Words of Comfort 
 
 WESLEY LEE WALLS 
 
 iHIBs£>$b&£d4 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 (hap. Copyright No..J.v--~ 
 
 Shelf. 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
Methought I heard One calling, " Child ! " 
 And I replied, " My Lord ! " 
 
 —George Herbert. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT 
 
 Other Bible Lessons, 
 
 INTERSPERSED WITH 
 
 POETIC PARALLELS. 
 
 (MPILED V.S 
 
 COI 
 
 WBSLBY LEE WALLS, 
 LOGANSPORT, INI). 
 
 4F"* 
 
 
 AUG *7 188 
 
 \ N8POR1 : 
 
 /£-' 
 
W 3 
 
 
 
 COPYRIGHT 1896 BY WILSON, HUMPHREYS & CO. 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 
 
 4L 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In compiling this little work (the labors of 
 which have been prosecuted through many days 
 and nights of sickness and pain), we have been 
 prompted by the hope that it might be the 
 means of lifting up the fallen, comforting those 
 wlio mourn, and brushing aside bitter tears from 
 the eyes of those who weep, thus giving re- 
 newed strength to fight life's battle. If its cir- 
 culation will accomplish the work of finding but 
 the "one"lost sheep and restoring it to "the 
 ninety and nine that went not astray," our labors 
 will not have been in vain, and our most ardent 
 desire will have been realized. 
 
 Kindly asking the public to overlook any 
 and all shortcomings on the pari of the com- 
 piler, we prayerfully send forth our little book 
 upon its mission. 
 
 Wesley Lee Walls. 
 
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 
 
 i. 
 
 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 
 
 II. 
 
 '1 hou shalt not make unto thee any graven 
 image, or any likeness of anything that is in 
 heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or 
 that is in the water under the earth : thou shalt 
 not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; 
 tor I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting 
 the iniquity of the fathers upon the children 
 unto the third and fourth generation of them 
 that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands 
 of them that love me and keep my command- 
 men! 3. 
 
 III. 
 
 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord 
 thy God in vain : for the Lord will not hold him 
 guiltless that taketh I lis name in vain. 
 
 iv. • 
 
 Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 
 
 Six days shall thou labour, and do all thy work : 
 
 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord 
 
» THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 
 
 thy God : in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, 
 nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, 
 nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy 
 stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days 
 the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all 
 that in them is, and rested the seventh day ; 
 wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and 
 hallowed it. 
 
 V. 
 
 Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy 
 days may be long upon the land which the Lord 
 thy God giveth thee. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Thou shalt not kill. 
 
 VII. 
 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 
 
 VIII. 
 Thou shalt not steal. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Thou shalt not bear false witness against 
 thy neighbor. 
 
THE TEX COMMANDMENTS. 
 
 X. 
 
 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, 
 thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his 
 man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, 
 nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's. 
 
CHARITY. 
 
 Though I speak with the tongues of men and 
 of angels, and have not charity, I am become as 
 
 sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 
 
 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and 
 understand all mysteries, and all knowledge ; and 
 though I have all faith, so that I could remove 
 mountains, and have not charily, I am nothing. 
 
 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the 
 poor, and though I give my body to be burned, 
 ami have not charity, it proliteth me nothing. 
 
 Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity 
 envicth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not 
 pulled up, 
 
 Dotb not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not 
 her own. is not easily provoked, thinketh no 
 evil; 
 
 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the 
 truth ; 
 
 Beareth all things, believeth all things, 
 hopeth all things, endureth all things. — I. Corin- 
 t h ians xiii. 1-7. 
 
 Charity is greater than Justice? Yes, it is greater; it 
 
 i- ill'- -hi i iin it of Justice it is the temple nl u Im h Justice 
 
 is the foundation. Bui you cannot have the top without 
 
Il' 
 
 CHARITY. 
 
 the bottom; you cannot build 
 build upon Justice, for the mail 
 at first Charity to build with, 
 good work. Do justice to you 
 whether you love him or not), 
 him. 
 
 Ruskin's Wreat 
 
 ion Charity. You must 
 ■eason that you have not 
 It is the last reward of 
 brother (you can do that 
 id you will come to love 
 
 of Wild Olive; 
 
THE LORD'S PRAYER. 
 
 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed 
 be thy name. 
 
 Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in 
 earth, as it is in heaven. 
 
 Give us this day our daily bread. 
 
 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our 
 debtors. 
 
 Ami lead us not into temptation, but deliver 
 us from evil : For thine is the kingdom, and 
 the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. 
 
 Hallowed be Thy name- Hallelujah!— 
 
 Infinite Ideality! 
 
 Immeasurable Reality! 
 
 Infinite Personality! 
 Hallowed be Thy name Hallelujah! 
 We feel we are nothing I'm- all is Thou and in Thee; 
 We feel we are something thai also has come from 
 
 Thee; 
 We know we are nothing but Thou wilt help us to be. 
 I [allowed be Thy name I tallelujah! 
 
 Alfred Tennyson. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 And I will give peace in the land, and ye 
 shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid : 
 and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither 
 shall the sword go through your land. — Leviti- 
 cus xvvi. ('). 
 
 Thank God for rest, where none molest, 
 
 And none can make afraid, — 
 I' or peace that sits as Plenty's guest 
 
 Beneath tin- homestead shade! 
 
 —John Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
 And I will walk among you, and will be 
 your God, and ye shall be my people. — Leviti- 
 cus xxvi. L2. 
 
 I lo leads us on 
 By paths we did not know, 
 I Fpward he leads us, though OUr Steps hi' slow, 
 
 Though oh we faint and falter on the way, 
 
 Though storms and darkness oft obscure the day, 
 Yet when the cl Is are gone, 
 
 We knOW I le leads US oil. 
 
 Anonymous. 
 
1(3 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, 
 nor be afraid of them ; for the Lord thy God, 
 he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail 
 thee nor forsake thee. — Deuteronomy xxxi. 6. 
 
 The way is dark, my child! but leads to light; 
 I would not always have thee walk by sight. 
 My dealings now thou canst not understand. 
 I meant it so; but I will take thy hand, 
 And through the gloom 
 Lead safely home 
 My child! 
 
 — Henry N. Cobb. 
 
 The Lord killeth, and maketh alive; He 
 bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. — 
 I. Samuel ii. (3. 
 
 O sleep divine! surcease of pain! 
 
 The truce of God with care and strife! 
 Thy sweet forgetting who can gain 
 
 Has plucked the very flower of life. 
 But at the last, by thee embraced, 
 
 We find at length how sweet, serene, 
 Their rest who all life's acts outplayed, 
 
 Wait at God's hands the new next scene. 
 
 —Harriet Tyng Griswold, 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 17 
 
 Behold, happy is the man whom God cor- 
 rected! : therefore despise not thou the chas- 
 tening of the Almighty. —Job v. 17. 
 
 Hear tnei God! 
 
 A broken heart 
 
 Is my best part; 
 I se still thy rod, 
 
 That I may prove 
 
 Therein thy love. 
 If thou hadst not 
 
 Been stem to me, 
 
 But left me Eree, 
 I had forgot 
 
 Myself and thee. 
 For sin's so sweet 
 
 As minds ill-bent 
 
 Rarely repent, 
 I 'ntil they meet 
 
 Their punishment. 
 
 Ben Jonson. 
 
 For ! know that my Redeemer livefli, and 
 that he shall stand at the latter day upon the 
 
 earth. — Job xix. 25. 
 
 I know beyond this masquerade 
 
 I >!" shape and color, light and shade, 
 And daw n .nul set, and wax and wane, 
 
 Eternal verities remain. 
 
 fOHN < ii;i i xi.i \i- WhITTIER" 
 
18 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Be ye strong therefore, and let not your 
 hands be weak : For your work shall he 
 rewarded. — II. Chronicles xv. 7. 
 
 Not him who never lifts his thought to heaven, 
 
 Remembering whence his blessings have been sent; 
 Nor yet to him are strength and wisdom given, 
 
 Whose days with profitless scourge and fast are spent; 
 But him whose heart is as a temple holy, 
 
 Whose prayer in every act of right is said — 
 He shall be strong, whether life's ills wear slowly, 
 
 Or come like lightning down upon his head. 
 
 — Phoebe Carey. 
 
 Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not 
 any: He is mighty in strength and wisdom. — 
 Job xxxvi. 5. 
 
 Almighty God! when round thy shrine 
 
 The palm-tree's heavenly branch we twine — 
 
 (Emblem of life's eternal ray, 
 
 And Love that " fadeth not away"), 
 
 We bless the flowers, expanded all, 
 
 We bless the leaves that never fall, 
 
 And trembling say, — " In Eden thus 
 
 The Tree of Life may flower for us !" 
 
 — Thomas Moore. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 19 
 
 He deliveretli the poor in his allliction, and 
 openeth their cars in oppression. — Job xxxvi. 15. 
 
 For God hath marked each sorrowing day, 
 
 And numbered every secret tear, 
 And heaven's long age of bliss shad pay 
 For all his children suffer here. 
 
 —William Cullen Bryant. 
 
 As for God, Ins way is perfect : the word of 
 the Lord is tried; He is a buckler to all those 
 that trust in him. — Psalm xviii. 80. 
 
 No charms can hind, no flames consume the soul; 
 
 God's breath dissolves the avalanche of ill; 
 When the dark clouds of suffering round us roll, 
 
 I [e sends his angels still. 
 
 Tin >mas 1.. Harris. 
 
 I will sing unto the Lord, because; he h 
 deal) bountifully with me. — Psalm xiii. 6. 
 
 Thy bounteous hand with worldly bliss 
 
 I [as made my cup run o'er, 
 
 And in a kind and faithful friend 
 
 I las doubled all my store. 
 
 Through all eternity in Thee 
 
 A joyful song I'll raise, 
 Ian nil, eternity's too short 
 
 To utter all Thy praise! 
 
 fO! i I'll ADD] 
 
20 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 The Lord also will be a refuge for the 
 oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. — Psalm 
 ix. 9. 
 
 O God, win isc thunder shakes the sky, 
 Whose eye this atom globe surveys, 
 
 To Thee, my only Rock, 1 fly, 
 
 Thy mercy in Thy justice praise. 
 
 O teach me in the trying hour, 
 
 When anguish swells the dewy tear, 
 
 To still my sorrows, own Thy power, 
 Thy goodness love, Thy justice fear. 
 
 — Chatterton. 
 
 Yea, though I walk through the valley of 
 the shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for 
 thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff' they 
 comfort me. — Psalm xxiii, 4. 
 
 Yet if we will one guide obey, 
 The dreariest path, the darkest way 
 Shall issue out in heavenly day; 
 And we, on divers shores now cast, 
 Shall meet, our perilous voyage past, 
 All in our Father's house at last. 
 
 —Archbishop Trench. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 21 
 
 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me 
 in his pavilion : in the secret of his tabernacle 
 shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a 
 rock. — Psalm xxvii. 5. 
 
 Jesus, lover of my sou], 
 
 Let me to thy bosom fly, 
 While the nearer waters roll, 
 
 While the tempest still is bigb; 
 Hide me, * > my Saviour, hide, 
 
 Till the stunii of life is past; 
 Safe into the haven guide, 
 
 ( ) receive my soul at last. 
 
 —Charles Wesley. 
 
 When my father ami my mother forsake me, 
 then the Lord will take me up. — Psalm xxvii. 10. 
 
 If thou hast ever hit that all (in earth 
 
 Is transient and unstable, that the bopes 
 
 Which man reposes on his brother man 
 
 Are hut broken reeds; if thou hast seen 
 
 That life itself " is hut a vapor," sprung 
 
 from Tune's upheaving ocean, decked, perhaps, 
 
 With here and there a rainbow, hut full soon 
 
 To be dissolved and mingled with the vast 
 
 And fathomless expanse that rolls its waves 
 
 I >ii .very side around tin e; if thy heart 
 
 I las deeply felt all this, and thus lias learned 
 
 That earth has no security, then go 
 
 And place thy trust in < rod. CASKET. 
 
22 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Wait on the Lord : be of good courage, and 
 he shall strengthen thine heart : Wait, I say, on 
 the Lord. — Psalm xxvii. 14. 
 
 Haste not! rest nut! calmly wait; 
 Meekly bear the storms of fate! 
 Duty be thy polar guide — 
 Do the right whate'er betide! 
 Haste not! rest not! conflicts past, 
 God shall crown thy work at last. 
 
 —J. W. DeGoethe. 
 
 The angel of the Lord encampeth round 
 about them that fear him, and delivereth them. 
 — Psalm xxxiv. 7- 
 
 Angel of Charity, who from above 
 
 Comest to dwell a pilgrim here, 
 Thy voice is music, thy smile is love, 
 
 And Pity's soul is in thy tear. 
 
 When on the shrine of God were laid 
 First fruits of all most good and fair 
 
 That ever bloom'd in Eden's shade, 
 Thine was the holiest offering there. 
 
 — Thomas Moore. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 23 
 
 Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from 
 the grave : thou hast kept me alive, that I 
 should not go down to the pit. — Psalm xxx. 3. 
 
 But Thou wilt sin and grief destroy, 
 That so the broken bones may joy. 
 And tune together in a well-set song, 
 
 Full of His praises 
 
 Who dead men raises; 
 Fractures well cured make us more strong. 
 
 — George Herbert. 
 
 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a 
 broken heart ; and saveth such as be of a con- 
 trite spirit. — Psalm xxxiv. 18. 
 
 Thou, who dost dwell alone; 
 Thou, who dost know thine own; 
 Thou, to whom all are known, 
 From the cradle to the grave— 
 Save, < ), save! 
 
 — Matthew Arnold. 
 
 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou 
 dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be 
 fed. — Psalm xxxvii. 3. 
 
 I have no power to look across the tide, 
 
 To see while here the land beyond the river; 
 
 Bui this I know, I shall he Coil's forever; 
 
 So I can trust. 
 
 ANON 1 * mi a s. 
 
24 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them 
 that fear him, upon them that hope in his 
 mercy. — Psalm xxxiii. 18. 
 
 Guard us, oh Thou who never sleepest, 
 Thou who, in silence thfon'd above, 
 Throughout all time unwearied, keepest 
 Thy watch of Glory, Pow'r and Love. 
 Grant that, beneath Thine eye, securely, 
 Our souls, awhile from life withdrawn, 
 May, in their darkness, stilly, purely, 
 Like " sealed fountains," rest till dawn. 
 
 — Thomas Moore. 
 
 I have been young, and now am old ; yet have 
 I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed 
 begging bread. — Psalm xxxvii. 25. 
 
 Forever round the mercy-seat 
 
 The guiding; lights of Love shall burn; 
 But what if, habit-bound, thy feet 
 
 Shall lack the will to turn? 
 To doubt the love that fain would break 
 
 The fetters from thy self-bound limb, 
 And dream that God can thee forsake 
 
 As thou forsakest him! 
 
 —John Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 25 
 
 Mark the perfect man, and behold the up- 
 right : for the end of that man is peace. — 
 Psalm xxxvii. ^7. 
 
 For one thing only Lord, dear Lord! 1 plead: 
 Lead me aright — 
 
 Though strength should falter, and" though heart should 
 bleed- 
 Through peace to light. 
 
 I do ii"t ask, <) Lord, that thou shouldst shed 
 Full radiance here; 
 
 Give Imt a ray of peace, that 1 may tread 
 Without a fear. 
 
 — Adelaide Anne Procter. 
 
 For the Lord God is a sun and shield : the 
 Lord will give grace and glory : no good thing 
 will he withhold from them that walk up- 
 rightly. — Psalm lxxxiv. 11. 
 
 In the path of duty -rows many a thorn, 
 
 And bleak is the scorn of a selfish world; 
 but there never was night without its morn, 
 
 Ami alter the tempest the clouds are furled; 
 
 For over all spreadeth the bright blue sky, 
 Ami we trust in our Clod, who is always nigh. 
 
 Wi LLIAM Win it R 
 
26 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he will 
 sustain thee : He shall never suffer the righteous 
 to be moved. — Psalm lv. 22. 
 
 Come ye disconsolate, where'er you languish, 
 
 Come, at God's altar fervently kneel, 
 Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish — 
 
 Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal. 
 
