well; The good, the joy, that it may bring, Eternity shall tell. G. W. Langford. 'Tf'HE only way to regenerate the world is ^^ to do the duty which lies nearest to us, and not to hunt after grand, far-fetched ones for ourselves. Charles Kingsley. As it has been written ''Reign thou in the midst of thine enemies"; not he, therefore, hath peace whom none troubleth; this is the peace of the world; but he whom all men and all things trouble, yet who beareth all these things quietly, with joy. Mrs. Charles. All are but parts of one stupendous whole, Whose body Nature is, and God the soul. Alexander Pope. /Ifta^ 10. 131 T^OR I know the thoughts that I think totuard yoUj saith the Lord j thoughts of peace and not of evil J to give to you an expected end. — Jeremiah xxix. 11. Man is in loss except he live aright, And help his fellow to be firm and brave, Faithful and patient : then the restful night. Edwin Arnold. ♦fMOWI want you to think that in life mmX troubles will come, which seem as if they never would pass away. The night and the storm look as if they would last forever; but the calm and the morning can- not be stayed ; the storm in its very nature is transient. The effort of nature, as that of the human heart, ever is to return to its repose, for God is Peace. George MacDonald. One of the highest of spiritual luxuries is the enjoyment of pure and exhilarating and sublime thoughts. Theodore L. Cuyler. 132 iHbas ll» T^UT let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice; let them ever shout for joy ^ because thou defendest them : let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. — Psalms v. i i. '^T'HE best remedy for the dislike we feel ^^ toward anyone is to endeavor to try and do them a little good every day : the best cure for their dislike to us is to try and speak kindly of them. — Gold Dust. •J" There is nothing so powerful as exa7nple. We put others straight by walking straight ourselves. Mme. Swetchine. Like as the armed knight, Appointed to the field, With this world will I fight, And faith shall be my shield. Faith is that weapon strong Which will not fail at need. Anne Askew. ►!- Though youth and spring-time hope re- turn no more, God's mercies are repeated o'er and o'er. B. G. Mason. /Ilba^ 12. ^33 "POR the Lord giveth wisdoffi : oitt of his mouth Cometh knowledge and understand- ing. — Proverbs ii. 6. ijtfJVERYWHERE in creation there is a /^^ charm, the fountain of which is in- visible. In the natural, the moral, and the spiritual world, it is the same. Vv^e are constantly referring it to causes which are only effects. Faith alone reveals to us its true origin. Frederick W. Faber, D. D. Pour forth thy fervors for a healthful mind, Obedient passions, and a will resigned : For love, which scarce collective man can mi ; For patience, sovereign o'er transmuted ill ; For faith that, panting for a happier seat. Counts death kind Nature's signal of retreat; These goods for man the laws of Heaven ordain, With these celestial Wisdom calms the mind, And m.akes the happiness she does not find. Samuel Johnson. 134 /IRai5 13. A WISE maft will hear, and will increase learning ; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels. — Proverbsi. 5. Father in heaven, hear us to-day, Hallowed Thy name be ; hear us, we pray ! Oh, let Thy kingdom come ! Oh, let Thy will be done By all below the sun As in the skies. Rev. Charles G. Ames. ^^HE more and the better we know and ^^ understand, the more strictly shall we be judged unless our lives are also more holy. Thomas A Kempis. The largest and most comprehensive natures are generally the most cheerful, the most loving, the most hopeful, the most trustful. It is the wise man, of large vision, who is the quickest to discern the moral sunshine gleaming through the dark- est cloud. Samuel Smiles. /nbas 14. 135 "J^HAT fhoit may est walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. — Proverbs ii. 20. The minutes have their trusts as they go by, To bear Thy love who wing'st their view- less flight; To Thee they bear their record as they fly, And never from their ceaseless round alight. Rich with the life Thou liv'st they come to me Oh! may I all that life to others show; That they from strife may rise and rest in Thee, And all thy peace in Christ by me may know. Then shall the morning call me from my rest. With joyful hope that I Thy child may live ; And when the evening comes, 'twill make me blest To know that Thou wilt peaceful slumber give; Such as Thou dost to weary laborers send, Whose sleep from Thee doth with the dew descend. Jones Very. 136 ilBais 15» JJ/HjEN' wisdom enteretk into t/mie heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul: Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee. — Proverbs ii. lo-ii. •I- The possible stands by us ever fresh. Fairer than aught which any life hath owned. Jean Ingelow. ||VEOPLE may talk about the selfishness HV of humanity as much as they like, I never will believe that it is ''everyone for himself," unless we choose to set the world the example. Men like the kindly look, the bright smile, the warm clasp of the hand; there is as much truth as sentimentality in the words of the song: " 'Tis love That makes the world go round." Edith Robinson. The pleasantest things in the world are pleasant thoughts, and the great art in life is to have as many of them as possible. Bovel. ^as 16. 137 "T^HOU shalt enlarge my heart. — Psalms cxix. 32. ||VERSONALITY merely, in the sense IIV of self-consciousness and will, would not constitute a Being fitted to attract us, if unaccompanied with the attributes of a distinctively moral nature. Mere power might awe and crush us, but it could not command our love, or the consent of our moral nature to its requirements. But the conception of God revealed by Moses adds, forthwith, all the special characteristics which attract the reverence and constrain the heart. C. Geikie, D. D. He comes the broken heart to bind, The bleeding soul to cure. And with the treasures of His grace To enrich the humble poor. Our glad Hosannas, Prince of Peace, Thy welcome shall proclaim, And heaven's eternal arches sing With Thy beloved name. Philip Doddridge. 138 /liba^ \7. T^R my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. — Matthew xi. 30. Our many deeds, the thoughts that we have thought, They go out from us thronging every hour; And in them all is folded up a power That on the earth doth move them to and fro; And mighty are the marvels they have wrought In hearts we know not, and may never know. F. AV. Faber. ►^ HLTHOUGH genius always commands admiration, character most secures respect. The former is more the product of brain-power, the latter of heart-power; and in the long run it is the heart that rules in life. Men of genius stand to society in the relation of its intellect, as men of character of its conscience; and while the former are admired, the latter are followed. Samuel Smiles. ►I- Convey thy love to thy friend as an arrow to the mark, to stick it there; not as a ball against the wall to rebound back again. Quarles. /IRas IS. 139 JyT/ITH what Judgment ye Judge, ye shall be Judged : and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. — Matthew vii. 2. A SAFE Stronghold our God is still, A trusty shield and weapon; He'll help us clear from all the ill That hath us now o'ertaken. Martin Luther. II^RAY modestly as to the things of this 11^ life; earnestly for what may be helps to your salvation; intensely for salvation itself, that you may ever behold God, love God. Practice in life whatever you pray for, and God will give it you more abundantly. E. B. Pusey. One is so apt to think that what works smoothest works to the highest ends, hav- ing no patience for the results of friction. Mrs. Ewing. It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little. Do what you can. Sydney Smith. I40 jflBaiS 19. T ET not mercy and truth forsake thee : bind them about thy neck: write the?n upon the table of thine heart. — Proverbs iii. 3. -^ /f^UR failures — above all, our noble ^■^ failures — are part and parcel of our spiritual growth. When we go before God, the failures will go to the great account; they will be elements in the judgment, as instrumental and effective as any of our smccesses. Scott Holland. Lord, have mercy when we pray Strength to seek a better way: When our wakening thoughts begin First to loathe their cherished sin: When our weary spirits fail. And our aching brows are pale; When our tears bedew Thy word, Then, O then, have mercy. Lord. Dean Milman. If our doubts do not prevail so far as to make us leave off praying, our prayers will prevail so far as to make us leave off doubting. H. Hickman. /Bbag 20. 141 JJ/ITHOLD 7iot good from the7fi to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. — Proverbs iii. 27. Father in heaven, hear us to-day; Hallowed Thy name be; hear us, we pray! Giver of daily food. Fountain of truth and good, Be all our hearts imbued With love like Thine. Rev. Charles G. Ames. -^T^HE impulse of spiritual life produces ^^ two results. First, it puts a man in the way of self-improvement. He begins to expand and advance. Love works more deeply in his heart ; light shines more clearly in his intelligence ; new power shows itself in his will; he becomes more of a m.an and a better man — a higher order of being. Next he begins to do the work of a god; he becomes a working cause — a creator of good; the impulse of spiritual life passes from him to others. Rev. Charles G. Ames. 142 /Hbas 21. C'A V 7iot unto tJiy neighbor^ Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give ; when thou hast it by thee. — Proverbs iii. 28. OT long before her death, in writing to a friend, Mrs. Mary Clemmer Hudson said: '* Though lam not old, I have sounded the deeps and the shadov/s of all that is called society, till I feel all through my heart of hearts that all that is of real value to the lowly contrite spirit is the clear mind, the loving, consecrated heart; all else is emptiness, vanity, vexation of soul." ''Not to myself alone," The circling Star, with honest pride, doth boast; "Not to myself alone I rise and set: I write upon night's coronal of jet His power and skill who formed our myriad host; A friendly beacon at heaven's open gate, I gem the sky. That man might ne'er forget, in every fate, His home on high." Samuel Wm. Partridge. J^E fiot wise in thine own eyes j fear the Lordy a?id depart from evil. — Proverbs iii. 7. Words are mighty, words are living : Serpents v^^ith their venomous stings, Or bright angels crowding round us With heaven's light upon their wings. Every word has its own spirit. True or false, that never dies ; Every v/ord man's lips have uttered Echoes in God's skies. Adelaide A. Proctor. ♦fTT makes the mind very free when we ■■ give up wishing, and only think of bear- ing what is laid upon us, and doing what is given us to do. George Eliot. It was in such a little thing as the break- ing of bread that Christ revealed himself. Edith Robinson. 144 ^as 23. QTRIVEnot with a man without cause ^ if he have done thee no harm. — Proverbs iii. 30. Father in heaven, hear us to-day ; Hallowed Thy name be ; hear us, we pray ! Lead us in paths of right, Save us from sin and blight, King of all love and might. Glorious for aye. Rev. Charles G. Ames. ■A, ^f OVE is divine, and then most divine ^^ when it loves according to needs, and not according to merit. George MacDonald. I AM of the opinion that the Bible con- tains more true sublimity, more exquisite beauty, more pure morality, more important history, and purer strains of poetry and eloquence than can be collected from all other books, in whatever age or language they may have been written. Sir William Jones. Every man can be a prophet and should be. L. Clark Seelye. ^as 24. 145 J^OR whatsoever is born of God, overcoineth the world : and this is the victory that over- cometh the world, even our faith. — i John v. 4. H TEMPLE there has been upon earthy a spiritual temple made up of living stones ; a temple as I may say composed of souls ; a temple with God for its light, and Christ for the High Priest, with wings of angels for its arches, with saints and teachers for its pillars, and with worship- ers for its pavement. Wherever there is faith and love this temple is. J. H. Newman. The common problem, yours, mine, every- one's Is — not to fancy what were fair in life. Provided it could be — but finding first What may be, then find how to make it fair Up to our means. Robert Browning. I wonder many times that any child of God should have a sad heart. Canon Farrar. 146 /flbag 25. J-JEAR^ ye children, the instruction of a father, a?td attend to know under sta7iding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. — Proverbs iv. i, 2. 'Tis easy to be gentle when Death's silence shames our clamor, And easy to discern the best Through memory's mystic glamour ; But wise it were for thee and me, Ere love is past forgiving, To take the tender lesson home — Be patient with the living. Margaret E. Sangster. '^T'HERE is a sufficient recompense in the ^^ very consciousness of a noble deed. Anonymous. We should deal with each other as God deals with us. Goethe. Let us leave off concerning ourselves about what God will do. . . He will do his part ; let us do ours. Rev. Charles G. Ames. JJZISZ>OM IS tJie pr-incipal thing ; therefore get wisdom: and tvith all thy getting get understanding. — Proverbs iv. 7. Jesus, I love Thee — not because I hope for heaven thereby, Nor yet because, if I love not, I must forever die. I love Thee, Saviour, dear, and still I ever will love Thee, Solely because my God Thou art, Who first hast loved me. Francis Xavier. ♦II^OWEVER good you may be, you have ■■*^ faults; however dull you may be, you can find out what some of them are: and, however slight they may be, you had better make some effort to get quit of them. John Ruskin. Many a so-called follower of Christ fol- lows Him only to stone Him. Edith Robinson. 148 ^a^ 27. 'T'HE way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble. My son^ attend to viy words: incline thine ear unto my sayings. — Proverbs iv. 19, 20. We may not know indeed The whys, the wherefores of each life! But this we know — there's One who sees And watches us through joy or strife. Each hfe its mission here fulfills, And only He may know the end, And loving Him we may be strong, Tho' storm or sunshine He may send. Bernard Fontaine. CONSECRATION is not wrapping one's self in a holy web in the sanctuary; it is going into the world and using every power for God's glory. H. W. Beecher. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself. — Matthew xvi. 24. The way of the Lord is strength to the upright. — Proverbs x. 29. ^a^ 28. 149 ^HAT ivas the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. — John i. 9. "T is clear that there are irreducible un- certainties in life — things which God does not intend us to know beforehand; and the wise attitude toward such things is not less truly than beautifully expressed in the following lines: ** I see not a step before me, As I tread on another year, But the past. is still in God's keeping, The future His mercy shall clear, And what looks dark in the distance May brighten as I draw near. It may be He keeps waiting, Till the coming of my feet, Some gift of such rare blessedness. Some joy so strangely sweet, That my lips shall only tremble With the thanks they cannot speak. Mary G. Brainerd. ISO ^as 29. T ET thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look sti'aight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. — Proverbs iv. 25, 26. ♦||5EAS0N is not the only interpreter of ■■^ life. The fountain of action is in the feelinsfs. H. T. Tuckerman. Judge not, because thou canst not judge aright. Not much thou know'st thyself, yet better far Than thou know'st others! Language is at war With purposes; appearances must fight. Rather let Christ's great wisdom be con- fessed, Who taxed rash judgment as this world's worst leaven, And the worst temper for the courts of heaven. Chauncy Hare Townshend. T^OR 7visdoin is better than rubies ; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. — Proverbs viii. 11. ►J* Turn not thine eyes upon the backward view; Let us look forward into sunny days, Welcome with joyous hearts the victory. Schiller. ®NE of the most valuable and one of the most infectious examples which can be set before the young, is that of cheerful working. Cheerfulness gives elas- ticity to the spirit, specters fly before it; difficulties cause no despair, for they are encountered with hope, and the mind ac- quires that happy disposition to improve opportunities which rarely fails of success. Samuel Smiles, The glory I shall seek is to know that my aim is infinite, and yet never pause in my course. Schliermacher. Try, then, to work a little less from the outside, and a little more from within. Fenelon. 152 mn^ 3l» J^REASURES of wickedness profit noth- ing ; but righteousness deliver eth from death, — Proverbs x. 2. God of the light and viewless air! Where summer breezes sweetly flow, Or, gathering in their angry might, The fierce and wintry tempests blow — All — from the evening's plaintive sigh, That hardly lifts the drooping flower, To the wild whirlwind's midnight cry — Breathe forth the language of thy power. God of the fair and open sky! How gloriously above us springs The tented dome of heavenly blue Suspended on the rainbov/'s wings! Each brilliant star that sparkles through. Each gilded cloud that wanders free, In evening's purple radiance, gives The beauty of its praise to thee. O. W. P. Peabody. ■z HE sweetness of the hidden God is the delight of life. Frederick W. Faber. June I. 153 n^HA T like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father^ so we also might walk in newness of life. — Romans vi. 4. 'F I were bewildered in the mazes of modern speculation about faith, I would resolve not to be all my life the victim of m.ere intellectual subtleties, but would reach up and grasp the noblest and fullest faith I can see, hold on to it, live in in it and by it, expecting it one day to be said of me, as of another : " Perplexed in faith, but pure in deeds, At last he beat his nausic out." I will take God, Duty, and Immortality, and with my eyes on my risen Lord, I will walk in newness of life. Anonymous. To Him no high, no low, no great, no small, He fills, He bounds, connects and equals all. Alexander Pope. 154 3une 2, T LOVE them that love 7ne : and those that seek me early shall find me. — Proverbs viii. 17. Lo ! the day of God is breaking; Light is in the sky! See the world to life awaking: Morning draweth nigh. Rev. Charles G. Ames. '^T'HERE is always one bright thought in ^^ our minds, when all the rest are dark. There is one thought out of which a moder- ately cheerful man can alwa5''s make some satisfactory sunshine, if not a sufficiency of it. It is the thought of a bright, populous heaven. There is joy there at least, if there is joy nowhere else. Frederick W. Faber, D. D. Enough to feel That God, indeed, is good. Enough to know, Without the gloomy cloud He would reveal No beauteous bow. William Croswell. 5une 3. 155 T-JEAR instruction^ and be wise, and refuse it not. — Proverbs viii. 33. AM very happy, solely because I have reached that upper ether of spiritual calm which envy, jealousy, and malice can- not reach. I do common v/ork — plenty of it — but in a spirit of consecration which ennobles it, at least to me, Mrs. Mary Clemmer Hudson. Prune thou thy words, the thoughts con- trol That o'er thee swell and throng ; They will condense v/ithin thy soul. And change to purpose strong. But he who lets his feelings run In soft, luxurious flow. Shrinks when hard service must be done, And faints at every v/oe. Faith's meanest deed more favor bears. When hearts and wills are weighed, Than brightest transports, choicest prayers. Which bloom their hour and fade. John Henry Newman. 156 5uttc 4. T^OR whoso fiiideth me findeth life., and shall obtain favor of the Lord. — Proverbs "'^iii. 35- Before the hills in order stood, Or earth received her frame. From everlasting Thou art God, To endless years the same. Isaac Watts. IJJVERY human being is intended to. ^^ have a character of his own, to be what no other is, to do what no other can. W. E. Channing. The very difficulties of life, of which we are so apt to complain, are converted into the means of that discipline, that self- improvement, which is the great end of life. Let a man's present desires be met and satisfied without any exertion on his part, and he would be content to remain as he is. Progress is the child of struggle, and struggle is the child of difficulty. James Walker. 5une 5. 157 jDLESSEB is the man that heareth vie, watching daily at 7ny gates, Tjaiting at the posts of my doors. — Proverbs viii. 34. But he that sinneth against me wrongetJi his own soul. — Proverbs viii. 2)^. The world may change from old to new, From new to old again ; Yet hope and heaven, forever true, Within man's heart remain. The dreams that bless the weary soul, The struggles of the strong, Are steps toward some happy goal, The story of Hope's song. Sarah Flower Adams. HN untiring sense of duty, an active con- sciousness of the perpetual presence of Him who is its author and its law, and a lofty aim beyond the grave — these are the best and most efficient parts, in every sense, of that apparatus wherewith v/e should be armed, v/hen with full purpose of heart we address ourselves to the life-long work of self-improvement. Wm. Ewart Gladstone. 158 5une 6. AJOT that 7ve are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves j but our sufficiency is of God. — 2 Cor. iii, 5. ^^HE circumstances of our daily life, the ^^ difficulties, the disappointments, the denials of our lot, our state of health or of fortune, the faults or errors of those Avith whom we live — these and such-like influ- ences pressing upon us form an entire system of discipline, which continuously acts upon us. T. T. Carter. »!- Alas ! if the principles of contentment are not within us. Sterne. . . .This outer world we tread on — as a harp — A gracious instrument on whose fair strings We learn those airs we shall be set to play When mortal hours are ended. Jean Ingelow. It is the man who is the missionary, it is not his words. His character is his message. Henry Drummond. 5une 7. 159 "Y^MjE Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to fa7nish j but he casteth away the substance of the wicked. — Proverbs x. 3. HLL true science begins in the love, not the dissection of your fellow-creatures: and it ends in the love, not the analysis, of God. John Ruskin. The painter or sculptor who makes nature and the human form more lovable, and the musician w^ho carries us out of the reach of care into realms where the air we breathe is love, is a revealer to us of the nature of God. Canon Freemantle. All noblest things are religious — not temples and martyrdoms only, but the best books, pictures, poetry, statues, and music. Wm. Mountford. Set your pride in its proper place, and never be ashamed of any honest calling. Jean Ingelow. i6o 5une S. J^A TRED stln-eth up strifes; but love cove?^- eth all sins. — Proverbs x. 12. ♦JTF we've got something to remember which ■■ turned out well, it heartens us up against disappointment afterward. And the more we've seen and known, the less we decide what is a disappointment. If a bird of the air carries away the seed we've sown, it will may be drop it somewhere else. I'm begin- ning to see these things now, when it's nearly too late. Edmund Garrett. Hope leads the child to plant the flov/er. The man to sow the seed; Nor leaves fulfillment to her hour, But prompts again to deed. Nor loss nor shame, nor grief nor sin, Her promise may gainsay; The voice Divine hath spoke within. And God did ne'er betray. Sarah Flower Adams. June 9. i6r JJ/ISE 77ieti lay up knowledge : but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. — Proverbs x. 14. When in His steps we tread Who trod the way of woe; Where He is in the heart, City of God ! thou art. Francis T. Palgrave. ^T'HE great comprehensive truths written ^i^ on every page of our history are these: Human happiness has no perfect security but freedom; freedom none but virtue ; virtue none but knowledge; and neither freedom nor virtue has any vigor or im- mortal hope except in the principles of the Christian faith, and in the sanction of the Christian religion. Josiah Quincy. Everywhere there is something to learn and to do, something to be delighted with. Goethe. Be one of the very few who, a thing to be done, will not trust it to the uncertain to- morrow. Mrs. Mulock. i62 3.une 10. ^HE tofigue of the just is as choice silver- : the heart of the wicked is little worth. — Proverbs x. 20. Doth not song To the whole world belong ? Is it not given wherever tears can fall, Wherever hearts can melt, or blushes glow, Or mirth and sadness mingle as they flow, A heritage to all ? Mrs. Craig-Knox. ♦II'T was so then; it is so now. I have seen ■■ hard fighters among poor men and rich men: some on sick beds and some in the world, in whom I am sure the love of God was perfecting itself. One longed to sit at their feet and learn wisdom. But it was the wisdom of life, not the wisdom of letters; and in life it must be learned. They were striving, according to St. John's precept, to walk even as Christ walked; to live, by daily trust and daily self-renunciation, as He lived. F. D. Maurice. 