—­Theodosia P. Garrison.[1]

Putting away therefore all wickedness, and all guile, and
hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings.

—­1 Peter 2. 1.

My Lord, may I remember that to protect the character of others is to add virtue to my own.  Grant that I may see the good and not be looking for the evil.  Cause me to know that peace will not abide in deceit or revenge, but may be found in a happy and charitable spirit.  Help me to earn thy peace.  Amen.

[Footnote 1:  Special permission by Mitchell Kennerly, New York.]

JULY FOURTH

Independence Day.

Colonel William Byrd died 1704.

Nathaniel Hawthorne born 1804.

Thomas Jefferson died 1826.

    By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
      Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
    Here once the embattled farmers stood,
      And fired the shot heard round the world.

    —­Ralph Waldo Emerson.

    Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
      And this be our motto, “In God is our trust”;
    And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
      O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

    —­Francis Scott Key.

    Seek not to keep your soul perpetually in the unwholesome region of
    remorse.  It was needful to pass through that dark valley, but it is
    infinitely dangerous to linger there too long.

    —­Nathaniel Hawthorne.

    And this city shall be to me for a name of joy, for a praise and for
    a glory, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all
    the good that I do unto them.

    —­Jeremiah 33. 9.

Lord of justice and peace, may I not pause at the marked stones of the brave to learn of liberty, but may I look for the opportunities that I may measure up to because of them, and do my part to keep the peace and spread the blessings of our land.  Amen.

JULY FIFTH

Mrs. Sarah Siddons born 1755.

David G. Farragut born 1801.

George Sand born 1804.

Cecil Rhodes born 1853.

    Nature alone can speak to our intelligence an imperishable language,
    never changing, because it remains within the bounds of eternal
    truth and of what is absolutely noble and beautiful.

    —­George Sand.

    Say, dost thou understand the whispered token,
      The promise breathed from every leaf and flower? 
    And dost thou hear the word ere it be spoken,
      And apprehend love’s presence by its power?

    —­Unknown.

But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee:  Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.  Who knoweth not in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this?

    —­Job 12. 7-9.