 —Thomas Moore. 
 
 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth 
 up their wounds. — Psalm cxlvii. 3. 
 
 Oh, Thou who dry'st the mourner's tear, 
 
 How dark this world would be, 
 If, when deceiv'd and wounded here, 
 
 We could not fly to Thee! 
 The friends who in our sunshine live, 
 
 When winter comes, are flown; 
 And he who has but tears to give, 
 
 Must weep those tears alone. 
 But Thou wilt heal that broken heart, 
 
 Which like the plants that throw 
 Their fragrance from the wounded part, 
 
 Breathes sweetness out of woe. 
 
 —Thomas Moore. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. '1 ( 
 
 Come now, and let us reason together, saith 
 the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they 
 shall be as white as snow; though they be red 
 like crimson, they shall be as wool. — Isaiah i. 18. 
 
 From the confessionals I hear arise 
 
 Rehearsals of forgotten tragedies, 
 
 And lamentations from the crypts below; 
 
 And then a voice celestial, that begins 
 
 With the pathetic words, "Although your sins 
 
 As scarlet be," and ends with " as the snow." 
 
 —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 
 
 And even to your old age I am he ; and even 
 to hoar hairs will I carry you : I have made, and 
 I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver 
 you. — Isaiah xlvi. 4. 
 
 Thou, who canst L, r uide the wandering star 
 Through trackless realms of ether's space; 
 
 Who calm'st the elemental war, 
 
 Whose hand from pole to pole 1 trace; 
 
 In Thee, my (h>d, to Thee I call! 
 Whatever weal or woe betide, 
 
 IJy'Tliy command I rise or fall; 
 
 In Thy protection I confide. 
 
 Byron. 
 
28 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye 
 shall search for me with all your heart. — 
 Jeremiah xxix. U}. 
 
 Through every period of my life 
 
 Thy goodness I'll pursue. 
 And after death; in distant worlds, 
 
 The glorious theme renew. 
 
 —Joseph Addison. 
 
 His compassions fail not ; they are new every 
 lorning. — Lamentations iii. 22, 28- 
 
 New every morning is the love 
 
 Our wakening and uprising prove; 
 
 Through sleep and darkness safely brought, 
 
 Restored to life, and power, and thought. 
 
 New mercies, each returning day, 
 
 Hover around us while»we pray; 
 
 New perils past, new sins forgiven, 
 
 New thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven. 
 
 — TOHN IyEBLE. 
 
 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are 
 heavy laden, and I will give you rest. — Matthew 
 xi. 28. 
 
 " Come unto me," the Savior cries, 
 
 Nor speaks in accents falsely bland: 
 
 " Hard is the way," He says, but " rise;" 
 And then He takes us by the hand. 
 
 — Thomas T. Lynch. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 20 
 
 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; 
 for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall 
 find rest unto your souls. — Matthew xi. 29. 
 
 The soul, secure in her existence, smiles 
 At the drawn dagger, and defies its point; 
 The stars shall fade away, the sun himself 
 Growdim with age, and nature sink in years; 
 I '.nt tin in shalt flourish in immortal youth, 
 Unhurt amid the war of elements, 
 The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds. 
 
 — Joseph Addison. 
 
 For the Son of man is come to save that 
 ich was lost. — Matthew xviii. 11. 
 
 from doubt, where all is double, 
 
 Where wise men are nol strong; 
 
 Where comfort turns to trouble; 
 
 Where just men suffer wrong; 
 
 Where sorrow treads on joy; 
 
 Where sweet things soonest cloy; 
 
 Where faiths are built on dust; 
 
 Where lo\ e is half mistrust, 
 
 I 1 1 1 1 1 ■ i \ ami barren, and sharp as the sea; 
 
 < ), set us free! 
 
 — Matthew Arnold. 
 
80 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 How think ye? if a man have a hundred 
 sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth 
 he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into 
 the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone 
 astray ? 
 
 And if so be that he find it, verily I say 
 unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than 
 of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 
 
 Even so it is not the will of your Father 
 which is in heaven, that one of these little ones 
 should perish. — Matthew xviii. 12-14. 
 
 There were ninety and nine that safely lay 
 
 In the shelter of the fold, 
 But one was out on the hills away, 
 
 Far off from the gates of go}d— 
 Away on the mountains wild and hare, 
 Away from the tender Shepherd's care. 
 But all through the mountains, thunder-riven, 
 
 And up from the rocky steep, 
 There arose a cry to the gate of heaven, 
 
 "Rejoice! I have found my sheep!" 
 And the angels echoed around the throne, 
 
 " Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!" 
 
 — Elizabeth C. Clephane. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 31 
 
 Again I say unto you. That if two of you 
 shall agree on earth as touching anything that 
 they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my 
 Father which is in heaven. 
 
 For where two or three are gathered to- 
 gether in my name, there am I in the midst 
 of them. — Matthew xviii. 19, 20. 
 
 Heart answers ln-art: inonedesire 
 The blending lines df prayer aspire; 
 
 " \\ hen- in my name meet tun or three," 
 < )ur Lord hath said, " I there will be!" 
 
 — John Greenleaf Whittikk 
 
 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, 
 and nol one- of them is forgotten before God ? 
 
 I!n! even the very hairs of your head are all 
 numbered. Fear not therefore : ye are of more 
 value than many sparrows. — Luke xii. 6, 7. 
 
 And I will trust that 1 1<- who heeds 
 
 The life that hides in mead and wold, 
 Wlin hangs yon alder's crimson heads, 
 
 And stains these mosses green and gold, 
 
 Will still, as I le hath done, incline 
 
 I li- gracious care to me and mini-, 
 
 ('.rant what we ask aright, from wrong debar, 
 
 And as the earth grows dark, make brighter every star. 
 
 John ( rREENLEAF WHITTIER. 
 
32 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in 
 prayer, believing, ye shall receive. — Matthew 
 
 Unheard no burdened heart's appeal 
 Moans up to God's inclining ear ; 
 Unheeded by His tender eye, 
 
 Falls to the earth no sufferer's tear. 
 
 — John Greenleaf Wiiittier. 
 
 Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the 
 end of the world. — Matthew xxviii. 20. 
 
 The seas shall waste, the skies in smoke decay, 
 Rocks fall to dust, amd mountains melt away; 
 But fixed His word, His saving power remains;— 
 Thy realm forever lasts; Thy own Messiah reigns. 
 — Alexander Pope. 
 
 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. 
 -Luke iii. 6. 
 
 My share! To-day men call it grief and death; 
 
 I see the joy and life to-morrow; 
 I thank my Father with my every breath 
 
 For this sweet legacy of sorrow; 
 And through my tears I call to each "joint heir " 
 With Christ, " Make haste to ask Him for thy share." 
 —Helen Hunt. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 33 
 
 For the Son of man is not come to destroy 
 men's lives, but to'save them. — Luke ix. 56. 
 
 From the world's temptations; 
 
 From tribulations; 
 Prom that fierce anguish 
 Wherein we languish; 
 From that torpor deep 
 Wherein we lie asleep, 
 Heavy as death, cold as the grave- 
 Save, Save! 
 
 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's 
 good pleasure to give you the kingdom. — Luke 
 xii. 32. 
 
 Simple, child-like trust is all, 
 
 And needless our alarms, 
 Sinpe over stumbling-stones we fall 
 
 Into our Father's arms. 
 
 —Wesley Lee Walls. 
 
 The nexl day John seeth Jesus coming unlo 
 him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of (rod, which 
 taketh away the sin of the world. — John i. 29. 
 
 All hail, Redeemer, hail! 
 
 For Thou hast died for me; 
 Thy praise and glory shall not fail 
 
 Throughout eternity. 
 
 \1 \ I TIII.W Bridgi s. 
 
34 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hear- 
 eth my word, and believeth on him that' sent me, 
 hath everlasting life, and shall not come into 
 condemnation ; but is passed from death unto 
 life. 
 
 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is 
 coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear 
 the voice of the Son of God : and they that hear 
 shall live.— John v. 24, 25. 
 
 I say to thee, do thou repeat 
 To the first man thou mayest meet 
 In lane, highway, or open street — 
 That he and we and all men move 
 Under a canopy of love 
 As broad as the hlue sky above; 
 That doubt and trouble, fear and pain, 
 And anguish, all are shadows vain, 
 That death itself shall not remain. 
 And one thing further make him know, 
 That to believe these things are so, 
 This firm faith never to forego, 
 Despite of all which seems at strife 
 With blessing, all with curses rife, 
 That this is blessing, this is life. 
 
 — Archbishop Trench. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. . 85 
 
 And they shall come from the east, and from 
 the west, and from the north, and from the 
 south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of 
 God. — Luke xiii. 29. 
 
 beauteous God! uncircumscribed treasure 
 
 Of an eternal pleasure! 
 
 Thy throne is seated far 
 
 Above the highest star, 
 
 Where Thou preparest a glorious place, 
 
 Within the brightness of Thy face, 
 
 For every spirit 
 
 To inherit 
 
 That builds his hopes upon Thy merit, 
 
 And loves Thee with a holy charity. 
 
 — Jeremy Taylor. 
 
 All that the Father giveth me shall come to 
 me; and him that cometh to me I will in no 
 wise cast out — John vi. 87. 
 
 If I ask Him to receive me, 
 Will He say me nay ? 
 " Not till earth, and not till heaven 
 
 Pass away." 
 
 Finding, following, keeping, struggling, 
 
 Is He sure to bleSS? 
 
 " Saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs, 
 Answer, Yes." 
 
 [< ui\ Mason \t m.i . 
 
36 . WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will 
 draw all men unto me. — John xii. 32. 
 
 Rise, heart! thy Lord is risen. Sing His praise 
 
 Without delays 
 Who takes thee hy the hand, that thou likewise 
 
 With Him mayst rise — 
 That, as His death calcined thee to dust, 
 His life may make thee gold, and much more just. 
 — George Herbert. 
 
 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, 
 that will I do, that the Father may be glorified 
 in the Son. 
 
 If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will 
 do it. 
 
 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 
 
 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give 
 you another Comforter, that he may abide with 
 you forever. — John xiv. 18-16. 
 
 I have but Thee, my Father! let Thy spirit 
 Be with me, then to comfort and uphold; 
 
 No gate of pearl, no branch of palm I merit, 
 Nor street of shining gold. 
 
 — John Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. &i 
 
 I am the living bread which came down 
 from heaven : if any man eat of this bread, 
 he shall live forever: and the bread that I will 
 give is my ilesh, which I will give for the 
 life of the world. — John vi. 51. 
 
 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and 
 brake it, and gave unto them, saving, This is my 
 body which is given for you : this do in remem- 
 brance of me. 
 
 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, 
 This cup is the new testament in my blood, 
 which is shed for you. — Luke xxii. 19, 20. 
 
 When tin- Paschal evening fell 
 I )eep on Kedron's hallowed dell, 
 When around the festal board 
 Sate tin- Apostles with their Lord, 
 Then His parting word lie said, 
 Blessed the cup and broke die bread 
 " This whene'er ye do or sec, 
 Evermore remember me." 
 When in tin's thanksgiving least 
 We would l; i \- < ■ to God our best, 
 From the treasures of I lis might 
 Seeking life anil love and light, 
 Then, < > friend of human kind, 
 
 Make us true and fir E mind, 
 
 Pure of In-art, in spirit free 
 Thus may we remember Thee. 
 
 Dean Stanley. 
 
38 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 I am the door : by me if any man enter 
 in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, 
 and find pasture. — John x. 9. 
 
 " Once I know I shall journey far 
 Over the mountains high ; 
 Lord, is thy door already ajar? 
 Dear is the home where Thy saved ones are; 
 But bar it awhile from me, 
 And help me to long for Thee." 
 
 —Anonymous. 
 
 I am the good shepherd : the good shepherd 
 giveth his life for the sheep. — John x. 11. 
 
 Hear, Shepherd ! Thou who for Thy flock art dying, 
 O, wash away these scarlet sins, for Thou 
 Rejoicest at the contrite sinner's vow. 
 O, wait! to Thee my weary soul is crying, 
 
 Wait for me ! Yet why ask it, when I see, 
 With feet nailed to the cross, Thou'rt waiting still 
 for me ! 
 
 — Henry Wads worth Longfellow. 
 
 And this is the promise that he hath prom- 
 ised us, even eternal life. — I. John ii. 25. 
 
 Full many things are good for souls 
 
 In proper times and spheres; 
 Thy present good is in the thought 
 
 Of the eternal year-;. 
 
 —Frederick William Faber. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 39 
 
 And this is the Father's will which hath sent 
 me, that of all which he hath given me I should 
 lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the 
 last day. — John vi. 89. 
 
 Iluly Spirit, dwell with me, — 
 I myself would holy be; 
 Separate from sin, I would 
 Choose and cherish all things good; 
 
 And whatever I can be, 
 
 Give to Him who gave me Thee. 
 
 — Thomas L. Lynch. 
 
 Let not your heart be troubled : ye believe 
 in God, believe also in me. 
 
 Ill my Father's house are many mansions : if 
 it were not so, I would have told you. I go to 
 prepare a place for you. 
 
 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I 
 will come again, and receive you unto myself; 
 that where 1 am, there ye may be also. — 
 J«»hn xiv. 1-8. 
 
 Our cradle is the starting-plai e, 
 Life is the running of the race, 
 We reach th< oal 
 
 When, in the mansions of die blest, 
 
 I >eath leaves to its eternal rest 
 The weary soul. 
 
 l h>\ Jorge Manrique. 
 
40 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I 
 the Father : and I lay down my life for the 
 sheep. 
 
 And other sheep I have, which are not of 
 this fold : them also I must bring, and they shall 
 hear my voice ; and there shall be one fold, and 
 one shepherd. 
 
 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, 
 and they follow me : 
 
 And I give unto them eternal life ; and they 
 shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck 
 them out of my hand. 
 
 My Father, which gave them me, is greater 
 than all; and no man is able to pluck them 
 out of my Father's hand. — John x. 15, 16, and 
 27-29. 
 
 Shepherd ! who with Thine amorous, sylvan song, 
 Hast broken the slumber that encompassed me, 
 Who mad'st Thy crook from the accursed tree, 
 
 On which Thy powerful arms were stretched so long ! 
 
 Lead me to mercy's ever-flowing fountains ; 
 
 For Thou my shepherd, guard and guide shalt be ; 
 I will obey Thy voice, and wait to see 
 
 Thy feet all beautiful upon the mountains. 
 
 — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 41 
 
 And if any man hear my words, and believe 
 not, I judge him not : for I came not to judge 
 the world, but to save the world. — John xii. 47. 
 
 From the ingrained fashion 
 Of this earthly nature 
 That mars Thy creature; 
 From grief, that is but passion; 
 From mirth, that is but feigning, 
 From tears, that bring no healing; 
 From wild and weak complaining — 
 Thine old strength revealing, 
 Save, O Save! 
 
 — Matthew Arnold. 
 
 T will not leave yon comfortless : I will come 
 to you. 
 
 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no 
 more ; but ye see me : because I live, ye shall 
 live also.— John xiv. IS. 1<). 
 
 The hour draws near, howe'er delayed ami late, 
 When at the eternal gate 
 
 We leave tin- wools and works we call our own, 
 
 And lift void hands alone 
 
 For love to till. Our nakedness of soul 
 
 Brings to that gate no toll. 
 
 ( ii'ftless wi- come to Him who all things skives, 
 
 And live because I le lives. 
 
 John GREENLEAF WHITTIER. 
 
42 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give 
 unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto 
 you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither 
 let it be afraid. — John xiv. 27. 
 
 Peace beginning to be, 
 Deep as the sleep of the sea, 
 When the stars their faces glass 
 In its blue tranquility. 
 "Peace on earth and good will!" 
 Souls that are gentle and still 
 Hear the first music of this 
 Far-off, infinite bliss! 
 
 — Sir Edwin Arnold. 
 
 These things I have spoken unto you, that in 
 me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall 
 have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have 
 overcome the world. — John xvi. 38. 
 
 The world is very evil, 
 
 The times are waxing late; 
 Be sober and keep vigil, 
 
 The Judge is at the gate. 
 The Judge who comes in mercy, 
 
 The Judge who comes with might, 
 Who comes to end the evil, 
 
 Who comes to crown the right. 
 