'JTHE Messing of tJie Lord, it maketh Tick, and he addeth no sorrow with it. — Proverbs x. 22. XIFE is a search after power, says Emer- son. But it is a search after that most potent power, spiritual energy. Lilian Whiting. No benefactor is equal to him who peo- ples life with new and loft^^ ideals. Goethe. ►5- A SENSE of an earnest v;ill To help the lowly living, And a terrible heart-thrill, If you have no power of giving: An arm to aid the weak, A friendly hand to the friendless; Kind words, so short to speak, But whose echo is endless : The world is wide, these things are small. They may be nothing, but they are all. Lord Houghton. 1 64 5une 12. n^HE hope of the i-ighteous shall be glad- ness: The way of the Lo?'d is strength to the upright. — Proverbs x. 28-29. EVERYTHING you need to make you ^^ good, wise, humble, lovely, useful, and happy is comprehended in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Pulsford. Only the strong can be truly gentle, either physically, mentally, or morally. Nor is gentleness inconsistent with boldness and courage; rather do we expect to find these qualities at their best and highest when together. Alexander Pope. •i- Why thus longing, thus forever sighing For the far-off, unattained, and dim; While the beautiful, all round thee lying, Offers up its low, perpetual hymn ? Wouldst thou listen to its gentle teaching. All thy restless yearning it would still. Leaf and flower and laden bee are preaching Thine own sphere, though humble, first to fill. Mrs. Liszt. 5une 13. 165 'T^HE tnouth of the just bringeth forth wis- dom : but the froward tongue shall be cut out. — Proverbs x. ^i. There is no place where earthly sorrows Are so felt as up in heaven; There is no place where earthly failings Have such kindly judgment given. For the love of God is broader Than the measure of man's mind, And the heart of the Eternal Is most wonderfully kind. F. W. Faber, D D. ID IRTUE is bold, and goodness never fearful. Shakspeare. ►5- It is only when we suffer ourselves, that we feel truly the real nature of all the high qualities which are required to bear suffer- ing. Goethe. It is astonishing what a lot of odd minutes one can catch during the day, if one really sets about it. Mrs. Mulock. i66 June 14. /J FALSE bala?ice is aboinmation to the Lord : but a jtist %veight is his delight. — Proverbs xi. i. The thought that leads to no action is not thought; it is dreaming. But all that is beautiful, all that is bright, Shining, and glorious in Truth's chrismal light, The helpful, the hopeful, the true, and the wise. The unselfish action that meets glad sur- prise, All grand inspiration to nobler deeds. All effort and thought for humanity's needs, All that makes life worth the living will stay, These are the deathless, these live on for aye. Eliza Lamb Martyn. What thy soul teaches learn to know. And play out thine appointed part. And thou shalt reap as thou shalt sow. Nor helped nor hindered in thy grov/th, To thy full stature thou shalt grow. Pakenham Beatty. 5unc 15. 167 rpiRST the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. — Mark iv. 28. Ten thousand thousand precious gifts My daily thanks employ; Nor is the least a cheerful heart That tastes those gifts with joy. Through every period of my life Thy goodness I'll pursue; And after death, in distant worlds, The glorious theme renew. Joseph Addison. HRCHIBALD was not the only person who sighed for a standpoint, that he might move the world. Patience and per- severance find the standpoint. Edith Robinson. Recompense injury with justice, and re- compense kindness with kindness. Confucius. When we know how to appreciate merit we have the germ of it within ourselves. Goethe. 1 68 5une 16. TJ/'HEN pride cometh, then cotneth shame: but with the lowly is wisdom. — Proverbs xi. 2. He sendeth sun, he sendeth shower, Alike they're needful to the flower; And joys and tears alike are sent To give the soul fit nourishment. As comes to me, or cloud or sun, Father! Thy will, not mine, be done. Sarah Flower Adams. "T is sometimes said that this world is a world only of shadows and phantoms. We may safely reply that, whatever it is, a world of shadows and phantoms it can never truly be; for by shadows and phantoms, we mean vague existences, which neither endure nor act; . . . With such a description as this, I say, our human life, in whatever state or station, can never correspond. It may be something better than this; it may be some- thing worse, but this it can never be. Wm. Ewart Gladstone. To all the living there is hope. — Ecclesi- astes ix. 4. 5une 17. 1^9 T-JE that diligently seeketh good procureth favor: but he that seeketh mischiefs it shall come 7into hiui. — Proverbs xi. 27. Sorrows humanize the race; Tears are the showers that fertiUze the world ; And memory of things precious keepeth warm The heart that once did hold them. . . . They are poor That have lost nothing; they are poorer far Who, losing, have forgotten; the most poor Of all, who lose and wish they might forget. Jean Ingelow. »^ God reads the soul, and not the face; He hears the thoughts,and not the tongue. In H-eaven the features wear no grace Save that v/hich round the spirit hung; And only they are lovely seen Whose lives on earth have noble been. Ernest Shurtleff. I70 5unc IS. n^HERE is that scattereth, and yet increas- eth J and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. — Proverbs xi. 24. ►^ HLL the events of life are the materials out of which we may make what we will NOVALIS. It Belief and trust in all things good and noble, and with no hatred save for what was false, and base, and mean. " Make Thou my spirit pure and clear." Mrs. Ewing. The true measure of time is that which makes each man's life a day, his day. The real night is that in which no man can work. Mrs. Ewing. Upraise thy heart and seek the highest thought Which can reflect itself in human soul. J. L. Spalding. To love God is to love goodness: that is, to love our highest and grandest thought of goodness. Alexander Pope. 3unc \9, 171 J J /HERE no counsel is, the people fall : but in the niuliitude of counselors there is safety. — Proverbs xi. 14. *V O BROODING spirit of Wisdom and of Love, Whose mighty wings even now o'er- shadow me, Absorb me in Thine own immensity, And raise me far my finite self above ! Purge vanity away, and the weak care That name or fame of me may widely spread ; And the deep v/ish keep burning in their stead, Thy blissful influence afar to bear, Or see it borne ! Let no desire of ease, No lack of courage, faith, or love, delay Mine own steps on that high thought- paven way In which my soul her clear commission sees: Yet with an equal joy let me behold Thy chariot o'er that way by others rolled. Wm. Rowan Hamilton. XIFE is a journey, and death a return home. It is better to suffer an injury than to commit one. — Chinese Maxims. 172 5une 20. A GRACIOUS ivo7na7i retaineth hotiour ; and strong inen retain riches. — Proverbs xi. i6. Time, like an ever-roliing stream, Bears all its sons away ; They fly, forgotten as a dream Dies at the opening day. Isaac Watts. ||VATIENCE, humility, and utter for- IIV getfulness of self are the true royal qualities. Thos. Hughes. Doing nothing for others is the undoing of ourself. We must be purposely kind and generous, or we miss the best part of existence. The heart that goes out of itself gets large and full. This is the great secret of the inner life. We do ourselves the most good doing something for others. Horace Mann. 5une 21. 173 J^E that is void of wisdom despiseth his neigh- bor; but a 7na7i of understanding holdeth his peace. — Proverbs xi. 12. ^■tfJACH of us can take one hour from ^^ the twenty-four to promote our fondest wish or ambition. To what shall the hour be given ? The answer which each reader wishes involuntarily to make to this question, will afford him a key to his own character and the present condition of his mind and soul. Rev. T. Morris. Gather up and preserve the time, Seneca. Life hath its Tabor heights, Its lofty mounts of heavenly recognition, Whose unveiled glories flash to earth munition Of love and truth and clear intuition. Sarah Doudney. 174 5une 22. HTHE fruit of the righteous is a tree of life j and he that winneth souls is wise. — Prov- erbs xi. 30. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace ; Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face. Wm. Cowper. ■wf^NERGY of character has always a ^^^ power to evoke energy in others. It acts through sympathy, one of the most influential of human agencies. The zealous, energetic man unconsciously carries others along with him. He exercises a sort of electric pov/er, which sends a thrill through every fiber, flows into the nature of those about him, and makes them give out sparks of fire. Saml. Smiles. When we think most for others, God thinks most for us. M. Henry. ►I- Jesus, as the name of the Incarnate God, calls for our love. Fr. Hall. 5une 23. 175 JN whom also ye also are biiilded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. — ■ Ephesians ii. 22. 'JT^HE human soul is like a bird born in a ^» cage. Nothing can deprive it of its natural longings, or obliterate the mysteri- ous remembrance of its heritage. Epes Sargent. All one's life is a music if one touches the notes rightly and in tune. John Ruskin. •^ We are builders of our own characters. We have different positions, spheres, ca- pacities, privileges, different work to do in the world, different temporal fabrics to raise; but we are all alike in this — all are architects of fate. J. F. W. Ware. The measure of life is not length, but honesty. Lyly. 176 5une 24. 'DE like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. — Philippians HND as to hoping, as long as we're sure our hopes is reunion the same way as the Lord's, I reckon we can't be too hopeful. Edna Lyall. Let me not deem that I was made in vain, Or that my Being w^s an accident. Which Fate, in worr ng its sublime intent, Not wished to be, to hinder would not deign. Each drop, uncounted in a storm of rain, Hath its own mission, and is duly sent To its own leaf, or blade, not idly spent 'Mid myriad dimples on the shipless main. The very shadows of an insect's wing, For which the violet cared not while it stayed, Yet felt the lighter for its vanishing, Proved that the sun was shining by its shade: Then can a drop of the eternal spring. Shadow of living lights, in vain be made ? John Keats. 5unc 25. 177 T/jyiTH whotn is ?io variableness, neither shadow of turning. — J a m e s i . 17. ** Lord ! how in darkness can I see aright ? '* Child ! all the universe I fill with light; Be true within, and truth shall cleanse thy sight. More than all speech the Silent Order saith; All laws of life are articles of faith; Who loves and seeks for good, behold he prayeth. Charles Gordon Ames. ♦ITN the return of benefits let us be ready ■I and cheerful, but not pressing. There is as much greatness of mind in the owing of a good turn as in the doing of it. Seneca. Kind listening leads to kind speak- ing. . . The occasions for kind actions are manifold. No one passes a day without meeting with these fortunate opportunities. They grow around us even while we lie on a bed of sickness, and the helpless are rich in a power of kindness toward the helpful. F. W. Faber. 17^ June 26. T^ECEIT is ill the heart of them that imagine evil : but to the counselors of peace is joy. — Proverbs xii. 20. mNLESS a variety of opinions are laid before us, we have no opportunity of selection; the purity of gold cannot be ascertained by a single specimen. Herodotus. ►J- All true work is sacred; in all true work, were it but true hand labor, there is some- thing of divineness. Thomas Carlyle. If words of thine have cheered one failing heart, Kindled anew one fading altar fire. Thy work is not a failure; chords are touched That shall re-echo from the angel choir. Mrs. H. F. Thomas. The vital power of good example lives on from generation to generation, keeping the world ever fresh and young. Samuel Smiles. June 27. 179 JDIGHTEOUSNESS keepeth him that is tipright ill the ivay. — Proverbs xiii. 6. Only by pride cometh contention : hut with the well-advised is wisdom. — Proverbs xiii. i o. 4- When my ill-schooled spirit is aflame Some nobler, ampler stage of life to win, I'll stop and say, ''There were no succor here ! The aids to nobler life are all within." Matthev/ Arnold. ME reap what we sow, but Nature has love over and above that justice, and gives us shadow and blossom and fruit that spring from no planting of ours. George Eliot. "Let patience have her perfect work," and bring forth celestial fruits. Trust to God to weave your little thread into a web, though the pattern show not yet, George MacDonald. Man's strength is not in himself. C. Capen. i8o 5unc 28. I^LESSE£> are the pure in Jieart^ for they shall see God. — Matthew v. 8. yf^UR soul is unlovely by reason of in- Vi^ iquity : by loving God it becomes lovely. St. Augustine. All the sweet sympathy, secretly shown, All the charity, hidden, unknown, All the compassion that lit the dark way. All the pity for those gone astray. All of the love, that divine password given, Admitting the earth-weary pilgrims to heaven. O blessed Love ! how thy bright chalice glows. Refilled till the cup with the red wine o'er- flows. O purest Love ! the great conqueror of death. Nothing can live without thy holy breath. O all-potent Love ! who comprehends Thy infinite issues and thy divine ends ? Lcve ! that makes deathless our grandest ideal, All else fade and vanish, thou only art real. Eliza Lamb Martyn. 3mc 29. i8i yj SOFT ansiver iurneth away wrath. The tongue of the wise useth kriowledge aright. — Proverbs xv. 1-2. How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in His excellent word ! What more can He say than to you He hath said, You who unto Jesus for refuge have fled : " Fear not, I am with thee; Oh, be not dis- mayed. For I am thy God, and will give thee aid." George Keith. MARM breezes stole in at the open windows ; the scent of v/iid flov/ers borne upon the wind from the ravines and hills mingled with the breath of evening ; Nature lay calm and sympathetic; radiance, peace, and love pervaded the world ; the sunlight touches each object with a soft caress; and one feels in every pore of his being the harmony that springs from the profound tenderness of inanimate things. ''And God ruleth with love." Victor Hugo. i82 5unc 30. n^HE eyes of the Lord are in every place, be- holding the evil and the good. — Proverbs XV. 3. Oh, that I were the great soul of a world ! A glory in space ! By the glad hand of Omnipotence hurled Sublime on its race ! Reflecting the marvelous beauty of heaven, Encircled with joy; To endure when the orbs shall wax dim that are given Old Time to destroy ! Oh, that I were this magnificent spirit ! Embodied to prove The measureless bliss they were sure to inherit. Who lived in my love: With elements infinite fitted for taking All forms of my will — To give me forever the rapture of making More happiness still ! William Kennedy. The glory is not in the task, but in the doing it for God. Jean Ingelow, 5ul8 1, 183 V^LESSED are the poor in spirit : for their s is the kingdom of heave?!, — Matthew 4pRM must be the will, patient the heart, Jl passionate the aspiration, to secure the fulfilment of some high and lonely purpose, when reverie spreads always its bed of roses on the one side, and practical work sum- mons to its treadmill on the other. Samuel Smiles. ►^ Accident does very little toward the production of any great result in life. Though sometimes what is called ''a happy hit" may be made by a bold venture, the common highway of steady industry and application is the only safe road to travel. Samuel Smiles. The sublimity of wisdom is to do those things living which are to be desired when dying. Bishop Taylor. As every thread of gold is valuable, so is every moment of time. Canon Farrar. 1^4 5uli2 2. JJ/I THOU T faith it is impossible to please him. — Hebrews xi. 6. ^JfClENCE tells us there has been a «^ survival of the fittest. Doubtless this is so. So in the future there will be a sur- vival of the fittest. What is it ? Wisdom, gentleness, meekness, brotherly kindness, charity. Over those v/ho have these traits, death hath aq> permanent power. Bishop Warren. To dare is great. To bear is greater. Bravery we share with the brutes: Forti- tude with saints. C. F. Deems. His be the praise who, looking down with scorn On the false judgment of the partial herd. Consults his own clear heart, and boldly dares To be, not to be thought, an honest man. Philemon. If we were filled with the spirit of real Christian truth, we should hesitate before giving expression to the glib judgment. Rev. E. W. Donald. 5uls 3. 185 jOLESSED are the peace-makers : for they shall be called the children of God. — Matthew v. 9. Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wings, Thy better portion trace: Rise from transitory things Tow^ard heaven, thy native place; Sun and moon and stars decay; Time shall soon this earth remove: Rise, my soul, and haste away To seats prepared above. Robert Seagrave. ''J^HE morning is the gate of the day, and Vi/ should be guarded with prayer. Fair is that lone star which smiles though the rifts of the thunder-clouds; bright is the oasis which blooms in the wilderness of sand; so fair and so bright is love in the midst of wrath. Great hearts can only be made by great troubles. Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. The useless mien are those who never change with the years. J. M. Barrie. 1 86 3ul5 4. A MERR V heart makeih a cheerful count- enance. — Proverbs xv. 13. ♦Jf F you have built castles in the air, your II work need not be lost: that is where they should be : now put foundations under them. Thoreau. If we be honest with ourselves, We shall be honest with each other. Geo. MacDonald. Every rose is an autograph from the hand of the Almighty God. On this world about us He has inscribed His thought, in those marvelous hieroglyphs which sense and science have been these many thou- sand years seeking to understand. The universe itself is a great autograph of the Almighty. Theodore Parker. Oh, that we could always think of God as we do of a friend, as of one who unfeign- edly loves us, even more than we do our- selves! Richard Baxter. 5ulB 5, 187 UETTER is little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure, and trouble thereivith. — Proverbs xv. 16. In having all things, and not Thee, what have I ? Not having Thee, what have my labors got? Let me enjoy but Thee, what further crave I ? And having Thee alone, what have I not ? Francis Quarles, ♦fT WILL govern my life, and my thoughts, ■I as if the whole world were to see the one, and to read the other. Seneca. Those who have the most of it [happi- ness] think the least about it. But in thinking about and in doing their duty happiness comes — because the heart and mind are occupied with earnest thought that touches at a thousand points the beau- tiful and sublime realities of the universe. Thackeray. 1 88 5ul2 6. A AT AN hath joy by the answer of his mouth : a?id a word spoke7i in due sea- son^ how good is it. — Proverbs xv. 23. -i- OuR many deeds, the thoughts that we have thought — They go out from us thronging every hour ; And in them all is folded up a power That on the earth doth move them to and fro. And mighty are the marvels they have wrought In hearts we know not, and may never know. F. W. Faber, HFATE rules the words of wise men which makes their words truer, and worth more than the men themselves know. John Ruskin. Our life is always deeper than v/e know, it is always more divine than it seems, and hence we are able to survive degradations and despairs which otherwise must have en- gulfed us. Henry James. It is greatness of soul alone that never grows old. Pericles. 'l^HE light of the eyes 7'ejoiceth the heart : The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise. • There'll come a time near the setting sun, When the joys of life seem few; A rift will break in the evening dun, And the golden light stream through. MiNOT J. Savage. jpROM that Cross on Calvary has streamed JJ a light that has illumined all the world. Not one of all the sons of all the centuries that lie between but has felt the inspiration and the influence of that wonderful death- scene. Scoffer or saint, doubter or disciple — not one but has been touched and strength- ened by the real story of the Cross. Priestly inventions and infidel ''realisms" have never been able to weaken its grandeur or minimize its potency. It was the simplest yet the grandest of all the world's historic happenings — the giving that was gaining. Elbridge S. Brooks. I90 5ull2 8. /^OMAIIT thy luorks unto the Lord^ a?id thy thoughts shall be established. — Proverbs xvi. 3. mINDNESS has converted more sin- ners than either zeal, eloquence, or learning ; and these three never converted anyone unless they were kind also. The continual sense which a kind heart has of its own need of kindness keeps it humble. J. J. Murray. All the vexations and sorrov/ and strife, All of the mystery enwreathing a life, The duties we shrank from in terror and tears. The shadowy phantoms, precursors of fears. The hard obligations we fain would let go. And all the possessions that burden us so, The falsehoods and follies and useless re- grets,— The fragments and frailties that weakness begets These will perish, these will decay, These, evanescent, will vanish away. Anonymous. 3m 9. 191 r ET your light so shine before men^ that they may see your good 7aorks^ and glorify your Father which is in heaven. — Matthew v. 16. Blest is the tranquil hour of morn, And biest the hour of solemn eve, When, on the wings of prayer upborne, The world I leave. C. Eliot. /T^OD is ever drawing like toward like, ^*^ and making them acquainted. Ibid. Certain defects are necessary for the existence of individuality. We should not be pleased if old friends were to lay aside certain peculiarities. Goethe. Mere nature may deteriorate. The en- dowments of force must spend themselves. Wound-up watches and worlds must run down. But nature sustained by unexpendi- ble forces must abide. Nature filled with unexpendible forces continues in form. Nature impelled by a magnificent push of life, must ever rise. Bishop Warren. 192 5ul^ 10» "DETTER is a little 7m th righteousness, thafz great revenues without right. — Proverbs xvi. 8. •!- When peace has departed the care-stricken breast, And the feet of the weary one languish for rest; When the world is a wide-spreading ocean of grief, How blest the return the bird and the leaf; Reliance on God is the dove to our ark, And peace is the olive she plucks in the dark. Charles Mackay. 4- /f%H, the depth and tenderness! Oh, the ^^ divine eternity of a mother's love! The same in the wilds of savagery as in the homes of culture; as supreme in the Pales- tine, the Rome, the Egypt of an ancient time as in the modern cities of these latter days . . . and the English poet has but voiced the faith of all sorts and conditions of men when he sings: " A mother is a mother still, The holiest thing alive" Elbridge S. Brooks. 5ul^ ll« 1 93 T^O W much better is it to get wisdom than gold 2 — Proverbs xvi. i6. MHAT fairy palaces we may build of beautiful thoughts — proof against all adversity — bright fancies, satisfied memories, noble histories, faithful say- ings; treasure-houses of precious and rest- ful thoughts, which care cannot disturb, nor pain make gloomy, nor poverty take away from us — houses, built without hands, for our souls to live in. John Ruskin. There's never an always cloudless sky, There's never a vale so fair. But over it sometimes shadows lie In a chill and songless air. But never a cloud o'erhung the day. And flung its shadows down. But on its heaven-side gleamed some ray, Forming a sunshine crown. MiNOT J. Savage. 