sigh the lack of many a thing I sought.
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste

* * * * *

But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored, and sorrows end.

--William Shakespeare.

The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of them that are taught,
that I may know how to sustain with words him that is weary.

--Isaiah 50. 4.

Gracious Father, keep me cheerful and courageous, that I may not be
given to weary murmurings. May my hours of solitude be spent
profitably as they pass. Grant that I may be a help to those who are
in need of sympathy and encouragement, and through the peace that is
given to me help them to a tranquil life. Amen.

DECEMBER FIFTEENTH

Catherine of Aragon born 1485.

George Romney born 1734.

Franklin B. Sanborn born 1831.

Yet frequent visitors shall kiss the shrine,
And ever keep its vestal lamp alight;
All noble thoughts, all dreams divinely bright,
That waken or delight this soul of mine.

--F.B. Sanborn.

One small cloud can hide the sunlight;
Loose one string, the pearls are scattered;
Think one thought, a soul may perish;
Say one word, a heart may break.

--A.A. Procter.

Self-scrutiny is often the most unpleasant, and always the most
difficult, of moral actions. But it is also the most important and
salutary; for, as the wisest of the Greeks said, "An unexamined life
is not worth living."

--J. Strachan.

Try your own selves, whether ye are in the faith; prove your own
selves.

--2 Corinthians 13. 5.

Gracious Father, help me that I may not be thoughtless and unkind. May
I be gentle and sympathetic. Forgive me for any unhappiness which I
may have made, and may it be mine to know the rejoicing that comes hi
lifting a discouraged life in time. Amen.

DECEMBER SIXTEENTH

John Selden born 1584.

Francois La Rochefoucauld born 1610.

George Whitefield born 1714.

Jane Austen born 1775.

So live that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan that moves
To that mysterious realm where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
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