 — Anonymous. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 43 
 
 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever 
 shall call on the name of the Lord shall be 
 saved. — Acts ii. 21. 
 
 Jesus I the very thought of Thee 
 
 With sweetness fills my breast; 
 but sweeter far Thy face to see, 
 
 And in Thy presence rest. 
 Nor voice can sing, nor heart can frame, 
 
 Nor can the memory find 
 A sweeter sound than Thy blest name, 
 
 O Savior of mankind! 
 
 — Saint Bernard. 
 
 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our 
 spirit, that we are the children of God. — 
 Romans viii. Id. 
 
 Behold! What love the Father shows to men of mortal 
 
 blood, 
 That those who were the slaves of sin should be the sons 
 
 of God! 
 Born from above, celestial things our eyes now plainly 
 
 And we can boast, though Kings may not, that we're 
 ( rod's family. 
 
 James Challen. 
 
44 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 He that spared not his own Son, but deliv- 
 ered him up for us all, how shall he not with 
 him also freely give us all things. — Romans 
 viii. 32. 
 
 There are deep things of God; push out from the shore! 
 Hast thou found much? Give thanks and seek for more. 
 Doth fear the generous giver to offend ? 
 Then think His store and bounty know no end. 
 He needeth not to be implored, nor teased; 
 The more we take, the better He is pleased. 
 
 — Charles G. Ames. 
 
 There hath no temptation taken you but 
 such as is common to man : but God is faithful, 
 who will not suffer you to be tempted above 
 that ye are able; but will with the temptation 
 also make a way to escape, that ye may be able 
 to bear it. — I. Corinthians x. 18. 
 
 The wrong that pains my soul below 
 
 I dare not throne above; 
 I know not of His hate — I know 
 
 His goodness and His love. 
 And if my heart and flesh are weak 
 
 To bear an untried pain, 
 The bruised reed He will not break, 
 
 But strengthen and sustain. 
 
 — John Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 45 
 
 For we know that if our earthly house of 
 this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a build- 
 ing of God, a house not made with hands, eter- 
 nal in the heavens. — II. Corinthians v. 1. 
 
 Therefore to whom turn I but to Thee, the ineffable 
 Name? 
 Builder and Maker Thou of houses not made with 
 hands! 
 What, have fear of change from Thee who art ever the 
 same? 
 Doubt that Thy power can fill the heart that Thy 
 power expands? 
 
 — Robert Browning. 
 
 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a 
 new creature : old things are passed away ; 
 behold, all things are become new. 
 
 And all things are of God, who hath recon- 
 ciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath 
 given to us the ministry of reconciliation. — 
 1 1. Corinthians v. 17, 18. 
 
 All is of C<><\ that is, and is to be; 
 
 And God is good. Let this suffice us still; 
 
 Resting in childlike trust upon His will 
 
 \\ ho moves to 1 lis great cuds anthwarted by the ill. 
 
 John Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
46 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 And ye now therefore have sorrow : but I 
 will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, 
 and your joy no man taketh from you. — 
 John xvi. 22. 
 
 There is a day of sunny rest 
 
 For every dark and troubled night; 
 
 And grief may bide an evening guest, 
 But joy shall come with early light. 
 
 —William Cullen Bryant. 
 
 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great 
 love wherewith he loved us, 
 
 Even when we were dead in sins, hath 
 quickened us together with Christ, (by grace 
 ye are saved ;) 
 
 And hath raised us up together, and made us 
 sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. — 
 Ephesians ii. 4—6. 
 
 As true as God's own word is true, 
 Not earth or hell, with all their crew, 
 
 Against us shall prevail. 
 A jest and by-word are they grown; 
 God is with us, we are His own, 
 
 Our victory cannot fail. 
 
 — Michael Altenburg. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 47 
 
 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometime 
 were fai off are made nigh by the blood of 
 Christ. — Ephesians ii. 13. 
 
 O, dearly, dearly has He loved, 
 
 And we must love Him, too, 
 And trust in His redeeming blood, 
 
 And try His works to do. 
 
 — Anonymous. 
 
 That by two immutable things, in which 
 it was impossible for God to lie, we might have 
 a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge 
 to lay hold upon the hope set before us : 
 
 Which hope we have as an anchor of the 
 soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth 
 into that within the vail ; 
 
 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, 
 even Jesus, made a High priest forever after the 
 order of Melchisedec. — Hebrews vi. 18-20. 
 
 \ anished, too, are the thoughts, the dun, unsatisfied 
 longings; 
 Sunk arc the turrets <■!" cloud into the ocean of dreams; 
 While in a haven of rest my heart is riding at anchor, 
 Held by the chains "I love, held by the anchors ol 
 trust ! 
 
 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 
 
48 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Be careful for nothing; but in everything by 
 
 prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let 
 your requests be made known unto God. 
 
 And the peace of God, which passeth all un- 
 derstanding, shall keep your hearts and minds 
 through Christ Jesus. — Philippians iv.0,7. 
 
 Gift after gift do< ] ather send, 
 
 Down to His children, for there is no en i 
 
 ire that is eternal. But do 
 On whom He spends his love, as often stay 
 To give Him thanks ? 
 
 Marianne Farmingham. 
 
 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, 
 then shall ye also appear with him in glory. — 
 Colossians iii. 4. 
 
 Is it no', sweet to think, hereafter, 
 
 When the spirit leaves this spl 
 Love, with deathless wing, shall ivafl 
 
 To those she long hath mourned for here i 
 
 ! )h, it no other boon were given 
 
 To keep our hearts from wrong and stain. 
 
 Who would not ir\ to wm a he 
 
 Where ail we love shall live again? 
 
 Thomas Moore 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 49 
 
 The Lord is not slack concerning his prom- 
 ise, as some men count slackness; but is long- 
 suffering to us-vvard, not willing that any should 
 perish, but that all should come to repentance. 
 —II. Peter iii. 9. 
 
 Believe thou, O my soul, 
 Life is a vision shadowy of truth; 
 And vice and anguish, and the wormy grave, 
 Shapes of a dream! The veiling clouds retire, 
 And lo! the throne of the redeeming God 
 Wraps in one light — earth, heaven, and deepest hell. 
 — Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 
 
 For there is one God, and one mediator be- 
 i ween God and man, the man Christ Jesus; 
 
 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be 
 testified in due time. — I. Timothy ii.5, G. 
 
 O yet we trust that somehow good 
 Will he the final goal of ill, 
 To pangs of nature, sins of will, 
 
 Delects of doubt, and taints of blood; 
 
 That nothing walks with aimless feet; 
 
 That not one life shall be destroyed, 
 Or cast as rubbish to the void, 
 
 \\ hen God hath made the pile complete, 
 
 —Alfred Tennyson. 
 
50 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Wherefore he is able also to save them to 
 the uttermost that come unto God by him, see- 
 ing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 
 — Hebrews vii. 25. 
 
 Strong Son of God, immortal Love, 
 
 Whom we, that have not seen Thy face, 
 By faith, and faith alone, embrace, 
 
 Believing where we cannot prove; 
 
 Thou wilt not leave us in the dust : 
 
 Thou madest man, he knows not why; 
 He thinks he was not made to die ; 
 
 And thou hast made him: Thou art just. 
 
 — Alfred Tennyson. 
 
 For I will be merciful to their unrighteous- 
 ness, and their sins and their iniquities will I 
 remember no more. — Hebrews viii. 12. 
 
 When all Thy mercies, O my God, 
 
 My rising soul surveys, 
 Transported with the view, I'm lost 
 
 In wonder, love and praise. 
 To all my weak complaints and cries 
 
 Thy mercy lent an ear, 
 Ere yet my feeble thoughts had learnt 
 
 To form themselves in prayer. 
 
 — Joseph Addison. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 51 
 
 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, 
 ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth 
 not away. — I. Peter v. 4. 
 
 < >n Alpine heights the herdsman tends his herd; 
 His Shepherd is the Lord ; 
 For He who feeds the sheep 
 
 Will sun- His offspring keep, 
 On Alpine heights a loving Father dwells. 
 
 —Charles T. Brooks. 
 
 But my God shall supply all your need 
 according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 
 — Philippians iv. 19. 
 
 <) silent land, to which we move, 
 Enough if then- alone he love, 
 And mortal need can ne'er outgrow 
 What it is waiting to bestow ! 
 
 John Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
 I write unto you, little children, because 
 your sin-, an- forgiven you for His name's sake. 
 — I. John ii. L2. 
 
 •• Forgive! forgive!" the Savior cries; 
 
 bet the whole earth the news attend; 
 Jesus, the Lord of glory, (lies, 
 
 Ami rises as the sinner's friend. 
 
 J.\ mis Challen. 
 
52 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Fear none of those things which thou shalt 
 suffer : behold, the devil shall cast some of you 
 into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall 
 have tribulation ten days : be thou faithful unto 
 death, and I will give thee a crown of life. — 
 Revelation ii. 10. 
 
 Say not the struggle nought 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 bright. 
 
 — A. H. Clough. 
 
 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the 
 Spirit saith unto the churches : To him that 
 overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden 
 manna, and will give him a white stone, and in 
 the stone a new name written, which no man 
 knoweth saving he that receiveth it. 
 
 And I will give him the morning star. 
 
 He that overcometh, the same shall be 
 clothed in white raiment ; and I will not blot 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 53 
 
 out his name out of the book of life, but I will 
 confess his name before my Father, and before 
 his angels. 
 
 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit 
 with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, 
 and am set down with my Father in his throne. 
 — Revelation ii. 17 and 28 ; iii. 5 and 21. 
 
 Not to one church alone, but seven, 
 The voice prophetic spake from heaven, 
 And unto each the promise came, 
 Diversified, but still the same; 
 For him that overcometh are 
 The new name written on the stone, 
 The raiment white, the crown, the throne, 
 "And I will give him the morning star." 
 
 — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 
 
 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the 
 throne shall feed them, and shall lead them 
 unto living fountains of waters : and God shall 
 wipe away all tears from their eyes. — Revela- 
 tion vii. 17. 
 
 O, small shall seem all sacrifice 
 
 And pain and loss, 
 Winn God shall wipe the weeping eyes, 
 I'm- suffering give the victor's prize, 
 
 The crown for cross. 
 
 Jul in Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
54 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock : if any 
 man hear my voice, and open the door, I will 
 come in to him. and will sup with him, and he 
 with me. — Revelation iii. 20. 
 
 O Jesus, Thou art standing 
 
 Outside the fast-closed door, 
 In lowly patience waiting 
 
 To pass the threshold o'er: 
 Shame on us, Christian brothers, 
 
 His name and sign who bear: 
 Oh, shame, thrice shame upon us, 
 
 To keep Him standing there! 
 
 O Jesus, Thou art pleading 
 In accents meek and low, 
 " I died for you, my children, 
 And will ye treat me so? " 
 O Lord, with shame and sorrow 
 
 We open now the door: 
 Dear Saviour, enter, enter, 
 And leave us nevermore. 
 
 — W. W. How. 
 
 Because thou hast kept the word of my 
 patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of 
 temptation, which shall come upon all the world, 
 to try them that dwell upon the earth. 
 
 Behold, I come quickly : hold that fast which 
 thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 
 
 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 55 
 
 the temple of my God, and he shall go no more 
 out : and I will write upon him the name of my 
 God, and the name of the city of my God, which 
 is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of 
 heaven from my God : and I will write upon 
 him my new name. — Revelation iii. 10-12. 
 
 Hold fast that word which must remain, 
 
 Let no dark doubt invade us; 
 He will he with us on the plain, 
 
 With gifts and grace to aid us. 
 Let life and honor fall, 
 Let them take our all, 
 
 Still our course we'll keep, 
 
 No prize from us they'll reap; 
 For us the kingdom waiteth. 
 
 — Martin Luther. 
 
 And he said unto me, It is done. I am 
 Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. 
 I will give unto him that is athirst of the foun- 
 tain of the water of life freely. 
 
 He that overcometh shall inherit all things ; 
 and 1 will be His God, and he shall be my son. 
 — Revelation xxi. 6, 7. 
 
 ( >ver the silver mountains, 
 
 Where spring the nectar fountains, 
 
 There will I kiss the bowl of bliss, 
 
 And drink mine everlasting fill 
 
 l pon every milken bill, 
 
 My soul will be a-dry before, 
 
 But after, it will thirst no more. 
 
 Sir WALTEK Ram m.ii. 
 
56 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 THE PLEASURES OF HEAVEN. 
 
 There all the happy souls that ever were 
 
 Shall meet with gladness in one theatre ; 
 
 And each shall know there one another's face, 
 
 By beatific virtue of the place. 
 
 There shall the brother with the sister walk, 
 
 And sons and daughters with their parents talk 
 
 But all of God: they still shall have to say, 
 
 But make him all in all their theme that day ; 
 
 That happy day that never shall see night ! 
 
 Where he will be all beauty to the sight ; 
 
 Wine or delicious fruits unto the taste ; 
 
 A music in the ears will ever last ; 
 
 Unto the scent, a spicery or balm ; 
 
 And to the touch, a flower, like soft as palm. 
 
 He will all glory, all perfection be, 
 
 God in the Union and the Trinity ! 
 
 That holy, great and glorious mystery, 
 
 Will there revealed be in majesty, 
 
 By light and comfort of spiritual grace; 
 
 The vision of our Savior face to face, 
 
 In his humanity ! to hear him preach 
 
 The price of our redemption, and to teach, 
 
 Through his inherent righteousness in death, 
 
 The safety of our souls and forfeit breath ! 
 
 What fulness of beatitude is here ! 
 
 What love with mercy mixed doth appear ! 
 
 To style us friends, who were by nature foes ! 
 
 Adopt us heirs by grace, who were of those 
 
 Had lost ourselves ; and prodigally spent 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 57 
 
 Our native portions and possessed rent ! 
 Yet have all debts forgiven us; an advance 
 By imputed right to an inheritance 
 In his eternal Kingdom, where we sit, 
 Equal with angels, and co-heirs of it. 
 
 — Ben Jonson. 
 
 LIGHT THROUGH THE DARK. 
 
 All real pleasure comes through pain, 
 The right through wrong and loss; 
 
 The gold more value doth contain 
 When rid of worthless dross. 
 
 The wheat must grow among the tares 
 Till winnowed by our God: 
 
 Our human feet step into snares 
 So long as earth is trod. 
 
 To save our lives we strive in vain, 
 And fast is slow and slow is fast; 
 
 By losing life our lives we gain; 
 
 Last shall be first and first be last. 
 
 The sweetest music of the lyre 
 
 No soothing would afford 
 If it no tuning did require, 
 
 And there were no discord. 
 
 More melody for harsher sound, 
 Less salt our tears for smiles; 
 
 The straight and narrow way is found 
 Through labyrinthian aisles. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 And satan's counterpart so plain 
 
 We see in serpent's crawl, 
 But serves to show our final gain 
 
 Through Adam's primal fall. 
 
 The poet's lightsome rhythmic verse 
 
 Inspires and gives repose; 
 His gems of thought more bright and terse, 
 
 Because of solemn prose. 
 
 The fairest lily, sweetest rose, 
 
 The more invite our eyes 
 Because unsightly weeds do pose 
 
 For artists in the skies. 
 
 The beauties of the babbling brook 
 
 And noisy little rill 
 Are all the more enhanced by look 
 
 On stagnant pond and still. 
 
 The glorious sun of brightest morn, 
 Which floods the world with light, 
 
 The brighter is for having shorn 
 The universe of night. 
 
 The silver moon's serenest 
 
 When climbing blackest sky; 
 
 The distant spot the greenest 
 On far-off hill and high. 
 
 The unpretentious colors blend 
 
 With those more bright and gay; 
 
 When interfused, they do but tend 
 To show us night and day. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 59 
 
 The Springtime's common bloom and green 
 
 The more we do recall, 
 When sadder sights by us are seen 
 
 In silent, solemn fall. 
 
 Yet, through October's purple garb, 
 With blow and list of angel-tune, 
 The soft wind wafts from heav'n's bard 
 
 A song of endless June. 
 
