Leaves of Life Part 5

Charles de Montesquieu born 1689.

John Gillies born 1747.

Daniel Webster born 1782.

We would leave for the consideration of those who shall occupy our places some proof that we hold the blessings transmitted from our fathers in just estimation; some proof of our attachment to the cause of good government and of civil and religious liberty; some proof of a sincere and ardent desire to promote every thing which may enlarge the understanding and improve the hearts of men.

--Daniel Webster.

Brother and friend, the world is wide, But I care not whether there be The soothing song of a summer tide Or the thrash of a wintry sea, If but through s.h.i.+mmer and storm you bide, Brother and friend, with me.

--Percy C. Ainsworth.

Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear G.o.d. Honor the King.

--1 Peter 2. 17.

Almighty G.o.d, I thank thee for all the tender influences of life; for all the gentleness and strength that may be given and received through friends.h.i.+p. Help me to be careful of what I do, for my sake, and for the sake of those who may follow me. Amen.

JANUARY NINETEENTH

Hans Sachs died 1576.

William Congreve died 1729.

James Watt born 1736.

Robert E. Lee born 1807.

Edgar Allan Poe born 1809.

I stand amid the roar Of a surf-tormented sh.o.r.e, And I hold within my hand Grains of the golden sand-- How few! Yet how they creep Through my fingers to the deep, While I weep--while I weep!

O G.o.d, can I not save One from the pitiless wave?

Is all that we see or seem But a dream within a dream?

--Edgar Allan Poe.

Do not train up your children in hostility to the government of the United States. Remember that we are one country now. Dismiss from your mind all sectional feeling, and bring them up to be Americans.

--Robert E. Lee.

Wait for Jehovah: Be strong, and let thy heart take courage; Yea, wait thou for Jehovah.

--Psalm 27. 14.

Lord G.o.d, I pray that if I have struggled for the wrong, and have worked with weak hands, thou wilt forgive me for my lost strength.

Give me more light to s.h.i.+ne upon my work, upon thy promises, and upon my duties; and with thy wisdom may I search for the truth that is behind every wrong, and for the purpose that is beyond all journeyings. Amen.

JANUARY TWENTIETH

Eve of Saint Agnes.

David Garrick died 1779.

John Howard died 1790.

John Ruskin died 1900.

Nathaniel P. Willis born 1806.

How like a mounting devil in the heart Rules the unreigned ambition! Let it once But play the monarch, and its haughty brow Glows with a beauty that bewilders thought And unthrones peace forever. Putting on The very pomp of Lucifer, it turns The heart to ashes.

--Nathaniel P. Willis.

Temperance, in the n.o.bler sense, does not mean a subdued and imperfect energy; it does not mean a stopping short in any good thing, as love or in faith; but it means the power which governs the most intense energy, and prevents its acting in any way but as it ought.

--John Ruskin.

And thy gentleness hath made me great.

--Psalm 18. 35.

Gracious Father, I pray that I may be willing to profit by the experience of great teachers, and appreciate the value of strong principles. May I too live for the higher ideals of life, and through a sympathetic response add power and virtue to other lives, while gaining strength for my own. Amen.

JANUARY TWENTY-FIRST

Miles Coverdale died 1568.

John Fitch born 1743.

John C. Fremont born 1813.

Thomas Erskine born 1750.

Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson born 1824.

So long as we love we serve; so long as we are loved by others I would almost say that we are indispensable; and no man is useless while he has a friend.