194 5ulK) 12. T-JE that handleth a matter wisely shall find good. — Proverbs xvi. 20. H COMMANDING love has made a homely face beautiful with aspiration and self-sacrifice. What may we not expect when the spirit of God, without measure, breaks through a physical nature molded to the perfection of grace and harmony ? S. S. Helker. Walk with the Beautiful and with the Grand, Let nothing on the earth thy feet deter; Sorrow may lead thee, weeping, by the hand, But give not all thy bosom thoughts to her; Walk with the Beautiful. I hear thee say, '' The Beautiful! what is it?" Oh, thou art darkly ignorant! be sure *Tis no long weary road its form to visit, For thou canst make it smile beside thy door ; Then love the Beautiful. E. H. BURRINGTON. 3ulB 13. 195 pLEASANT words are as an honey -comb ^ siveet to the soul, and health to the bones. — Proverbs xvi. 24. ♦IfT is not always the depth or the novelty II of a thought which constitutes its value to ourselves, but the fitness of its applica- tion to our circumstances. Sewell. The earnestness of life is the only pass- port to the satisfaction of life. Theodore Parker. Since the '' sting of death is sin," Make us. Lord, so pure within That the grave may be Only a sweet couch of rest. Where, beneath earth's sheltering breast, We shall wait for Thee. E. M. COMSTOCK. Life is a quarry, out of which we are to mold and chisel and complete a character. Goethe. 196 5uli2 14. "T^HE heart of the wise teacheth his mouthy and addeth learning to his lips. — Proverbs xvi. 23. Comes a day will bring its own sufficient store, When, forgetting how to borrow, I, from God, shall be a giver evermore; To-morrow, dear, to-morrov/. After one delicious trance is overslept, I shall wake, forgetting sorrow ; I shall smile to think how weakly once I wept ; To-morrow, yes, to-morrow. Charles Gordon Ames. 'JT^HERE good works do follow them: VU either their own good works and words which outlive themselves, or those which they have inspired in their successors and survivors. The vision of a noble character, the glimpse of a new kind of virtue does not perish . . . this keeps alive in us the ideal of human nature and the essence of the Divine nature. Dean Stanley. 5ulB 15. 197 ID UT we all, with unveiled face, reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are trans- for77ied into the same image from glory to glory y even as from the Lord the Spirit. — 2 Cor- inthians iii. 18 {Revised Version). Sweet is the work, my God, my King, To praise Thy name, give thanks, and sing; To show Thy love by morning light, And talk of all Thy truth at night. Isaac Watts. ®UR life may be food to us, or may, if we will have it so, be poison ; but one or the other it must be. Whichever and whatever it is, beyond all doubt it is emi- nently real. So merely as the day and the night alternately follow one another, does every day when it yields to darkness, and every night when it passes into dawn, bear with it its own tale of the results which it has silently wrought upon each of us, for evil or for good. The day of diligence, duty, and devotion leaves it richer than it found us; richer sometimes, and even com- monly, in our circumstances ; richer always in ourselves. Wm. Ewart Gladstone. 19^ 5ulv 16. T^ETTER is a dry morsel., and quietness there- with^ than a house full of sacrifices with strife. — Proverbs xvii. i. /Jf OMEONE has said that ours is an age <^ when everyone wants to reform the world, but no one thinks of reforming him- self. We must begin with ourselves. . . Life for God in public is a mere sounding brass and tinkling cymbal unless it is balanced by life with God in secret. Rev. James Stalker, D. D. The soul of man is larger than the sky; Deeper than ocean, or the abysmal dark Of the unfathomed center. Like that Ark, Which in its sacred hold uplifted high. O'er the drowned hills, the human family, And stock reserved of every living kind, So, in the compass of a single mind. The seeds and pregnant forms in essence lie, That makes all worlds. Hartley Coleridge. 5ul^ 17. 199 J/f/JIOSO rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart f7-om his house. A fi'iendloveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. — Proverbs xvii. 13-17. mo one leads so calm a life as he who thinks but little of himself. St. Augustine. My bark is wafted to the strand By breath divine; And on the helm there rests a hand. Other than mine. One who has known in storms to sail I have on board; Above the raving of the gale I hear my Lord. Dean of Canterbury. Prayer is the peace of our spirit, the stillness of our thought, the evenness of our recollection, the seat of meditation, the rest of our cares, and the calm of our tempest; prayer is the issue of a quiet mind, of untroubled thoughts; it is the daughter of charity, and the sister of meekness. Jeremy Taylor. 200 5ull2 18, JJ/ISDOM is before hi7n that hath undej-- standing. — Proverbs xvii. 24. '^^HREE things which a man ought to Vt' do with his heart: to feel it, to teach it, and to fear it. . . Three godhke quaUties in man: patient endurance, sincere and disinterested love, and renumeration of that which is temporal. Love is the happy privilege of the mind — Love is the reason of all living things. A Trinity there seems of principles, Which represent and rule created life — The love of self, our fellows, and our God. In all throughout one common feeling reigns : Each doth maintain, and is maintained by the other: All are compatible — all needful; one To life, — to virtue one, — and one to bliss: Which thus together make the power, the end. And the perfection of created Being: From these three principles comes every deed. Desire, and will, and reasoning, good or bad. Philip James Bailey. 5ulv 19» 20I A MERRY heart doeth good like a medi- cine. — Proverbs xvii. 22. Are there not aspirations in each heart After a better, brighter world than this ? Longings for beings nobler in each part — Things more exalted — steeped in deeper bliss ? Who gave us these ? what are they ? Soul, in thee The bud is budding now for immortality! Robert Nicoll. fN seeing the life of Jesus, men have felt the silent rebuke upon their own low lives. In the admiration which has deepened into love, they have recognized the pres- ence of unsuspected ideals and become con- scious of a power to realize them. Forget- ful of themselves, they have followed that life along its path of beauty and power, and seen it end in a death which revealed at once not only the vanity but the horror of sin, and yet shov/ed that neither sin nor death can separate God's child from his love and care. Rev. Leighton Parks, (His Star in the East.) \ 202 5ulg 20. n^HE words of a maii s mouth are as deep zvaters, and the well-spi'iug of wisdom as a flowing brook, — Proverbs xviii. 4. ►I* Sometimes I catch sv/eet glimpses of His face, But that is all. Sometimes He looks on me and seems to smile, But that is all. Sometimes He speaks a passing word of peace, But that is all. Sometimes I think I hear His loving voice Upon me call. Nay, do not wrong Him by thy heavy thoughts, But love His love! Do thou full justice to His tenderness, His mercy prove: Take Him for what He is; Oh, take Him all And look above. H. BONAR. j|^RET not over your heavy troubles, for Jl they are the heralds of weighty mercies. Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. 5uls 2U 203 n^HE heart of the prudent getteth knowledge. — Proverbs xviii. 15. XOVE, unselfish love, is there spoken of [New Testament] again and again as the fundamental essence of the highest life of God; and it is also evident on the face of the Gospels that it is the fundamental motive and characteristic of the life and death of Christ. It is this love stronger than death, this love willing to spend itself for others, that is the blood of the life in which God is well pleased. Dean Stanley. For God, being love, in love created all, As he contains the whole and penetrates. Seraphs love God, and angels love the good: We love each other; and these lower lives. Which walk the earth in thousand divers shapes. According to their reason, love us too: The most intelligent affect us most. Nay, man's chief wisdom's love — the love of God. Philip James Bailey. 204 JUlS 22» A MAN' that hath ff-iejids must shoiu hwiself "*" friendly ; and thej'e is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. — Proverbs xviii. 24. How purely true, how deeply warm, The inly breathed appeal may be, Though adoration wears no form, In upraised hand or bended knee ! One spirit fills all boundless space. No limit to the when or where ; And little recks the time or place That leads the soul to praise and prayer. Eliza Cook. fF for some of us action cannot mean doing, then remember bearing, too, is action — often its hardest part. W. C. Gannett. The heroic example of other days is in great part the source of the courage of each generation ; and men walk composedly to the most perilous enterprises, beckoned onward by the shades of the braves that were. S. Helps. 5uli2 23, 205 TJ/HATSOEVER ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord. — Colossians iii. 23. SUCH is life ! We are brought near per- sons we love or who do us good for a time ; and then they part from us, or we are parted from them. We gain friends, and lose them out of sight ; we have bless- ings and forfeit them ; all is change ; . . . and all this to teach us, amid all which changes, to trust alone in Him who changeth not ; to use faithfully all He gives us. E. B. PUSEY. The things of earth Are copies of the things in Heaven, more close, More clear, more near, more intricately linked, More subtly, than men guess. Edwin Arnold. ►I- Hope — Memory. Hope is the morning blush of joy ; Memory is the evening radi- ance. J. P. RiCHTER. Prescribe to yourself an ideal ; then live up to it. Epictetus. 2o6 5iiig 24. T-JEAR counsel^ and receive instruction, that thou 7nayest be wise in thy latter end. — Proverbs xix. 20. BRING before us the truth that by law, by order, by due subordination of means to ends, as in the material, so in the moral world, the will of God is best carried out. Dean Stanley. In the cloud of the human soul there is a fire stronger than the lightning, and a grace more precious than the rain. John Ruskin. Ay, love it ; 'tis a sister that will bless, And teach thee patience when the heart is lonely. The angels love it ; for they wear its dress. And thou art made a little lower only ; Then love the Beautiful. E. H. Burrington. 5ul^ 25. 207 /^O UNSEL in the heart of man is like deep water ; but a man of understanding will draw it out. — Proverbs xx. 5. fT seems to rne we can never give up longing and wishing while we are thoroughly alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger after them. George Eliot. Success and wealth may fill the years With joys that far outweigh the tears ; O dangerous quicksands 'neath our feet: — So careless, so prone to sin ! God keeps us beautiful within ! Emma L. Super. Each night is followed by its day. Moderation is the silken string running through the pearl chain of all virtues. Fr. Hall. 2o8 5ulB 2^, J^UT let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love. — I Thessalonians v. 8. fINE and noble theories are a good introduction to fine and noble practice. *'You have built your castle in air," said Thoreau; ''that's all very well; now put your foundations under it." Lilian Whiting. Haste not: let no reckless deed Mar for aye the spirit's speed; Ponder well, and know the right — Forward then with all thy might ! Haste not; years cannot atone For one reckless action done. Rest not; time is sweeping by — Do and dare before thou die: Something mighty and sublime Leave behind to conquer time: Glorious 'tis to live for aye, When these forms have passed away. Christopher Christian Cox. 3u!l2 27. 209 T^VEN a child is known by his doings^ whether his work be pure^ a?id whether it be right. — Proverbs xx. 11. H PRECIOUS thing is all the more precious to us, if it has been won by work or economy. John Ruskin. Oh, leave thyself to God ! and if indeed 'Tis given thee to perform so vast a task, Think not at all; think not, but kneel and ask. Oh, friend! by thought was never creature freed From any sin, from any mortal need. Be patient ! not by thought canst thou devise What course of life for thee is right and v/ise; It will be written up, and thou wilt read. Oft like a sudden pencil of rich light, Piercing the thickest umbrage of the wood. Will shoot, amid our troubles infinite. The Spirit's voice; oft, like the balmy flood Of morn, surprise the universal night With glory, and m.ake all things sweet and good. Thomas Burbridge. 2IO 5ulS 28. J-TE that is sloiu to anger is better than the mighty ; and he that ridetfi his spirit^ than he that taketh a city. — Proverbs xvi. 32. And this for comfort thou must know: Times that are ill won't still be so; Clouds will not ever pour down rain, A sullen day will clear again. R. Herrick. CONSIDER the dignity of this— to be admitted into so near converse v/ith the highest majesty. Were there nothing to follow, — no answer at all, — no prayer pays itself in the excellency of its nature, and the sweetness that the soul finds in it. Bishop Leighton. There is no selfishness and cruelty out- side of man himself; and his own active benevolence can combat and vanquish all. G. Bernard Shaw. Judge not thy friend until thou standest in his place. Rabbi Hillel. 5ulB 29, 211 IPPVERY ivay of a man is 7'ight in his own eyes j hut the Lord ponder eth the hearts. — Proverbs xxi. 2. ►I- Oh, prayer is good, when many pour Their voices in one solemn tone; Conning their sacred lessons o'er, Or yielding thanks for mercies shown. 'Tis good to see the quiet train Forget their worldly joy and care, While loud response and choral strain Re-echo in the house of prayer. Eliza Cook. •^ '^f'HIS faith of which the Scripture Vi/ speaks is not, as it is sometimes said, the paralysis of reason. It is the very glorification of reason. It is the powerful exercise of the whole spiritual nature in response to the divine call. Rev. Leighton Parks. {^His Star in the East. ) Always remembering, however intoxicat- ing the sense of mental power, that the intel- lectual life is too dearly bought at the cost of any womanly gentleness or sympathy. Edith Robinson. 212 5ulS 30. TT is joy to the just to do judgme?it, — Proverbs xxi. 15. *^ Be thou content; be still before His face, at whose right hand doth reign Fullness of joy for evermore, Without whom all thy toil is vain. He is thy living spring, thy sun, whose rays Make glad with life and light thy dreary days. Be thou content. Lyra Germanica. /f^F all vv^ork that produces results nine- Vi^ tenths must be drudgery. There is no work, from the highest to the lowest, which can be done well by any man who is un- willing to make that sacrifice. Part of the very nobility of the devotion of the true workman to his work consists in the fact that a man is not daunted by finding that drudgery must be done. . . And there is nothing which so truly repays itself as this very perseverance against weariness. Bishop of Exeter. Govern thyself, and you will be able to govern the world. — Chinese Maxim. 5uls 31, 213 A GOOD name is rather to be chosen than great riches^ and I oviiig favour rather than silver and gold. — Proverbs xxii. i. But often have I stood to mark The setting sun and closing flower; When silence and the gathering dark Shed holy calmness o'er the hour. Lone on the hills, my soul confessed More rapt and burning homage there, And served the Maker it addressed With stronger zeal and closer prayer. Eliza Cook. fEW of us have been so exceptionally unfortunate as not to find, in our own age, some experienced friend who has helped us by precious counsel, never to be forgotten. We cannot render it in kind; but perhaps in the fullness of time it may become our noblest duty to aid another as we have ourselves been aided, and to transmit to him an invaluable treasure. Philip Gilbert Hamerton. 214 Bngust I. n^HE rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the 7naker of them all. — Proverbs xxii. 2, 'T seems to me that our thoughts are a more true measure of ourselves than our actions are. . . The contradiction which too often exists between our outward actions and our inward intentions is only to be de- tected in the realm of our thoughts, whither none but God can penetrate. . . In like manner an impulse will sometimes show more of our real character than what we do after deliberation. Frederick W. Faber, D. D, Pray ior final perseverance; prepare for it by daily perseverance. Canon Farrar. The truth is higher than the mind that apprehends it. C. Capen. Each in his hidden sphere of joy or v/oe Our hermit spirits dwell, and range apart; Our eyes see all around, in gloom and glow, Hues of their own, fresh borrowed from the heart. John Keble. Bugust 2» 215 "DY humility and the fear of the Lo7'd are riches, a?id honour, and life. — Proverbs xxii. 4. Why do we heap huge mounds of years Before us and behind, And scorn the little days that pass Like angels on the wind ? Dinah Muloch Craik. SURELY we must believe in our divine origin, which places us above all worldly rank, above all riches, above all beauty. But it is not enough that we believe this; vv^e must realize also that with life power was given us to make use of life, each one after her own manner, each one of us ac- cording to the way the gift of life has been expressed in her. This individual ability it is which every one of us must strengthen to the utmost, try to lead out to perfec- tion, for to the utmost it will be required from us. Annie H. Ryder. Happy is the man that can be acquitted by himself in private, in public by others, in both by God. Trapp. 2i6 Buguet 3. J-JE that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed: for he giveth of his bread to the poor. — Proverbs xxii. 9. Man, in his weakness, needs a stronger stay Than fellow-man, the holiest and the best. And yet we turn to them from day to day, As if in them our spirits could find rest. Anonymous. IF T is better to receive than to do a wrong. Cicero. No stream from its source Flows seaward, how lonely soever its course, But some land is gladdened. No star ever rose And set without influence somewhere. No Hfe Can be pure in its purpose and strong in its strife. And all life not be purer and nobler thereby. Owen Meredith. Heaven and earth are threads of the same loom. Alfred Tennyson. Bugust 4. 217 /^A ST out the sconier, a?id conte7itw?i shall go out J yea, strife and reproach shall cease. — Proverbs xxii. 10. '^^HE fountain of Content must spring W^ up in the mind ; and he who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own dispositions, will waste his life in fruitless efforts, and multiply the griefs which he purposes to remove. S. Johnson. For who did ever yet in honor, wealth, Or pleasures of the sense, contentment find? Who ever ceased to wish, when he had health; Or, havingwisdom, was not vexed in mind? So when the soul finds here no true content, And, like Noah's dove, can no sure foot- ing take. She doth return from whence she first was sent. And flies to Him that first her wings did make. Sir John Davies. 2i8 Buau0t 5, AND this is life eternal, that they might kftow thee, the only true God. — John xvii. 3, O God ! how beautiful the thought, Flow merciful the blest decree, That Grace can e'er be found when sought, And naught shut out the soul from Thee. The ceil may cramp, the fetters gall, The flames may scorch, the rack may tear. But torture-stake, or prison-wall. Can be endured with Faith and Prayer. Eliza Cook. '^T'HE journey of high honor lies not in ^i^ smooth Avays. Sir Philip Sidney. If any misanthrope were to put in my presence the question, ''Why were we born?" I should reply, ''To make an effort." Charles Dickens. How can we tell what coming people are aboard the ships that may be sailing to us now from the unknown seas ? Charles Dickens. Bugust 6, 219 ZL7y4 VE I not written to thee excelle?it things in comisels and knowledge ? — Proverbs xxii. 20. *!« HO can weigh circumstances, pas- sions, temptations, that go to our good and evil account, save On#, before whose awful wisdom we kneel, and at whose mercy we ask absolution. Charles Dickens. It is the bounty of Nature that we live^ but of Philosophy that we live well; v/hich is, in truth, a greater benefit than life it- self. Seneca. Then, God has set us worthy gifts to earn, Besides Thy heaven and Thee! and when I say There's room here for the weakest man alive To live and die; — there's room, too, I re- peat. For all the strongest to live well and strive, Their own way, by their individual heat. Like a new bee-swarm leaving the old hive, Despite the wax which tempts so violet- sweet. Mrs. Browning. 220 BugiiSt 7. T ET not thine hea?'t envy smners : but be thou in the fea?- of the Lord all the day lo?ig. — Proverbs xxiii. 17. I KNOW not if the dark or bright Shall be my lot ; If that wherein my hopes delight Be best or not. My bark is wafted to the strand By breath divine, And on the helm there rests a Hand Other than mine. Dean Alvord. '^T'HEY who navigate little streams and ^i^ shallow creeks know but little of the God of tempests . . . Among the huge Atlantic-like waves of bereavement, pov- erty, temptation, and reproach, we learn the power of Jehovah because we feel the littleness of man. Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. Watch for the kind look and for the helpful word, not for the flitting, ill-hu- mored, selfish, sarcastic, only half-real ut- terance of thoughts. Annie H. Ryder. Bugust 8, 22 1 pOR surely there is an e?id ; and thine ex- pectations shall not be cut off. — Proverbs xxiii. i8. There's not a leaf that falls upon the ground But holds some joy, of silence or of sound, Some sprite begotten of a summer dream. The very meanest things are made supreme With innate ecstasy. No grain of sand But moves a bright and million-peopled land. Laman Blanchard 1|VEACE, hope, courage, faith be with you, lIV — not the faith that reaches, trembling, toward rest beyond the grave, but faith that reaches down deep — grasps 7ww the deep laid cable that moves the car of humanity now. Ferdinand Blanchard Have we not always found in our past ex- perience that, on the whole, our kind inter- pretations were truer than our harsh ones ? F. W. Faber. 22 2 BU0U6t 9. QALVATION is of the Z^r^.— Jonah ii. 9. He holds me when the billows smite; I shall not fall : If sharp, 'tis short ; if long, 'tis light; He tempers all. Dean Alvord. ♦IfF men will have no care for the future, ■" they will soon have sorrow for the past. — Chinese Maxim. 4- If we still ask, ''Tell me thy name? Give me some name by which that face, that name of Love may be made to speak, and smile, and guide us," this last blessed name is made known to us in prayer — in the best of all prayers, in the opening of the One Prayer which has, beyond any other formulary or creed, been translated into all the languages, and adopted by all the civilized nations of the earth. . . In the natural uplifting of the spirits of all man- kind to God in the Lord's Prayer is the name given ..." Our Father who art in Heaven "— '' Our Father." Dean Stanley. Bu0U6t 10. 223 lA/E 1^'ill walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever. — Micah iv. 5. There are hours, there are minutes, which memory brings. Like blossoms of Eden, to twine 'round the heart. And as Time rushes by on the might of his wings They may darken awhile, but they never depart — O those hallowed remembrances cannot decay ! But they come on the soul with a magi- cal thrill, And in days that are darkest, they kindly will stay. And the heart in its last throb will beat with them still. J. G. Percival. mO man or woman who has fallen can be restored to the position formerly held. Such must rise to a yet higher place, whence they can behold their former stand- ing far beneath their feet. Geo. MacDonald. 224 Buguet n. A ND the Lord their God shall saT^e them in that day as the flock of his people. — Zechariah ix. i6. mo great and permanent work comes out of a narrow and trivial life. . . For it is one of the eternal laws that the real life — that which is permanent and determining — depends little on external scenery. The spirit fashions its own world, regardless , of visible correspondence be- tween its inner visions of beauty and its actual environment of limitations or even deprivations. Fortunately, poverty of purse does not necessarily produce poverty of the spirit. Life may be so hedged in by cir- cumstances as to be narrow, but may always be deep and high. And it is height that affords an outlook. Lilian Whiting. We are watchers of a beacon Whose light shall never die ; We are guardians of an altar 'Mid the silence of the sky. Felicia Hemans. BugUBt 12. 