 The clouds will come, the shadows fall, 
 
 Our souls be racked with pain; 
 Rut look! the rainbow comes, and all 
 
 Its hues shine through the rain. 
 
 Ami though the world be dark and grim, 
 
 And veiled our human eyes, 
 Be steadfast; put your trust in Him: 
 
 The be'st may be disguised. 
 
 And so from swaddling clothes to grave, 
 The shine and shadow that we see 
 
 Will only make our souls more brave, 
 More glorious the life to be. 
 
 Be patient, then, with life and all, 
 
 Lot Chanty prevail; 
 All pain and loss will seem but small 
 
 When God shall lift the veil. 
 
 — Wesley Lee Walls. 
 
OTHER BIBLE LESSONS. 
 
 LOVE. 
 
 But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless 
 them that curse you, do good to them that hate 
 you, and pray for them which despitefully use 
 you, and persecute you. — Matthew v. 44. 
 
 Love ? I will tell you what it is to love ! 
 
 It is to build with human thoughts a shrine 
 Where Hope sits brooding like a beauteous dove, 
 
 Where time seems young, and life a thing divine. 
 
 All tastes, all pleasures, all desires combine 
 To consecrate this sanctuary of bliss. 
 
 Above, the stars in cloudless beauty shine; 
 Around, the streams their flowery margins kiss; 
 And if there's heaven on earth, that heaven is surely this. 
 
 — Charles Swain. 
 
 A new commandment I give unto you, That 
 ye love one another; as I have loved you, that 
 ye also love one another. — John xiii. 34. 
 
 What might be done? This might be done, 
 And more than this, my suffering brother, 
 
 More than the tongue 
 
 E'er said or sung, 
 II men were wise and loved each other. 
 
 —Charles Mackav. 
 
62 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Jesus saith unto him, Thou shalt love the 
 Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all 
 thy soul, and with all thy mind. 
 
 This is the first and great commandment. 
 
 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt 
 love thy neighbor as thyself. 
 
 On these two commandments hang all the 
 law and the prophets. — Matthew xxii. 37-40. 
 
 Briefly, do as thou would'st be done unto, 
 
 Love God, and love thy neighbor; watch and pray. 
 
 These are the words and works of life; this do 
 
 And live; who doth not thus hath lost heaven's way. 
 
 O lose it not! look up; wilt thou change those lights 
 
 For chains of darkness and eternal nights? 
 
 — Henry Vaughn. 
 
 And I have declared unto them thy name, 
 and I will declare it : that the love wherewith 
 thou hast loved me may be in them, and I 
 in them. — John xvii. 26. 
 
 In a service which Thy will appoints 
 
 There are no bonds for me; 
 For my inmost heart is taught "the truth," 
 
 That makes Thy children " free," 
 And a life of self-renouncing love 
 
 Is a life of liberty. 
 
 — Anna Letitia Waring. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 63 
 
 Greater love bath no man than this, that a 
 man lay down his life for his friends. — John 
 xv. 13. 
 
 Christ, the Lift; of all the living, 
 
 Christ, the Death of death our foe, 
 
 Who, Thyself for us once giving 
 To the darkened depths of woe, 
 
 Patiently didst yield Thy breath, 
 
 Man to save from sin and death: 
 
 Thousand, thousand thanks shall be, 
 
 Blessed Jesus, unto Thee. 
 
 Then for all that wrought our pardon, 
 For Thy sorrows deep and sore, 
 
 For Thine anguish in the garden, 
 I will thank Thee evermore; 
 
 Thank Thee with the latest breath 
 
 For Thy sad and cruel death; 
 
 For that last most hitter cry, 
 
 Praise Thee evermore on high. 
 
 — E. C. HOMBURG. 
 
 For the Father himself loveth you, because 
 ye have loved me, and have believed that I came 
 out from God. — John xvi. 27. 
 
 Only, I.oid, in Thy dear love 
 Fit us for perfect rest abo\ e; 
 
 And help us, this and every day, 
 To live more nearly as we pray. 
 
 John Keble. 
 
64 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 But God commendeth his love toward us, in 
 that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for 
 us. — Romans v. 8. 
 
 Dear Lord, the crucifier would 
 
 Be crucified by Thee; 
 Turn Thou Thy love to instruments 
 
 Of torture sweet to me! 
 Thrice welcome, cross, and nail, and spear! 
 
 Oh, joy of agony! 
 I pardon him that slayeth me, 
 
 Pierced by his love, I die! 
 
 — Denis Wortman. 
 
 And we know that all things work together 
 for good to them that love God, to them who 
 are the called according to his purpose. — 
 Romans viii. 28. 
 
 Sometimes, when all life's lessons have been learned, 
 
 And sun and stars forevermore have set, 
 The things which our weak judgments here have 
 spurned — 
 
 The things o'er which we grieved with lashes wet — 
 Will flash before us, out of life's dark night, 
 
 As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue; 
 And we shall see how all God's plans were right, 
 
 And how what seemed reproof was love most true. 
 
 — May Riley Smith. 
 
WORDS OK COMFORT. G5 
 
 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor 
 that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. 
 
 Be kindly affectioned one to another with 
 brotherly love; in honour preferring one another. 
 —Romans xii. 0, 10. 
 
 Love seeketh not itself to please, 
 
 Nor for itself hath any care, 
 But for another gives its ease, 
 
 And builds a heaven in hell's despair. 
 
 — William Blake. 
 
 Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ 
 that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is 
 even at the right hand of God, who also maketh 
 intercession for us. 
 
 Who shall separate us from the love of 
 Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecu- 
 tion, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 
 
 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed 
 all the day long ; we are accounted as sheep For 
 i he slaughter. 
 
 Nay, in all these things we are more than 
 conquerors through him that loved us. 
 
 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor 
 
 lite, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, 
 
 nor things present, nor tilings to come, 
 
66 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, 
 shall be able to separate us from the love of God, 
 which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. — Romans 
 viii. 34-39. 
 
 How loud soe'er the world may roar, 
 We know Love will be conquerer. 
 
 — Anonymous. 
 
 Let brotherly love continue. 
 
 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers : for 
 thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 
 
 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound 
 with them ; and them which suffer adversity, as 
 being yourself also in the body. — Hebrews xiii. 
 1-3. 
 
 They sin who tell us love can die; 
 
 With life all other passions fly, 
 
 All others are but vanity. 
 
 In heaven ambition cannot dwell, 
 
 Nor avarice in the vaults of hell; 
 
 Earthly these passions, as of earth, 
 
 They perish where they have their birth. 
 
 But love is indestructible; 
 Its holy flame forever burneth, 
 From heaven it came, to heaven returneth. 
 
 — Robert Southev. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 07 
 
 Owe no man anything, but to love one 
 another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled 
 the law. — Romans xiii. 8. 
 
 A nameless man, amid a crowd that thronged the daily 
 
 mart, 
 Let fall a word of Hope and Love, unstudied, from the 
 
 heart; 
 A whisper on the tumult thrown— a transitory breath- 
 It raised a brother from the dust — it saved a soul from 
 
 death. 
 germ! O fount! O word of love! O thought at random 
 
 cast! 
 Ye were but little at the first, but mighty at the last. 
 
 —Charles Mackay. 
 
 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor 
 ear beard, neither have entered into the heart of 
 man, the things which God hath prepared for 
 them that love him. 
 
 But God hath revealed them unto us by his 
 Spirit : for the Spirit searchest all things, yea, the 
 deep things of God. — T. Corinthians ii. 0, 10. 
 
 " Eye hath not seen, and ear hath never heard, 
 Nor heart conceived the things by God prepared 
 For those who love Him." — O such love impart, 
 Repentant, fervent, and adoring, 
 From every taint of sin restoring, 
 My Father and my God! to this poor heart] 
 
 Joanna BAILLIE. 
 
68 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 And if any man think that he knoweth any- 
 thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to 
 know. 
 
 But if any man love God, the same is known 
 of him. — I. Corinthians viii. 2, 3. 
 
 For hate is death, and love is life, 
 A peace, a splendor from above, 
 And hate a never-ending strife, 
 A smoke, a blackness from the abyss 
 Where unclean serpents coil and hiss. 
 Love is the Holy Ghost within; 
 Hate the unpardonable sin! 
 Who preaches otherwise than this, 
 Betrays his Master with a kiss. 
 
 — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 
 
 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved 
 us, and hath given himself for us an offering and 
 a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. — 
 Ephesians v. 2. 
 
 There is no love like Thy love — 
 
 Like Thy love, Lord, to me; 
 O live in me that my love 
 
 May rise and flow to Thee! 
 With all Thy taking, take me 
 
 Unto Thy inmost heart, 
 And by Thy love-power make me 
 
 What Thou, O Savior, art! 
 
 —Wade Robinson. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 69 
 
 That Christ may dwell in your hearts hy 
 faith ; that ye, being rooted and grounded in 
 love. 
 
 May he able to comprehend with all saints 
 what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and 
 height ; 
 
 And to know the love of Christ, which 
 passeth knowledge, that ye might be tilled with 
 all the fulness of God. — Ephesians iii. 17-19. 
 
 All hearts confess the saints elect 
 Who, twain in faith, in love agree, 
 
 And melt not in an acid sect 
 
 The christian pearl of Charity. 
 
 — John Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
 But as touching brotherly love ye need not 
 thai I write unto you: for ye yourselves are 
 taught of God to love one another. — I. Thessa- 
 lonians iv. 9. 
 
 There are some sweet affections 
 
 Thai wealth cannot buy, 
 That cling but still closer 
 
 When sorrow draws nigh, 
 And remain with us yet, 
 
 Though all else pass away; 
 Thus let's love one another 
 
 As long as we stay. 
 
 Charles Swain. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 And this I pray, that your love may ahound 
 yet more and more in knowledge and in all judg- 
 ment; 
 
 That ye may approve things that are excel- 
 lent ; that ye may be sincere and without offence 
 till the day of Christ.— Philippians i. 9, 10. 
 
 Came Melancholy to my side one day, 
 
 And said, " I must a little bide with thee;" 
 And brought along with her, in company, 
 
 Sorrow and Wrath. Quoth I to her, " Away! 
 
 I will have none of you; make no delay." 
 And, like a Greek, she gave me stout reply, 
 Then, as she talk'd, I look'd and did espy 
 
 Where Love was coming onward on the way. 
 
 —Dante. 
 
 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, 
 putting on the breastplate of faith and love; 
 and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. — I. Thes- 
 salonians v. 8. 
 
 In peace, Love tunes the Shepherd's reed; 
 
 In war he mounts the warrior's steed; 
 
 In halls, in gay attire is seen; 
 
 In hamlets, dances on the green. 
 
 Love rules the court, the camp, the grove, 
 
 And men below, and saints above; 
 
 For love is heaven, and heaven is love. 
 
 — Sir Walter Scott 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 71 
 
 That their hearts might be comforted, being 
 knit together in love, and unto all riches of the 
 full assurance of understanding, to the acknowl- 
 edgment of the mystery of God, and of the 
 Father, and of Christ ; 
 
 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom 
 and knowledge. — Colossians ii. 2, 3. 
 
 He went in the strength of dependence 
 
 To tread where his Master trod, 
 To gather and knit together 
 
 The family of God. 
 With a conscience freed from burdens, 
 
 And a heart set free from care, 
 To minister to eyery one 
 
 Always and everywhere. 
 
 — SCHONBERG COTTA FAMILY. 
 
 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; 
 but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 
 — 1 1. Timothy i. 7. 
 
 Love's no irregular device, 
 
 No sudden start of raging pain, 
 Which in a moment grows a fire, 
 
 And in a moment cools again. 
 No; love is something so divine, 
 
 1 description would hut make it less: 
 "1'is what I feel, hut can't define; 
 
 "1'is what 1 know, hut can't express. 
 
 John Dryden. 
 
72 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation : 
 for when he is tried, lie shall receive the crown 
 of life, which the Lord hath promised to them 
 that love him. — James i. 12. 
 
 Heart, heart, awake! The love that loveth all 
 Maketh a deeper calm than Horeb's cave. 
 
 God in thee, can His children's folly gall ? 
 
 Love may be hurt, but shall not love be brave ? 
 
 Thy holy silence sinks in dews of balm; 
 
 Thou art my solitude, my mountain calm. 
 
 —George Macdonald. 
 
 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying 
 the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love 
 of the brethren, see that ye love one another 
 with a pure heart fervently. — I. Peter i. 22. 
 
 Love is the happy privilege of the mind- 
 Love is the reason of all living things. 
 A trinity there seems of principles, 
 Which represent and rule created life— 
 The love of self, our fellows and our God. 
 In all throughout one common feeling reigns: 
 Each doth maintain, and is maintained by the other: 
 All are compatible— all needful; one 
 To life, — to virtue one, — and one to bliss: 
 Which thus together make the power, the end, 
 And the perfection of created being. 
 
 —Philip James Bailey, 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 73 
 
 My little children, let us not love in word, 
 neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. — 
 I. John iii. 18. 
 
 Yes, love indeed is lii^ht from heaven; 
 
 A spark of that immortal fire 
 With angels shared, by Allah given, 
 
 To lift from earth our low desire. 
 I levotion wafts the mind above, 
 But heaven itself descends in love; 
 A feeling from the God-head caught, 
 To wean from self each sordid thought; 
 A ray of Him who formed the whole; 
 A glory circling round the soul! 
 
 — Lord Byron. 
 
 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is 
 of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, 
 and knoweth God. 
 
 He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for 
 God is love. — I. John iv. 7, 8. 
 
 God is love: His mercy brightens 
 All the path in which we rove: 
 
 Bliss He wakes, and woe he lightens; 
 God is wisdom, ( rod is love. 
 
 I [e with earthly cares eiilwineth 
 I [ope and comfort from above; 
 
 Everywhere I lis glory shineth; 
 God is wisdom, < rod is love. 
 
 Sir John Bowring. 
 
74 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 There is no fear in love ; but perfect love 
 casteth out fear : because fear hath torment. 
 He that feareth is not made perfect in love. — 
 I. John iv. 18. 
 
 O love that casts out fear, 
 
 O love that casts out sin, 
 Tarry no more without, 
 
 But come and dwell within! 
 
 True sunlight of the soul, 
 
 Surround us as we go; 
 So shall our way be safe, 
 
 Our feet no straying know. 
 
 Great love of God come in! 
 
 Well-spring of heavenly peace; 
 Thou Living Water, come! 
 
 Spring up, and never cease. 
 
 Love of the living God, 
 
 Of Father and of Son; 
 Love of the Holy Ghost, 
 
 Fill thou each needy one. 
 
 — H. BONAR. 
 
 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which 
 speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, 
 despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor 
 faint when thou art rebuked of him : 
 
 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, 
 and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 75 
 
 It ye endure chastening, God dealeth with 
 you as with sons ; for what son is he whom the 
 father chasteneth not ? — Hebrews xii. 5-7. 
 
 Lord for the erring thought 
 Not unto evil wrought: 
 Lord, for the wicked will 
 Betrayed and baffled still: 
 For the heart from itself kept, 
 Our thanksgiving accept. 
 For ignorant hopes that were 
 Broken to our blind prayer: 
 For pain, death, sorrow sent 
 Unto our chastisement: 
 For all loss of seeming good 
 Quicken our gratitude. 
 
 —William D. Howells. 
 
 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking 
 for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto 
 eternal life. — Jude i. 21. 
 
 Metals grow within the mine, 
 Luscious grapes upon the vine, 
 Still the needle marks the pole, 
 Parts are equal to the whole. 
 Tis a truth as clear that love 
 Quickens all below, above. 
 
 Abraham G >wi.k\ . 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 Blessed is the man who walketh not- in the 
 counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way 
 of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 
 
 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; 
 and in his law doth lie meditate day and night. 
 
 And he shall be like a tree planted by the 
 riversof water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his 
 season ; his leaf also shall not wither; and what- 
 soever lie docth shall prosper. — Psalm i. 1-3. 
 
 Tin- man, in life wherever placed, 
 
 Hath happiness in store, 
 Who walks not in the wicked's way, 
 
 Nor learns their guilty lore; 
 Nor from the seat ol scornful pride 
 
 ( 'a sts i< nth Ins eyes abroad, 
 Bui with humility and awe 
 
 Still walks before his Cod. 
 I hai man shall flourish like the trees 
 
 Which by the streamlets grow; 
 I he fruitful top is spread on high, 
 
 And firm the rool below. 
 
