the unknown
That fascinates us; we are children still,
Wayward and wistful; with one hand we cling
To the familiar things we call our own,
And with the other, resolute of will,
Grope in the dark for what the day will bring.

--Henry W. Longfellow.

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth.

--Job 5. 17.

Almighty God, I pray that thou wilt help me to correct my life to-day
that I may know a better way to-morrow; and may I be mindful and try
to do right. Grant that I may be patient and kind if I may be sick or
in need, and always keep uppermost the faith of deliverance and
eternal care. Amen.

SEPTEMBER FOURTEENTH

Alighieri Dante died 1321.

Alexander Baron von Humboldt born 1769.

Julia Magruder born 1854.

Charles Dana Gibson born 1867.

Since it is Providence that determines the fates of men, their inner
nature is thus brought into unison. There is such harmony, as in all
things of nature, that one might explain the whole without referring
to a higher Providence. But this only proves the more clearly and
certainly this higher Providence, which has given existence to this
harmony.

--Wilhelm von Humboldt.

The good mariner, when he draws near the port, furls his sails and
enters it softly; so ought we to lower the sails of our worldly
operations, and turn to God with all heart and understanding.

--Dante.

Thy righteousness is like the mountains of God;
Thy judgments are a great deep:
O Jehovah, thou preservest man and beast.

--Psalm 36. 6.

My Father in heaven, may I hear thy voice to-day! May I be quiet as I
listen to thee. Above the clamor of the crowd may I hear thee calling
me. May I hear thee in my joys and in my sorrows; in my work and in my
leisure. May I listen to thee oftener, that I may be familiar with thy
ways. Amen.

SEPTEMBER FIFTEENTH

James Fenimore Cooper born 1789.

Louis Joseph Martel born 1813.

Porfirio Diaz born 1830.

William Howard Taft, Ohio, twenty-sixth President United States, born 1857.

Friendship is one of the cheapest and most accessible of pleasures;
it requires no outlay and no very serious expenditure of time or
trouble. It is quite easy to make friends, if one wants to... There
is surely no greater pleasure in the world than to feel one is
needed, welcomed, missed, and loved.

--Arthur C. Benson.

"Friends