225 J^EHOLD^ the day of the Lord cometh^ and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. — Zechariah xiv. i. ♦II^OW many plans for God's glory have ■■*^ fallen to the ground, which a bright look or a kind eye would have propped up ! But either because we v/ere busy with our own work and never looked at that of others, or because we were jealous and looked coldly and spoke critically, we have not come with this facile succor to the rescue not so much of our brother as of our dearest Lord himself. Rev. Frederick W. Faber, D. D. In hope a king doth go to war, , In hope a lover lives full long ; In hope a merchant sails full far ; In hope just men do suffer wrong ; In hope the plowman sows his seed ; Thus hope helps thousands at their need. Then faint not, heart, among the rest ; Whatever chance, hope thou the best. Richard Alison. 226 Bugust 13. AND it shall be in that day\ that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem. — Zechariah xiv. 8. The quality of mercy is not strained ; It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath : it is twice blessed ; It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes. Wm. Shakspeare. Our life is but a step in dusty way ; Then let us hold the bliss of peaceful mind ; Since this we feel, great loss we cannot find. Sir Philip Sidney. /1T00D resolutions seldom fail of pro- VJr^ ducing some good in the mind from which they spring. Charles Dickens. Blessed is he who has found his work ; let him ask no other blessedness ; he has a life purpose. Labor is life. Thomas Carlyle. Bugu6t 14. 227 J^OR all thmgs co?ne of thee^ and of thbie own have we given thee, — i Chronicles xxix. 14. "II^OU may choose to forsake your duties, Jj^ and choose not to have the sorrow they bring ; but you will go forth and find, my daughter, sorrow without duty, bitter herbs, and no bread. Savonarola. Sometimes (we know not how, nor why, nor whence) The twitter of the swallows 'neath the eaves, The shimmer of the light among the leaves, Will strike up through the thick roof of our sense, And show us things which seers and sages saw In the gray earth's green dawn ; something doth stir Like organ-hymns within us, and doth awe Our pulses into listening, and confer Burdens of Being on us. Richard Realf. 228 august 15, ATOW therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. — i Chronicles xxix. 13. When fears and perils thicken fast, And many dangers gather round; When human aid is vain and past, No mortal refuge to be found; Then can we firmly lean on Heaven, And gather strength to meet and bear; No matter where the storm has driven, A saving anchor lives in prayer. Eliza Cook. ^TO get, we must give; to accumulate, we Vl^ must scatter; to make ourselves happy, we must make others happy; and in order to become spiritually vigorous, we must seek the spiritual good of others. . . Prayer girds human weakness with divine strength, turns human folly into heavenly wisdom, and gives to troubled mortals the peace of God. Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. Buauet 16. 229 T KNO VV also, my God^ that thou triest the hearty and hast pleasure in uprightness. — i Chronicles xxix. 17. Go forth, my heart, and seek delight In ail the gifts of God's great might, These pleasant summer hours; Look how the plains for thee and me Have decked themselves most fair to see. Lyra Germunica. ®PPORTUNITIES correspond with almost mathematical accuracy to the ability for using them. Fitness for any work creates its own theater of action. . . Libraries are those unfailing foun- tains to which one goes to be filled. Read- ing is indeed to the mind as is food to the body — the material of which its fibers are made. It is surprising to note the differ- ence in the quality of mental thought which even one half-hour's good reading each day will make. Lilian Whiting. 230 Sugust 17, T^OTH 7'iches and honour come of thee, a?id thou reignest over all. — i Chronicles xxix. 12. God is the refuge of His saints, When storms of sharp distress invade; Ere we can offer our complaints, Behold Him present with His aid. Isaac Watts. fDO not wish to lay undue stress on any one of the springs of our moral strength. Like the sacred river of the Holy Land, so also the river of our spiritual life has many sources, many springs, unrecognized by man, but recognized by God. All manner of good deeds, good ex- amples, religious forms and institutions — all these, in their different ways, go to swell the current of our good thoughts. But still to us Christians there are two sources, two springs more especially sacred and impor- tant; and these are the fountains of morn- ing and evening prayer. Dean Stanley. Bu^ust 18» 231 AND David said to all the congregation^ Now bless the Lord your God. — i Chron- icles xxix. 20. Thou must not undervalue what thou hast, In weighing it with that which more is graced. The worth that weigheth inward should not long For outward prices. This should make thee strong In thy close value; naught so good can be As that which lasts good betwixt God and thee. George Chapman. *-> XOOK for beauty in commonest things and in commonest persons; it belongs only to those who find it and has a value beyond that of gold. This search will not interfere with duty, but may soften its asperities, for a beautiful life is the choicest blossom of a dutiful one. Annie H. Ryder. Love's secret is to be always doing things for God, and not to mind because they are such very little ones. F. W. Faber. 232 BU0U6t 10. C^A Y not, I will not do so to him as he hath done to me : I will render to the man according to his work. — Proverbs xxiv. 29. Yet if we will one Guide obey, The dreariest path, the darkest way, Shall issue out in heavenly day. And we, on divers shores now cast. Shall meet, our perilous voyage past, All in our Father's house, at last. R. C. Trench. ►I- MHO can tell . . . what invisible and forgotten accident . . . chance or mischance of fortune, may have altered the current of life ? A grain of sand may alter it, as the flinging of a pebble may end it. Charles Dickens. Events otherwise provocative of uncer- tainty stimulate a positive spirit when recognized as factors of a divine result. Rev. W. R. Newhall. After all, there is nothing in this world but character. Bishop Fowler. Bugust 20. 233 "l^HESE things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgme?it. — Proverbs xxiv. 23. HS the human countenance, with the same features in us all, is diversified without end in the race, and is never the same in any two individuals ; so the human soul, with the same grand powers and laws, expands into an infinite variety of forms, and would be woefully stinted by modes of culture requiring all men to learn the same lesson, or to bend to the same rules. Wm. Ellery Channing, D. D. Love, hope, fear, faith — these make humanity; these are its signs and note and character. Robert Browning. Sow a seed, and you will reap a habit ; sow a habit, and you will reap a character; sow a character, and you v/ill reap a destiny. Charles R.. Deems. 234 August 21 ♦ J^E not a witness against thy neighbour 7vithont cause ; a7id deceive not with thy lips. — Proverbs xxiv. 28. •I- For ye have need of patience, that, having done the will of God, ye may receive the pro77iise. — (Revised Version) Hebrews x. 36. fT is this desire of the happiness of those whom we love which gives to the emotion of love itself its principal delight, by affording to us constant means of its gratification. He who truly wishes the happiness of anyone cannot be long with- out discovering some mode of contributing to it. Reason itself, with all its light, is not so rapid in discoveries of this sort as simple affection, which sees means of hap- piness, and of important happiness, where reason scarcely could think that any happi- ness was to be found. Thomas Brown. ►^ Some cold-mannered friend may strangely do us the truest service. Alfred Tennyson. Bugust 22. 235 HTAKE away the dross from the silver, a?id there shall come forth a vessel for the finer, — Proverbs xxv. 4. "wJ^ACH solitary kind action that is done, >*^ the whole world over, is working briskly in its own sphere to restore the balance between right and wrong. The more kindness there is on the earth at any given moment, the greater is the tendency of the balance between right and wrong to correct itself and remain in equilibrium. Nay, this is short of the truth. Kindness allies itself with right to invade the wrong and beat it off the earth. Frederick W. Faber, D. D. Were there nothing else For which to praise the heavens but love, That only love were cause enough for praise. Alfred Tennyson. Those whom the world agrees to call great, are those v/ho have done or pro- duced something of permanent value to humanity. James Anthony Froude. 236 Bugu0t 23. n^O-DAY if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. — Hebrews iii. 15. Be not oi'ercome of evil, but overcome evil with good. — Romans xii. 21. There is a voice to mercy true; To them who mercy's path pursue That voice shall bliss impart — There is a sight from man concealed, That sight, the face of God revealed — Shall bless the pure in heart. Bishop Manx. ^JJEE how, turn which way we will, kind- *^ ness is entangled with the thought of God! Last of all, the secret impulse out of which kindness acts is an instinct which is the noblest part of ourselves, the most undoubted remnant of the image of God, which was given us at the first. We must therefore never think of kindness as being a common growth of our nature, common in the sense of being of little value. It is the nobility of man. Frederick W. Faber. %\XQ\X6t 24» 237 /I JVD because ye are so7is^ God hath sent fo7'th the Spirit of his Son into your hearts^ ayi?igy Abba, Father. — Galatians iv. 6. As a traveler, returning To his home from some far land, Thinks of it with bosom yearning Ere his foot hath touched the strand; So amid the noisy pleasures Of the world, the heart oft sighs For the nobler, higher treasures Laid up for us in the skies. From Spitta. ♦fl^E who knows and perceives how nigh ■■•-' God's kingdom is, may say with Jacob : ''Surely, the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not." God is in all things and places alike, and is ever alike ready to give Himself to us, in so far as we are able to receive Him; and he knows God aright who sees Him in all things. John Tauler. 238 Buaust 25. nHARITY beareth all things, believeth all things^ hopeth all things^ endureth all things. — I Corinthians xiii. 7. ♦II^E that would love life, ii*/ And see good days Let him refrain his tongue from evil. And his lips that they speak no guile: And let him turn away from evil, and do good; Let him seek peace, and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears upon their supplications: But the face of the Lord is unto them that do evil, — (Revised Version) i Peter iii. 10-12. ^ Kindness adds sweetness to everything. It is kindness which makes life's capabil- ities blossom, and paints them with their cheering hues, and endows them with their invigorating presence. Frederick W. Faber. BuQust 2a. 239 n^HOU wilt keep him in perfect peace ivhose ?nifid is stayed on thee : because he trusteth in thee. — Isaiah xxvi. 3. Know ye the land ? Oh! not on earth it lies For which the heart in hours of trouble sighs; Where flows no tear, no sorrow mars the song, The good are happy, and the weak are strong. Know ye the land ? The goal, the goal. Oh, friends, is there! Press on with heart and soul. From the German. ^< SINCERITY is the most compendious wisdom, and an excellent instrument for the speedy dispatch of business : it creates confidence in those we have to deal with, saves the labor of many inquiries, and brings things to an issue in few words : it's like traveling in a plain beaten road, which commonly brings a man sooner to his journey's end than by-ways. John Tillotson. 240 Bugust 27. T HA VE heard of thee by the hearing of the ear. — Job xlii. 5. *y]yn||HEREFORE when he cometh into ^^SJ^ the world, he saith : Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, But a body didst thou prepare for me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure: Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God. — (Revised Ver- sion) Hebrews x. 5-7. God is ever ready, but we are very un- ready; God is nigh unto us, but v/e are far from Him; God is within, but we are with- out; God is at home, but we are strangers. *'God leadeth the righteous by a narrov/ path into a broad highway, till they come unto a wide and open^ place;" that is, unto the true freedom of that spirit which hath become one spirit with God. John Tauler. 2lugu0t 28* 241 HTHEY that wait upon the Lord shall re- neiv their strength. — Isaiah xl. 31. There is a name, in Heaven bestowed, That name, which hails the ^'Sons of God,'* The friends of peace shall know: There is a kingdom in the sky, Where they shall reign with God on high, Who serve Him best below. Bishop Mant. •^ 'JT'HAT is the truest wisdom of a man Vi^ which doth most conduce to the hap- piness of life. For wisdom, as it refers to action, lies in the proposal of a right end and the choice of the most proper means to attain it; which end doth not refer to any one part of a man's life, but to the v/hole as taken together. Edward Stillingfleet, D. D. For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. — He- brews X. 14. 242 :augu0t 29. 0(7 is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground ; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring ajid groiv ?//, he kiioweth not how. — Mark iv. 26-27. E'er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply, Redeeming love has been my theme. And shall be till I die. William Cowper. 'TP^HE conscience of a man's own virtue ^^ and integrity lifts up his head, and gives him confidence before others, because he is satisfied they have a good opinion of his actions. What a good face does a man naturally set upon a good deed! John Tillotson. Wearing the white flower of a blameless life. Alfred Tennyson. The whole experience of life, in small things and in great, what is it ? It is an aggregate of real forces. William Ewart Gladstone. Bugu0t 30, 243 JDY long forbearing is a prince perstiaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone. — Proverbs xxv. 15. Yes ; every morning, as day breaks over Olivet, The holy name of Allah comes from every minaret; At every eve the mellow call floats on the quiet air, *' Lo, God is God ! Before Him come, be- fore Him come, for prayer ! " John Pierpont. /T^REATNESS confers no exemption Vi^ from the cares and .sorrows of life ; its share of them frequently bears a melan- choly proportion to its exaltation. This the Israelitish monarch experienced. He sought in piety that peace which he could not find in empire, and alleviated the dis- quietude of state v/ith the exercises of de- votion. His invaluable Psalms convey their comforts to others which they afforded to himself. Rev. George Horne, D. D. 2 44 BU9U0t 31. Ti'OLLOW after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord. — (Revised Version) Hebrews x'ii. 14. ** Ye clouds, that gorgeously repose Around the setting sun, Answer — have ye a home for those Whose earthly race is run ?" The bright clouds answered : * ' We depart, We vanish from the sky ; Ask what is deathless in thy heart For that which cannot die." "■ Speak, then, thou voice of God within. Thou of the deep, low tone ! Answer me through life's restless din — Where is the spirit flown?" And the voice answered : '* Be thou still ! Enough to know is given : Clouds, winds, and stars tJieir part fulfill : Thine is to trust in Heaven." Felicia Hemans. IF T is well to think well; it is divine to act well. Horace Mann. September !♦ 245 'pVERY word of God is pure : he is a shield unto them that put their trust in hitn. — Proverbs xxx. 5. ^yWE immortality of the soul is a thing ^1^ which so deepl)^ concerns, so infinitely imports us, that we must have utterly lost our feeling to be altogether cold and remiss in our inquiries about it. And all our actions or designs ought to bend so very different a way, according as we are encour- aged or forbidden to embrace the hope of eternal rewards, that it is impossible for us to proceed with judgment and discretion, otherwise than as we keep this point always in view, which ought to be our ruling object and final aim. Blaise Pascal. A GREAT soul will be as strong to live as to think. R. W. Emerson. Human life is so capable of good that the veriest criminal can hardly be without some little quality worthy of appreciation. Annie H. Ryder. 24^ September 2» T^EMO VE fai' f 7-0771 77ie vaTiity and lies : give 77ie neither poverty nor 7'iches ; feed vie with food co7ivenie7it for 7ne. — Proverbs XXX. 8. •!• Children of men ! the unseen Power, whose eye Forever doth accompany mankind, Hath looked on no religion scornfully That man did ever find. Which has not taught weak wills how much they can, Which has not fallen on the dry heart like rain Which has not cried to sunk, self-weary man : Thou 77utst be born again ! Matthev; Arnold. /T^OD is honored by a willing and a care- ^^ ful practice of all piety and virtue for conscience' sake, or an avowed obedience to His holy will. This is the most natural expression of our reverence toward Him, and the most effectual way of promoting the same in others. Rev. Isaac Barrows. September 3, 247 'T'O everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose raider the heaven. — Eccle- SIASTES iii. I. Sow ye beside all waters, Where the dew of heaven may fall ; Ye shall reap, if ye be not v»'eary ; For the spirit breathes o'er all. Anna Shipton. SURELY without a union to God we cannot be secure or well. Can he be happy who from happiness is divided ? To be united to God we must be influenced by His goodness and strive to imitate His per- fections. Diligence alone is a good patri- mony ; but neglect will waste the fairest fortune. One preserves and gathers ; the other, like death, is the dissolution of all. Owen Feltham. *^ Outward service alone is of no value. C. Geikie. •^ It is for chastening that ye endure ; God dealeth with you as with sons ; for what son is there whom his father chasteneth not ? — (Revised Version) Hebrews xii. 7. 248 September 4, IN the morning sow thy seed, and in the even- ing withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or ivhether they both shall be alike good. — ECCLESIASTES xi. 6. »^ Sow, though the thorns may wound thee ; One wore the thorns for thee ; And, though the cold world scorn thee, Patient and helpful be. Anna Shipton. 'JT'HE goodliness to the sight, the pleas- VJ/ antness to the taste, which is ever perceptible in those fruits which genuine piety beareth; the beauty men see in a calm mind and a sober conversation; the sweet- ness they taste from works of justice and charity, will certainly produce veneration to the doctrine that teacheth such things, and to the authority which enjoins them. Rev. Isaac Barrows. Our deeds determine us as much as we determine our deeds. George Eliot. September 5* 249 T KNOW that, whatsoever Goddoeth, it shall be for ever, . . . nor anything taken from it. ECCLESIASTES iii. 14. ^f^HE aim of Christianity is to produce a W*' sanctified and noble manliood in this world, preparatory for angelhood in the higher world. He that works well for his religion, honors it ; but he that lives it well, honors it more ; for such a life is, itself, the best work, and empowers all other work. Abel Stevens. There is no service like his that serves because he loves. Sir Philip Sidney. We often live under a cloud, and it is well for us that we should do so. Uninter- rupted sunshine would parch our hearts : we want shade and rain to cool and refresh them. J. F. W. Ware. One moment of self-conquest, one good action really done — yes, one effort to do right, really made — has the seal of time put on it. James Freeman Clarke. 25° September e. ^/iLL unto nie^ and I ivill anstver thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. — Jeremiah xxxiii. 3. -^pr^RUTH and reality have all the advan- ^"^ tages of appearance and many more. If the show of anything be good for any- thing, I am sure sincerity is better ; for why does any man dissemble, or seem to be that which he is not, but because he thinks it is good to have such a quality as he pre- tends to ? for to counterfeit and dissemble is to put on the appearance of some real excellency. Now, the best way in the world for a man to seem, to be anything, is really to be what he would seem to be. John Tillotson. My son, regard not lightly the chasten- ing of the Lord, nor faint when thou art reproved by him : for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth. — (Revised Version) He- brews xii. <-6. No great characters are formed in this world without suffering and self-denial. Matthew Henry. September 7. 251 AND he saith tinio them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. — Matthew iv. 19. We will not deplore them, the days that are past ; The gloom of misfortune is over them cast — They are lengthened by sorrow, and sullied by care ; Their griefs were too many, their joys were too rare ; Yet, now that their shadows are on us no more, Let us welcome the prospect that brightens before ' Epes Sargent. '^*'HE thread that nature spins is seldom ^i^ broken off by anything but death. I do not mean by this limit the operation of God's grace, for that may do wonders ; but humanly speaking, and according to the method of the world, and the little correct- ives supplied by art and discipline, it seldom fails but an ill principle has its course, and nature makes good its blows. Rev. Robert South, D. D. 252 September 8. 'OLESSED are the poor in spirit^ for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. — Matthew v. 3. That which hath been is now, and that which is to be hath already been ; and God requireth that which is past. — Ecclesiastes iii. 15. HN occasional effort even of an ordinary holiness may accomplish great acts of sacrifice, or bear severe pressure of un- wonted trial, especially if it be the subject of observation. But constant discipline in unnoticed ways, and the hidden spirit's silent unselfishness, becoming the hidden habit of the life, give to it its true saintly beauty, and this is the result of care and lowly love in little things. Perfection is attained most readily by this constancy of religious faithfulness in all minor details of life, in the lines of duty which fill up what remains to complete the likeness to our Lord, consecrating the daily efforts of self- forgetting love. T. T. Carter. A GOOD action never perishes, neither before God nor before men. — Asiatic Proverb. September 9. 253 TJTAVE always a co7isdence void of offense toward God and toward men. — Acts xxiv. 16. Soft slumbers now mine eyes forsake, My powers are all renewed ; May my freed spirit, too, awake, With heavenly strength endued. Hannah More. SPEAK well of the absent whenever you have a suitable opportunity. Never speak ill of them, or of anybody, unless you are sure they deserve it, and unless it is necessary for their amendment, or for the safety and benefit of others. Sir Matthew Hale. Never speak anything evil of a man if you do not know it for a certainty: and if you know it for a certainty, then ask your- self: ''Why should I tell it?" Lavater. The main token of a strong character is not to make known every change in thought and feeling, but to give the world the fin- ished results. Auerbach. 254 September 10. n~^HE voice of joy and the voice of gladness^ the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of Hosts : for the Lord is good : for his mercy endureih forever : and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. — Jeremiah xxxiii. ii. Hope, child ! to-morrow hope ! and then again to-morrow; And then to-morrow still ! Trust in a future day. Hope, and each morn the skies new light from dawn shall borrow; As God is there to bless, let us be there to pray. Victor Hugo. ♦fC^E is the eloquent man who can treat ■■•^ humble subjects with delicacy, lofty things impressively, and moderate things temperately. Cicero. Man's help comes not from the earth, nor from daily experiences, but from sources that are unseen and eternal. C. Capen. September U. 255 00 by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. — Romans v. 19. '^'HERE is the same difference between Vl/ diligence and neglect that there is between a garden properly cultivated and the sluggard's field which fell under Solo- mon's view, when overgrown with nettles and thorns. The one is clothed with beauty, the other is unpleasant and disgusting to the sight. Negligence is the rust of the soul, that corrodes through all her best resolutions. Owen Feltham. Search not the roots of the fountain, But drink the water bright ; Gaze far above the mountain. The sky may speak in light. But yet, if thou see no beauty — If, widowed, thy heart yet cries — With thy hands go and do thy duty, And thy work will clear thine eyes. George MacDonald. 