 Robert Burns. 
 
78 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Weeping may endure for a night, but joy 
 cometh in the morning. — Psalm xxx. 5. 
 
 Oh, child of sorrow, whosoe'er thou art, 
 Why weep an earthly evanescent ill? 
 
 Why clasp a dead hope to thy aching heart; 
 
 And though it chill thee, love and clasp it still ? 
 
 What though one thorn, upon thy pathway thrown, 
 Hath stayed thy careless step? Pause not to weep, 
 
 A thousand waiting duties call thee on, 
 
 And, in thy path, a thousand pleasures sleep. 
 
 —Robert T. Conrad. 
 
 Therefore I say unto you, take no thought 
 for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall 
 drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put 
 on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body 
 than raiment? 
 
 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His 
 righteousness; and all these things shall be added 
 unto you. — Matthew vi. 25 and 83. 
 
 In sweet accordancy of praise and love 
 
 The singing waters run, 
 And sunset mountains wear in light above 
 
 The smile of duty done;,, 
 Sure stands the promise — ever to the meek 
 
 A heritage is given; 
 Nor lose they earth who, single-hearted, seek 
 
 The righteousness of heaven. 
 
 —John Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 79 
 
 The day is thine, the night also is thine : 
 thou hast prepared the light and the sun. 
 
 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth ; thou 
 hast made summer and winter. — Psalm lxxiv. 
 10, 17. 
 
 Thou art, oh God, the life and light 
 Of all this wondrous world we see; 
 
 Its glow by day, its smile by night, 
 
 Are but reflections caught from Thee. 
 
 Where'er we turn, thy glories shine, 
 
 And all things fair and bright are thine. 
 
 When night, with wings of starry gloom, 
 
 O'ershadows all the earth and skies, 
 Like some dark, beauteous bird, whose plume 
 
 Is sparkling with unnumber'd eyes— 
 That sacred gloom, those fires divine, 
 So grand, so countless, Lord! are thine. 
 
 —Thomas Moore. 
 
 And Jesus called a little child unto him, 
 ;md set him in the midst of them, 
 
 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye 
 he converted, and become as little children, ye 
 shall Hoi enter into the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself 
 
 as this little child, the same is greatest in t hi' 
 k ingdom of heaven. 
 
80 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 And whoso shall receive one such little child 
 in my name receiveth me. — Matthew xviii. 2-5. 
 
 If thou shalt be in heart a child, 
 Forgiving, tender, meek and mild, 
 Though with light stains of earth defiled, 
 O soul, it shall be wed. 
 
 It shad be wed with thee indeed, 
 Whate'er thy race, thy tongue, thy creed, 
 Thou shalt not lose thy fitting meed; 
 It shall be surely well. 
 
 It shall be well with thee, oh soul, 
 Though the heavens wither like a scroll, 
 Though sun and moon forget to roll— 
 O soul, it shall be well. 
 
 — Lewis Morris. 
 
 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy 
 closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray 
 to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father 
 which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 
 — Matthew vi. 6. 
 
 Oh, God of mountains, stars and boundless spaces! 
 
 Oh, God of freedom and of joyous hearts! 
 When thy face looketh forth from all men's faces, 
 
 There will be room enough in crowded marts. 
 Brood thou around me, and the noise is o'er; 
 Thy universe my closet with shut door. 
 
 — George Macuunald. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 81 
 
 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? 
 and the son of man, that thou visiteth him? 
 
 For thou hast made him a little lower than 
 the angels, and hast crowned him with glory 
 and honour. — Psalm viii. 4. 5. 
 
 Oh, what is man, Great Maker of mankind! 
 
 That Thou to him, so great respect dost hear — 
 That Thou adorn'st him with so hright a mind, 
 
 Mak'st him a king, and even an angel's peer? 
 But it exceeds man's thought, to think how high 
 
 God hath raised man, since God a man became; 
 The angels do admire this mystery, 
 
 And are astonished when they view the same. 
 Nor hath In- given these blessings for a day; 
 
 Nor made them on the body's life depend: 
 The soul, though made in time, survives for aye, 
 
 And though it hath beginning, sees no end. 
 
 Sir John Davies. 
 
 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, 
 and persecute you, and shall say all manner of 
 evil against you falsely, for my sake. — Matthew 
 v. 1 1 . 
 
 Thou who didst promise cheer along with tribulation, 
 Hold up our trust ami keep it linn by much enduring; 
 
 Feed fainting hearts with patient hopes of Thy salvation: 
 
 Make glorious service, more than luxury's bed, alluring. 
 
 Frederii Dan i h \ i lngton. 
 
82 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your 
 heavenly Father will also forgive you : 
 
 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, 
 neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 
 — Matthew vi. 14, 15. 
 
 My heart was heavy, for its trust had been 
 
 Abused, its kindness answered with foul wrong; 
 
 So, turning gloomily from my fellow-men, 
 One summer Sabbath day I strolled among 
 
 The green mounds of the village burial-place; 
 
 Where, pondering where all human love and hate 
 Find one sad level; and how, soon or late, 
 
 Wronged and wrongdoer, each with meekened face, 
 And cold hands folded over a still heart, 
 
 Pass the green threshold of our common grave, 
 Whither all footsteps tend, whence none depart, 
 
 Awed for myself, and pitying my race, 
 
 Our common sorrow, like a mighty wave, 
 
 Swept all my pride away, and trembling, I forgave! 
 
 —John Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon 
 earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and 
 where thieves break through and steal : but lay 
 up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where 
 neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and wl 
 
 ere 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 83 
 
 thieves do not break through nor ste:«.l. — Mat- 
 thew vi. 19, 20. 
 
 O how happy are they 
 
 Who the Savior obey, 
 And have laid up their treasures above; 
 
 Tongue can never express 
 
 The sweet comfort and peace 
 Of a soul in its earliest love. 
 
 — C. Wesley. 
 
 Lord, thou hast been our dwellingplace in 
 all generations. 
 
 Before the mountains were brought forth, or 
 ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, 
 even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art 
 God. — Psalm xc. 1 , 2. 
 
 () Thou, the first, the greatest Friend 
 
 Of all the human race! 
 Whose Strong right hand has ever been 
 
 Their stay and dwelling-place! 
 Before the mountains heaved their heads 
 
 Beneath thy forming hand, 
 Before this pond'rous globe itself 
 
 Arose at thy command; 
 Thai power which raised, and still upholds 
 
 This universal frame, 
 
 I rom countless, unbeginning time, 
 Was ever siill the same. 
 
 Roi'.i.ki Burns. 
 
84 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one 
 of these little ones a cup of cold water only in 
 the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, 
 he shall in no wise lose his reward. — Matthew 
 x. 42. 
 
 The blessings which the weak and poor can scatter 
 
 Have their own season. 'Tis a little thing 
 
 To give a cup of water; yet its draught 
 
 Of cool refreshment, drained by fevered lips, 
 
 May give a thrill of pleasure to the frame 
 
 More exquisite than when nectarean juice 
 
 Renews the life of joy in happiest hours. 
 
 It is a little thing to speak a phrase 
 
 Of common comfort, which by daily use 
 
 Has almost lost its sense; yet on the ear 
 
 Of him who thought to die unrenowned, 'twill fall 
 
 Like choicest music; fill the glazing eye 
 
 With gentle tears; relax the knotted hand 
 
 To know the bonds of fellowship again; 
 
 And shed on the departing soul a sense, 
 
 (More precious than the benison of friends 
 
 About the honored death-bed of the rich), 
 
 To him who else were lonely, that another 
 
 Of the great family is near and feels. 
 
 — Thomas Noon Talfourd. 
 
 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching 
 in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel 
 of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sick- 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 85 
 
 ness and all manner of disease among the people. 
 — Matthew iv. 23. 
 
 So stood of old the holy Christ 
 
 Amidst the suffering throng, 
 With whom his lightest touch sufficed 
 
 To make the weakest strong. 
 That healing gift he lends to them 
 
 Who use it in His name; 
 The power that filled his garment's hem 
 
 Is evermore the same. 
 That Good Physician liveth yet 
 
 Thy friend and guide to be; 
 The Healer by Gennesaret 
 
 Shall walk the rounds with thee. 
 
 John Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain 
 the whole world, and lose his own soul? or 
 what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 
 — Matthew xvi. 26. 
 
 What win I if I gain the thing I seek? 
 
 A dream, a breath, a froth of fleeting joy. 
 
 Who buys a minute's mirth to wail a week? 
 
 Or sells eternity to get a toy? 
 
 For one >wirt grape who will the wine destroy 
 
 < >r what fond beggar, but to touch the crown, 
 
 Would with the si eptre strait be stricken down? 
 
 SlIAKKSI'KAK I . 
 
86 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 
 
 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be 
 judged : and with what measure ye meet, it shall 
 be measured to you again. — Matthew vii. 1,2. 
 
 Perchance the friend who cheered thy early years 
 
 Has yielded to the tempter's power: 
 Yet why shrink back and draw away thy skirt, 
 As though her very touch would do thee hurt ? 
 
 Wilt thou prove stronger in temptation's hour ? 
 Perchance the one thou trusted more than life 
 
 Has broken love's most sacred vow: 
 Yet judge him not — the victor in life's strife 
 Is he who beareth best the burden of life, 
 
 And leaveth God to judge, nor questions how. 
 Sing the great song of love to all, and not 
 
 The wailing anthem of thy woes; 
 So live thy life that thou may'st never feel 
 Afraid to say, as at his throne you kneel, 
 " Forgive me, God, as I forgive my foes." 
 
 —Anonymous. 
 
 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of 
 sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men : 
 but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall 
 not be forgiven unto men. 
 
 And whosoever speaketh a word against the 
 Son of man, it shall be forgiven him : but who- 
 soever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 87 
 
 not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither 
 in the world to come. — Matthew xii. 31, 32. 
 
 Voice of the Holy Spirit, making known 
 Man to himself, a witness swift and sure, 
 Warning, approving, true and wise and pure, 
 
 Counsel and guidance that misleadeth none! 
 
 By thee the mystery of life is read; 
 
 The picture-writing of the world's gray seers, 
 The myths and parables of the primal years, 
 
 Whose letter kills, by thee interpreted 
 
 Take healthful meanings fitted to our needs, 
 And in the soul's vernacular express 
 The common law of simple righteousness. 
 
 Hatred of cant and doubt of human creeds 
 
 May well he felt: the unpardonable sin 
 
 Is to deny the Word of God within! 
 
 John G r ee n i , ea f W hit-tier; 
 
 Bui Jesus said, Suffer little children, and for- 
 bid them not, to come unto me; for of such is 
 the kingdom of heaven. — Matthew xix. Id. 
 
 We need love's tender lessons taught 
 As only weakness can: 
 
 < '.oil hath his small interpreters; 
 
 The child musl tea< h the man. 
 
 < )f such the kingdom! Teach thou us, 
 
 ( ) Master most divine, 
 
 To feel the deep significance 
 
 ( )| these wise Words of tliiile! 
 
 John Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
88 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 After these things Jesus shewed himself again 
 to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias ; and on 
 this wise shewed he himself. 
 
 There were together Simon Peter, and 
 Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of 
 Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and 
 two other of his disciples. 
 
 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. 
 They say unto him, We also go with thee. They 
 went forth, and entered into a ship immediately ; 
 and that night they caught nothing. 
 
 But when the morning was now come, Jesus 
 stood on the shore ; but the disciples knew not 
 that it was Jesus. 
 
 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have 
 ve any meat ? They answered him, No. 
 
 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the 
 right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They 
 cast therefore, and now they were not able to 
 draw it for the multitude of fishes. 
 
 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved 
 saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when 
 Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt 
 his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) 
 and did cast himself into the sea. 
 
 And the other disciples came in a little ship, 
 (for they were not far from land, but as it were 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 89 
 
 two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with 
 fishes. 
 
 As soon then as they were come to land, they 
 saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, 
 and bread. 
 
 Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which 
 ye have now caught. 
 
 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to 
 land full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty and 
 three : and for all there were so many, yet was 
 not the net broken. 
 
 Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And 
 none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art 
 thou? knowing that it was the Lord. 
 
 Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and 
 giveth them, and fish likewise. 
 
 This is now the third time that Jesus shewed 
 himself to his disciples, after that he was risen 
 from the dead. 
 
 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon 
 Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more 
 than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; 
 thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto 
 him. Feed my lambs. 
 
 IK- saith to him again the second time, Simon, 
 sou of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto 
 him. Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee, 
 lb- saith unto him. Feed my sheep. 
 
90 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son 
 of Jonas, lovest thou me ? Peter was grieved 
 because he said unto him the third time, Lovest 
 thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou 
 knowest all things ; thou knowest that I love 
 thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. — 
 John xxi. 1-17. 
 
 There were seven fishers with nets in their hands, 
 And they walked and talked by the seaside sands: 
 
 Yet sweet as the sweet dew-fall 
 The words they spake, though they spake so low, 
 Across the long, dim centuries flow, 
 
 And we know them, one and all, — 
 
 Ay! know them and love them all. 
 
 Seven sad men in the days of old, 
 And one was gentle, and one was bold, 
 
 And they walked with downcast eyes; 
 The bold was Peter, the gentle was John, 
 And they all were sad, for the Lord was gone, 
 
 And they knew not if he would rise, — 
 
 Knew not if the dead would rise. 
 
 The livelong night, till the moon went out, 
 In the drowning waters they beat about: 
 
 Beat slow through the fogs their way, 
 And the sails dropped down with ringing wet, 
 . And no man drew but an empty net; 
 
 And now 'twas the break of the day,— 
 
 The great glad break of the day. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 91 
 
 'Cast your nets on the other side" — 
 (Twas Jesus speaking across the tide) 
 
 And they cast and were dragging hard; 
 But that disciple whom Jesus loved 
 Cried straightway out, for his heart was moved: 
 " It is our risen Lord, — 
 Our Master, and our Lord!" 
 
 Then Simon, girding his fisher's coat, 
 Went over the nets out of the boat, — 
 
 Ay! first of them all was he; 
 Repenting sore the dismal past, 
 Me feared no longer his heart to cast 
 
 Like an anchor into the sea, — 
 
 Down deep in the hungry sea. 
 
 And the others through the mists so dim, 
 In a little ship came after him, 
 
 Dragging their nets through the tide; 
 And when they had gotten close to the land, 
 They saw a tire of coals in the sand, 
 
 Ami, with arms of love so wide, 
 
 fesus, the crucified! 
 
 Tis long, and long, and long a,L, r o, 
 
 Since the rosy lights began to flow 
 
 O'er the hills i E Galilee; 
 And with eager eyes and lifted hands 
 The seven fishers saw on the sands 
 
 The fire of coals by the sea, 
 
 ( >n the wet, wild sands by the sea. 
 
92 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Tis long ago, yet faith in our souls 
 Is kindled just by that fire of coals 
 
 That streamed o'er the mists of the sea; 
 Where Peter, girding his fisher's coat, 
 Went over the net and out of the boat, 
 
 To answer, "Lovest thou me ?"' 
 
 Thrice over, " Lovest thou me ?" 
 
 — Alice Gary. 
 
 And a certain woman, which had an issue of 
 blood twelve years, 
 
 And had suffered many things of many physi- 
 cians, and had spent all that she had, and was 
 nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, 
 
 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the 
 press behind, and touched his garment. 
 
 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, 
 I shall be whole. 
 
 And straightway the fountain of her blood 
 was dried up ; and she felt in her body that she 
 was healed of that plague. 
 
 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself 
 that virtue had gone out of him, turned him 
 about in the press, and said, Who touched my 
 clothes ? 
 
 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest 
 the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, 
 Who touched me ? 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 93 
 
 And he looked round about to see her that 
 had done this thing. 
 
 But the woman fearing and trembling, 
 knowing what was done in her, came and fell 
 down before him, and told him all the truth. 
 
 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith 
 bath made thee whole ; go in peace, and be whole 
 of thy plague.— Mark v. 25-84. 
 
