Ludwig van Beethoven born 1770.

Sir Humphry Davy born 1779.

John Greenleaf Whittier born 1807.

The night is mother of the day, The winter of the spring; And ever upon old decay The greenest mosses cling.

Behind the cloud the starlight lurks, Through showers the sunbeams fall; For G.o.d, who loveth all his works, Has left his hope with all.

--John Greenleaf Whittier.

The sun set; but not his hope: Stars rose; his faith was earlier up.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson.

What I am I have made myself.

--Sir Humphry Davy.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: My flesh also shall dwell in safety.

--Psalm 16. 9.

My Father, may I never be content to pa.s.s by thy beautiful offerings and keep on in wretched despair. Save me if I may 'be inclining toward misery. Give me the spirit of repose, and help me to confide in thee as I daily seek the strength of thy love. Amen.

DECEMBER EIGHTEENTH

Charles Wesley born 1708.

Lyman Abbott born 1835.

Samuel Rogers died 1855.

Sir Joseph John Thomson born 1845.

And let this feeble body fail, And let it faint or die; My soul shall quit this mournful vale, And soar to worlds on high.

--Charles Wesley.

It were better to live an immortal life and be robbed of immortality hereafter by some supernal power, than to live the mortal, fleshly animal life, and live it endlessly. Who would not rather have a right to immortality than to be immortal without a right to be?

--Lyman Abbott.

So when a great man dies, For years beyond our ken, The light he leaves behind him lies Upon the paths of men.

--Henry W. Longfellow.

But he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life.

--Galatians 6. 8.

My Father, I pray that I may be spared the deprivations that may come from years spent in selfishness. Help me to realize before it is too late how little self can hold and how much remorse may acc.u.mulate.

Help me to aspire to ideals that compel me to live an immortal life.

Amen.

DECEMBER NINETEENTH

Gustavus Adolphus born 1594.

Horatio Bonar born 1808.

F. Delsarte born 1811.

Mary A. Livermore born 1820.

J.M.W. Turner died 1851.

If a man is to be a pillar in the temple of his G.o.d by and by, he must be some kind of a prop in G.o.d's house to-day. We are here to support, not to be supported. No one can be a living stone on the foundations of the Spiritual House which is G.o.d's habitation without being a foundation to the stones above him.

--Maltbie Babc.o.c.k.

Since trifles make the sum of human things, And half our misery from our foibles springs; Since life's best joys consist in peace and ease, O let th' ungentle spirit learn from hence, A small unkindness is a great offense.

--Hannah More.

He that overcometh I will make a pillar in the temple of my G.o.d, and he shall go out thence no more.

--Revelation 3. 12.

My Father, grant that I may not deceive myself and expect big results from little efforts; nor be willing to receive a.s.sistance and refuse my support. May I not only be anxious to give others all that I can, and share their burdens, but may I be glad to help make fewer burdens for others to bear. Amen.

DECEMBER TWENTIETH

Louis the Dauphin died 1765.

John Wilson Croker born 1780.

Cyrus Townsend Brady born 1861.

Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove.

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken.