Thie-RHINBOW •CHLeNDRR- 4^ 9 COMPILeD'BY-KHTe'SRINBORN 6 rio CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BEQUEST OF STEWART HENRY BURNHAM 1943 Cornell University Jbrary The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027334980 THE RAINBOW CALENDAR St Conqpanion to " ^ pear of Suncibtne " COMPILED BY KATE SANBORN H ^W ^^^3 ^^^^^ ^^^ i^^S^ 1^^ ^^ss M^M ^^sQ pitt t^m^^ BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY (Cl^e niber^ibe {tojl^, Camititige 1889 coptright, 1888, By Katk Sanbokn. True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings, Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings. Richard III., v. 3. PREFACE. Lantern Lodge, June 21, 1888. Why do I bring out a second calendar when there is such an annual epidemic of calendars of all sorts, shapes, sizes, sentiments, that the market is glutted ; publishers not only dread the suggestion of a new one, but have threatened to adorn the outside of their office doors with placards, in big type, announcing "-Danger! — to any one proposing to us to publish a calendar ! " They have acquired nearly as unpleasant a reputation as poems on " Spring," or summer yams about sea-serpents. They range from Ruskin to Roe ; friends of Browning and Mrs. Whitney find their respective favorites cut up in inch pieces for their daily delectation. The dead lan- guages are resurrected for classic aphorisms, and even cook-books are made to do duty as culinary companions. If a man had as many children as did the father of Maria Edgeworth, he could easily procure a calendar of a differ- ent author for each of his twenty-four olive branches by applying at any respectable druggist's, I mean bookseller's, in holiday time. And yet I come with a second " Sunshine Calendar," which, with a touch of Hibernianism, I call "The Rain- bow," but you'll find the sunshine there just the same ! Yes, because I am proud and happy to say that a second one has been asked for many times by strangers as well as friends. (Strangers are friends if they like my calen- S 6 PREFACE. dars.) The " Year of Sunshine " has sold steadily for four years, perhaps because it is not pretentious, perhaps because I honestly tried to help others to fight life's bat- tles and bear its mysterious burdens. Perhaps some pre- fer the great variety of quotations it offers, which no other calendar can give. Perhaps some prefer to read Emer- son, Holmes, Whittier, George Eliot, Dickens, etc., in their own way and time, without having a spoonful of treacle provided each morning from the same hand all the year round. I do. Perhaps because when one has a toothache he cares more for an effectual remedy simply given than for a wise prescription in Latin, Greek, or Johnsonese -^ and when one has a heartache, he is glad of an old-fashioned remedy plainly presented. We all must hope or flop, and fall down into a slough of despond, and nothing can be so useless or foolish or un- comfortable or repelling to others as such a senseless pro- ceeding. Hope may seem at times as fleeting and illusory as the rainbow itself. But, believe me, the pot of gold at the foot of the beautiful bow is more than a myth. It is certainly found by those who determine, come what may, to live in the sunshine, hoping ever, not forgetting full faith in a bright Beyond. Be like the grass, which, though often trampled on and crushed, rises elastic and serene, a daily blessing and a daily lesson. I " hope " you will all like my second volume as well as the first. If you do, kindly write and say so to Your sincere friend, Kate Sanborn. 1700 Broadway, New York City. Sl?E® Kpi^BOU/® ©pCEflD/^I^. January 1. A NEW YEAR. I BRING you, friends, what the years have brought Since ever men toiled, aspired, or thought — Days for labor, and nights for rest ; And I bring you love, a heaven-born guest ; Space to work in and work to do. And faith in that which is pure and true. Hold me in honor and greet me dear. And sooth you'll find me a happy Year. M. E. Songster. E'en while he sings, he smiles his last, And leaves our sphere behind. The good old year is with the past. Oh ! be the new as kind ! Bryant. Good resolutions, like fainting ladies, want to be carried out! January 2. HAPPY NEW YEAR. Happy New Year ! Happy New Year ! If the wish were turned to trying, Back to its youth the world would roll And change to songs its sighing. Happy New Year ! the gracious words On a million