 Woman's faith and woman's trust — 
 Write the characters in dust; 
 Stamp them <>n the. running stream, 
 Print them on the moon's pale beam, 
 And each evanescent letter 
 Shall be clearer, firmer, better, 
 And more permanent, I ween, 
 Than the thing those letters mean. 
 
 — Sir Walter Scott. 
 
 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and 
 beheld how the people cast money into the treas- 
 ury : and many that were rich cast in much. 
 
 And there came a certain poor widow, and 
 she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. 
 
 And he called unto him his disciples, and 
 Baith unto them, Verily I say unlo you, That 
 this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they 
 which have cast into the treasury: 
 
01 
 
 WOH PS OF COMFOR' 
 
 For all they did cast in of their abundance ; 
 but she of her want did cast in all that she had, 
 even all her living. — Mark xii. 41-44. 
 
 Two mites, two drops, yet all her house and land, 
 Fall from a steady heart, though trembling hand: 
 The other's wanton wealth foams high and brave; 
 The other cast away, she only gave. 
 
 — Richarp Crashaw. 
 
 And one of the Pharisees desired him that he 
 would eat with him. And he went into the 
 Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. 
 
 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was 
 a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat 
 in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box 
 of ointment, 
 
 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, 
 and began to wash his feet with tears, and did 
 wipe them with the hairs of her head, and 
 kissed his feet, and anointed them with the oint- 
 ment. 
 
 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden 
 him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, 
 This man, if he were a prophet, would have 
 known who and what manner of woman this is 
 that toucheth him ; for she is a sinner. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 05 
 
 And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I 
 have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, 
 Master, say on. 
 
 There was a certain creditor which had two 
 debtor.- : the one owed five hundred pence, and 
 the other fifty. 
 
 And when they had nothing to pay, he 
 frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, 
 which of them will love him most ? 
 
 Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, 
 to whom he forgave most. And he said unto 
 him, Thou hast rightly judged. 
 
 And lie turned to the woman, and said unto 
 Simon, Seest thou this woman ? I entered into 
 thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet : 
 but she hath washed my feet with tears, and 
 wiped them with the hairs of her head. 
 
 Thou gavest mc no kiss: but this woman, 
 since the time I came in. hath not ceased to kiss 
 my feet. 
 
 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but 
 tin'- woman hath anointed my feet with oint- 
 ment . 
 
 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which 
 are many, are forgiven; for she loved much : but 
 io whom little is forgiven, t he same loveth little. 
 
 And he said unto her. Thy sins are forgiven. 
 
06 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 And they that sat at meat with him began to 
 say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth 
 sins also ? 
 
 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath 
 saved thee; go in peace. — Luke vii. 3G-50. 
 
 Were not the sinful Mary's tears 
 
 An offering worthy heaven, 
 When, o'er the faults of former years, 
 
 She wept — and was forgiven ? 
 When, bringing every balmy sweet 
 
 Her day of luxury stored, 
 She o'er her Savior's hallowed feet 
 
 The precious odors poured ; 
 And wiped them with that golden hair 
 
 Where once the diamond shone; 
 Though now those gems of grief were there 
 
 Which shine for God alone! 
 Were not these sweets, so humbly shed — 
 
 That hair— those weeping eyes — 
 And the sunk heart, that inly bled— 
 
 Heaven's noblest sacrifice ? 
 Thou, that hast slept in error's sleep, 
 
 Oh, would'st thou wake in heaven, 
 Like Mary kneel, like Mary weep, 
 " Love much " and be forgiven! 
 
 —Thomas Moore. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 97 
 
 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would 
 that men should do to you, do ye even so to 
 them : for this is the law and the prophets. — 
 Matthew vii. 12. 
 
 I ask not for myself a right 
 
 Which I to others would deny; 
 With all mankind I'd share the light, 
 Xor would I rule by force of might, 
 
 But on the Golden Rule rely. 
 All men have their paternity 
 
 In common with their fellow men; 
 Equality, fraternity, 
 
 Should rule the heart and guide the pen. 
 
 — Matthew H. Peters. 
 
 Two men went up into the temple to pray; 
 the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 
 
 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with 
 himself: God, I thank thee, that I am not as 
 other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or 
 even as this publican. 
 
 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all 
 that I possess. 
 
 And the publican, standing afar off, would not 
 lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote 
 upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me 
 a sinner. 
 
y» WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 I tell you, this man went down to his house 
 justified rather than the other : for every one that 
 exalteth himself shall be abased : and he that 
 humbleth himself shall be exalted. — Luke xviii. 
 10-14. 
 
 Two went to pray ? O rather say, 
 One went to brag, the other to pray. 
 One stands up close and treads on high, 
 Where the other dares not lend his eye, 
 One nearer to God's altar trod, 
 The other to the altar's God. 
 
 — Richard Crashaw. 
 
 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up 
 late, to eat the bread of sorrows : for so he giveth 
 his beloved sleep. — Psalm cxxvii. 2. 
 
 Of all the thoughts of God that are 
 Borne inward into souls afar, 
 Along the Psalmist's music deep, 
 Now tell me if that any is 
 For gift or grace surpassing this: 
 "He giveth His beloved sleep?" 
 
 And friends, dear friends, when it shall be 
 That this low breath has gone from me, 
 And round my bier ye come to weep, 
 Let one most loving of you all, 
 Say, " Not a tear must o'er her fall, — 
 He giveth His beloved sleep." 
 
 —Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 99 
 
 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, 
 how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I 
 forgive him? till seven times? 
 
 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, 
 Until seven times : but, Until seventy times 
 seven. — Matthew xviii. 21, 22. 
 
 When streams of unkindness, as bitter as gall, 
 
 Bubble up from the heart to the tongue, 
 And Meekness is writhing in torment and thrall, 
 
 By the hands of Ingratitude wrung, — 
 In the heat of injustice, unwept and unfair, 
 
 While the anguish is festering yet, 
 None, none but an angel, or God, can declare, 
 " I now can forgive and forget." 
 
 Oh, hearken! my tongue shall the riddle unseal, 
 
 And mind shall be partner with heart, 
 While thee to thyself I bid conscience reveal, 
 
 And show thee how evil thou art: 
 Remember thy follies, thy sins, and— thy crimes, 
 
 I [ow vast is that infinite debt! 
 Yet Mercy hath seven by seventy times 
 
 Been swift to forgive and forget! 
 
 — Martin Farquhar Tupper. 
 
 And the angel said unto them, Fear not : for, 
 behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, 
 which shall be to all people. 
 
 For unto you is born this day in the city of 
 David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 
 
100 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 And this shall be a sign unto you : Ye shall 
 find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, 
 lying in a manger. — Luke ii. 10-12. 
 
 Hail! thou month of all the year 
 Bringing men such goodly cheer; 
 "Peace on earth, good will from heaven;" 
 Blessed news to mortals given. 
 In thine icy grasp we find 
 Birth of love to all mankind; 
 Field and shepherd, stall and manger, 
 Star and midnight, greet the stranger; 
 Thanks and praise let all hearts render 
 For the Christ, born in 1 >ecember. 
 
 -W, T. GlFFE. 
 
 Search the Scriptures ; for in them ye think 
 ye have eternal life : and they are they which 
 testify of me. — John v. 39. 
 
 Thou truest friend man ever knew, 
 
 Thy constancy I've tried; 
 When all were false, I found thee true, 
 
 My counsellor and guide. 
 The mines of earth no treasures give 
 
 That could this volume buy; 
 In teaching me the way to live, 
 
 It taught me how to die. 
 
 — George Perkins Morris. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. . 101 
 
 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 
 
 And early in the morning he came again into 
 the temple, and all the people came unto him; 
 and he sat down, and taught them. 
 
 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto 
 him a woman taken in adultery ; and when they 
 .had set her in the midst, „ 
 
 They say unto him, Master, this woman was 
 taken in adultery, in the very act. 
 
 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that 
 such should be stoned : but what sayest thou? 
 
 This they said, tempting him, that they 
 might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped 
 down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, 
 as though he heard them not. 
 
 So when they continued asking him, he lifted 
 up himself, and said unto them, He that is 
 without sin among you, let him first cast a 
 Stone at her. 
 
 And again he stooped down, and wrote 
 on the ground. 
 
 And they which heard it, being convicted by 
 their own conscience, went out one by one, 
 beginning ;it the eldest, even unto the last: and 
 Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing 
 in the midst . 
 
 When Jcsiis had lifted up himself, and saw 
 
102 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, 
 where are those thine accusers? hath no man 
 condemned thee? 
 
 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said 
 unto her, Neither do I condemn thee : go, and 
 sin no more. — John viii. 1-11. 
 
 O, dwarfed, and wronged, and stained with ill. 
 
 Behold! thou art a woman still! 
 
 And by that sacred name and dear, 
 
 I bid thy better self appear. 
 
 Still, through thy foul disguise, I see 
 
 The rudimental purity, 
 
 That, spite of change and loss, makes good 
 
 Thy birthright claim of womanhood; 
 
 An inward loathing, deep, intense, 
 
 A shame that is half innocence. 
 
 Cast off the grave-clothes of thy sin! 
 
 Rise from the dust thou liest in, 
 
 As Mary rose at Jesus' word, 
 
 Redeemed and white before the Lord! 
 
 Reclaim thy lost soul! In his name, 
 
 Rise up and break thy bonds of shame. 
 
 Art weak? Hen strong. Art fearful? Hear 
 
 The world's O'ercomer: " Be of cheer!" 
 
 What lip shall judge when He approves? 
 
 Who <lare to scorn the child He loves? 
 
 — John Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 103 
 
 For in him we live, and move, and have our 
 being; as certain also of your own poets have 
 said, For we are also his offspring. — Acts' xvii. 
 
 28. 
 
 And what am I, then? Heaven's unnumbered host, 
 
 Though multiplied by myriads, and arrayed 
 
 In all the glory of sublimest thought, 
 
 Is but an atom in the balance, weighed 
 
 Against Thy greatness — is a cipher brought 
 
 Against infinity! What am I, then? Naught! 
 
 Naught! But the effulgence of Thy light divine, 
 
 Pervading worlds, hath reached my bosom, too; 
 
 Yes! in my spirit doth Thy spirit shine, 
 
 As shines the sunbeam in a drop of dew. 
 
 Naught! But I live, and on hope's pinions fly 
 
 Eager toward Thy presence — for in Thee 
 
 I live, and breathe, and dwell, aspiring high, 
 
 Even to the throne of Thy divinity. 
 
 I am, O God! and surely Thou must be. 
 
 — Gabriel Romanowitch Derzhavin. 
 
 (Russian.) 
 
 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the 
 mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a 
 living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which 
 is your reasonable service. 
 
 And be not conformed to this world : but be 
 ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, 
 
104 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 that ye may prove what is that good, and ac- 
 ceptable, and perfect will of God. — Romans xii. 
 1. 2. 
 
 Fear not! spurn the worldling's laughter! 
 
 Thine ambition — trample thou! 
 Thou shalt find a long hereafter, 
 
 To be more than tempts thee now. 
 
 On! let all the soul within you 
 
 For the truth's sake go abroad! 
 Strike! let every nerve and sinew 
 
 Tell on ages— tell for God! 
 
 —Arthur Cleveland Cox. 
 
 Pure religion and undefiled before God and 
 the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and 
 widows in their affliction, and to keep himself 
 unspotted from the world. — James i. 21. 
 
 O, brother man! fold to thy heart thy brother; 
 
 Where pity dwells, the peace of God is there; 
 To worship rightly is to love each other, 
 
 Each smile a hymn, each kindly deed a prayer. 
 For he whom Jesus loved hath truly spoken : 
 
 The holier worship which he deigns to bless, 
 Restores the lost, and binds the spirit broken, 
 
 And feeds the widow and the fatherless! 
 
 -John Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 105 
 
 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither 
 they went: and he made as though he would 
 have gone further. 
 
 But they constrained him, saying, Abide 
 with us; for it is toward evening, and the day 
 is far spent. And lie went in to tarry with 
 them. — Luke xxiv. 28, 29. 
 
 Abide with me: fast falls the eventide; 
 
 The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide. 
 
 When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, 
 
 Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me! 
 
 Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; 
 
 Earth's joys grow dim, its glories fade away. 
 
 Change and decay in all around I see; 
 
 O Thou who changest not, abide with me! 
 
 Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes; 
 
 Shine- through the gloom, and point me to the skies; 
 
 Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee; 
 
 In life, in death, Lord, abide with me! 
 
 — Henry Francis Lyte. 
 
 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ 
 Jesus shall sutler persecution. 
 
 Bui evil men ami seducers shall wax worse 
 ami worse, deceiving, and being deceived. 
 
 Hut continue thou in the things which thou 
 ha6t learned and hast been assured of, knowing 
 of whom thou hasl learned t hem . 
 
106 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 And that from a child thou hast known the 
 holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee 
 wise unto salvation through faith which is in 
 Christ Jesus. — II. Timothy iii. 12-15. 
 
 O, when I am safe in my sylvan home, 
 I mock at the pride of Greece and Rome; 
 And when I am stretched beneath the pines, 
 Where the evening star so holy shines, 
 I laugh at the lore and pride of man, 
 At the sophist schools, and the learned clan; 
 For what are they all in their high conceit, 
 When man in the bush with God may meet ? 
 
 — Ralph Waldo Emerson. 
 
 For we have not a high priest which cannot be 
 touched with the feeling of our infirmities ; but 
 was in all points tempted like as we are, yet 
 without sin. — Hebrews iv. 15. 
 
 Thou, O Elder Brother! who 
 
 In Thy flesh our trial knew, 
 
 Thou, who hast been touched by these. 
 
 Our most sad infirmities, 
 
 Thou alone the gulf canst span 
 
 In the dual heart of man, 
 
 And, between the soul and sense, 
 
 Reconcile all difference 
 
 -John Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 107 
 
 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and 
 become the firstfruits of them that slept. 
 
 For since by man came death, by man came 
 also the resurrection of the dead. 
 
 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall 
 all be made alive. — I. Corinthians xv. 20-22. 
 
 There is no death! The stars go down 
 To rise upon some fairer shore; 
 
 And bright in heaven's jeweled crown 
 They shine forevermore. 
 
 There is no death! The leaves may fall, 
 And flowers may fade and pass away; 
 
 They only wait through wintry hours 
 The coming of the May. 
 
 And ever near us, though unseen, 
 The dear immortal spirits tread; 
 
 For all the boundless universe 
 Is life — there are no dead. 
 
 — Loud Lytton. 
 
 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, 
 but not to doubtful disputations. 
 
 For one believeth that he may eat all things : 
 another, who is weak, eateth herbs. 
 
 Let not him that eateth despise him that 
 eateth not ; and let not him which eateth not 
 judge him that eateth : for God hath received 
 him. 
 
108 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Who art thou that judgest another man's ser- 
 vant? to his own master he standeth or falleth ; 
 yea, he shall be holden up : for God is able to 
 make him stand. 
 
 One man esteemeth one day above another: 
 another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man 
 be fully persuaded in his own mind. — Romans 
 xiv. 1-5. 
 
 Deal meekly, gently, with the hopes that guide 
 The lowliest brother straying from thy side; 
 If right, they bid thee tremble for thine own, 
 If wrong, the verdict is for God alone. 
 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. 
 
 —Oliver Wfndell Holmes. 
 
 For as we have many members in one body, 
 and all members have not the same office : 
 
 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, 
 and every one members one of another. — Ro- 
 mans xii. 4, 5. 
 
 Sorrow and wrong are pangs of a new birth; 
 All we who suffer bleed for one another; 
 No life may live alone, but all in all; 
 We lie within the tomb of our dead selves, 
 Waiting till One command us to arise. 
 
 — Hon. Rouen Noel. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 109 
 
 So when ♦this corruptible shall have put on 
 incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on 
 immortality, then shall be brought to pass the 
 saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in 
 victory. 
 
 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where 
 is thy victory? — I. Corinthians xv. 54, 55. 
 
 Vital spark of heavenly flame! 
 Quit, oh, quit this mortal frame! 
 Trembling, hoping, lingering, flying, 
 
 ( )h the pain, the bliss of dying! 
 Cease fond nature, cease thy strife, 
 And let me languish into life! 
 
