—­Psalm 111. 5, 7.

Father of life, I know I cannot hold youth.  I may have prosperity or poverty.  I thank thee that thou hast taught me that love may be kept changeless through all.  Amen.

MAY FIFTH

Napoleon Bonaparte died 1821.

Empress Eugenie born 1826.

Bret Harte died 1902.

    As I stand by the cross, on the lone mountain’s crest,
      Looking over the ultimate sea,
    In the gloom of the mountain a ship lies at rest,
      And one sails away from the lea;
    One spreads its white wings on the far-reaching track,
      With pennant and sheet flowing free;
    One hides in the shadow with sails laid aback—­
      The ship that is waiting for me.

    But lo! in the distance the clouds break away,
      The gate’s glowing portals I see,
    And I hear from the outgoing ship in the bay
      The song of the sailors in glee. 
    So I think of the luminous footprints that bore
      The comfort o’er dark Galilee,
    And wait for the signal to go to the shore
      To the ship that is waiting for me.

    —­Bret Harte.

    Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil; for thou art with me;
    Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

    —­Psalm 23. 4.

Eternal God, I praise thee, that “thy love is broader than the measure of man’s mind,” and that through all my years I may hide myself in thee, trusting thee to the end.  Amen.

MAY SIXTH

Plato born B.C. 427.

Robespierre born 1758.

General Andrea Messena born 1758.

    Hard ye may be in the tumult,
      Red to your battle hilts;
    Blow give blow in the foray,
      Cunningly ride in the tilts. 
    But tenderly, unbeguiled—­
    Turn to a woman a woman’s
    Heart, and a child’s to a child.

    Test of the man if his worth be
      In accord with the ultimate plan
    That he be not, to his marring,
      Always and utterly man. 
    That he may bring out of the tumult,
      Fetter and undefiled,
    To woman the heart of a woman—­
    To children the heart of a child.[1]

    —­O.  Henry.

    A man’s concern is only whether in doing anything he is doing right
    or wrong—­acting the part of a good man or a bad.

    —­Plato.

    A faithful man shall abound with blessings.

    —­Proverbs 28. 20.

Almighty God, I pray that I may seek sincerely those whom I approach with sympathy, and by my honor may they feel the same sincerity for me.  Amen.

[Footnote 1:  Special permission Cosmopolitan Magazine, New York.]

MAY SEVENTH