256 September X2, TDEJOICE a?id be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven. — Matthew V. 12. How far from here to heaven ? Not very far, my friend ; A single hearty step Will all thy journey end. Hold there ! where runnest thou ? Know heaven is in thee ! Seekest thou for God elsewhere ? His face thou 'It never see. Angelus Silesius. ME are born v/ith faculties and powers capable almost of anything, such, at least, as would carry us farther than can be easily imagined; but it is only the exercise of these powers which gives us ability and skill in anything, and leads us toward per- fection. John Locke. How wise and happy is the man who continually endeavors to be as holy in the day of life as he wishes to be found in the day of death ! Thomas a Kempis. September 13. 257 l/"^ are the salt of the earth : but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? — Matthew v. 13. ^T'HE most ordinary occupations can be VL' sanctified by being pursued as in His sight. Morning prayers earnestly offered; a few hearty aspirations for help and grace darted up at intervals of a busy day; an honest review at night of thoughts, words, and deeds; a childlike confession of sin as to a Father; a thoughtful recognition of His goodness; a commendation of one's self and those whom we love to His protection — is this a great or painful thing to do ? Dr. Bright. The heart that trusts forever sings, And feels as light as it had wings: A well of peace within it springs; Come good or ill, Whate'er to-day — to-morrow — brings, It is His will ! Isaac Williams. 258 September 14. jDUT love ye you)' eneinies and do good, and lend, hoping for nothmg again ; arid your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the chil- dren of the Highest. — Luke vi. 35. Watch not the clouds above thee: Let the whirlwind round thee sweep; God may the seed-time give thee, But another's hand may reap. Anna Shipton. '^T^RUE greatness is in the character, Wi/ never in the circumstances. No mat- ter about wearing a crown; make sure that you have a head worthy of wearing a crown. No matter about the purple; make sure that you have a heart worthy of the purple. No matter about a throne to sit on; make sure that your life is regal in its own intrinsic character — that men will recognize the king in you, though you toil in the field or mine or serve in the lowliest place. Rev. J. R. Miller, D. D. Live to explain thy doctrine by thy life. M. Prior. September 15. 259 T AY not up for you?' selves treasiwes upon earthy whe7'e 7710th a7id rust doth corrupt^ and where thieves break through and steal : but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.— Matthew vi. 19, 20, 21. In vain men tell us time can alter Old loves or make old memories falter. Old thanks, old thoughts, old aspirations Outlive men's lives and lives of nations. Swinburne. ♦fTT is a vain thought to flee from the II work that God appoints for us, for the sake of finding a greater blessing to our own souls, as if we could choose for our- selves where we shall find the fullness of the Divine Presence, instead of seeking it where it alone is to be found — in loving obedience. George Eliot. 26o September I a* T ET us therefore fear, lest haply, a pro??use being left of entering into his rest, any one of you should seem to have come short. — (Revised Version) Hebrews iv. i. '^HOU wilt find, if thou art Christ's, that VL' after all, even at this day, endurance, in a special sense, is the lot of those who offer themselves to be servants of the King of sorrows. If they have drunk of Christ's Cup and tasted His Bread in sincerity, it is not with them as in time past. They came as for a blessing, and they have found work. They are soldiers in Christ's army, they fight against 'Uhings that are seen," and they have all these things against them. O simple soul, is it not the law of thy being to endure? Why camest thou but to endure ? J. H. Newman. Is thy cruse of comfort wasting ? Rise and share it with another. And through all the years of famine It shall serve thee and thy brother. Mrs. Charles. There is that scattereth, and yet in- creaseth. — Proverbs xi. 24. September 17. 261 J ET us hear the conclusion of the whole 7natter : Fear God^ and keep his command- ments; for this is the whole duty of man. — ECCLESIASTES xH. I3. In ceaseless toil from year to year, Working with loath or willing hands, Stone upon stone we shape and rear. Till the completed fabric stands : And when the last hush hath all labor stilled. The searching fire will try what we have striven to build. Wm. Morley Punshon. ♦|fT is net wealth that gives the true zest ■■ to life, but reflection, appreciation, taste, culture. Above all, the seeing eye and the feeling heart are indispensable; with these, the humblest lot may be made blessed. Labor and toil may be associated with the highest thoughts and the purest tastes. Samuel Smiles. Recollection is the only Paradise from which we cannot be turned out. J. P. Richter. 262 September IS, A SK, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock^ and it shall be opened unto you. — Matthew vii. 7. CHARACTER . . . is the core on which the world turns. It is the pivot of destiny. Let us not worry about reputa- tion, but let us see to it that our characters are right. Reputation is the dust at which swine become frightened in the street. Character is the jewel that blazes on the brow of royalty. . . Character is the ver- dict of the eternal Judge. Bishop Fowler. Not by deeds that win the crowd's ap- plauses ; Not by works that give thee world-renown ; Not by martyrdom or vaunted crosses, Canst thou win and wear the immortal crown. Daily struggling, though unloved and lonely, Every day a rich reward will give ; Thou wilt find by hearty striving only, Truly loving thou canst truly live. Mrs. Liszt. September \9. 263 TN your patience possess ye you7' souls. — Luke xxi. 19, In One who walked on earth a man of woe, AVas hoHer peace than e'en this hour in- spires. From Him to me let inward quiet flow, And give the might my failing will re- quires. John Sterling. HS it is given us in the night of this world to behold the heavens studded with stars, great, glorious, and beautiful, in like manner has Scripture opened to our view a sight of the blessed angels. They appear as stars around us ; but no unconcerned spectators in their silent watches. Michael, '■^who is as God"; Gabriel, *'the strength of God"; Raphael, ''the healing of God" (so their names signify). They are minis- tering spirits sent by Him, shadows of His presence. He has revealed to us their deep concern for our welfare, their active minis- trations about us day and night. What a dignity does this shed upon our daily life! Isaac Williams. 264 September 20« ZP UT I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not : and when thou art converted^ strengthen thy brethren. — Luke xxii. 32. Without an end or bound Thy life lies outspread in light; Our lives feel Thy life all around, Making our weakness strong, our dark- ness bright; Yet is it neither wilderness nor sea, But the calm gladness of a full eternity. Frederick W. Faber. mIND words are the music of the world^ They have a power which seems to be beyond natural causes, as if they were some angel's song, which had lost its way and come on earth. It seems as if they could almost do what in reality God alone can do — soften the hard and angry thoughts of men. No one was ever corrected by a sar- casm; crushed, perhaps, if the sarcasm was clever enough, but drawn nearer to God — never. Frederick W. Faber. September 21. 265 jD UT as many as received Jiiin, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. — John i. 12. God's in His heaven — All's right with the world ! Robert Browning. HS the feet, in the journey of life, plod along places smooth and others rough and stony, where the thorny hedge hedges out or hedges in, by the still waters and waters raging, in meadows green and mead- ows parched, through valleys and over hills toward the great city, what is more delight- ful than to fall in with a bright, lovely par- ticular spirit traveling the same way? W. M. BiCKNELL. A HAPPY man or woman is a better thing to find than aught else. He or she is a radiating focus of good will, and their entrance into a room is as though another candle had been lighted. . . They practi- cally demonstrate the great theorem of the livableness of life. Anonymous. 266 September 22. T AM the good shepherd, and know my sheepy and am known of mine. — John x. 14. Down in the pleasant pastures, Beside the waters still, Behold the Shepherd leadeth His little flock at will; Gently, oh, gently guiding The way His sheep must go, Still onward to the fountain Where the living waters flow. Anna Shipton. XOVE and commend a true good fame, because it is the shadow of virtue; not that it doth any good to the body which it accompanies, but it is an efficacious shadow, and like that of St. Peter, cures the diseases of others. Abraham Cowl^jy Too much love there can never be. Robert Browning. Next to faith in God is faith in labor. BOVEL. September 23* 267 'pOR everyone that asketh receiveth j and he that seeketJi findethj and to him that knock- eth it shall be opened. — Matthew vii. 8. There are great truths that pitch their shining tents Outside our walls, and though but dimly- seen In the gray dawn, they will be manifest When the light widens into perfect day. Michael Angelo. XIFE and the world, their interests, their careers, the varied gifts of our nature, the traditions of our forefathers, the treasures of laws, institutions, usages, of languages, of literature, and of art; all the beauty, glory, and delight with which the Almighty Father has clothed this earth for the use and profit of his children, and which evil, though it has defaced, has not been able utterly to destroy; all these are not merely allowable, but ordained and ap- pointed instruments for the training of mankind. William Ewart Gladstone. 268 September 24. TJ/ITH what ijieasure ye mete, it shall be measu7-ed to you again. — Matthew vii. 2. ►;• Be what thou seemest; live thy creed ; Hold up to earth the torch divine; Be what thou prayest to be made; Let the great Master's steps be thine. HORATIUS BONAR, /^UR own comfort is increased by our Vi^ working for others. We endeavor to cheer them, and the consolation gladdens our own heart — like the two men in the snow: one chafed the other's limbs to keep him from dying, and in so doing kept his own blood in circulation, and saved his own life. Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. The spirit of God lies touching, as it were, the soul of man — ever around and near. . . All men are not spiritual men, but all have spiritual sensibilities which might awaken. All that is wanted is to become conscious of the nearness of God. . . God lies around us; at any moment we might be conscious of the contact. F. W. Robertson. September 25. 269 T/"^ s/ia// know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns^ or figs of thistles ? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit. — Matthew vii. 16, 17. XET this and every dawn of morning be to you as the beginning of life, and let every setting sun be to you as its close. Let every one of these short lives leave its sure record of some kindly thing done for others — some goodly strength or knowledge gained for yourselves. John Ruski^t. From endeavor to endeavor, Journeying with the hours forever, Or aspiring, or acquiring. This, O man ! is life in time Urged by that primal word sublime — God's great one word. Silent never, pealing ever — Onward ! Charles Harpur. How can it be known you are in earnest, if the act follows not upon the word ? H. Coleridge. 2 70 September 26, '^jESUS answered, My kingdom is not of this ^ world. — John xviii. 36. O HUMAN heart ! thou hast a song For all that to the earth belong, Whene'er the golden chain of love Hath linked thee to the heaven above. Sarah Flower Adams. ME are learning to think of all truth, whatever its source or however it comes to us, as so many sentences in the ever growing book of God. MiNOT J. Savage. Take Joy home, And make a place in thy great heart for her, And give her time to grow, and cherish her. Then will she come, and oft will sing to thee When thou art working in the furrows — ay, Or weeding in the sacred hour of dawn. It is a comely fashion to be glad ; Joy is in the grace we say to God. Jean Ingelow. September 27. 271 JSJO W we have received^ not the spirit of the worldy but the spU'it which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. — I Corinthians ii. 12. I'm apt to think, the man That could surround the sum of things, and spy The heart of God and secrets of His em- pire, Would speak but love. With him the bright results Would change the hue of intermediate scenes. And make one thing of all theology. G A M B o LD (Moravian poet) . ♦ffT is of no use to hope that we shall be bI well rooted if no rough winds pass over us. Those old gnarlings on the root of the oak tree, and those strange twistings of the branches, all tell of the many storms that have swept over it, and they are also indi- cations of the depth into which the roots have forced their way. Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. 272 September 28, pOR the Father himself loveth yo7i, because ye have loved 7ne, and have believed that I came out from God. I came fo?'th from the Father, and am come into the world : Again ^ I leave the world, and go to the Father. — John xvi. 27, 28. Only stay by His side Till the page is really known; It may be we failed because we tried To learn it alone; And now that He would not let us lose Our lesson of love (For He knows the loss), can we refuse ? Frances Ridley Havergal. mo cloud can overshadow a true Chris- tian, but his faith will discern a rain- bow in it. Bishop Horne. Oh, do not let us wait to be just or piti- ful or demonstrative toward those we love until they, or we, are struck down by ill- ness or threatened with death! Life is short, and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. — AmieVs Journal. September 29. 273 n^HESE things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribetlatio?i : but be of good cheer ; I have overcome the world. — John xvi. 33. Thy triumphs, Faith, we need not take Alone from the blest martyr's stake; In scenes no less we see That Faith is a reality; An evidence of things not seen, A substance firm whereon to lean. Hannah More. ®N a day of gloom and depression, when sky and mind were alike overcast and the nervous tides were at ebb, I mournfully asked, '•'■ Shall I ever again be young and well ? " The answer came like a soft, cheery, inward voice, " I shall never be otherwise than young and well." What has a passing cloud to do with the eternal prospects of a son and heir of God ? Rev. Charles Gordon Ames. Oh, be swift to love, make haste to be kind. — Amid's Journal. 2 74 September 30. ATO man cometJi unto the Father but by me. — John xiv. 6. Creator, yes! Thy wisdom and Thy word Created me. Thou source of life and good ! Thou spirit of my spirit, and my Lord ! Thy hght, Thy love, in their bright pleni- tude. Filled me with an immortal soul, to spring O'er the abyss of death, and bade it wear The garments of eternal day, and wing Its heavenly flight, beyond this little sphere. E'en to its source — to Thee — its Author there ! O thought ineffable! O vision blessed ! Though worthless our conceptions all of Thee, Yet shall Thy shadowed image fill our breast, And waft its homage to Thy deity. God, thus alone my lowly thoughts can soar ; Thus seek Thy presence. Being wise and good! John Bowring. ©ctobcc !♦ 275 A ND he saith unto them^ Why are ye fear- ful, O ye of little faith 1 — Matthew viii. 26. Have faith, though ne'er beholding The seed burst from its tomb, Thou know'st not which may prosper, Or whether all shall bloom. Room on the narrowest ridges The ripening grain shall find. That the Lord of the harvest, coming. In the harvest sheaves may bind. Anna Shipton. HN earnest purpose conquers all ob- stacles. A strong purpose clothes itself in power. . . That soul of things which is found in every combination of human affairs. . . Ah! is not the work which stimulates every power of mind and heart the best, rather than the life whose privileges require no answering duties ? Lilian Whiting. May we be satisfied with nothing which shall not have in it something of immor- tality ! H. W. Beecher. 276 October 2. HTHEY that be whole need not a physician^ but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy ^ and not sacrifice : for I am not come to call the right- eous^ but sinners to repentance. — Matthew ix. 12, 13. >\> Be strong and wait ! nor let the strife, With which the winds and waves are rife, Disturb that sacred inner life. Anonymous. mo more in the inner than in the outer sphere did Christ come among us as a conqueror, making His appeal to force. We were neither to be consumed by the heat of the divine presence, nor were we to be dazzled by its brightness. God was not in the storm, nor in the fire, nor in the fiood, but He was in the still, small voice. AViLLIAM EWART GLADSTONE. Beauty, truth, love, are the realities which abide. Goodness has slowly proved itself in the world — is every day proving itself to be that to which reason tends, in which it realizes itself. Mrs. Humphry Ward. ©ctol?er 3, 277 p\A UGHTER, be of good comfort : thy faith hath made thee whole. — Matthew ix. 22. ^f^ELICACY and self-respect are the fruits -2^ not so much of intellect as of sensi- bility. We are considerate toward others in proportion as our own consciousness gives us iftsight. H. T. Tuckerman. If the Lord Jesus were here on earth to- day, He would say that intellectual indolence and moral carelessness were its chief faults. The consideration of evil consequences is not sure to make us reform, but we need to so fill ourselves with the love of truth as to hesitate in forming hasty judgments of our fellow-men. Men will always be made bet- ter by becoming filled with devotion to divine truth, the most solemn thing we knovv^ anything about in this world. Rev. E. W. Donald, D. D. The love of God and man is the soul of every outward duty. Richard Baxter. 278 ©ctober 4. n~^HE harvest truly is ple?2teous, but the labor- ers are few : Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. — Matthew ix. 37, 38. Life is a well-strung lyre, And I a wandering note, Struck from its cunning chords, and left alone A moment in the quivering air to float: Then, without echo, die. And upward from this earthly jarring fly, To form a truer note above. In the great song of joy and love, The never ending, never jarring song Of the immortal throng. Sung to the praise of Him Who is at once its leader and its theme. My Christ, my King, my God ! BONAR. ♦ff N all matters of eternal truth, the soul is ■I before the intellect ; the things of God are spiritually discerned. You know truth by being true ; you recognize God by being like Him. F. W. Robertson. ©ctober 5. 279 pOR it IS 7iot ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. — Matthew x. 20. W^O not let us waste our time in wishing ^^ that we were like others — that we had the things God has given them : we cannot have these. Each must use v/hat God has given to himself. Let us be content to live day by day as God leads us, making good use of every moment, without looking beyond it. Fenelon. •i- Life is the tossing ark, And I the wandering dove, Resting to-day 'mid clouds and waters dark, To-morrow in my peaceful olive grove Returning in glad haste Across time's billowy waste, For evermore to rest Upon the faithful breast Of Him who is my King, My Christ, my God. BONAR. 28o ©ctobcr 6. T/f/HA T I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light J and what ye hear in the car, thai preach ye upon the housetops. — Matthew X. 27. My heart is resting, O my God ! I will give thanks and sing; My heart is at the secret source Of every precious thing; And a new song is in my mouth To long loved music set ; Glory to Thee for all the grace I have not tasted yet. Anna L. Waring. XIFE passes, riches fly away, popularity is fickle, the senses decay, the world changes, friends die. One alone is true to us; One alone can be true; One alone can be all things to us; One alone can supply our need. John Henry Newman. Holiness is an unselfing of ourselves. Frederick W. Faber. ©ctober 7. 281 T-JE that taketh not his cfosSy and followeth after i?ie, is not worthy of me. — Mat- thew X. 38. XEAVE all around thee where God is not, and where thou wilt find no help from Him. Saint Anselm. Perfection consists not in doing extraor- dinar)^ things, but in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well. Neglect nothing: the most trivial action may be performed to God. If Christian charity be in your heart, your whole life may be a continual exercise of it. La Mere Angelique. The real way of profiting by the humilia- tion of one's own faults is to face them in their true hideousness, without ceasing to hope in God, while hoping nothing from self. Fenelon. The measure of our success is in propor- tion as we satisfy our God. Krummacher. 2 82 ©ctober 6. TJ/HOSOEVER he be of you that for saketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my dis- ciple. — Luke xiv. 2,2,. His trade He plied, a Carpenter, and built Doors, where folks come and go, unto this hour. Not wotting how the hands which wrought their doors Unbarred Death's gate by Love's high sac- rifice. Edwin Ajinold. XT' be true to yourself is to knov/ that you were made for virtue, made for integ- rity, made to keep your body in sanctifica- tion and honor, made a child of God and an heir to heaven; and that to be either indo- lent or wicked, to either waste your own blessings, like the beasts which perish, or to add to the sin and sorrow of others, like the evil spirits of the pit, is to personate another, not yourself, and to give the lie to your nature and to your God, Canon Farrar. ©ctobec 9» 283 pRAISING God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the chttrch daily such as should be saved. — Acts ii. 47. •I- TjpVERYTHING has two handles: the ^^ one by which it may be borne, the other by which it may not. If your brother acts unjustly, do not lay hold of the act by that handle wherein he acts unjustly, for this is the handle which cannot be borne; but lay hold of the other, that he is your brother, . . . and you will lay hold of the thing by that handle by which it can be borne. Epictetus. We do pray for mercy: And that same prayer doth teach us all to render The deeds of mercy. William Shakspeare. And all is well, tho' faith and form Be sunder'd in the night of fear : Well roars the storm to those that hear A deeper voice across the storm. Alfred Tennyson. 284 ©ctobec 10. '^UDGE not according to the appeara7ice^ but 7//^.? righteous judgme7it. — John vii. 24. fT were a thing worth looking into to know the reason why men are so gen- erally willing, in point of religion, to cast themselves into other men's arms, and leav- ing their own reason, rely so much upon another man's. . . Thankfully to entertain the advice of others, to give it its due, and ingenuously to prefer it before our own if it deserve it: this is that gracious virtue of modesty ; but altogether to mistrust and relinquish our own faculties, and commend ourselves to others : this is nothing but poverty of spirit and indiscretion. John Hales. Weakness never needs be falseness: Truth is truth in each degree, Thunderpealed by God to nature, Whispered by my soul to me. Robert Browning. Truth is eclipsed often, and it sets for a night: but is it turned aside from its eter- nal path ? J. F. W. Ware. ©ctobec II. 285 'T^AKE my yoke upon you^ and learn of vie j for I a7n meek and lowly i?t heart : and ye shall find rest U7ito your souls. — Matthew xi. 29. The law that keeps This planet in her path around the sun Keeps all her sister planets, too, in theirs, And all other shining hosts of heaven. All worlds, all times, are under that one law ; For what binds one, binds all. So all thy sons And daughters, clothed in light — hosts brighter far Than suns and planets — spiritual hosts, Whose glory is their goodness — have one law. The perfect law of love, to guide them through All worlds, all time. Thy kingdom, Lord, is one. Life, death, earth, heaven, eternity, and time Lie all within it; and what blesses now Must ever bless, — Love of things tnu and right. John Pierpont. 