Hartley Coleridge born 1796. President Garfield died 1881. Be not afraid to pray--to pray is right. Pray if thou canst, with hope; but ever pray Though hope be weak, or sick with long delay; Pray in the darkness, if there be no light. Far is the time, remote from human sight, When war and discord on earth shall cease: Yet every prayer for universal peace Avails the time to expedite. --Hartley Coleridge. More things are wrought by prayer Than the world dreams of. Wherefore let thy voice Rise like a fountain for me night and day. For what are men better than sheep or goats That nourish a blind life within the brain, If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer Both for themselves and those who call them friend? For so the whole world is every way Bound by gold chains about the feet of God. --Alfred Tennyson. Continue stedfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving. --Colossians 4. 2. O Lord, give me the desire to pray, and teach me to pray as thou wouldst have my needs. Sustain me, that I may overcome my weaknesses, and strengthen me, that I may have thine approval. May I be reverent and unselfish as I come to thee in prayer. Amen. SEPTEMBER TWENTIETH Battle of Salamis B. C. 480. Alexander the Great born B. C. 356. Robert Emmet died 1803. David Ross Locke (Petroleum V. Nasby) born 1833. 'Tis weary watching wave by wave, And yet the tide heaves onward; We climb, like corals, grave by grave, That pave a pathway sunward. We're driven back, for our next fray A newer strength to borrow; And where the vanguard camps to-day, The rear shall rest to-morrow. --Gerald Massey. Be like the bird, that, pausing in her flight A while on boughs too slight, Feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, Knowing that she hath wings. --Victor Hugo. Trust in Jehovah, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on his faithfulness. --Psalm 37. 3. Eternal God, help me to realize that life is not only endless but, whether I live in love and obedience, or wait in neglect and indifference, that I can never separate myself from thee. May I be diligent in worthy endeavors to do my best for thee. Amen. SEPTEMBER TWENTY-FIRST Girolamo Savonarola born 1452. Emperor Charles V died 1558. Sir Walter Scott died 1832. It is the secret sympathy, The silver link, the silken tie, Which heart to heart and mind to mind In body and in soul can bind. --Sir Walter Scott. No action, whether foul or fair, Is ever done, but it carves somewhere A record, written by fingers ghostly, As a blessing or a curse, and mostly In the greater weakness or greater strength Of the acts which follow it. --Henry W. Longfellow.