The rose near died when it fell to its lot
    To break its heart for forget-me-not;
    But after its heart was healed by the dew,
    Right by its side a sweet violet grew!

    —­M.B.S.

    A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, And loving
    favor rather than silver and gold.

    —­Proverbs 22. 1.

My Father, teach me the value of the possessions that can neither be handled nor seen; and may I not take them away from others.  Help me to keep thy commandment “Thou shalt not steal,” and interpret it in all its relations to life.  Amen.

OCTOBER EIGHTEENTH

Matthew Henry born 1662.

Margaret (Peg) Woffington born 1720.

Helen Hunt Jackson born 1831.

Frederick Harrison born 1831.

    Yet I argue not against heaven’s hand or will, nor bate a jot of
    heart of hope;, but still bear up and steer right onward.

    —­John Milton.

    Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. 
    No man has learned anything rightly until he knows that every day is
    doomsday.

    —­Ralph Waldo Emerson.

    He mourns that day so soon has glided by: 
    E’en like the passage of an angel’s tear
    That falls through the clear ether silently.

    —­John Keats.

    I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: 
    I will counsel thee with mine eye upon thee.

    —­Psalm 32. 8.

My Father, if I may be living in bad habits, help me to get out of them.  If I may be neglectful of good deeds, help me to get at them.  May I reach for the highest purposes as I search for the realities, and may I not delay, but start to-day.  Amen.

OCTOBER NINETEENTH

Dean (Jonathan) Swift died 1745.

Leigh Hunt born 1784.

Henry Kirke White died 1806.

    Don’t look too hard except for something agreeable; we can find all
    the disagreeable things we want, between our own hats and boots.

    —­Leigh Hunt.

    Instead of a gem or a flower, cast the gift of a lovely thought into
    the heart of a friend.

    —­George Macdonald.

For the want of common discretion the very end of good breeding is wholly perverted; and civility, intended to make us easy, is employed in laying chains and fetters upon us, in debarring our wishes, and in crossing our most reasonable desires and inclinations.

    —­Jonathan Swift.

    If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all
    men.

    —­Romans 12. 18.

My Lord, help me to adjust my life to what I ought to be, rather than be content in what I am.  May I not spend my time in dreaming of obstacles, or searching for things that hurt, but may I be gentle and kind, and as I see the truth speak for it and follow it.  Amen.