JULY TWENTIETH

Petrarch born 1304.

Thomas Lovell Beddoes born 1803.

John Sterling born 1806.

Jean Ingelow died 1897.

      Let thy day be to the night
    A letter of good tidings!  Let thy praise
    Go up as birds go up—­that when they awake,
      Shake off the dew and soar.

    —­Jean Ingelow.

    I, and the bird,
      And the wind together,
    Sang a supplication
      In the winter weather.

    The bird sang for sunshine,
      And the trees for winter fruit,
    And for love in the spring time
      When the thickets shoot.

    And I sang for patience
      When the teardrops start;
    Clean hands and clear eyes,
      And a faithful heart.

    —­Arthur C. Benson.

    Unto thee, O Jehovah, do I lift up my soul.

    —­Psalm 25. 1.

Lord God, if I am discouraged this morning, may I pause for thine encouragement.  Grant that the fear of the night may make no decline in my morn, but that “into the future I may fuse the past,” and use what is clearest for to-day.  Amen.

JULY TWENTY-FIRST

Matthew Pryor born 1664.

William Lord Russell beheaded 1683.

Robert Burns died 1796.

    Our heaven must be within ourselves,
    Our home and heaven the work of faith
    And thro’ this race of life which shelves
      Downward to death. 
    While over all a dome must spread,
    And love shall be that dome above;
    And deep foundations must be laid,
      And these are love.

    —­Christina Rossetti.

    If happiness has not her seat
      And center in the breast,
    We may be wise or rich or great,
      But never can be blest.

    —­Robert Burns.

    Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of
    life.

    —­Proverbs 4.

My Father, if I choose to be unhappy and miserable, may I not be to myself and friends as “a harp with one string.”  Help me to free myself from thinking and anticipating things that keep me from the pleasure that I might receive and give.  May I have more trust in my friends and in thee.  Amen.

JULY TWENTY-SECOND

Sir John Graham killed 1298.

Pilgrims started for America 1620.

Earl of Shaftesbury (Anthony Ashley Cooper) born 1621.

    How comes it to pass, then, that we appear such cowards in
    reasoning, and are so afraid to stand the test of ridicule?

    —­Earl of Shaftesbury.