--Robert Browning. Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. --Matthew 6. 28, 29. Creator of all, I do know that if I may hold myself close enough, I can hear restful music through the breeze, and find secrets in the flowers and leaves. I rejoice that thou hast made the woods and rivers that thou dost love, so I too might possess them, and not be a tenant of them only. May I look and study deeper the things which bring me closer to thee. Amen. MARCH TWELFTH Cesare Borgia killed 1507. Bishop Buckley born 1684. Simon Newcomb born 1835. Among the happiest and proudest possessions of a man is his character. It is a wreath, it is a bank in itself. What is the essence and life of character? Principle, integrity, independence. --Bulwer Lytton. No great genius was ever without some mixture of madness, nor can anything grand or superior to the voice of common mortals be spoken except by the agitated soul. --Aristotle. Handsome is that handsome does. --Oliver Goldsmith. Since thou hast been precious in my sight, and honorable, and I have loved thee; therefore will I give men in thy stead, and peoples instead of thy life. --Isaiah 43. 4. Lord God, forbid that I should try to supplant character with manners and worldly goods. May I remember that thou seest me, and knowest me, and I need no shield from thee. Help me that I may be found acceptable while thou dost search me to the depths of the soul. Amen. MARCH THIRTEENTH Joseph Priestley born 1733. Esther Johnson (Stella) born 1681. Regina Maria Roche died 1845. If stores of dry and learned lore we gain We keep them in the memory of the brain; Names, things, and facts--whate'er we knowledge call, There is the common ledger for them all; And images on this cold surface traced Make slight impressions and are soon effaced. But we've a page more glowing and more bright On which our friendship and our love to write; That these may never from the soul depart, We trust them to the memory of the heart. There is no dimming--no effacement here; Each pulsation keeps the record clear; Warm golden letters all the tablet fill, Nor lose their luster till the heart stands still. --Daniel Webster. I often wonder why it is that we are not all kinder than we are. How much the world needs it! How easily it is done! How instantaneously it acts! How infallibly it is remembered! --Henry Drummond. Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days. --Ecclesiastes 11. 1. My Father, thou hast taught me through the gifts of life, that there is no labor or price too dear to pay for love. I pray to love thee more that I may have more love to bestow on others. Amen. MARCH FOURTEENTH