 Hark! they whisper; angels say, 
 Sister spirit, come away! 
 What is this absorbs me quite ? 
 Steals my senses, shuls my sight, 
 Drowns my spirits, draws my breath ? 
 Tell me, my soul, can this be death ? 
 
 The world recedes; it disappears! 
 I leaven i tpens on my eyes! my ears 
 
 With sounds seraphic ring: 
 I. end, lend your wings! I mount! 1 fly! 
 ( ) ( irave! when- is thy victory ? 
 
 < ) 1 )e,itli! where is thy sting ? 
 
 Alexander Pope. 
 
110 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Be not deceived ; God is not mocked : for 
 whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 
 
 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the 
 flesh reap corruption ; but he that soweth to the 
 Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 
 
 And let us not be weary in well doing : for 
 in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 
 
 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do 
 good unto all men, especially unto them who are 
 of the household of faith. — Galatians vi. 7-10. 
 
 We shape ourselves the joy or fear 
 Of which the coming life is made, 
 
 And fill our Future's atmosphere 
 With sunshine or with shade. 
 
 The tissue of the Life to be 
 
 We weave with colors all our own, 
 
 And in the field of Destiny 
 We reap as we have sown. 
 
 Think ye the notes of holy song 
 
 On Milton's tuneful ear have died ? 
 
 Think ye that Raphael's angel throng 
 Has vanished from his side ? 
 
 O no! — We live our life again: 
 
 Or warmly touched, or coldly dim, 
 
 The pictures of the Past remain, — 
 Man's works shall follow him! 
 
 — John Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. Ill 
 
 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about 
 with truth, and having on the breastplate of 
 righteousness; 
 
 And your feet shod with the preparation of 
 the gospel of peace ; 
 
 Above all, taking the shield of faith, where- 
 with ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts 
 of the wicked. 
 
 And take the helmet of salvation, and the 
 sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 
 — Ephesians vi. 14-17. 
 
 What stronger breastplate than a heart untainted ? 
 Thrice is he arm'd that hath his quarrel just; 
 And he hut naked though lock'd up in steel 
 Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted. 
 
 — Shakespeare. 
 
 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from 
 above, and cometh down from the Father of 
 lights, with whom is no variableness, neither 
 shadow of turning. — James i. 17. 
 
 W'li.ii service ean we render Thee, kind Heaven! 
 Bui freely take what is so freely given ? 
 The best of gifts is wit to keep the cup, 
 Wherein Thou pourest blessings, right-side up. 
 Dwell Thou within ns, Lord of Charity! 
 And we, from Thee, shall endless givers be. 
 
 —Charles G. Amis. 
 
112 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the 
 fiery trial which is to try you, as though some 
 strange thing happened unto you : 
 
 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of 
 Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be 
 revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding 
 joy.— I. Peter iv. 12, 13. 
 
 Glory to God — to God — he saith, 
 Knowledge by suffering entereth, 
 And life is perfected by death. 
 
 — Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 
 
 For there are three that bear record in heaven, 
 the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost : and 
 these three are one. — I. John v. 7- " 
 
 At morn I prayed, " I fain would see 
 
 How Three are One, and One is Three; 
 
 Read the dark riddle unto me." 
 
 Then something whispered, " Dost thou pray 
 
 For what thou hast ? This very day 
 
 The Holy Three have crossed thy way. 
 
 The equal Father in rain and sun, 
 
 His Christ in the good to evil done, 
 
 His voice in thy soul;— and the Three are One!" 
 
 —John Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
WORDS OK COMFORT. 113 
 
 Love not the world, neither the things that 
 are in the world. If any man love the world, 
 the love of the Father is not in him. — I. John 
 ii. 15. 
 
 This world is all a fleeting show, 
 For man's illusion given; 
 The smiles of joy, the tears of woe, 
 Deceitful shine, deceitful flow, — 
 There's nothing true but heaven! 
 
 — Thomas Moore. 
 
 And the angel which I saw stand upon the 
 sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to 
 heaven, 
 
 And sware by him that liyeth forever and 
 ever, who created heaven, and the things that 
 therein are, and the earth, and the things that 
 therein are, and the sea, and the things which 
 arc therein, that there should be time no longer. 
 
 Hut in the days of the voice of the seventh 
 angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery 
 of God should be finished, as he hath declared to 
 his servants t he prophets. — Revelation x. 5—7. 
 
 Wherefore he saitH, Awake thou that sleep- 
 est, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall 
 give thee light. — Ephesians v. 14. 
 
114 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of 
 man in heaven : and then shall all the tribes of 
 the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of 
 man coming in the clouds of heaven with power 
 and great glory. 
 
 And he shall send his angels with a great 
 sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather to- 
 gether his elect from the four winds, from one 
 end of heaven to the other. 
 
 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my 
 words shall not pass away. 
 
 Then shall the King say unto them on his 
 right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, in- 
 herit the kingdom prepared for you from the 
 foundation of the world. 
 
 Then shall he say also unto them on the left 
 hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlast- 
 ing fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. 
 —Matthew xxiv. 30. 31 and 35; xxv. 34 and 41. 
 
 Lord, who shall bear that day, so dread, so splendid, 
 When we shall see thy Angel, hov'ring o'er 
 
 This sinful world, with hand to heaven extended, 
 And hear him swear by thee that Time's no more? 
 
 When earth shall feel thy fast consuming ray — 
 
 Who, mighty God, oh who shall bear that day? 
 
WOR-DS OF COMFORT. 
 
 115 
 
 When through the world thy awful call hath sounded? 
 
 " Wake, all ye dead, to judgment wake, ye dead!" 
 And from the clouds by seraph eyes surrounded, 
 
 The Savior shall put forth his radiant head; 
 While earth and heaven before him pass away — 
 Who, mighty God, oh who shall bear that day? 
 
 When with a glance, the Eternal Judge shall sever 
 Earth's evil spirits from the pure and bright, 
 
 And say to those, " Depart from me forever!" 
 
 To these, "Come, dwell with me in endless light!" 
 
 When each and all in silence take their way — 
 
 Who, mighty God, oh who shall bear that day? 
 
 —Thomas Moore. 
 
ESSENCES. 
 
 And poets, garland-bound, the Lords of Thought, draw near. 
 
 — Whittier. 
 
 HOPE. 
 
 Primeval Hope, the Aonian IV I uses say, 
 
 When Man and Nature mourned their first decay, 
 
 When every form of death and every woe 
 
 Shot from malignant stars to Earth below, 
 
 When .Murder bared her arm, and rampant War 
 
 Yoked the red dragons of her iron car; 
 
 When Peace and Mercy, banished from the plain, 
 
 Sprung on the viewless winds to Heaven again; 
 
 All, all forsook the friendless guilty mind; 
 
 But Hope, the charmer, lingered still behind, 
 
 —Thomas Campbell. 
 
 TRUTH'S ARMOR. 
 
 He is the freeman whom the truth makes free, 
 And .ill are slaves beside. There's not a chain 
 Thai hellish lues, confederate for his harm, 
 Can wind around him, but he casts it off 
 With .is much ease as Sampson his green withes. 
 
 —William Cowper. 
 
H8 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 AN EVENING HYMN. 
 
 Maker of all, we thee entreat, 
 Before the joyful light descend, 
 That thou, with wonted mercy great, 
 Us as our keeper would'st defend. 
 
 Let idle dreams be far away, 
 
 And vain illusions of the night; 
 
 Repress our foe, lest that he may 
 
 Our bodies to foul lust incite. 
 
 Let this, O Father, granted be, 
 
 Through our dear Savior's boundless merit, 
 
 Who doth forever live with Thee, 
 
 Together with the Holy Spirit. 
 
 —William Drummond. 
 
 NEVER THWARTED. 
 
 Over the mountains 
 
 If love cannot leap, 
 Down through the valleys 
 
 Unheeded he'll creep. 
 Whatever his purpose, 
 
 He'll do it or die; 
 And hardships and dangers 
 
 Confess it and fly. 
 
 —Charles Mackay. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 119 
 
 WHAT IS NOBLE? 
 
 What is noble ? Tis the finer 
 
 Portion of our mind and heart, 
 Linked to something still diviner 
 
 Than mere language can impart: 
 Ever prompting, ever seeing 
 
 Some improvement yet to plan; 
 To uplift our fellow being, 
 
 And, like man, to feel for man ! 
 
 —Charles Swain. 
 
 LOVE'S CALENDAR. 
 
 Talk (if love in vernal hours, 
 
 When tin- landscape blushes 
 With the dawning glow of flowers, 
 
 While the early thrushes 
 Warble in the apple tree; 
 
 When the primrose springing 
 From the green bank, lulls the bee 
 
 ( )n its blossom swinging. 
 
 Talk of love in summer-tide, 
 
 When, through bosky shallows, 
 
 Trills the streamlet all its side 
 Pranked with freckled mallows; 
 
 When in mossy lair of wrens 
 
 Tiny eggs are warming, 
 When above the reedy lens 
 Dragon-gnats are swarming. 
 
120 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 Talk of love in autumn days, 
 
 When the fruit, all mellow, 
 Drops amid the ripening rays, 
 
 While the leaflets yellow 
 Circle in the sluggish breeze 
 
 With their portents bitter; 
 When between the fading trees 
 
 Broader sunbeams glitter. 
 
 Talk of love in winter time, 
 
 When the hailstorm hurtles, 
 When the robin sparks of rime 
 
 Shakes from hardy myrtles. 
 Never speak of love with scorn, 
 
 Such were direst treason; 
 Love was made for eve and morn, 
 
 And for every season. 
 
 —Charles Kent. 
 
 WATCHFUL CARE. 
 
 And is there care in heaven ? And is there love 
 In heavenly spirits to these creatures base, 
 
 That may compassion of their evils move ? 
 
 There is: — else much more wretched were the case 
 Of men than beasts; but O, the exceeding grace 
 
 Of highest God, that loves His creatures so, 
 
 And all His works with mercy doth embrace, 
 
 That blessed angels He sends to and fro, 
 
 To serve to wicked man, to serve His foe! 
 
 — Edmund Spenser. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 121 
 
 DEATH IS NO FOE. 
 
 Pale, trembling watcher, by the dark grave's brink, 
 
 Why dost thou falter ? Wherefore shouldst thou shrink? 
 
 I hath is no foe; and though — still, stealthy, near — 
 
 His creeping footstep breaks upon thine ear; 
 
 Why shouldst thou weep ? With vain regrets away! 
 
 They cannot add, to lapsing life, a day. 
 
 Death cannot come unless it conies from High; 
 
 1 [e mocks his God who meets it with a sigh. 
 
 —Robert T. Conrad. 
 
 DOMESTIC PEACE. 
 
 Tell me, on what holy ground 
 May Domestic Peace be found ? 
 1 l.ileyon 1 )aughter of the skies, 
 Par on fearful wings she flies, 
 Prom the pomp of sceptred state, 
 From tin- rebel's noisy hate. 
 
 In a COttaged vale she dwells, 
 
 Listening to the Sabbath hells! 
 Still around her steps are seen 
 Spotless I lonor's meeker mein, 
 Love, the sin- of pleasing fears, 
 
 Sorrow smiling through her tears, 
 And, Conscious of the past employ, 
 Memory, bosom-spring of joy. 
 
 S \ \n i.i. T.n mi; ( iii.i.ki 
 
122 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 MAN, ONLY, RENDS. 
 
 The hunting tribes of air and earth 
 Respect the brethren of their birth; 
 Nature, who loves the claim of kind, 
 Less cruel chase to each assigned. 
 The falcon, poised on soaring wing, 
 Watches the wild duck by the spring; 
 The slow-hound wakes the fox's lair; 
 The grey-hound presses on the hare; 
 The eagle pounces on the lamb; 
 The wolf devours the fleecy dam; 
 Even tiger fell, and sullen bear. 
 Their likeness and their lineage spare. 
 Man, only, mars kind Nature's plan, 
 And turns the fierce pursuit on man; 
 Plying war's desultory trade, 
 Incursion, flight and ambuscade, 
 Since Nimrod, Cush's mighty son, 
 At first the bloody game begun. 
 
 —Sir Walter Scott. 
 
 WISDOM. 
 
 Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control, 
 These three alone lead life to sovereign power, 
 Yet not for power (power of herself 
 Would come uncalled for), but to live by law, 
 Acting the law we live by without fear; 
 And, because right is right, to follow right, 
 Were wisdom in the scorn of consequence. 
 
 —Alfred Tennyson. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 128 
 
 THERE'S XO DEARTH OF KINDNESS. 
 
 There's no dearth of kindness 
 
 Or love among mankind, 
 But in darkling loneness 
 
 Hooded hearts grow blind! 
 Full of kindness tingling, 
 
 Soul is shut from soul, 
 When they might be mingling 
 
 In one kindred whole! 
 
 There's no dearth of kindness 
 
 In this world of ours; 
 Only in our blindness 
 
 We gather thorns for (lowers! 
 O cherish Cod's best giving, 
 
 Falling from above! 
 Life were not worth living 
 
 Were it not for Love. 
 
 -^-Gerald Massey. 
 
 THE TRUE MEASURE OF LIFE. 
 
 We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breath; 
 
 In feelings, not in figures on the dial. 
 
 We should count time by heart-throbs when they heat 
 
 For < lod, for man, for duty. He most lives 
 
 Who thinks most, feels noblest, acts the best. 
 
 Life is but a means unto an end that end, 
 
 Beginning, mean, and end to all things, God. 
 
 P, J. Bailei 
 
124 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 A brain that burns with its own heat, 
 A heart that breaks at every beat, 
 A wildering march of weary feet, 
 In search of what we may not meet, 
 Till found beneath a winding sheet; 
 In dreamless slumber, long and sweet, 
 Which kindly comes to still all strife, 
 Is nature's fiction, known as life. 
 
 To be a thing that cannot die, 
 A part of earth, and air, and sky, 
 In cosmic arms of love to lie; 
 With shaded face and shrouded eye, 
 And marble lips that may not sigh 
 ( )'er shapes of beauty shining by, 
 Yet never yearn for bated breath, 
 Is nature's fact, — misnamed Death. 
 
 — Alfred W. Akrington. 
 
 ETERNAL PROVIDENCE. 
 
 Light of the world, Immortal mind, 
 Father of all the human kind, 
 Whose boundless eye, that knows no rest, 
 Intent on Nature's ample breast, 
 Explores the space of earth and skies, 
 And sees eternal incense rise, 
 To thee my humble voice I raise; 
 Forgive, while I presume to praise. 
 
 —Jonx Langhorne. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 125 
 
 THE SUNSHINE OF THE HEART. 
 
 The sunshine of the heart be mine, 
 
 That beams a charm around; 
 Where'er it sheds its ray divine 
 
 Is all enchanted ground! 
 No fiend of care may enter there, 
 
 Tho' Fate employ her art: 
 Her power tho' mighty, bows to thine, 
 
 Bright sunshine of the heart! 
 
 Beneath the splendor of thy ray 
 
 How lovely all is made! 
 Bright fountains in the desert play, 
 
 And palm trees cast their shade; 
 Thy morning light is rosy bright, 
 
 And ere thy beams depart, 
 Thy waning light still yields delight, 
 
 Sweet sunshine of the heart! 
 
 — Samuel Lover. 
 
 LOVE'S HOME. 
 
 It is not in the mountains 
 
 Nor the palaces of pride 
 That Love will fold his wings up 
 
 And rejoicingly abide; 
 But in meek and humble natures 
 
 I lis home is ever found, 
 As the lark that sings in heaven 
 
 Builds its nest upon the ground. 
 
 — Laman Blanciiakh. 
 
126 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 PRACTICAL CHARITY. 
 
 An ardent spirit dwells with Christian love, — 
 The eagle's vigor in the pitying dove: 
 Tis not enough that we with sorrow sigh, 
 That we the wants of pleading man supply; 
 That we in sympathy with sufferers feel, 
 Nor hear a grief without a wish to heal: — 
 Not these suffice; to sickness, pain and woe, 
 The Christian spirit loves with aid to go; 
 Will not be sought, waits not for want to plead, 
 But seeks the duty, — nay, prevents the need; 
 Her utmost aid to every ill applies, 
 And plants relief for coming miseries. 
 
 — Crabbe 
 
 NATURE. 
 