286 ©ctober 12. J-JE that is not with me is against me j a?id he that gathereth not with 7ne scattereth abroad. — Matthew xii. 30. WET us examine this matter with sin- ^^ cerity, and we shall agree that our distresses chiefly arise from ourselves. It is virtue alone which can render us superior to Fortune; we quit her standard, and the combat is no longer equal. Fortune mocks us; she turns us on her wheel: she raises and abases us at her pleasure, but her power is founded on our weakness. This is an old-rooted evil, but it is not incurable : there is nothing a firm and elevated mind cannot accomplish. The discourse of the wise and the study of good books are the best remedies I know of : but to these we must join the consent of the soul, without which the best advice will be useless. Francesco Petrarch. I FEEL within me A peace above all earthly dignities, A still and quiet conscience. Shakspeare. ©ctobec 13. 287 A GOOD man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things. — Mat- thew xii. 35. HS it is in the body, so it is in the mind: practice makes it what it is, and most even of those excellences which are looked on as natural endowments will be found, when examined into more narrowly, to be the product of exercise, and to be raised to that pitch only by repeated actions. John Locke. There is a saying of the ancient sages: No noble human thought is lost, However buried in the dust of ages, Can ever come to naught. With kindred faith, that knows no base dejection, Beyond the sage's scope I see, afar, the final resurrection Of every glorious hope. J. G. Saxe. •!- Human strength in itself is inadequate for life's sore needs. John Locke. 288 October 14. ^jESC/S ansivered him, saying, It is iviitten, ^ That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. — Luke iv. 4. Praised be thine active days, And thy night-time's solemn need, When in God's dear book we read, **No night shall be therein." Mrs, Browning. 4- ^t UST as you now play a piece without ^ the music and do not think what notes )^ou strike, though once you picked them out by slow and patient toil ; so, if you begin of set purpose, you will learn the law of kindness in utterance so perfectly that it will be second nature to you, and make more music in your life than all the songs the sweetest voice has ever sung. Frances E. Willard. The true disciple of Jesus needs not to forget himself in order to be cheerful in his very innermost soul. On the contrary, it is when he examines his inward being, and his relations to the Father of all life, that he feels most happy. Zschokke. ©ctober 15. 289 T^OR it is 7vritten^ He shall give his angels charge over thee ^ to keep thee. — Luke! v. 10. Not as I will., but as thou wilt. — Matthew xxvi. 39. For Life is one, and in its waip and woof There runs a thread of gold that glitters fair, And sometimes in the pattern shows most sweet When there are somber colors. It is true That we have wept. But oh! this thread of gold. We would not have it tarnish; let us turn Oft and look back upon the wondrous web, And when it shineth sometime we shall know That memory is possession. Jean Ingelow. ♦JTT is by the passion of sympathy that we ■■ enter into the concerns of others. . . For sympathy must be considered as a sort of substitution by which we are put into the place of another man, and affected in a good measure as he is affected. Edmund Burke. 290 ©ctober 16. yjJVD when he saw their faith, he said tinto him, Ma?i, thy sins are forgiven thee. — Luke v. 20. And the peace of God, which passeth all un- derstanding, shall keep your hearts and mi?ids through Christ Jesus. — Philippians iv. 7. ►^ Shake off the melancholy chain, Por God created all to bless. Thomas Chatterton. /fNFTENTIMES we look forward with Vi^ forebodings to the time of old age, forgetful that at eventide it shall be light. To many saints, old age is the choicest season of their lives. A balmier air fans the mariner's cheek as he nears the shores of immortality; fewer waves ruffle his sea; quiet reigns, deep, still, and solemn. . . The pilgrims have reached the land of Beulah, that happy country whose days are as the days of heaven upon the earth. . . Some dwell here for years, and others come to it but a few hours before their departure, but it is an Eden on earth. Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. ©ctobec 17. 291 'DLESSED are ye that hu7iger 7iow: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now : for ye shall laugh. — Luke vi. 21. Death cannot come to him untimely who is fit to die : The less of this cold world, the more of heaven ; The briefer life, the earlier immortality. H. H. MiLMAN. '^^HERE'S things go on in the soul, and ^^ times when feelings come into you like a mighty rushing wind, as the Scripture says, and part your life in two a'most, so as you look back on yourself as if you was somebody else. George Eliot. Ripe fruits of choice experience are gathered as the report of life's evening, and the soul prepares itself for rest. Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. — Galatians vi. 2. 292 ©ctoder IS. J^OR whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belotig to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. — Mark ix. 41. 'JT'HE greatest of painters only once Vi^ painted a mysteriously divine child : he couldn't have told how he did it, and we can't tell why we feel it to be divine. I think there are stores laid up in human nature that our understandings can make no complete inventory of. George Eliot. True happiness is not the growth of earth ; The soil is fruitless, if you seek it there: 'Tis an exotic of celestial birth. And never blooms but in celestial air. Sweet plant of Paradise ! its seeds are sown In, here and there, a breast of heavenly mold ; It rises slow and buds, but ne'er was known To blossom here — the climate is too cold. R. B. Sheridan. ©ctober \9, 293 Z? UT I say tmto you which hear, Love your efie?mes, do good to them which hate you. Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. — Luke vi. 27-28. Have hope! though clouds environ round And gladness hides her face in scorn, Put thou the shadow from thy brow, No night but has its morn. Have faith! where'er thy bark is driven, The calm's disport, the tempest's mirth, Know this, God rules the hosts of heaven, The inhabitants of earth. Have love ! not love for one, But man, as man, thy brother call; And scatter, like the circling sun, Thy charities on all. Schiller. ®H ! what does not God give to man in mercy when tribulation itself is sent to him as a blessing. St. Augustine. 294 ©ctober 20» ^HEN they that gladly received his word were baptized: afid the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls, A?id they continued stcdfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowships and in hreakiiig of bread, and in prayers. — Acts ii. 41-42. Not myself, but the truth that in life I have spoken, Not myself, but the seed that in life I have sown; Shall pass on to ages — all about me for- gotten. Save the truth I have spoken, the things I have done. HORATIUS BONAR. ►^ H NOBLE career depends on the treat- ment given to the infant ideas that are born in the soul. So the thoughts which we harbor within us, and which go out through the doors of our mouths and our hands, determine our real character. One of the highest of spiritual luxuries is the enjoyment of pure and exhilarating and sublime thoughts. Theodore L. Cuyler. ©ctober 2U 295 J/ERIL Y I say unto you, Whosoeve?- shall not receive the kingdo7n of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. — Mark x. 15. fF a new building had fallen dov/n and he had been told that this was a divine jndgment, he would have said, ''May be; but the bearing o' the roof and walls wasn't right, else it wouldn't ha' come down." George Eliot. ►J* MAN-like it is to fall into sin, Fiend-like is it to dwell therein, Christ-like is it for sin to grieve, God-like is it all sin to leave. From the German. Yield all the days their due, But when the evening light is lost or dim, Commune with your own spirit, and with Him ! Restore your soul v/ith stillness as is meet. And when the sun bids forth, haste not to show Your strength, but kneel for blessing ere you go. Thomas Ashe. 296 ©ctober 22. /jND he answered and said unto them^ My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God^ and do it. — Luke viii. 21. '^T'HERE are chords in the human heart ^^ which are only struck by accident; which will remain mute and senseless to appeals the most passionate and earnest, and respond at last to the slightest casual touch. Charles Dickens. The fall thou darest to despise, May be the angel's slackened hand Has suffered it that he may rise And take a firmer, surer stand; Or, trusting less to earthly things, May henceforth learn to use his wings. And judge none lost, but wait to see With hopeful pity, not disdain. The depth of the abyss may be The measure of the height of pain, And love and glory that may raise This soul to God in after days. Adelaide A. Procter. ©ctoljer 23. 297 JJ/HY call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the thifigs which / say ? — Luke vi. 46. '^^IME passes. . . Time, the gray, calm ^^ satirist whose sad smile seems to say, " Look, O man, at the vanity of the objects you pursue and of yourself who pursues them." LiFE in every shape should be precious to us, for the same reason that the Turks care- fully collect every scrap of paper, because the name of God may be written upon it. Jean Paul. Shall we serve Heaven With less respect than we do minister To our gross selves ? Shakspeare. Our little systems have their day : They have their day and cease to be : They are but broken lights of Thee, And Thou, O Lord, art more than they. Alfred Tennyson. 298 ©ctobeu 24, T^O W think ye ? if a man have an hundred sheep^ and one of them be gone astray^ doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? — Matthew xviii. 12. Hast thou not learned what thou art often told, A truth still sacred, and believed of old, That no success attends our spears and swords Unblest, and that the battle is the Lord's ? Wm. Cow per. BUT it is given to us sometimes even in our everyday life to witness the saving influence of a noble nature, the divine effi- cacy of rescue that may lie in a self-subdu- ing act of fellowship. George Eliot. Trouble is hard to bear, is it not ? Hov/ can we live and think that anyone has trouble — and we could help them, and never try ? George Eliot. ©ctober 25. 299 jy^ERIL V I say untoyoit^ Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound m heaven. — Matthew xviii. 18. '^^HE finest threads, such as no eye sees, VJ*' if bound cunningly about the sensitive flesh, so that the movement to break them would bring torture, may make a worse bondage than any fetters. George Eliot. Ever by day and night, under the sun and under the stars, climbing the dusty hills, and toiling along the weary plains, journeying by sea, coming and going, so strangely, to meet and to act and react on one another, move all we restless travelers through the pilgrimage of life. Charles Dickens. Grant us that love of truth sublime, That love of goodness and of Thee, Which makes Thy children, in all time, To share Thine own eternity. John Pierpont. 300 ©ctober 26» J^UT 7nany that a7'e first shall be last ; and the last shall be first. — Matthew xix. 30. Teach me Thy love to know, That this new light which now I see May both the work and workman show; Then by a sunbeam I will climb to Thee. George Herbert. H^RAYER may not bring money, but it IIV brings us what no money can buy — a power to keep from sin, and to be content with God's will, whatever else He may send. George Eliot. That is a deep and wide saying, that no miracle can be wrought without faith — without the worker's faith in himself, as well as the recipient's faith in him ; and the greater part of the worker's faith in himself is made up of the faith that others believe in him. George Eliot. We see flowers of good blooming in foul places, often. Thackeray. ©cto&er 27. 3*^1 /IS it is written in the p7'ophets^ Behold I send ??iy messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. — Mark i. 2. 4- Sow ye beside all waters, With a blessing and a prayer ; Name Him whose hand upholds thee. And sow thou every where. Anna Shipton. fN all thy actions think God sees thee, and in all His actions labor to see Him ; that will make thee fear Him, this will move thee to love Him ; the fear of God is the beginjiing of knowledge, and the knowl- edge of God is the perfection of love. John Quarles. No, I cannot catch the sunbeams of the soul always. The Beloved comes and talks to me most sweetly when I am neither pre- pared to write nor reproduce what he says. My soul, my soul, it does thee good to hear what is best and deepest, and not be able to say it again. Protap Chunder Mozoomdar, 2,02 October 28. n^HE wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound the7'eof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every 07ie that is born of the Spirit. — John iii. 8. ^< Father! Thou must lead. Do Thou then breathe such thoughts into my mind, By which such virtue may in me be bred, That in Thy holy footsteps I may tread. The fetters of my tongue do Thou unbind, That I may have the power to sing to Thee, And sound Thy praises everlastingly ! Michael Angelo. '^HE Word of God— the truth, the rea- Wl/ son, the wisdom, by which men and angels live — abideth forever. That Word is in the ancient books ; it is in the modern mind ; it is hidden in our hearts ; it is old as eternity ; it is young as the morning. Rev. Charles Gordon Ames. We do highest honors to all great souls, not by following them, but by following what they followed. Rev. Charles Gordon Ames. ©ctober 29. 3'=>3 pf/HEREFORE we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. — 2 Corinthians v. 9. Upon Thy word I rest So strong, so sure; So full of comfort blest, So sweet, so pure — The v/ord that changeth not, that faileth never! My King, I rest upon Thy word forever, Francis Ridley Havergal. '^^HERE is music sometimes in an old V«^ phrase. It has a charm for the ear which is heightened by long association. Such phrases often nestle into the heart. . . Let us keep the phrases that are still full of life and thought, but only these. — Christian Register. Try to put well in practice what you already know; in so doing you will, in good time, discover many hidden things. — Chris- tian Register. 3^4 ©ctober 30, T^OR God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world ; but that the world through him 7night be saved. — John iii. 17. HRE we living out God's thought for us; what He had in view when He made us and sent us hither ? Are we doing in thi-s world what He wants us to do ? These are important questions; and we should not stop short of honest answer to them, for we shall have to account to God at the end for the way we have fulfilled our mission. Rev. J. R. Miller, D. D. Living Is but the bearing, the enduring, The clashing of the hammer: the cutting, The straining of the strings. The growth of harmony's pure wings; Life is the tuning-time, complete Alone when every chord is sweet Through sacrifice, having passed the strife. Geo Klingle. ©ctober 31. 3^5 pOR he 7vhom God hath sent speaketh the words of God ; for God giveth not the spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given ail things into his hand. — ■ John iii. 34, 35. With wide-embracing love Thy spirit animates eternal years, Pervades and broods above, Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates, and rears. Emily Bronte. ►I- ♦(fT is out of silence that all the marvelous ■■ things of human action, all the splendid things of human courage, all the sublime offerings of human faith, have sprung. When the great tree falls in a sudden storm, we find that, for all its external bravery, it was decayed and weak within. Societies, governments, nations, fall when the secret chambers of individual hearts grow weak. But those secret chambers cannot be filled from the world outside. They can only be filled from within, at the cisterns of Infinite Silence. — Ch ristia n Register. $06 iFlovember I, r^AST thy bread upon the waters ; for thou shalt find it after many days. — Eccle- SIASTES xi. I. Blest be Thy love, dear Lord, That taught us this sweet way, Only to love Thee for Thyself, And for that love obey. J. Austen. 'JT'HE world rolls on, let what will be hap- ^i^ pening to the individuals who occupy it. . . While the world and life roll on and on, the feeble reason of the child of Provi- dence may be at times overpowered by the vastness of the system amid which he lives ; but his faith will smile upon his fear, rebuke him for averting his eyes, and inspire him with the thought, "Nothing can crush me, for I am made for eternity. I will do, suffer, and enjoy as my Father wills ; and let the world and life roll on ! " Harriet Martineau. The best things are possible, if we will but live for the best. Rev. Chas. G. Ames. •fflovembec 2. 307 O/JVG ^mto the Lord j for he hath done excel- lent things ; this is knoivn in all the earth. — Isaiah xii. 5. ►J- Enough, if something from our hands have pov/er To live, and act, and serve the future hour; And if, as toward the silent tomb we go, Through love, through hope, and faith's transcendent dower We feel that we are greater than we know. Wm. Wordsworth. '^'HE great use of intercourse with other ^i^ minds is to stir up our own, to whet our appetite for truth, to carry our thoughts be- yond the old track. Wm. Ellery Channing. A CHILD of God should be a visible beati- tude for joy and happiness, and a living doxology for gratitude and adoration. Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. The chariot of God's providence runneth not upon broken wheels. Rutherford. 3^8 IRovembcr 3, / ORD^ thou ivilt ordain peace for us : for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. — Isaiah xxvi. 12. **A LITTLE while" to sow the seed with weeping, Then bind the sheaves and sing the harvest song. HORATIUS BONAR. -^^HE God who sitteth above, and pre- \^ sides in high authority over all worlds, is mindful of man ; and though at this moment his energy is felt in the remotest provinces of creation, we may feel the same security in his providence as if we were the objects of his undivided care. . . That though his mind takes into his comprehen- sive grasp immensity and all its wonders, I am as much known to him as if I were the single object of his attention ; that he marks all my thoughts. . . The same God who sits in the highest heaven, and reigns over the glories of the firmament, is at my right hand to give me every breath v/hich I draw, and every comfort which I enjoy. Thomas Chalmers. flopembec 4. 3^9 C(9 f/ie last shall be first, and the first last : for many be called, but feiv chosen. They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. — Matthew xx. i6, 'i>Z- HLL true Work is sacred; in all true Work, were it but true hand-labor, there is something of divineness. Labor, wide as the Earth, has its summit in Heaven. Sweat of the brow; and up from that to sweat of the brain, sweat of the heart; which includes all Kepler calculations, Newton meditations, all sciences, all spoken epics, all acted heroisms, martyrdoms — up to that '* Agony of bloody sweat," which all men have called divine ! Oh, brother ! if this is not ** worship," then, I say, the more pity for worship ; for this is the noblest thing yet discovered under God's sky! Who art thou that complainest of thy life of toil? Complain not. Thomas Carlyle, Do not despond because your means of doing good appear trifling and insignificant, for though one soweth and another reapeth, yet it is God who giveth the increase. Jean Ingelow. 3IO IRovembec 5. TJ/HEREFORE, even as the Holy Ghost saith, To-day ye shall hear his voice, Hardefi not yoicr hearts, as in the provoca- tion. Like as in the day of the te^nptatioji i?t the wilderness, Wherewith your fathers tempted me by proving me, And saw my works forty years. — (Revised Version) Hebrews iii. 7, 8, 9. '^^HERE is but one v/ay in which man Vi^ can ever help God — that is, by letting God help him: and there is no way in which His name is more guiltily taken in vain, than by calling the abandonment of our own work the performance of His. John Ruskin. If life, like the olive, is a bitter fruit, then grasp both with the press, and they will afford the sweetest oil. J. P. Richter. 'THRUST ye in the Lord forever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. — Isaiah xxvi. 4. One by one thy duties wait thee ; Let thy whole strength go to each, Let no future dreams elate thee, Learn thou first what these can teach. Adelaide A. Procter. ♦ITT is not improbable that no man ever ■I had a kind action done to him who did not in consequence commit a sin less than he otherwise would have done. . . There are few gifts more precious to a soul than to make its sins fewer. It is in our power to do this almost daily, and sometimes often in a day. Another work, which our kindness does in the hearts of others, is to encour- age them in their efforts after good. Anonymous. We should follow Providence, and not attempt to force it, for that often proves best for us which was least our own doing. Matthew Henry. 312 IRovembcr 7. pOR both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one : for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I ivill declare thy name unto my brethren, In the midst of the congregation ivill I sing thy praise. — (Revised Version) Hebrews ii. II-I2. -I* ^JfORROW sobers us, and makes the *^ mind genial. And in sorrow we love and trust our friends more tenderly, and the dead becom.e dearer to us. And just as the stars shine out in the night, so there are blessed faces that look at us in our grief, though before their features were fading from our recollection. Suffering! Let no man dread it too much, because it is good for him, and it will help to make him sure of his being immortal. . . And it is in sor- row — the night of the soul — that we see farthest, and know ourselves natives of infinity and sons and daughters of the most high. — Euthanasy. Desire earnestly the greater gifts. — i Corinthians xii. i8. Bopcmbcc 8* 3^3 A GOOD 7iame is better than precious oint- ment. ECCLESIASTES vii. I. /THREAT things never do really happen \I^ to anyone; that is, the great things always come in shoals of countless little things, which look like insignificant atoms as we pass through them, and only seem a shoal when we have passed beyond them. When the angel set St. Peter free from prison, to St. Peter it seemed just girding on his garments, and putting on his shoes, and stepping through an open door, as he might do any day. It was only when the angel had left that he saw what a wonder- fully great thing had happened to him. Mrs. Charles. Howe'er it be, it seems to me, 'Tis only noble to be good. Kind hearts are more than coronets, And simple faith than Norman blood. Alfred Tennyson. HTHEREFORE every scj'ibe which is in- structed unto the kingdom of heaven^ is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things ne7v and old. — Matthew xiii. 52. ►I- Leave me, O Love, which reachest but to dust. And thou, my mind, aspire to higher things; Grow rich in that which never taketh rust: Whatever fades but fading pleasure brings. Draw in thy beams, and humble all thy might To that sweet yok^ where lasting freedoms be; Which breaks the clouds, and opens forth the light That doth both shine and give us sight to see! Oh, take fast hold; let that light be thy guide In this small course which birth draws out to death; And think how ill becometh him to slide V/ho seeketh heaven and comes of heavenly breath. Sir Philip Sidney. November 10, 3^5 ZXS" that soweth the good seed is the Son of man ; the field is the ivo7'ld : the good seed are the child?- en of the kingdom. — Matthew xiii. 37-3S. The noiseless footsteps pass away; The stream flows on as yesterday; Nor can it for a time be seen A benefactor there had been. Yet think not that the seed is dead Which in the lonely place is spread; It lives, it lives; the spring is nigh, And soon its life shall testify. Bernard Barton. -ifJNDEAVOR to be patient in bearing ^^^ with the defects and infirmities of others, of what sort soever they be, for that thyself hast many failings which must be borne with by others. Thomas A Kempis. 4* Prayer is the pulse of the renewed soul, and the constancy of its beat is the test and measure of the spiritual life. Octavius Winslow. 3i6 IRovember lU T^UT he saith unto them, It is I ; be not afj-aid. — John vi. 20. •I- NoT.v faith is the assu?