—­Arthur C. Benson.

    Thou wilt show me the path of life: 
    In thy presence is fullness of joy;
    In thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

    —­Psalm 16. 11.

My Father, I thank thee that nature reveals thy power as she unfolds her beauty and wonder to the searching eye.  Guide me that I may see in the little flower the smile of welcome, the look of kindness, and the beauty of hope which it renders to all; and may I learn from it thy protection in the smallest things of life.  Amen.

MAY FIFTEENTH

Ephraim Chambers died 1740.

Florence Nightingale born 1820.

Michael W. Balfe born 1808.

Edmund Keane died 1833.

Daniel O’Connell died 1847.

Light human nature is too lightly lost
And ruffled without cause, complaining on,
Restless with rest, until being overthrown,
It learneth to lie quiet.

—­Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

            Was the trial sore? 
    Temptation sharp?  Thank God a second time! 
    Why comes temptation but for a man to meet
    And master and make crouch beneath his foot,
    And so be pedestaled in triumph?  Pray
    “Lead us into no such temptations, Lord!”
    Yea, but, O thou whose servants are the bold,
    Lead such temptations by the head and hair,
    Reluctant dragons, up to who dares fight
    That so he may do battle and have praise.

    —­Robert Browning.

    Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that
    were heard, lest haply we drift away from them.

    —­Hebrews 2. 1.

Almighty God, if I am overwhelmed by the tides of temptation and discouragement, let me not drift away to sea, but anchor and take harbor in thee.  May I not be afraid to trust in thy protection, but calmly wait and watch for thy deliverance.  Amen.

MAY SIXTEENTH

Sir William Patty born 1623.

Honore de Balzac born 1799.

William H. Seward born 1801.

Felicia Hemans died 1835.

    Favored of Heaven!  O Genius! are they thine,
    When round thy brow the wreaths of glory shine;
    While rapture gazes on thy radiant way,
    ’Midst the bright realms of clear mental day? 
    No! sacred joys! ’tis yours to dwell enshrined,
    Most fondly cherished, in the purest mind.

    —­Felicia Hemans.

    Genius is intensity.

    —­Honore Balzac.

    But what if I fail of my purpose here? 
    It is but to keep the nerves at strain,
      To dry one’s eyes and laugh at a fall,
    And, baffled, get up and begin again—­
      So the chase takes up one’s life, that’s all.

    —­Robert Browning.