lips are lurking ; A jubilee year if for its joy A niillion hands were working. Up to its gates expectant throngs With dear desires are pressing ; The hand must speed, the foot be swift To win the New Year's blessing. M. F. Butts. Let us all resolve, first, to attain the grace of Silence ; second, to deem all Fault-finding that does no good a Sin, and to resolve, when we are happy ourselves, not to poison the atmosphere for our neighbors by calling on them to mark every painful and disagreeable feature of their daily life ; third, to practise the grace and virtue of Praise. H. B. Stowe. January 3. RULES FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF LIFE. / . ". ■ -33; /.:■ . r . ■.,..-"*■ Little joys refresh us constantly, like house-bread, and never bring disgust ; and great _ones, like sugar-bread, briefly, and then bring it. * * * Be every minute, Man, a full life to -thee. De- spise anxiety, and wishing, the future, and the past. * * * Look upon fame as the talk of neighbors at the street door ; a library as a learned conversation ; joy as a second, sorrow as a minute, life as a day ; and three things, as all in all, — ^ God, creatipnj virtue. Richter. -,-■ . '■ -tow ':•"'• "^ c ■ .-. Lean hot on one mind constantly Lest where one stood before, two fall. Something God hath to say to thee Worth hearing from the lips of all. Owen Meredith. January 4. All hail ! thou New Year, that, apparelled in brightness, Now spring's! like a youth from eternity's breast. Evald. We must look downwards as well as upwards in human life. Though many have passed you in the race, there are many you have left behind. Better a dinner of herbs and a pure conscience, than the stalled ox and infamy, is my version. " Sydney Smith. I KXPECT to pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness I can show, to any fellow human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. January 5. RECIPE FOR MAKING EVERY DAY HAPPY. When you rise in the morning, form a resolution to make the day a happy one to a fellow creature. It is easily done : a left-off garment to the man who needs it, a kind word to the sorrowful, an encouraging expression to the striving, trifles in themselves light as air, will do it, at least for the twenty-four hours ; and if you are young, de- pend upon it, it will tell when you are old ; and if you are old, it will send you gently and happily down the stream of human time to eternity. By the most simple arithmeti- cal sum, look at the result; you send one person, only one, happily through the day, — that is three hundred and sixty-five in the course of the year; and supposing you live only forty years after you commence that course of medicine, you have made fourteen thousand six hundred human beings happy, at all events for a time. . Now is not this simple ? It is too short for a sermon, too homely for ethics, too easily accomplished for you to say, " I would if I could." Sydney Smith, January 6. Man is the artificer of his own happiness. Let him be- ware how he complains of the disposition of circumstanqes, for it is his own disposition he blames. If this is sour, or that rough, or the other steep, let him think if it be not his work! If his looks curdle all hearts, let him not complain of a sour reception ; if he hobble in his gait, let him not grumble at the roughness of the way; if he is weak in the knees, let him not call the hiU steep. This was the pith of the inscription on the wall of the Swedish inn, " You will find at Trochate, excellent bread, meat, and wine ; provided you bring them with you." Thoreau. The possible stands by us ever fresh. Fairer than augbt which any life hath owned. Jean Ingelaw. Truth 's golden o'er us, although we refuse it. Browning., January 7. He who is in temptations is in the hells. Place is of no consequence, but all depends on state. It appears as if the Lord was angry when man's own evil punishes him ; which is permitted out of love, that his evil may be removed ; like the case of parent and child. Swedenborg. And he, who waits to have his task marked out, Shall die and leave his errand unfulfilled. People who get lonesoine realize what poor company they are. January 8. It is a record of the mellow and ripe moments that I would keep. I would not preserve the husk of life, but the kernel. Thoreau. It is not a true apology for • any coarseness to say that it is natural. TTioreau. Do not speak for other