--Thomas Carlyle.

For all sweet and pleasant pa.s.sages in the great story of life men may well thank G.o.d; for leisure and ease and health and friendship may G.o.d make us truly and humbly grateful; but our chief song of thanksgiving must be always for our kinship with him, with all that such divinity of greatness brings of peril, hardship, toil, and sacrifice.

--Hamilton Mabie.

Thy bars shall be iron and bra.s.s; And as thy days, so shall thy strength be.

--Deuteronomy 33. 25.

My Father, help me to choose the road that leads to my work, and may I not fail to reach it, by wandering away from it. Keep me in touch with the human side of life, holding in mind that "Truth and honesty are the n.o.blest works of G.o.d." Amen.

FEBRUARY FIFTH

Sir Robert Peel born 1788.

Ole Boreman Bull born 1810.

John Muir born 1810.

Dwight L. Moody born 1837.

When a great man dies, then has the time come for putting us in mind that he was alive!

--Thomas Carlyle.

If I practice one day, I can see the result. If I practice two days, my friends can see it. If I practice three days, the great public can see it.

--Ole Bull.

Those who say they will forgive but can't forget an injury simply bury the hatchet while they leave the handle out, ready for immediate use.

--Dwight L. Moody.

But I hold not my life of any account as dear unto myself, so that I may accomplish my course.

--Acts 20. 24.

Almighty G.o.d, if I am uncertain, and tremble at the crossroads in doubt of the right way, may I wait and be led by thee, and follow on, even if the way be dark and rough. May I be faithful and have thy presence as thou promised at the end. Amen.

FEBRUARY SIXTH

Queen Anne of England born 1665.

Aaron Burr born 1756.

Sir Henry Irving born 1838.

Nothing earthly will make me give up my work in despair. I encourage myself in the Lord my G.o.d and go forward.

--David Livingstone.

To expect defeat is nine tenths of defeat itself.

--Marion Crawford.

I do not see how any man can afford, for the sake of his nerves and his nap, to spare any action in which he can partake.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Art is a jealous mistress, she requires the whole man.

--Michael Angelo.

Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

--1 Corinthians 16. 13.

Almighty G.o.d, help me to have true conceptions, that my life may not be secured to needless purposes. May my soul be influenced by high ideals, and my work be the production of truth and not of selfishness.

Protect me from evil that I may be kept pure and strong for my work.

Amen.

FEBRUARY SEVENTH

Millard Fillmore, New York, thirteenth President United States born 1800.

Sir Thomas More born 1478.

Charles d.i.c.kens born 1812.

Anne Radcliffe died 1823.

Sidney Cooper died 1902.

Let no man turn aside ever so slightly, from the broad path of honor, on the plausible pretense that he is justified by the goodness of his end. All good ends can be worked out by good means.

--Charles d.i.c.kens.

If evils come not, then our fears are vain; And if they do, fear but augments the pain.