FEBRUARY NINETEENTH

Copernicus born 1473.

Leonard Bacon born 1802.

W.W.  Story born 1819.

Adelina Patti born 1843.

    So mine are these new fruitings rich,
      The simple to the common brings;
    I keep the youth of souls who pitch
      Their joy in this old heart of things;

    Full lasting is the song, though he
      The singer passes; lasting too,
    For souls not lent in usury,
      The rapture of the forward view.

    —­George Meredith.

    All deep things are Song.  It seems, somehow, the very central
    essence of us, Song; as if all the rest were wrappages and hulls!
    the primal element of us; of us, and all things.

    —­Thomas Carlyle.

    Ye shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and
    gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come unto the
    mountain of Jehovah.

    —­Isaiah 30. 29.

Lord God, help me to feel the power of praise.  “As words without thoughts never to heaven go,” so the highest praises are never sung alone, but rendered with service and love.  May I have the heart to sing thy praises far and near, and rejoice in him from whom all blessings flow.  Amen.

FEBRUARY TWENTIETH

J.H.  Voss born 1828.

Joseph Jefferson born 1829.

Mihaly Munkacsy (Michael Lieb) born 1844.

    Who serves his country well has no need of ancestors.

    —­Voltaire.

    Lo, Spring comes forth with all her warmth and
      love,
    She brings sweet justice from the realms above;
    She breaks the chrysalis, she resurrects the dead;
    Two butterflies ascend encircling her head. 
    And so this emblem shall forever be
    A sign of immortality.

    —­Joseph Jefferson.

    Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel,
    And afterward receive me to glory.

    —­Psalm 73. 24.

Lord God, I pray that I may not neglect my soul in trying to fathom immortal life.  If I may be hesitating between comfort and work, remind me of the greatness of the place which I started to reach.  May I not grow weary of climbing and falter on the stair.  Breathe upon me thy inspiration and love, that I may continue in faith all the way.  Amen.

FEBRUARY TWENTY-FIRST

Edmund William 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.