men : think for yourself. You are shown, as in a vision, the kingdoms of this world, and of all the worlds, but you prefer to look in upon a puppet show. Though you should speak but to one kindred mind in all time, though you should not speak to one, but only utter aloud, that you may the more com- pletely realize and live in the idea which contains the reason of your life, that you may build yourself up to the height of your conceptions, that you may remember your Creator in the days of your youth, and justify his ways to man, that the end of life may not be its amusement. Thoreau. January 9. Don't be gazing at that mountain or river in the dis- tance, and saying, " How shall I ever get over them ? " but keep to the present little inch that is before you, and accomplish that in the little moment that belongs to it. The mountain and the river can only be passed in the same way ; and when you come to them you will come to the light and strength that belong to them. M.A.JCelty.^ Every hour comes with some little fagot of God's will fastened upon its back. Faber. January 10. Be resolutely and faithfully what you are, be humbly what you aspire to be. Be sure you give men the best of your wares, though they be poor enough, and the gods will help you to lay up a better store for the future. Mgn's noblest gift to man is his sincerity ; for it embraces his integrity also. T'horemt. Build up heroic lives, and all Be like a sheathen sabre. Ready to flash out at God's call, O chivalry of labor ! Triumph and toil are twins ; and aye Joy suns the cloud of sorrow ; And 'tis the martyrdom to-day Brings victory to-morrow. Gerald Massey. January 11. CHEERFULNESS. What, though corroding and multiplied sorrows, Legion-like, darken this planet of ours ? Hope is a balsam the wounded heart borrows, Even when anguish hath palsied its powers ; Wherefore, though fate play the part of a traitor. Soar o'er the stars on the pinions of hope ; — Fearlessly certain that, sooner or later. Over the stars thy desires shall have scope. Act ! — for in action are wisdom and glory, Fame, immortality, these are its crown ; Would'st thou illumine the tablets of story, Build on achievements thy doom of renown. Honor and feeling were given thee to cherish ; Cherish them, then, though all else should decay ; Landmarks be these that are never to perish, Stars that will shine on the duskiest day. Courage ! disaster and peril, once over. Freshen the spirits as flowers the grove ; O'er the dim graves that the cypresses cover Soon the forget-me-not rises in love. Salts. January 12. One cannot too soon forget his errors and misde- meanors. To dwell long upon them is to add to the offence. Not to grieve long for any action, but to go immediately and do freshly and otherwise, subtracts so much from the wrong ; else we may make the delay of repentance the punishment of the sin. Thoreau, Go not so far out of your path for a truer life ; keep strictly onward in that path alone which your genius points out ; do the things which lie nearest to you, but which are difficult to do ; live a purer, a more thoughtful and laborious life, more true to your friends and neigh- bors, more noble and magnanimous. Tkoreau, January 13. I've tried the world — it wears no more The coloring of romance it wore. Yet well has Nature kept the truth She promised in my earliest youth. The radiant beauty shed abroad, On all the glorious works of God, Shows freshly, to my sobered eye. Each charm it wore in days gone by. Bryant. "When Emerson's library was burning in Concord," relates Miss Alcott, " I weiit to him as he stood with the firelight on his strong, sweet face, and endeavored to express my sympathy for the loss of his most valued pos- sessions, but he answered, cheerily, * Never mind, Louisa ; see what a beautiful blaze they make ! We will enjoy that now.' The lesson was never forgotten, and in the varied losses that have come to me I have learned to look for something beautiful and bright." January 14. Jesus ! the ladder of my faith Rests on the jasper walls of heaven ; And through the veiling clouds I catch Faint visions of the mystic Seven ! The glory of the rainbowed throne Illumes those clouds like lambent flame ; As once, on earth, thy love divine Burned through the robes of human frame. Thou art the same, O gracious Lord ! The same dear Christ that thou wert then ; And all the praises angels sing Delight thee less than prayers of men. H. M. Kimball. January 15. Strive with the wanderer from the better path, , Bearing thy message meekly, not in wrath ; Weep for the frail that err, the weak that fall, Have thine own faith, but hope and pray for all. O. iV. Holmes. Many in this world run after felicity like an absent man hunting for his hat, while all the time it is on his head or in his hand. ^ Sydney SnUtk. I HAVE been popping corn tornight, which is only a more rapid blossoming of the seed under a greater than July heat. The popped com is a perfect winter flower, hinting of anemones and houstonias. Thoreau. January 16. Why do we not always smile whenever we meet the eye of a fellow-being? That is the true recognition which ought to pass from soul to soul constantly. Little chil- dren, in simple communities, do this involuntarily, uncon- sciously. The honest-hearted German peasant does it. It is like magical sunlight all through that simple land, the perpetual greeting on the right hand and the left between strangers as they pass by each other, never without a smile. This, then, is " the fine art of smiling ; " like all fine art, true art, perfection of art, the simplest following of Nature. Helen Hunt. Hypocrisy, the only evil that walks, Invisible, except to God alone. By his permissive will, through heaven and earth. Milton. Take short views, hope for the best, and put your trust in God. Sydney Smith. January 17. What's best in life, O busy brain ? 'Tis the glad power to strive again, 'Tis inspiration's joyous thrill, And work, the balm for every ill. Work 's best in life. Elizabeth M. Champncy. I WILL do human nature the justice to say that we are all prone to make other people do their duty. Sydney Smith. Do the work that's nearest, Though it's dull at whiles, Helping when you meet them Lame dogs over stiles. January 18. As from the bow'd-down branches of the trees, Snow in the sunshine melteth by degrees, Leaving them free to rise Once more towards the skies ; So, in the brightness of thy grace divine, May sin melt swiftly from this soul of mine. SANTA TERESA'S BOOK-MARK. Let nothing disturb thee, Nothing affright thee ; All things are passing ; God never changeth. Patient endurance Attaineth to all things. Who God possesseth In nothing is wanting ; Alone, God sufficeth. Longfellow. January 19. Lesson drawn by Helen Hunt from the words of a poorly clad little girl who on a rainy day stood before the window of a milliner's shop, rapt in delight at the bright hues within, and saying to herself, , " I choose that color." " I choose that color." " I choose that color," Why should days ever be dark, life ever be colorless ? There is always sun ; there are always blue and scarlet and yel- low and purple. We. cannot -reach them, perhaps, but we can see them, if it's only " through a glass " and " darkly," — still we can see them. We can " choose " our colors. It rains perhaps, and we are standing in the cold. Never mind. If we look earnestly enough at the brightness which is on the other side of the glass, we shall forget the wet and not feel the cold. * * Learn a wondrous secret, that pennilessness is not poverty, and ownership is not possession ; that to be with- out is not always to lack, arid to reach is not to attain ; that sunlight is for all eyes that look up, and color for those who " choose." Helen Hunt. January 20. Our lives are songs ; God writes the words, And we set tliem to music at pleasure ; And the song grows glad, or sweet, or sad, As we choose to fashion the measure. We must write the music, whatever the song, Whatever the rhyme or metre, And if it is sad, we can make it glad ; ' Or, if sweet, we can make it sweeter. To the whole world I commend the good brotherhood of Maple, and pass on the" emphatic endorsement of a blessed old black woman, who came to my room the other day, and standing before the rollicking blaze on my hearth said, " Bless yer, honey, ye's got a wood fire. Ise allers said that, if yer's got a wood fire, yer's got meat an' drink an' does." Helm Hunt. January 21. I couldn't live in peace, l£ I put the shadow of a wil- ful sin between myself and God. George Eliot. ,;v; Is it hot written " We are saved by hope," and is not hope a something which the mind feeds upon ? Is it not the spiritual element which, after all, gives tone and vigor to the entire nature ? It is with human character, very often, as it is with a torch : the