-ance of things hoped for, the proving of things not seen. By faith we understand thai the wo?ids have been frafned by the word of God, so that what is seefi hath not been made out of thijtgs ivhich do appear. — Revised Version, Hebrews xi. i, 2,3- Through the weary day of sowing, Burning sun and drenching shower, Day by day, so slowly growing, Comes the waited harvest hour. So the kingdom cometh ever, Though it seems so far away; Each bright thought and true endeavor Hastens on the blessed day. Rev. Minot J. Savage. *^ ME may ourselves, one of these dark days, need forbearance and silence from our brethren : let us render it cheer- fully to those who require it now. Be this our family rule, and our personal bond — speak evil of no man. Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. IRovember 12, 317 '^ESUS answered and said u?ito thein^ ^ This is the work of God, that ye believe o?i him who7n he hath sent. — John vi. 29. The song most sweet — Is that which lulls, not thrills the ear. T. W. Parsons. HLMOST all men have more goodness in them than the ordinary intercourse of the world enables us to discover. Indeed most men, we may be sure, from glimpses we now and then obtain, carry with them to the grave much undeveloped nobility. Life is seldom so varied or so adventurous as to enable a man to unfold all that is in him. A creature who has the capabilities in him to live forever can hardly have room in three- score years to do more than give specimens of what he might be and will be. Frederick W. Faber. Let us vigorously examine our own faults, and leave the faults of others to be judged by God. BossuET. 3i8 IRovember 13. pOR the bread of God is he which cometh down from heave ?i, and giveth life unto the world. . . Lord, evermore give us this bread. —John vi. zz, 34. jpIND your niche and fill it. If it be Jl ever so little, if it is only to be a hewer of wood and drawer of water, do something- in this great battle for God and truth. Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. We need all our strength and all the grace God can give us for to-day's burdens and to-day's battles. To-morrow belongs to our heavenly Father. I would not know its secrets if I could. Theodore L. Cuyler, D. D. •J- Winding and grinding, Work through the day; Grief never minding, Grind it away ! What though tears dropping Rust as they fall ? Have no wheels stopping. Work comforts all. Mrs. Mulock. 1Plovemt)ec 14* 3^9 JJ/ITII 7ny soul have I desired thee ifi the night : yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early. — Isaiah xxvi. 9. It fortifies my soul to know- That, though I perish, Truth is so: That, howsoe'er I stray and range, Whate'er I do. Thou dost not change. I steadier step when I recall That, if I slip. Thou dost not fall. Arthur Hugh Clough. '^T'HE first great silence in the life of ^^ Jesus holds all His years of growth. It meant study in the shadows of the syna- gogue, meditation on the upland pastures, prayer beneath the evening stars. The first great silence for every life should be, know thyself. God has given to every individual soul some gift that is unique, peculiar to itself; some delicate tint that it alone can add to the great picture; some tone that no other soul can sound forth, — Uwistian Register. 320 naovember 15, ]\/fy sheep hear my voice, a?id I knoiv them, and they follow me. And I give unto the7n eternal life. — John x. 27, 28. -iJJVERY attempt to make others happy, ^^ every sin left behind, every temptation trampled under foot, every step forward in the cause of what is good, is a step nearer the cause of Christ. Dean Stanley. ►I- Thou followest Thy path, I mine; but all go westerling. And all will meet among the hills of God. Robert Buchanan. The Present Time — youngest born of eternity, child and heir of all the Past Times with their good and evil, and parent of all the Future — is ever a ''New Era" to the thinking man. To know it, and what it bids us do, is ever the sum of knowledge for all of us. Thomas Carlyle. Sympathy is the safeguard of the human soul against selfishness. Thomas Carlyle. IWovember 16. 321 yESUS said imto her, I am the ?'esurrection, and the life : he that believeth in 7ne, though he were dead^ yet shall he live. — John xi. 25. God names differently what we judge fail- ing, In a glory-mist His purpose veiling. One by one He moves us, hands anointed By His hands, to do our task appointed. Dinah Mulock Craik. '^'HERE are two freedoms : the false, Viz where a man is free to do what he likes ; and the true, where a man is free to do what he ought. Two equalities : the false, which reduces all intellects and all charac- ters to a dead level ; the true, wherein each man has equal powers to educate and use whatever faculties or talents God has given him, be they more or less. Charles Kingsley. •J- Tell men that God is love ; that right is right, and wrong is wrong. F. W. Robertson. 322 November 17. 'T^HOU shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy hearty and ivith all thy soul^ and with all thy 7?iind. — Matthew xxii. 37. God works, we know not why nor how, And one day lights, close hidden now. May blaze like gems upon an angel's brow. George Arnold, ♦fj^EMEMBER now and always that life is irV no idle dream, but a solemn reality based upon eternity and encompassed by eternity. Find out your task ; stand to it ; the night Cometh when no man can work. Thomas Carlyle. The finest thing on the planet, by all acknowledgment, is human life. It is all we know of the image of God. James C. Fernald. •!- In the lifelong fight to be waged by everyone single-handed against a host of foes, the last requisite for a good fight, the last proof and test of our courage and man- fulness, must be loyalty to truth. Thomas Hughes. November 18, 3^3 n^HOU shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. — Matthew xxii. 39. The soul of music slumbers in the shell, Till waked and kindled by the master's spell, And feeling hearts — touch them but lightly — pour A thousand melodies unheard before. Samuel Rogers. •J* ME need a true measure of value. For we impoverish and waste our life when we over-value the perishable and un- der-value the enduring; when we mistake trifles for treasures, and treasures for trifles. What is it that men seek first and care for most ? How many do you know who never waste their powers, forget their principles, nor lose their peace of mind in a chase after pleasures that are momentary, honors that are bubbles, and goods that perish with the using. Rev. Charles Gordon Ames. ►!* Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness. ThOxMAS Carlyle. 324 IWovemtjer 19. THEREFORE I say unto you, What things soever ye desire^ when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. — Mark xi. 24. •I- Thou that art born in this favored age, So fertile in all enterprise of thought, Bound in fresh mental conflicts to engage The liberties for which your fathers fought — Be not thy spirit contemplation fraught. Musing and mourning ! Thou must act and move, Must teach thy children more than thou wast taught, Brighten intelligence, disseminate love. And, through the world around, make way to worlds above. Lord Houghton. 4- mNOWLEDGE, truth, love, beauty, goodness, faith, alone give vitality to the mechanism of existence. James Martineau. ►^ Habit is a cable ; we weave a thread of it every day, and at last we cannot break it. Horace Mann. movcmber 20. 325 J-TEA VEN and earth shall pass away ; but my words shall not pass away. — Mark xiii. 31. HSK for the golden key of faith, and then put it into the Lord's hand, that He may turn it in the lock of ''His good treasure." Anonymous. •i- Hand Grasps hand, eye lights eye in good fellow- ship, And great hearts expand. And grow one in the sense of this world's life. Robert Browning. Every life has its secret source. The most transparent character — the man or woman whose every motive we may seem to read through the crystalline purity of a sin- cere life — has hidden springs, fed by God's own hand, whose existence we may surmise, but whose depth no plummet may ever fathom. Year in and year out we may live side by side with our nearest and dearest, and never drink from these fountains which supply inspiration to them. — Christian Register. 326 Movcmbct 2l» J/[/A TCH ye and pray, lest ye enter i?ito temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. — Mark xiv. 38. ►I- This be my comfort, in these days of grief, Which is not Christ's, nor forms heroic tale: Apart from Him, if not a sparrow fail, May not He pitying view, and send relief When foes or friends perplex, and peevish thoughts prevail ? J. H. Newman. ►J- ^nV USIC is sweetest near or over rivers JLIIJ' where the echo thereof is best re- bounded by the water. Praise for pensive- ness, thanks for tears, and blessing God over the floods of affliction make the most melodious music in the ear of Heaven. Thomas Fuller. "When He shall appear, we shall be like Him." In this the human spirit rests ; there is nothing greater. Already it ap- peared so to us, when, under the coarse garment, He concealed the splendors of heaven — already it seemed to us that here or nowhere was to be seen the noblest form of humanity. Tholuck. IRovcmber 22. 327 TF a/iy man will come aftei' ;;;eml?cc 24, 329 T^OR the Soil of man is not come to destroy mens lives, but to save them. — Luke ix. 56. For All flesh is as grass , And all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth ; But the word of the Lord abideth forever. (Revised Version) i Peter i. 24. 25. '^'HE great aspect in which man differs Vl/ from the beasts is this: The beast is furnished only with such powers and faculties as he needs for his low activities and his short span of life. But the intellect with which man is equipped is not for three- score and ten merely but for undying life and use. Man's mental outfit far transcends whatever it can accomplish in this short life. Rev. E. W. Donald, D. D. 33° Bovember 25, T^OR the Son of ??ia?i is come to seek and to save that which was lost. — Luke xix. lo. For at the heart of womanhood The child's great heart doth lie; At childhood's heart, the germ of good, Lies God's simplicity. So, sister, be thy womanhood A baptism on thy brow, For something dimly understood. And which thou art not now. But which within thee, all the time, Maketh thee what thou art; Maketh thee long and strive and climb— The God-life at thy heart. George MacDonald. CONSCIENCE signifies that knowledge which a man hath of his own thoughts and actions; and because, if a man judgeth fairly of his actions by comparing them with the law of God, his mind will approve or condemn him, this knowledge of con- science may be both an accuser and a judge. Jonathan Swift. movcmber 26. 33^ nrHE Father hath not left me alone : for T do always those things that please him. As he spake these words many believed on him. — John viii. 29, 30. There seems a deeper impulse given By lonely hour and darkened room To solemn thoughts that soar to heaven, Seeking a life and world to come. Charlotte Bronte. fT is Christ who has destroyed the fear of death; with Him death was but a sleep. . . What would be the use of fighting battles if the future were not an answer to the present pain? Any man who repeats in his soul the history of the cross, repeats in his experience the history of the resurrection. The whole result of Christ's victory over death is to make men rational and moral. Rev. George A. Gordon, D. D. Happiness in the presence of sorrow is a benediction. Anonymous. 332 November 27, AND all mine are thine ^ and thine are mine j and I am glorified in them. And these thijigs I speak in the world^ that they might have my Joy fulfilled ifi themselves. — John xvii. lo, 13. O EYES, turned inward on our darkened hearts, Open to see God's beauty on the earth; Self-pitying tears that flow upon His smarts, Fructify all our barrenness and dearth. O folded hands, close clasped in dull de- spair, Grow busy with God's work of love and peace; O heart, forget to grieve, and rise to where misgivings cease. Caroline E. S. North. BE not anxious about to-morrow. Do to-day's duty, fight to-day's temptation, and do not weaken and distrust yourself by looking forward to things which you cannot see, and could not understand if you saw them. Charles Kingsley. Bovcmljcr 28. 333 JVI' EITHER pray I for these alofie, but for tke?}i also ivhich shall believe oti me through their word : that they all may be one ; as thou^ Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us : that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. — John xvii. 20, 21. Learn the mystery of progression duly: Do not call each glorious change decay; But know we only hold our treasures truly When it seems as if they passed away. Nor dare to blame God's gifts for incom- pleteness: In that want their beauty lies ; they roll Toward some infinite depth of love and sweetness, Bearing onward man's reluctant soul. Adelaide Procter. 1|VAUSE, you who read this, and think U^ for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that never would have bound you but for the formation of the first link of one memorable day. Charles Dickens. 334 IRovember 29, IF ye continue in my word, then are ye my dis- ciples ifideed. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. — John v i i i . 31, 32. /f^UR instruments, our hands, our hearts, Vi^ are given us to work with in this time — to struggle with the evil, to bring out the good, in this time, in order that people may look back in after-days and say: '' See what has come down to us from it; see what good has been removed from all the wrong which those who dwelt in it tell us of; see what there is in it to imitate ! " Frederick D. Maurice. Life is but a working day. Where tasks are set aright: A time to work, a time to pray, And then, please God, a quiet night, Whose palms are green, whose robes are white; A long-drawn breath, a balm for sorrow. And all things lovely on the morrow. Christina Rossetti. IRovember 30. 335 J/f/A TCH, therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth cofne. — Matthew xxiv. 42. Time ! who know'st a lenient hand to lay- Softest on Sorrow's wound, and slowly thenjce (Lulling to sad repose the weary sense) The faint pang stealest unperceived away ! On thee I rest my only hope at last, And think, when thou hast dried the bitter tear That flows in vain o'er all my soul held dear, 1 may look back on every sorrow past, And meet life's peaceful evening with a smile; As some lone bird, at day's departing hour. Sings in the sunshine, of the transient shower Forgetful, though its wings are wet the while — Yet, ah, how much must that poor heart endure Which hopes from thee, and thee alone, a cure ! William Lisle Bowles. 33^ December I. C^ Y not thou ^ What is the cause that the former days were better than these ? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerni7ig this. — Ecclesiastes vii. lo. All that is, at all, Lasts ever, past recall; Earth changes, but thy soul and God Stand sure. Robert Browning ♦IfF the heart knows its own bitterness, ■■ let us be thankful that it also knows its secret joys. As the disciples said of Jesus when they saw His wonderful strength, '■'■ He has meat to eat that we know not of," so many a tried soul is fed with divine manna that we know not of. Angels min- ister to them while we sleep, and they rise refreshed and strengthened for the daily fight which they bravely meet. . . It is all explained in this — that their life is hid in God ; that from the hidden springs they drink draughts of love and refreshment. — Christian Register. December 2. 337 TN the day of prosperity be joyful^ but in the day of adversity consider : God also hath set the one over against the other ^ to the end that ?nan should find nothing after him. — Eccle- SIASTES vii. 14. mEVER give less than your best, and remember that your best is always yourself. Anonymous, ►J- There is no victory possible without humility and magnanimity, and no magna- nimity and humility possible without an ideal. Thomas Hughes. We are not all alike in this world . . . and we do not simply differ from one another, but we are dependent upon each other. . . It is part of the original plan of Almighty God for man. Fr. Osborne. Strong was His arm, the Bringer of salva- tion; Strong was the word of God to succor thee! Bishop Heber. 33^ December 3» T^UT the wisdom that is from above is first pure^ then peaceable^ gentle^ and easy to be entreated. — James iii. 17. Often in leaves by the wayside, But touched with a heavenly glow, And with self-sacrifice fragrant, The flowers of great love grow. Henry Abbey. ♦JI^AVE these three things always present "•/ in your mind : what you were, what you are, and what you will be. St. Bernard. ►I- Oh ! we cannot spare the tender voice of warning, still heard amid all earthly noises, "What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose or waste his own being ! Seek first what is worth most — the kingdom of God and His righteousness — the rectitude that is the completeness of His nature and yours." Rev. Charles Gordon Ames. December 4, 339 r^HOOSE ye this day whom ye will serve. — Joshua xxiv. 15. MHEN one we love is dead, why do we follow him with eager passionate love all the days of our life ? Men have often done the best work of their lives under the inspiration of love for the dead. Many and many a mother loves to-day her little one that has been dead for a score of years, and goes to the sacred chamber where its toys and clothes are kept to indulge that love. How could we love the dead did we not feel deep down in our hearts the cer- tainty that they were still living, living in another and a brighter sphere. The capac- ity for love with which we are endowed is a mere stupid waste if there is no life but this for it to be exercised in. Rev. E. W. Donald, D. D. Thoughts, like light, bind the world in one. George Eliot. 340 December 5. J HAVE fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith ; henceforth there is laid up for me a croivn of righteous- ness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day ; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. — 2 Timothy iv. 7, 8. What have I learned where'er I've been, From all I've heard, from all I've seen ? What know I more that's worth the knowing ? What have I done that's worth the doing ? Pythagoras. ►^ /f^VER our forms, our faces, our aspira- Vi^ tions we may have little control. These may change as do the seasons, but over our desires and aspirations for God we are given a large governorship. Rev. Thomas Van Ness. Gradually to lay a broad basis of such evidence as ought through all time to satisfy the reason and the heart of mankind, seems to have been the object with which our Saviour wrought. Wm. Ewart Gladstone. 2)eceml)ec 6. 34 r TN holiness and righteousness before hijn, ail ■ the days of our life. Through the tender mercy of our God ; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us. To give light to thetn that sit in darkness and in the shadoiv of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. — Luke i. 75, 78, 79- ►I* Send a sweet breeze from the sea, O Lord, From Thy deep, deep sea of love ; Though it lift not the veil from the cloudy height. Let the brow grow cool and the footstep light, As it comes with holy and soothing might, Like the wing of a snowy dove. Frances Ridley Havergal. ►I* ♦fC^E that wills to do ''His will shall know it J of the doctrine whether it be of God." . . . The true doctrine is, we conceive, ''Act upon Christian principle, and you will come to believe it ; act upon what is true in itself, and it will come to be also appar- ent or true to you." Wm. Ewart Gladstone. 342 2)cceml)er 7. T/f/'iriLE we look not at the things tvhich are seen, but at the things which a7'e not see7i. — 2 Corinthians iv. i8. llJVERY moment brings some duty to be /^W performed, and this is enough for our perfection. Anonymous. Opinions may differ; they must differ, and there is no cause for regret that they do differ, provided only that the most uncer- tain, the most challengeable of them may be considered "the stepping stones to higher things." Samuel Eliot, LL. D. And for every sincere act of worship and every upreaching of the soul, uttered or unexpressed, the world will be the bet- ter and heaven the nearer. Anonymous. I hold it truth, with him who sings To one clear harp in divers tones, That men may rise on stepping stones Of their dead selves to hidden things. Alfred Tennyson. 2)cccmt>er 8» 343 "l^HAT which I see not, teach thou me. — Job xxxiv. 32. No earnest work Of any honest creature, howbeit weak, Imperfect, ill-adapted, fails so much It is not gathered, as a grain of sand To enlarge the sum of human action used For carrying out God's ends. Mrs. Browning ♦ITT seems, my son, thou must at all times ■■ hope for spiritual communion. Self-un- consciousness is the condition of blessed- ness. Both the good and the evil belonging to thee thou must learn to forget. Let infinite excellence bend over thee, like the all-invest- ing sky. Forget thyself, thy present, thy future in God's contemplation. His wisdom. His work. Every moment have something that is worthy, be it in mind, be it in act. When the mind's habits change, man changes. Protap Chundar Mozoomdar. 344 December 9. yJJVD the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil. — Genesis iii. 22. Since God is love, and loving Is heaven, love keeps the gate ; And they who know love's secret Need no future wait. In spite, then, of earth's sorrow, In spite of all its sin, The kingdom is before you : Arise and enter in. Rev. Minot J. Savage. '^'HERE is a state of heart which makes WL' truth credible the moment it is ut- tered. . . Love is credible to a loving heart ; purity is credible to a pure mind. . . It is of such a state — a state of love and hope — which makes the Divine truth credible and natural at once, that Jesus speaks: '' Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." F, W. Robertson. December 10. 345 T>EACE I leave with you, my peace I give unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto you. — John xiv. 27. Sow good services ; sweet remembrance will spring from them. Mme. de Stael. ♦ir WISH to speak to you this morning on ■■ the limits of human responsibility. I wish to point out to you that we cannot con- fine our responsibility to our own acts. . . There is such a thing as corporate responsi- bility. . . There is a sense in which one man is responsible for the acts of another man. . . We are so knitted and jointed together that our acts go out into other lives and perpet- uate themselves, and thus the consequences of our deeds are felt in other generations and in other circles, and because of what we have done other crimes are committed, and in that measure we are responsible for the crimes. . . No man stands alone in life. . . . You are born into a family, and are a part of that family. Rev. Lyman Abbott. 346 December II, pOR 7nine eyes have seen thy salvation^ which thou hast prepared before the face of all people. A light to lighten the Gentiles^ and the glory of thy people Israel. — Luke ii. 30, 31, 32. Oh ! for grace our hearts to soften ; Teach us, Lord, at length to love. We, alas ! forget too often What a friend we have above. Rev. John Newton. *'||^ERILY, verily, I say unto thee, except ^^ a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." As much as to say, *'It is not enough that you have examined My credentials, and that, approving them, you own Me as a teacher carrying a com- mission from on high. You must accept deeper results of My mission than any you have yet thought of, and must give your mind and spirit to be translated into the region of a new and better life." Wm. Ewart Gladstone. It is the soul that builds itself a body. Schiller. 5>ecembei: 12. 347 ]~[E that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in imich. — Luke xvi. lo. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have dojie the will of God, ye might receive the promise. — Hebrews x. t,6. As when the valleys all in shadow lie, And shadowy shapes of fear still haunt the night, Some mountain peak reflects the coming light, And waiting lips break forth with joyful cry For gladness that at last the day is nigh. So when some soul that towers afar is bright. The souls within the shadow, at the sight Grow sudden glad to know 'tis light ©n high ! Anonymous. <>^ESUS and souls like Him help us. . . We %J see them towering above us like moun- tains that catch the first rays of light, while we are in the dark. Rev. Minot J. Savage. 348 December 13» pOR what is a ??ian advantaged, if he gain the 7vhole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? — Luke ix. 25. ►J- Not by one portal or one path alone God's holy messages to men are known. Edwin Arnold. ?