 Look Nature through, 'tis revolution all; 
 All change; no death. Day follows night; and night 
 The dying day; stars rise and set, and rise; 
 Earth takes the example. See, the summer gay, 
 With her green chaplet and ambrosial flowers, 
 Droops into pallid Autumn: Winter gray, 
 Horrid with frost, and turbulent with storm, 
 Blows Autumn and his golden fruits away; 
 Then melts into Spring; soft Spring, with breath 
 Favonian, from warm chambers of the south, 
 Recalls the first. All, to re-flourish, fades; 
 As in a wheel, all sinks toreascend — 
 Emblems of man, who passes, not expires. 
 
 —Young. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 127 
 
 THE PLEASURES OF HOPE. 
 
 Tis summer eve, when heaven's ethereal bow, 
 Spans with bright arch the glittering hills below. 
 Why to yon mountain turns the musing eye, 
 Whose sun-bright summit mingles with the sky.? 
 Why do these cliffs of shadowy tint appear 
 More sweet than all the landscape smiling near? 
 'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view, 
 And mbcs the mountain in its azure hue. 
 Thus, with delight, we linger to survey: 
 The promised joy of life's unmeasured scene 
 Mote pleasing seems than all the past hath been; 
 And every form that Fancy can repair, 
 From dark oblivion, glows divinely there. 
 
 — Campbeli 
 
 KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM. 
 
 Knowledge and Wisdom, far from being one, 
 
 I lave ofttimes no connection. Knowledge dwells 
 
 In heads replete with thoughts of other men; 
 
 Wisdom in minds attentive to their own. 
 
 Knowledge a rude, unprofitable mass, 
 
 The mere materials with which Wisdom builds, 
 
 Till smoothed, and squared, and fitted to its place — 
 
 Does hut encumber whom it seems to enrich. 
 
 Knowledge is proud thai he has learned so much; 
 
 Wisdom is humble that he knows no more. 
 
 — COWPER. 
 
128 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 HAPPINESS. 
 
 There are in this rude stunning tide 
 
 Of human care and crime, 
 With whom the melodies abide 
 
 Of the everlasting chimes, 
 Who carry music in their heart. 
 Through dusty lane and wrangling mart, 
 Plying their daily toil with busier feet, 
 Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat. 
 
 — Keble. 
 
 THE DAY OF LIFE. 
 
 The morning comes like a beautiful bride, 
 
 Adorned in her bright array; 
 But sweeter far is the evening tide 
 
 To those who have borne the day. 
 So life begins with its radiant skies, 
 
 When all is so fair and bright; 
 Our sun goes down, but the stars arise 
 
 To show us a sweeter light. 
 
 The body is built up out of the earth, 
 
 And molded in beauty and love; 
 The soul, that in heaven must have its birth, 
 
 Comes down to us from above. 
 Thus through this world, 'twixt a smile and tear, 
 
 We wander, hope and despond; 
 But when life closes the clouds disappear 
 To show us the world beyond. 
 
 —Horace P. Biddle. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 129 
 
 HAPPINESS. 
 
 True happiness had no localities; 
 No tones provincial; no peculiar garb, 
 
 Where duty went, sin- went; with justice went, 
 And went with meekness, charity and love, 
 Where'er a tear was dried; a wounded heart 
 Bound up; a bruised spirit with the dew 
 ( >f sympathy anointed; or a pang 
 Of honest suffering soothed; or injury 
 Repeated oft, as oft by love forgiven : 
 Where'er an evil passion was subdued, 
 Or virtue's feeble embers fanned; where'er 
 A sin was heartily abjured, and left; 
 Where'er a pious act was done, or breathed 
 A pious prayer, or wished a pious wish, — 
 There was a high and holy place, a spot 
 1 >f sacred light, a most religious fane, 
 Where Happiness, descending; sat and smiled 
 
 — Po 
 
 CHARITY. 
 
 He erred, no doubt, perhaps he sinned; 
 
 Shall I, then, dare to east a stone ? 
 
 Perhaps this blot on a garmenl white 
 
 < omits less than the dingy robes I own. 
 
 George Hough 
 
130 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 -WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?" 
 
 Wouldst thou a neighbor be where'er thou art ? 
 
 Then to the needy show a feeling heart, 
 
 And though a stranger, helpless, discover 
 
 No less in him a man and a brother. 
 
 But not alone material wants supply; 
 
 Give kindness, hope and gentle sympathy; . 
 
 For many for the lack of these have died, 
 
 When other wants have amply been supplied. 
 
 Thus life will not be dreary, meagre, sad, 
 
 But filled with deeds that other hearts make glad; 
 
 For greater good one need not vainly try; 
 
 This is its own reward and luxury. 
 
 — C. E. Briggs. 
 
 HOW 
 
 'How shall I a habit break ?" 
 As you did that habit make; 
 As you gathered you must loose; 
 As you yielded, now refuse. 
 Thread by thread the strand we twist 
 Till they bind us neck and wrist; 
 Thread by thread the patient hand 
 Must untwine ere free we stand. 
 As we builded, stone by stone, 
 We must toil, unhelped, alone, 
 Till the wall is overthrown. 
 
 —John Boyle O'Reilly. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 131 
 
 THOUGHT. 
 
 Thought is deeper than all speech, 
 Feeling deeper than all thought; 
 
 Souls to souls can never teach 
 
 What unto themselves was taught. 
 
 We are spirits clad in veils; 
 
 Mau by man was never seen; 
 All our deep communing fails 
 
 To remove the shadowy screen. 
 
 Only when our souls are fed 
 
 By the fount which gave them birth, 
 And by inspiration led 
 
 Which they never drew from earth, 
 
 We, like parted drops of rain, 
 
 Swelling till they meet and run, 
 Shall be all absorbed again, 
 
 Melting, flowing into one. 
 
 —Christopher Pearse 
 
 THOUGHTS. 
 
 We do nut make our thoughts; they grow in us, 
 Like grain in wood; the growth is of the skies, 
 Which are "i nature; nature is ol < lod. 
 The world is full <>f glorious likenesses. 
 
 P. |. Bailey. 
 
182 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 HE LIVES LONG WHO LIVES WELL. 
 
 Wouldst thou live long? The only means are these — 
 
 'Bove Galen's diet, or Hippocrates': 
 
 Strive to live well; tread in the upright ways, 
 
 And rather count thy actions than thy days. 
 
 Then thou hast lived enough amongst us here, 
 
 For every day well spent I count a year. 
 
 Live well, and then, how soon soe'er thou die, 
 
 Thou art of age to claim eternity. 
 
 But he that outlives Nestor, and appears 
 
 To have passed the date of gray Methuselah's years, 
 
 If he his life to sloth and sin doth give, 
 
 I say he only was — he did not live. 
 
 — Randolph. 
 
 BONDS OF AFFECTION. 
 
 There is in life no blessing like affection; 
 It soothes, it hallows, elevates, subdues, 
 And bringeth down to earth its native heaven. 
 It sits beside the cradle patient hours, 
 Whose sole contentment is to watch and lo\ e; 
 It bendeth o'er the death-bed, and conceals 
 Its own despair with words of faith and hope. 
 Life has naught else that may supply its place; 
 Void is ambition, cold is vanity, 
 And wealth an empty glitter, without love. 
 
 — Landon. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 133 
 
 "GOOD MORNING." 
 
 Life! we've been long together, 
 Through pleasant and through cloudy weather; 
 'Tis hard to part when friends are dear; 
 Perhaps 'twill cost a sigh, a tear; 
 
 Then steal away, give little warning, 
 Choose thine own time; 
 Say not "Good-Night," hut in some brighter clime, 
 
 Bid me " I rood-Morning." 
 
 — Annie Letitia Barbauld. 
 
 LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 The ports of death are sins; of life, good deeds; 
 Through which our merit leads us to our meeds. 
 How wilful blind is he, then, that would stay, 
 And hath it in his powers to make his way. 
 
 Tin's world death's region is; the other, life's; 
 
 And here, it should be one of our first strifes 
 So to front death as men might judge us past it; 
 I or ood men but see death, the wicked taste it. 
 
 —ben Jon- 
 resolution. 
 
 Each >U;;\ 
 Thai carried .shame and wrong shall be the sting 
 Thai drives me higher up the sleep of honor 
 In deed ol duteous service. 
 
134 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 CONSOLATION. 
 
 For well I know o'er sunny seas 
 
 The blue bird waits for April skies, 
 And at the roots of forest trees 
 The May flowers sleep in fragrant ease, 
 
 And violets hide their azure eyes. 
 O, thou by winds of grief o'erblown, 
 
 Beside some golden summer's bier, 
 Take heart! thy birds are only flown, 
 Thy blossoms sleeping, tearful-sown, 
 
 To greet thee in the immortal year. 
 
 — Procter. 
 
 REQUIREMENT. 
 
 We live by Faith; but faith is not the slave 
 
 Of text and legend. Reason's voice and God's, 
 Nature's and Duty's, never are at odds. 
 What asks our Father of His children, save 
 Justice and mercy and humility, 
 
 A reasonable service of good deeds, 
 Pure living, tenderness to human needs, . 
 Reverence and trust, and prayer for light to see 
 The Master's footprints in our daily ways? 
 No knotted scourge nor sacrificial knife, 
 But the calm beauty of an ordered life, 
 Whose very breathing is unworded praise! — 
 A life that stands, as all true lives have stood, 
 Firm-rooted in the faith that God is good. 
 
 — John Greenleaf Whittier. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 135 
 
 A BIRD LESSON. 
 
 If you cannot give aid to another, 
 
 Do not boast you are stronger than he. 
 It is said of the birds on their passage 
 
 < )'ii' the Mediterranean Sea, 
 That the storks, who are larger and stronger, 
 
 When they start on their wearisome flight, 
 Take the wrens on their backs, and the birdlings, 
 
 Who would else be in sorrowful plight. 
 
 — Amanda Shaw Elseffer. 
 
 ALL'S WELL. 
 
 The I louds, which rise with thunder, slake 
 
 ( fur thirsty souls with rain; 
 The blow most dreaded falls to break 
 
 From off our limbs a chain; 
 And wrongs of man to man but make 
 
 The love of < rod more plain. 
 As through the shadowy lens of even 
 
 The eye looks farthest into heaven 
 i in l leams of star and depths of blue 
 
 The -Taring sunshine never knew! 
 
 JOHN ( rREENLEAF Whittier. 
 
136 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 HOW TO LIVE. 
 
 So live, that when thy summons comes to join 
 The innumerable caravan, that moves 
 To that mysterious realm where each shall take 
 His chamber in the silent halls of death, 
 Thou go, not like the quarry slave at night, 
 Scourged to his dungeon; but, sustained and soothed 
 By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave 
 Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 
 About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. 
 
 — William Cullen Bryant. 
 
 MANKIND. 
 
 Men are but children of a larger growth; 
 Our appetites as apt to change as theirs, 
 And full as craving, too, and full as vain; 
 And yet the soul, shut up in her dark room, 
 Viewing so clear abroad, at home sees nothing; 
 But, like a mole in earth, busy and blind, 
 Works all her folly up and casts it outward 
 To the world's open view. 
 
 —John Dryden. 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 131 
 
 SELFISHNESS. 
 
 Oh, if the selfish knew how much they lost, 
 What would they not endeavor, not endure, 
 To imitate as far as in them lay 
 Him who his wisdom and his power employs 
 In making others happy? 
 
 —William Cowper. 
 
 THE POWER. 
 
 God should be named, The Power; 
 
 He has so many names, 
 In mosque, and church, and tower, 
 
 And with so many aims, 
 Their meanings have no verity 
 
 To cherish in the memory. 
 
 The Power that is All-Good 
 
 All o'er man's home — the Earth, 
 Should he well understood 
 
 Wherever man has birth, 
 And its true meaning not mistaken, 
 Nor faith in Tin- Power ever shaken. 
 
 It should he well ap|Uo\ ed 
 
 Known simply as The Pow er 
 
 And worshipped and beloved 
 In silence every hour, 
 
 lly every mind, and soul, and heart, 
 
 In faith that never w ill depart. 
 
138 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 The Power that is omniscient, 
 
 Throughout infinity, 
 Omnipotent and prescient, 
 
 As the Divinity, 
 Should be known in diurnity 
 As The Power in eternity! 
 
 He is The Power of powers, 
 
 The Infinity of Power 
 In the eternity of hours, 
 
 And seconds in each hour, 
 In passing time's diurnal 
 And the infinite eternal. 
 
 —Horace P. Biimjle. 
 
 MINORITY RIGHT. 
 
 Then, my friend, we must not regard what the many 
 say of us; but what he, the one man who has understand- 
 ing of just and unjust, will say and what the truth will 
 say. And therefore you begin in error when you suggest 
 that we should regard the opinion of the many about just 
 and unjust, honorable and dishonorable. 
 
 — Plato. 
 
 A VISION. 
 
 And the murky planets, I perceived, were but cradles 
 for the infant spirits of the universe of light. And in 
 sight of this immeasurability of life no sadness could 
 endure. And I exclaimed, Oh! how beautiful is death, 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 130 
 
 seeing that we die in a world of life and of creation with- 
 out end. And I blessed God for my life upon earth, but 
 much more for the life in those unseen depths of the uni- 
 verse which are emptied of all but the Supreme Reality 
 and where no earthly life or perishable hope can enter. 
 
 — RlCHTER. 
 
 PLEASURE AND PAIN. 
 
 How singular is the thing called pleasure, and how 
 curiously related to pain, which might be thought to be 
 the opposite; for they never come to a man together, and 
 yet he who pursues either of them is generally compelled 
 to take the other. They are two, and yet they grow 
 together out of one head or stem; and I cannot help think- 
 ing that, if .Ksop had noticed them, he would have made 
 a fable about Cod trying to reconcile their strife, and 
 when he could not, he fastened their heads together; 
 and this is the reason why when one comes, the other 
 
 follows. 
 
 Plato. 
 
 KINDRED SPIRITS. 
 
 I. ile has two ecstatic moments, one when the spirit 
 catches sighl of Truth, the other when it recognizes a 
 
 kindred spirit. Perhaps it is only in the land of Truth 
 thai s|,mt->< ,m dis( em ea< h other; as it is when they are 
 
 helping each other on that they maj best hope to arrive 
 
 there. 
 
 ( Iuesses at Truth. 
 
140 WORDS OF COMFORT. 
 
 UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD. 
 
 To what purpose do you profess to believe in the unity 
 of the human race, which is the necessary consequence 
 of the unity of God, if you do not strive to verify it by 
 destroying the arbitrary divisions and enmities that still 
 separate the different tribes of humanity ? Why do we talk 
 of fraternity while we allow any of our brethren to be 
 trampled on, degraded or despised ? The earth is our 
 workshop. We may not curse it; we are hound tosanctify 
 it. We must strive to make of humanity one single 
 family. 
 
 — Mazzini. 
 
 WATCH AND PRAY. 
 
 As hills are smaller mountains, 
 And lakes an: mimic seas, 
 
 And rills egress of fountains, 
 And meadows poets' leas; 
 
 As music's soul-inspiring sounds, 
 While trav'ling o'er the main, 
 
 By vernal breezes, in their rounds, 
 Are wafted back again; 
 
 As meteors, shooting to and fro, 
 Are births of unseen sun, 
 
 And shadow of the rainbow 
 So like the real one: 
 
WORDS OF COMFORT. 141 
 
 So also satan imitates 
 
 The beauteous and divine, 
 And seemingly approximates 
 
 Near to the genuine. 
 
 1 [e comes with counterfeit of right 
 (His neck clothed with the thunder), 
 
 With practice of bis cunning sleight, 
 And mock of God-wrought wonder. 
 
 I [e seeks to baffle Love's behest, 
 With pretence of no harm, 
 
 While all his ways and works, at best, 
 Are but a juggler's charm. 
 
 Thank God for a diviner way, 
 
 And for His plan eternal, 
 And for His right, and might to stay 
 
 The spread of the infernal. 
 
 Faith's incorporeal eye can see 
 
 Through tricks of magic foes; 
 With lift of heart and bend of knee, 
 The veil re gauzy grows. 
 
 " Watch and pray." 
 
 —Wesley Lee Walls. 
 
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