more it is shaken, the more it shines. From a Berkshire Pulpit, W. W. Newton. January 22. The same law that shapes the earth and the stars, shapes the snowflake. Call it, rather, snow star. As surely as the petals of a flower are numbered, each of these countless snow stars comes whirling to earth, pro- nouncing thus with emphasis the number six, order. What a world we live in ! Where are the jeweller's shops ? I may say that the Maker of the world exhausts his skill with each snowflake and dewdrop that he sends down. We think that the one mechanically coheres, and that the other simply flows together and falls ; but in truth they are the product of enthusiasm, the children of an ecstasy, fin- ished with the Artist's utmost skill. Tkoreau. January 23. As the stove parts with its heat to bring all surrounding objects into its own heated condition, so we affect those surrounding us. Not more certainly does a rose diffuse its fragrance than human beings dispense their influence wherever they go. ... Is a man religious ? Not more truly does the sunshine impart its glory to surrounding objects than that man's religious influence passes from him to all persons and things within its sphere. Brutality and lust go forth in like manner, impressing and influ- encing all within their range. Houses become so imbued with the influence of the people that live in them that sensitive persons can feel that influence as soon as they enter. William Denton. The air is one vast library, on whose pages are forever written all that man has ever said, or woman whispered. January 24. I've been a great deal happier since I have given up thinking about what is easy and pleasant, and being dis- contented because I couldn't have my own will. Our life is determined for us ; and it makes the mind very free when we give up wishing, and only think of bearing what is laid upon us, and doing what is given us to do. George Eliot. Wiser it were to welcome and make ours Whate'er of good, though small, the present brings, Kind greetings, sunshine, songs of birds, and flowers, With a child's pure delight in little things. R. C. Trench. January 25. Every action becomes more certainly an eternal mother than an eternal daughter. Richter. We must not expect Philosophy to produce with one stroke of the pen the converse effect to that which Rubens produced when he converted a smiling child into a weep- ing one with one stroke of his brush. It is sufficient if she converts the soul's deep mourning garb into, half mourning ; it is enough when I can say to myself, " I am content to bear that share of my sorrow of which my philosophy has not relieved me." Richter. January 26. Why is sun more bright than rain ? Why does night bring forth the day ? Why do souls grow strong through pain ? 'Tis God's way. Him to trust though sunbeams fail, Him to love though loves decay, Him to see behind the veil. Be my way. Men are tattooed with their special beliefs like so many South Sea Islanders ; but- a real human heart, with Divine love in it, beats with the same glow under all the patterns of all earth's thousand tribes. O. W. Holmes. January 27. Both for bodily and mental health, court the present. Embrace health wherever you find her. One while we do not wonder that so many commit suicide, life is so barren and worthless. We only live on by an effort of the will. Suddenly, our condition is ame- liorated, and even the barking of a dog is a pleasure to us. So closely is our happiness bound up with our physi- cal condition, and one reacts on the other. Thoreau. January 28. Then the grave Elias answered, " God said, ' Rise, Elias, go; Speak to him, the sorely tempted ; lift him from his gulf of woe. "'Tell him that his very longing is itself an answering cry; That his prayer, " Come, Gracious Allah ! " is my answer, " Here am I." ' " Every inmost aspiration is God's angel undefiled ; And in every ' O my Father ! ' slumbers deep a ' Here, my child.' " January 29. Then fiercely we dig the fountain, Oh ! whence do the waters rise ? Then panting we climb the mountain, Oh ! are there indeed blue skies ? And we dig till the soul is weary, Nor find the waters out ! And we climb till all is dreary, And still the sky is doubt. Search not the roots of the fountain, But drink the water bright 5 Gaze far above the mountain, The sky may speak in light. But if yet thou see no beauty— If in doubt thy heart yet cries — With thy