^EEP within our being another and ^^ grander miracle has its growth from small beginnings. The seeds of heavenly character may exist in soft inward prompt- ings, too weak for words, too obscure for conscious thought. The noblest sentiments may be born as faint thrills of feeling which pass unnoticed. From half-whispered sug- gestions may spring great truths and great actions. And who of us does not know what great miseries may grow from small sins ? Rev. Charles Gordon Ames. ►J- When we see how the course of history has been changed by a few strong and ear- nest souls, can we half imagine the splendor that w^ould light up this human world if multitudes were to become such as these were 7 Rev. Charles Gordon Ames. H)ecemt)cr 14» 349 n^HE life is 7?iore than meat^ mid the body more than raimeftt. — Luke xii. 23. •!- This is the curse of life. That not A nobler, wiser train Of calmer thoughts and feelings blot Our passions from our brain. But each day brings its petty dust Our soon choked souls to fill; And we forget because we must, And not because we will. Matthew Arnold. '7T\ISAPP0INTMENTS are shafts sent Jt' to the very bottom of our souls, and whatever is there, whether gold, or only copper, they bring it to the surface. Edmund Garrett. The times in which we live are great — so great that we can hardly conceive them great enough; so great that we, old and young, cannot be great and good and brave and hardworking enough ourselves, if we do not wish to appear quite unworthy of the times in which our lot has been cast. Max Muller. 350 December 15. J^ELOVED, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. — i John iv. ii. Prayer is the burden of a sigh, The falHng of a tear, The upward glancing of an eye When none but God is near. Prayer is the simplest form of speech That infant lips can try; Prayer the sublimest strains that reach The majesty on high. James Montgomery. T^ILIGENCE and moderation are the '»' best steps whereby to climb to any excellency. Nay, it is rare if there be any other way. The heavens send not down their rain in floods, but by drops, and deny distillations. A man is neither good nor wise, nor rich at once : yet softly creeping up these hills, he shall every day better his prospects; till at last he gain the top. Owen Feltham. 2)eccmber 16, 35 ^ jTPOR this is the love of God, that we keep his couunandments; and his conwiandnients are not grievous. — i John v. 3. Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, Uttered or unexpressed. James Montgomery. ♦IfN the good providence of God even our ■■ spiritual failures are not without their benefits. Rightly apprehended, they teach us a humility which rarely is experienced so thoroughly except as resulting from this. This fact does not justify carelessness in respect to temptation. . . But a truly devout spirit does gain spiritual wisdom and strength from its experience of failure, penitence, and struggles to reform which are full of blessing. Yet the penitence and the endeavor to reconsecrate life must follow one's consciousness of guilt quickly. — The Congregationalist. 352 December 17» /jND this is love, that we walk afte}- his conwiandments. This is the com7na?id- menty that, as ye have heard fro??i the l?eginm?ig, ye should walk in it. — 2 John i. 6. Arise, arise, good Christian, Let right to wrong succeed; Let penitential sorrow To heavenly gladness lead. To the light that hath no evening, That knows nor morn nor sun, The light so near and golden. The Celestial Coujitry. HLOVE of what is high, or true and pure, often keeps out from the heart what is contrary to these. Even when the heart and habit are not in the right, if once the right be chosen, be aimed at, be prac- ticed, the base, the false, the impure become gradually crowded out and eventu- ally supplanted. . . The hunger and thirst for the good are the best assurances that the evil is to pass away. — The Churchman. Wcccmbcx 18. 353 'POR as ?)iany as are led by the spirit of God^ they are the sons of God. — Romans viii. 14. For in him we live^ and moz^e, a?id have our being j as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. — Acxsxvii. 28. Prune thou thy words, the thoughts control, That o'er thee swell and throng: Thy will condense within thy soul, And change to purpose strong. John Henry Newman. ^|(J VERY day is a life, fresh with reinstated ^^^ power, setting out on its allotted labor and limited path. Its morning resembles a whole youth. Its eventide is sobering into age. It is rounded at either end by a sleep — unconscious at the outset and oblivion at the close. We are born anew every time that the sun rises, and lights up the world to do his part in it. N. L. Frothingham. Active participation in the duties of this world seems to be the surest safeguard for the health of body and mind. Lydia Maria Child. 354 5)ccemt)er 19. l^HEREFORE we labor, that, whether present or absefit, we may be accepted of him. — 2 Corinthians V. 9. Let goodness and mercy, my bountiful God, Still follow my footsteps till I meet Thee above: I seek by the path which my forefathers trod Through the land of their sojourn. Thy kingdom of love. James Montgomery. ^j|V Y ground of hope for myself and for JLII*/ humanity is in that divine fullness of love which was manifested in the life, teach- ings, and self-sacrifices of Christ. In the infinite mercy of God so revealed, and not in any work or merit of our nature, I humbly, yet very hopefully, trust. I regard Christianity as a life rather than a creed, and in judging of my fellow-man I can use no other standard than that which our Lord and Master has given us : " By their fruits ye shall know them." Rev, Lyman Abbott. 5)ecembei: 20. 355 J^OR this is the love of God, that we keep his commandmefits, and his commandtnents are not g7-ievoiis. — i John v. 3. How can faith be full of blindness To despair of mercy's kindness — While the hand of Heaven is giving Comfort from the ever-living? Nicholas Breton. 'F we have any virtue in us, did it spring up in an hour or a day ? If we have any wisdom, did we pick it up in a lump at some particular turn of our experience ? No ; these signs and fruits of inward life are the outcome of long, slow-working causes, running back through all our years; including all that we dreaded and bewailed, as well as all that we welcomed and enjoyed; including also the outward and inward life of our struggling ancestors, and the long and broad evolution of humanity. We must follow the hint: we must make each step an onward one. Rev. Charles G. Ames. 35^ Becembec 21. T/"^ T a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you. — John xii. 35. The lingering harmony in ocean shells, The fairy music of the meadow bells, Earth and void air, water and wasting flame, Have words to whisper, tongues to tell His name. Edwin Arnold. mONE of us can live well by an occa- sional good resolution, any more than a seed can grow into a healthy plant by being used as a common plaything, and only now and then put into the earth for a minute or two. Everything depends on storing up in ourselves, by a habit of right- willing and well-doing, a great and ever- increasing fund of moral power which shall be always available to brace us against sud- den temptation, to help us carry out our better purposes, and to hold us steady and true to the ideal. Rev. Charles G. Ames. December 22. 357 /O MAN greatly beloved^ fear not ; peace be unto thee, be strong^ yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me I was strengthened, and said, Let my Lord speak ; for thou hast strengthened me. — Daniel x. 19. -I- There was Hope in the ark at the dawn of the day When o'er the wide waters the dove flew away. But when, ere the night, she came wearily back With the leaf she had plucked on her deso- late track, The children of Noah knelt down and adored, And uttered in anthems their praise to the Lord, " Oh, bird of glad tidings ! Oh, joy in our pain! Beautiful dove, thou art welcome again ! " Charles Mackay. MHEN once thou hast conceived and determined thy mission within thy soul, let naught arrest thy steps. Mazzinl 35^ Beccmber 23, /] NjD we desire that each one of you may show the sa?ne diligence imto the fullness of hope even to the end. — (Revised Aversion) Hebrews vi. lo. Evil is wrought By want of thought, As well as by want of heart. Thomas Hood. '^I^OU remember that parable of the prod- ^^ igal son, when the man came to him- self and returned to his father. While he stood afar off, hesitating to go on, the father came out to meet him, and threw himself on his son's neck, and kissed him, and said, '•'' Bring the best robe, and the ring, and the shoes, and kill the fatted calf." This is Christianity; it is God coming out to man when man turns his face to God. I wish I could put this simple, sublime, eternal, divine faith of the ages so before you that every one of you would say, '' He shall be my God, revealed in Christ, received in the spirit, interpreted by the experience, lived in the life — my hope, my salvation." Rev. Lyman Abbott. December 24. 359 AND when he piittctJi forth his oiv?i sheep ^ he goeth before them, mid the sheep follow him J for they k7iow his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee froi7i him j for they know 7iot the voice of strangers. — John x. 4, 5. We see Thy hand — it leads us, it supports us ; We hear Thy voice — it counsels and it courts us; And then we turn away; and still Thy kindness Forgives our blindness. John Bowring. MITH calm longing our glance rests upon the blessed Home which lies before us, and life appears to us peaceful, and death sweet. The thorns of our pilgrim- path no longer wound us, and the entrance to the Father's house is no more narrow and fearful. The waste blooms into a garden of the Lord, and the dark valley becomes a light, lovely path. With refresh- ing peace within, praising God with heart and mouth, we walk joyfully toward the beloved Home. Max Muller. 36o December 25. r^LOR Y to God in the highest^ and on earth peace, good will toward men. — Luke ii. 14. Hark! the praising angels say, Christ was born on Christmas Day On blest Judea far away. Hush ! our pleading spirits say, Christ be born in us, we pray, And give our souls their Christmas Day. From the German. HDAY to lift up the soul to God and bring man nearer to his brother. . . Sing the angels' song to all human hearts of ** Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." J. F. Clarke. ►J- God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets; hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things; by whom also he made the worlds. — Hebrews i. i, 2. 2)ecembec 26. 361 1/1/11 A TSO EVE J^ t/iifigs are trt/e, ivhatso- ever tilings are holiest, whatsoever things are just^ whatsoever things are pure, whatso- ever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report ; if there be any virtue, a7id if there be any praise, think on these thifigs. — Philippians iv, 8. •i- Where'er the gentle heart Finds courage from above; Where'er the heart forsook Warms with the breath of love; Where faith bids fear depart, City of God ! thou art. Francis T. Palgrave. ^^ SPIRIT pure, simple, and constant, ^V is not like Martha, ''distracted and troubled with the multitude of its employ- ments," however great ; because, being inwardly at rest, it seeketh not its own glory in what it does, but " doth all to the glory of God "; for there is no other cause of perplexity and disquiet, but an unsub- dued will and unmortified affections. Thomas a Kempis. 3^2 Becember 27, "T^HEN shall we kitow, if we folloiv on to know the Lord. — Hose A vi. 3. Sweet are the thoughts that savor of content ; The quiet mind is richer than a crown ; Sweet are the nights in careless slumber spent; The poor estate scorns fortune's angry frown; Such sweet content, such minds, such sleep, such bliss. Beggars enjoy, when princes oft do miss. Robert Greene. fROM the height of that future to which on the wings of the ancient prophetic belief we can transport ourselves, look back on the present. . . Think of those good thoughts and deeds which alone will survive in that unknown world. . . To that future of futures which shall fulfill the yearnings of all that the prophets have desired on earth, it is for us, wherever we are, to look onward, upward, and forward in the constant expectation of something better than we see or know. Dean Stanley. December 28. 3^3 J ET us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace ^ that we may obtain 7nercy. — Hebrews iv. i6. Who in Life's battle firm doth stand Shall bear Hope's tender blossoms Into the Silent Land ! J. G. Von Salis. '^^AKE the grandest of human callings WL' and detail its routine; people will turn away from it as from a dull story. And yet one may take the smallest calling, the meanest occupation, the most matter-of- course duty and shed on it the beautiful light of the ideal world, the glory of religion; and behold, as every dewdrop becomes a diamond when the morning comes over the hills, as every bit of mica flashes like a pearl when the sunshine strikes it, so this little atom of duty, care, toil, trouble, becomes a gem when touched by the light of its principle. O. B. Frothingham. 3^4 December 29, r^ASTING all your cai'e upon him : for he careth for you. — i Peter v. 7. MOULD you know the peace of God, realize that you are a part of that infinite majesty; strive to catch now and then a note of the heavenly melody; chant a stray chord of the infinite harmony; remember that everything beautiful springs from a beauty that is behind it, every strong will rises from a strength underneath, and all your loves are fed from the fountain of infinite love. And for yourself you may mar the beautiful or reflect it, you can either enter into the strength or become its victim, know the love or thwart it. J. L. L. Jones. ►^ Full souls are double mirrors, making still An endless vista of fair things before. Repeating things behind. George Eliot. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. — John xv. 13. December 30» 3^5 "DE kindly affcctioned one to another with brotherly love ; i?t honour preferring 07ie another. — Romans xii. lo. MHEN we go out into the fields in the evening of the year, we regard, even in spite of ourselves, the still but steady advances of time. . . Yet a few years, we think, and all that now bless, or all that now convulse humanity, will also have perished. The mightiest pageantry of life will pass: the loudest notes of triumph or of conquest will be silent in the grave; **the wicked," wherever active, will *' cease from troubling," and *'the weary," wher- ever suffering, will *'be at rest." Under an impression so profound we feel our own hearts better. The cares, the animosities, the hatreds which society may have engen- dered, sink unperceived from our bosoms. Archibald Alison, Heroic souls in old times had no more opportunities than we have; but they used them. Charles Kingsley. 3^6 December 31. A ND let us not be weary in well doing : for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men. — Galatians vi. 9, 10. Why press we so against the door that Fate Has barred upon our hearts' desire ? Why hold our lives bereft and desolate Because God writes their almanac in fire? Why should we sadden with dark clouded skies, When others make a ladder of their love, And while we deem ourselves too weak to rise, They've climbed above ? Caroline North. Not throned above the skies. Nor golden-walled afar, But where Christ's two or three In His name gathered are, Be in the midst of them, God's own Jerusalem! Francis T. Palgrave. INDEX-AUTHORS. Abbey, Henry, 338 Abbott, Lyman, 345, 354, 358 Adams, S. F., 20, 157, 160, 168, 270 Addison, Joseph, 31, 62, 167 Akenside, Mark, 60, I2I Alison, A,, 26 Alison, R., 225, 365 Alvord, Dean, 220, 222 Ames, C. G., 36, 129, 134, 141, 144, 146, 154, 177, 196, 273, 302, 306, 323, 338, 348, 355, 356 Amiel, 90, 272, 273 Angelique, La Mere, 281 Angelo, M., 51, 267, 302 Angelus, S., 256 Anonymous, 16, 24, 97, 99, 105, 107, 119, 146, 153, 190, 265, 276, 311, 325, 331, 337, 342, 347 Anselm, St., 281 Arnold, Edwin, 82, 131, 205, 282, 348, 356 Arnold, G., 322 Arnold, Matthew, 53, 128, 179, 246, 349 Ashe, T., 295 Asiatic Prov,, 252 367 368 IFnDej. Askew, A., 132 Atherton, C. I., 116 Auerbach, 253 Augustine, St., 113, 180, 199, 293 Austen, J., 306 Bailey, P. J., 200, 203 Baillie, Joanna, 128 Barrie, J. M., 32, 40, 185 Barrow, I., 246, 248 Barton. A., 315, 327 Basil, 124 Baxter, R., 186, 277 Beaconsfield, Lord, 30 Beatty, P., 166 Beecher, H. W., 81, 148, 275 Bernard, St., 338 Bicknell, W. M., 265 Bismarck, Prince, 3 Blanchard F., 221 Blanchard, L., 221 Bliss, P. P., 47 Bonar, H., 69, 74, 202, 268, 278, 279, 294, 308 Bossuet, 317 Botta, Mrs. A. L., 99 Bovel, 136, 266 Bowles, W. L., 335 Bowring, J., 274, 359 Brainerd, M. G., 149 Breton, N., 355 Bright, Dr., 257 Bronte, C, 86, 103, 331 IfnDej, 369 Bronte, E., 305 Brooke, S., 59, 92 Brooks, E. S., 189, 192 Browning, Mrs., 77, 219, 28S, 343 Browning, Robert, 38, 46, 50, 52, 103, 119, 145, 233, 265, 266, 284, 325, 336 Brown, John, 14 Brown, T,, 234 Bryant, W. C, 39 Buchanan, R., 320 Buckham, J., 86 Bunyan, John, 27 Burbridge, T., 209 Burke, E., 289 Burns, Robert, 72, 76 Burrington, E. H., 194, 206 Canterbury, Dean of, 199 Capen, C. H., 95, 179, 214, 254 Carlyle, Thomas, 23, 55, 178, 226, 309, 320, 322, 323, 357 Carney, J. A, F., 107 Carter, T. T., 158, 252 Chalmers, T., 92, 308 Channing, W. E., 156, 233, 307 Chapman, G., 231 Charles, Mrs. E. R., 42, 130, 260, 313 Chatterton, T., 290 Child, L. M., 353 Cicero, 216, 254 Clarke, J. F., 249, 360 Clough, A. H., 319 370 UnOej* Coleridge, H., 198, 269 Coleridge, S. T., 29 Collins, H., 61 Comstock, E. M., 195 Coinfucius, 167 Cook, E., 204, 211, 213, 218, 228 Cowley, A., 266 Cowper, Wm., 71, 174, 242, 298 Cox, C. C, 2o3 Craik, D. U., 107, 215, 321 Cranch, C. .,98 Crosswell, w., . 154 Cudworth, W., ,63 Currier, S. J-, III Cuyler, T. L., 103, 112, 131, 294, 31 Cyrus, 26 Davies, Sir J., 217 Davy, Sir Humphrey, 63, 82 Deems, C. F., 184, 233 Denmark, 328 De Sales, St. F., 71 De Stael, Mme., 102, 345 Dickens, C, 218, 219, 226, 232, 296, 299, 333 Doddridge, P., 137 Donald, E. W,, 184, 277, 329, 339 Doudney, S., 173 Drummond, H., 50, 74, 158 Eastman, A. F., 125 Ecob, J. H., 102 Edersheim, 13 Eliot, C, 191 Eliot, George, 20, 62, 76, 122, 143, 179, 207, 248, 259, 291, 292, 295, 298, 299, 300, 339, 364 Eliot, S., 342 Emerson, R. W., 35, 38, 64, 69, 113, 245 Enchiridion, lO Epictetus, 205, 283 Euthanasy, 312 Ewing, Mrs. J., in, 139, 170 Exeter, Bishop of, 212 Faber, F. \V., 39, 41, 75, 93, loi, 104, 117, 133, 138, 152, 154, 165, 177, 188, 214, 221, 225, 231, 235, 236, 238, 264, 280, 317 Farquhar, G., 25 Farrar, Canon, 17, 70, 144, 183, 214, 236, 282 Fawcett, Edgar, 43 Feltham, O., 247, 255, 350 Fenelon, 4, 33, 126, 151, 279, 281 Fernald, J. C., 322 Flavel, no Fontaine, B., 148 Fowler, Bishop, 232, 262 Freemantle, Canon, 159 Frothingham, N. L., 353 Frothingham, O. B., 363 Froude, J. A., 13, 38, 235 Fuller, Margaret, 37, 65 Fuller, T., 326 Gambold, 271 Gannet, W. C, 204 372 ' -ffnOej. Garrett, E., i6o, 349 Geikie, C, 87, 137, 247 Germanica. Lyra, 212, 229 Gibbon, Thomas, 15 Gill, F. T., Ill Gladstone, Wm. Ewart, 14, 17, 71, 77, 79, 157, 168, 197, 242, 267, 276, 340, 341, 346 Goethe, ir, 34, 70, no, 119, 124, 146, 161, 163, 165, 167, 191, 195 Gold Dust, 16, 132 Gorden, Rev. G., 331 Grant, Sir Robert, 48, 58, 91, 129 Green, R., 236 Hageman, S. M., 126 Hale, Sir M., 253 Hales, J., 284 Hall, Fr., 33, 98, in, 174, 207 Hamerton, P. G., 213 Hamilton, W. R., 171 Hare, J. C, 48, 56 Harpur, E., 269 Harvey, C, 127 Hassey, C, 127 Havergal, F. R., 5, 13, 19, 3c, 33, 40, 45, 272, 303, 341 Hayne, P. H., 21 Heber, R., 85, 337 Helker, S. S., 194 Helps, S., 204 Helps, Sir A., 49 Hemans, Mrs. F., ii, 224, 244 fTn^cJ. 373 Henry, M., 174, 250, 31 1 Herbert, G., 300 Herodotus, 178 Herrick, R., 15, 210 Hickman, H., 140 Hillel, Rabbi, 210 Hindu, 66 Holland, S., 140 Hood, T., 358 Home, G., 243, 272 Houghton, Lord, 163, 324 Hudson, Mrs. M. C., 105, 155 Hughes, Thomas, 25, 55, 172, 322, 337 Hugo, Victor, 2, 108, 181, 254 Ingelow, Jean, 65,69, 83, 136, 158, 159, 169, 182, 270, 289, 309 James, H., 188 Johnson, Samuel, 9, 133, 217 Jones, J. L. L., 364 Jones, S. C., 18 Jones, Sir Wm., 144 Keats, J., 176 Keble, John, 8, 10, 22, 63, 73, 80, 88, 214 Keith, G., i8i Kemble, F. A., 66, 87 Kempis, Thomas a, 2, 5, 9, 16, 65, 83, 94, 127, 134, 256, 315, 361 Kennedy, W., 182 Ken, Thomas, 9, 12 374 fnOej» Key, F. S., 6 Kingsley, Charles, 5, 17, 19, 30, 78, 79, 130, 321, 332, 365 Kinney, C, 118 Klingle, G., 304 Knox, Mrs. Craig, 162 Krummacher, 281 La Bruyere, 106 Landon, L. E., 90 Langford, G. W., 130 Lavater, 253 Leigh ton, Bishop, 210 Liddon, Canon, 20 Liszt, Mrs., 164, 262 Linton, W. J., 100 Livingston, P., 95 Locke, J., 256, 287 Luther, M., 139 Lyall, E., 176 Lyiy, 175 Lyte, H. F., 51 MacDonald, Geo., 9, 12, 35, 36, 40, 43, 63, 89, 113, 131, 144, 179, 186, 223, 255, 330 Mackay, C, 67, 192, 357 Mann, Horace, 172, 244, 323 Manning, H., 75 Mant, Bishop, 236, 241 Mason, B. G., 132 Massey, G., 53 Martineau, H., 306 irnDej» 375 Martineau, James, 34, 41, 72, 98, 115, 324 Martin, L. Ainie, 15 Martyn, E. L., 94, 166, 180, Maurice, F. D., 162, 334 Maxim, Chinese, 171, 222 Mazzini, 357 Meredith, Owen, 13, 216 Metastasio, 100 Miller, Rev, J. R., i, 7, 42, 84, 106, 258, 304 Milman, Dean, 140 Milman, H. H., 291 Milnes, R. M., 115 Milton, J., 61 Montgomery, James, 89, 350, 351, 354 Montreux, E. B., 3 More, Hannah, 64, 73, loi, 253, 273 Morris, J., 173 Morris, L., 105 Morris, Wm., 66 Mountford, W., 159 Mozoomdar, P. C, 301, 343 Muller, Max, 349, 359 Mulock, Mrs., 161, 165, 318 Murray, J. J,, 190 Newhall, W. R., 41, 232 Newman, J. H., 59, 145, 155, 260, 280, 326, 353 Newton, John, 346 Nicoll, R., 201 North, C. E. S., 332, 366 Novalis, 170 376 ITnDei. Osborne, Fr., 76, 337 Ovid, 124 Palgrave, F. T., 161, 361, 366 Parker, T., 67, 80, 186, 195 Parks, Rev. L., 201, 211 Parsons, T. W., 317 Partridge, S. W., 142 Pascal, B., 245 Paul, Jean, 297 Peabody, A. P., 1 20 Peabody, O. W. P., 127, 152 Percival, J. G., 223 Pericles, 188 Petrarch, 86, 286 Phelps, A., 89 Philemon, 184 Pierpont, ]., 243, 285, 299 Pierson, A. T,, 65 Pliny, 62 Pope, Alexander, 64, 130, 153, 164, 170 Praed, W. M., 117 Prior, M., 258 Procter, A. A., 23, 24, 104, 120, 143, 296, 31 1, 333 Procter, B. W., 102 Pulsford, 164 Punshon, W. M., 28, 261 Pusey, E. B., 44, 91, 139, 205 Pythagoras, 340 Quarles, F., 138, 187,301 Quincy, Josiah, :6i irnDei, 377 Realf. R., 227 Richter, J. P., 205, 261, 310 Robertson, F. W., 22, 37, 45, 54, 58, 80, 85, 268, 278, 321, 344 Robinson, Edith, 136, 143, 147, 167, 211 Rogers, S., 323 Rossetti, C, 118, 334, 337 Rossetti, D. G., 4 Ruskin, John, 43, 52, 62, 66, 77, 106, 109, 112, 119, 122, 147, 159, 175, 188, 193, 206, 209, 269, 310 Rutherford, 307 Ryder, A. H., 215, 220, 231 Saadi, 113 Sangster, M. E., 146 Sargent, E., 175, 251 Savage, M. J., 189, 193, 270, 316, 344, 347 Savonarola, 227 Saxe, J. G., 287 Schiller, 2, 11, 14, 114, 124, 151, 293, 346 Schliermacher, 151 Schonberg-Cotta Family, 13, 44, 45, 53, 54, 57, 86, 95 Scott, Sir Walter, 41, 59, 74, 96 Seagrave, R., 185 Seelye, L. C., 144 Seneca, 173, 177, 187, 219 Sewell, 195 Shakspeare, 21, 24, 93, 123, 165, 226, 283, 286, 297 Shaw, G. B., 210 Shelley, P. B.,3, 68 Sheridan, R. B., 292 378 IFnOej. Shipton, A., 247, 248, 258, 266, 275, 301 Shurtleff, E., 169 Sidney, Sir Philip, 76, 85, 126, 218, 226, 249, 314 Sigourney, Mrs., 78 Smiles, Samuel, 6, 19, 23, 28, 32,47, 87, 106, 129, 134, 138, 151, 174, 178, 183, 261 Smith, Sydney, 25, 29, 139 South, R., 251 Southwell, R., 97 Spitta, 237 Spurgeon, C. H., 92, 98, 100, 185, 202, 220, 228, 268, 271, 290, 291, 307, 316, 318 Stalker, J., 198 Stanley, Dean, 8, 21, 29, 35, 45, 46, 49, Si, 84, 85, 88, 109, 114, 116, 135, 196, 203, 206, 222, 230, 320, 362 Sterling, J., 263 Sterne, 158 Stevens, A., 249 Stillingfleet, E., 241 Stowe, H. B., 50 Super, E. L., 207 Swetchine, Mme., 132 Swift, J., 330 Swinburne, 259 Symonds, J. A., 108 Tauler, J., 237, 240 Taylor, Bishop, 183 Taylor, Jeremy, 40, 199 Tennyson, Alfred, 7, 57, 70, 216, 232, 235, 283, 297, 313, 342 1Fn5er. 379 Thackeray, 104, 107, 187, 300 Tholuck, 326 Thomas, Mrs. H. F., 178 Thomson, Bishop, 70 Thoreau, 186 Tillotson, J.. 239, 242, 250 Toplady, A. M., 32, 82 Townshend, C. H., 150, 281 Trapp, 215 Trench, R. C, 92, ii§, 233 Tuckerman, H. T., 150, 277 Tusser, Thomas, 72 Unity, 75 Van Dyke, H. J., 96 Van Ness, Rev. T., 340 Very, Jones, 64, 135 Von Salis, J. G., 363 Walker, J., 156 Ward, Mrs. H., 276 Ware, J. F. W., 73, no, 175, 249, 284 Waring, A., 280 Warren, Bishop, 184, 191 Watts, Isaac, 37, 156, 172, 197, 230 Wesley, Charles, 44, 46, 68 Whiting, L., 118, 123, 163, 208, 224, 229, 275 Willard, F. E., 288 Williams, I., 257, 263 Winslow, O., 315 Wisdom, Brahmin's, 56 38o fnOes* Wither, Geo., i8 Wordsworth, Wm., 27, 36, 50, 84, 112, 307 Xavier, F., 147 Young, E., 61 Zsckokke, 288 01005 1771