Gosse born 1849.

Karl Czerny born 1791.

Cardinal John H. Newman born 1801.

Jean L.E. Meissonier born 1815.

Alice Freeman Palmer born 1855.

Prune thou thy words, the thoughts control
That o'er thee swell and throng;
They will condense within thy soul,
And change to purpose strong.

--John H. Newman.

Think truly, and thy thoughts
Shall the world's famine feed;
Speak truly, and each word of thine
Shall be a fruitful seed;
Live truly, and thy life shall be
A great and noble creed.

--Horatio Bonar.

We ought to love everybody and make everybody love us. Then
everything else is easy.

--Alice Freeman Palmer.

Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy healing
shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before
thee; the glory of Jehovah shall be thy rearward.

--Isaiah 58. 8.

Almighty God, look upon me with pity; so often I have obeyed the
thoughts that have been misleading and profitless. Make me more
careful of what I think and say, and may I learn from my mistakes the
forbidden paths. Help me to keep my mind in unity with thy will. Amen.

FEBRUARY TWENTY-SECOND

George Washington, Virginia, first President United
States, born 1732.

James Russell Lowell born 1819.

Margaret E. Sangster born 1838.

Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial
fire called conscience.

--George Washington.

Life is a sheet of paper white
Whereon each one of us may write
His word or two, and then comes night.
Greatly begin! though thou hast time
But for a line, be that sublime.
Not failure, but low aim is crime.

--James Russell Lowell.

God keep us through the common days,
The level stretches white with dust,
When thought is tired, and hands upraise
Their burdens feebly since they must;
In days of slowly fretting care
Then most we need the strength of prayer.

--Margaret E. Sangster.

Make level the path of thy feet,
And let all thy ways be established.

--Proverbs 4. 26.

Lord God, help me to realize the influence of the individual life. And
as I would care for my own, may I seek to do for others; and may I not
criticize, but help all who are trying to make the world better. Amen.

FEBRUARY TWENTY-THIRD

Samuel Pepys born 1633.

George F. Handel born 1685.