Have felt that moment in its fullest power
Sink o'er the earth so beautiful and soft,
While swung the deep bell in the distant tower
Or the faint dying day-hymn stole aloft,
And not a breath crept through the rosy air,
And yet the forest leaves seemed stirred with
prayer.

--Lord Byron.

I am quite happy, thank God, and like Lawrence, I have tried to do
my duty.

--General Gordon (just before death).

For in the day of trouble he will keep me secretly
in his pavilion:
In the covert of his tabernacle will he hide me;
He will lift me up upon a rock.

--Psalm 27. 5.

Heavenly Father, teach me how to breathe in the sweetness of life.
Reveal to me the life that will bring peace to the soul. May I not be
dismayed, but find the "Peace that passeth all understanding," the
perfect peace that comes from thee. Amen.

JANUARY TWENTY-SEVENTH

Johannes Wolfgang Mozart born 1756.

A.W. von Schlegel born 1767.

David Friedrich Strauss born 1808.

To keep young, every day read a poem, hear a choice piece of music,
view a fine painting, and, if possible, do a good action. Man's
highest merit always is, as much as possible, to rule external
circumstances, and as little as possible to let himself be ruled by
them.

--Goethe.

Let us not always say,
"Spite of this flesh to-day
I strove, made head, gained ground upon the whole!"
As the bird wings and sings,
Let us cry, "All good things
Are ours, nor soul helps flesh more now than flesh helps soul!"

--Robert Browning.

Surely goodness and loving-kindness shall follow me all the days of
my life.

--Psalm 23. 6.

Loving Father, help me to foresee that it is what I care for to-day
that determines how I will find old age. May I not bring my closing
years to weariness and lonesomeness, but may I have the restfulness
that comes with communing with thee. Amen.

JANUARY TWENTY-EIGHTH

Charlemagne died 814.

Sir Francis Drake died 1596.

Peter the Great died 1725.

Charles George Gordon (Chinese Gordon) born 1833.

He only is advancing in life whose heart is getting softer, whose
blood warmer, whose brain quicker, and whose spirit is entering into
living peace. And the men who have this life in them are the true
lords and kings of the earth--they, and they only.

--John Ruskin.