hands go and do thy duty, And thy work will clear thine eyes. George Macdonald. January 30. Say not the struggle naught availeth, The labor and the wounds are vain, The enemy faints not, nor faileth. And as things have been, they remain. For while the tired waves, vainly breaking, Seem here no painful inch to gain. Far back, through creeks and inlets making, Comes, silent flooding in, the main. And not by eastern windows only, When daylight comes, comes in the light ; In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly. But westward, look ! the land is light. A. H. Clough. January 31. We always paint, like Milton, our lost paradise more glowing than the regained one; like Dante, hell better than purgatory. Richter. Oh, if every one had a fixed belief that after fifty years, on an appointed day, Nature would lead him to her place of execution, he would be a different man ; but we all banish the image of death out of our souls, as the Silesians, on Lsetare Sunday, cast it out of the cities. The thought and the expectation of death improve us as much as the certainty and the choice of it. Richter. February 1. But Winter has yet brighter scenes, — he boasts Splendors beyond what gorgeous Summer knows ; Or Autumn with his many fruits, and woods All flushed with many hues. Cbme when the rains Have glazed the snow and clothed the trees Mdth ice. While the slant sun of February pours Into the bowers a flood of light ! Approach ! The incrusted surface shall upbear thy steps, And the broad arching portals of the grove Welcome thy entering. Bryant. Pale is the February sky. And brief the mid-day's sunny hours ; The wind-swept forest seems to sigh For the sweet time of leaves and flowers. Bryant. February 2. JOSH BILLINGS' FREE TICKETS. Honesty iz like 7 per cent, interest, it will beat all kind of speckerlashuns in the long run. If a mule kiks me the sekond time, I allwuss blame miself, and give the mule kredit for it. It iz az hard work for a man to keep quiet who haz suddenly got welth or fame, az it iz for a bladder to keep still after it is blown up. Pashunce iz ov more consequence to a skoolmaster than intellekt. No man iz fit for a skoolmaster who kant look upon muskeetoes az a blessing. Arly impreshuns are never lost, and while the katekism iz the hardest thing for a child to larn, it iz the hardest thing for them to forgit. When thou hast thanked thy God for every blessing sent, What time will then remain for murmurs or lament ? February 3. Who comes to God an inch through doubtings dim, In blazing light He will approach a yard toward him. Oriental Poem. Life is too short for any bitter feeling ; Time is the best avenger, if we wait ; The years speed by, and on their wings bear healing ; We have no room for anything like hate. This solemn truth the low mounds seem revealing That thick and fast about our feet are stealing — Life is too short. Ella Wheeler. I KNOW life's too short fer querrellin' ; it's too short, too, fer makin' over some folks. Mrs. Whitney. February 4. WHAT OF THAT? Tired ! well, and what of that ? Didst fancy life was spent on beds of ease, Fluttering the rose leaves scattered by the breeze ? Come, rouse thee ! work while it is called to-day. Coward, arise, go forth thy way ! Lonely ! and what of that ? Some must be lonely ; 'tis not given to all To feel a heart responsive rise and fall ttt? To blend another life into its own, Work may be done in loneliness ; work on ! • •• •■•• No help ! nay, 'tis not so ; Though human help be far, thy God is nigh, Who feeds the ravens, hears his children cry. He's near thee wheresoe'er thy footsteps roam, And he will guide thee, light thee, help thee home. Every Other Saturday. February 5. PHRASES FROM SHAKESPEARE. Shakespeare's influence over the public is shown by the extent to which his phrases have become incorporated into our language. Among these are " bag and baggage," " dead as a door nail," " hit or miss," " love is blind," "selling for a song," "wide world," "fast and loose," " unconsidered trifles," " westward ho," " familiarity breeds contempt," " patching up excuses," " misery makes strange bedfellows," "to boot" (in trade), "short and long of it," " comb your head with a three-legged stool," " dancing attendance," " getting even " (revenge), " birds of a feather," " that's flat," " Greek to me " (unintelligi- ble), " packing a jury," " mother wit," " killed with kind- ness," " mum " (for silence), " ill wind that blows no good," "wild goose chase," "scarecrow," "luggage," " row of pins " (as a mark of value), " viva voce," " give and take," "sold " (in the way of a joke), "your cake is dough." The girl who playfully calls some youth a " milksop " is also unconsciously quoting Shakespeare, and even " loggerhead " is of the same origin. " Extem- pore " is first found in Shakespeare, and so are " alma- nacs." Shakespeare is the first author that speaks of " the man in the moon," or mentions the potato, or uses the term " eyesore " for annoyance. Chicago Times, February 6. JUDGE NOT. Judge not ; the working of his brain And of his heart thou canst not see ; What looks to thy dim eyes a stain, In God's pure Ught may only be A scar, brought from some well-fought field, Where thou wouldst only faint and yield. The look, the air that frets thy sight, May be a token that below The soul has closed in deadly fight With some internal fiery foe. Whose glance would scorch thy smiling grace, And cast thee shuddering on thy face. Adelaide A. Procter. February 7. THE ART OF CONVERSING. The reason why many who converse are dull is our fault, not theirs ; our bearing, because we have not learned the art of patiently listening, restrains and embarrasses them. Were we more respectful and benevolent, the tongue of the one speaking would disentangle itself, and give us many treasures of head and heart. Hence, in conversing, we should never seem to feel toward the one speaking that we are perfectly acquainted with everything he is saying or can say; that kills his glow, and we shall shortly have for a companion a stick or a stone. Hence, also, when our inferiors are speaking, we should never put words into their lips. Start the mass of men ; then, while the glow and flow are upon them, preserve a dead silence ; you will shortly have poured into your ears all the best things they know. When you have given even an uneducated, if intelligent, man the impression that you have become his interested listener, he will give j'ou valu- able thoughts not 'ound in your books and schools. Prof. Taramsend. February 8. RELEASE. If one had watched a prisoner many a year, Standing behind a barrfed window-pane, Fettered with heavy handcuff and with chain, And gazing on the blue sky, far and clear ; And suddenly some morning he should hear The man had in the night contrived to gain His freedom and was safe, would this bring pain ? Ah ! would it not to dullest heart appear Good tidings ? Yesterday I looked on one Who lay as if asleep in perfect peace. His long imprisonment for life was done. Eternity's great freedom his release Had brought. Yet they who loved him called him dead. And wept, refusing to be comforted. Helen Hunt. February 9. Emerson spoke volumes when he said, in an essay on Greatness, that a certain man had a heart as great as the world, but there was no room in it to hold the memory of a wrong. " For 'tis sweet to stammer one letter Of the Eternal's language j — on earth it is called Forgiveness I " Longfellow. ONE DEED OF GOOD. If I might do one deed of good, One little deed before I die, Or think one noble thought, that should Hereafter not forgotten lie, I would not murmur, though I must Be lost in death's unnumbered dust. The filmy wing that wafts the seed Upon the careless wind to earth, Of its short life has only need To find the germ fit place for birth ; For one swift moment of delight It whirls, then withers out of sight. P. W. BourdilloH. February lO. SITTING ALONE WITH CONSCIENCE. I SAT alone with my conscience, In a place where time had ceased ; And we talked of my former living In the land where the years increased. And I felt I should have to answer The question it put to me, And to face the answer and question Throughout an eternity. And I thought of a far-away warning, Of a sorrow that was to be mine, In a land that then was the future. But now was the present time ; And I thought of my former thinking Of a judgment day to be. But sitting alone with my conscience Seemed judgment enough for me. And I know of the future judgment. How dreadful soe'er it be, That to sit alone with my conscience Will be judgment enough for me. February 11. WINTER ON EARTH, BUT JUNE IN THE SKY. Slow through the light and silent air, Up climbs the smoke on its spiral stair — The visible flight of some mortal's prayer ; The trees are in bloom with the flowers