—­Horace.

    Give us this day our daily bread.

    —­Matthew 6. 11.

Eternal God, guard me against the love of praise, that I may not lose the sense of duty.  Start me for the right places and give me strength with my days, that I may press toward their possession.  Deliver me from drifting when it is mine to pull against the tide, that I may not be carried out of my course.  Shield me from the storms that may gather about me, and bring us all to the desired haven safe in thy keeping.  Amen.

DECEMBER THIRTIETH

Titus born A.D. 40.

William R. Alger born 1822.

Rudyard Kipling born 1865.

    God of our fathers, known of old,
      Lord of our far-flung battle line,
    Beneath whose awful hand we hold
      Dominion over palm and pine: 
    Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
    Lest we forget—­lest we forget!

    For heathen heart that puts her trust
      In reeking tube and iron shard;
    All valiant dust that builds on dust,
      And guarding calls not thee to guard: 
    For frantic boast and foolish word,
    Thy mercy on thy people, Lord!  Amen.

    —­Rudyard Kipling.

    But thou shalt remember Jehovah thy God, for it is he that giveth
    thee power to get wealth.

    —­Deuteronomy 8. 18.

Almighty God, as I come to thee wilt thou forgive me for the errors I have made, and for the promises that I have broken.  Help me to be as true as the holly that keeps itself red through the snow.  Remind me of my opportunities as I breathe in thy blessings, “Lest I forget!” Amen.

DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST

New Year’s Eve.

John Wycliffe died 1384.

Battle of Wakefield 1460.

Charles Marquis Cornwallis born 1738.

    Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
      The flying cloud, the frosty light: 
      The year is dying in the night;
        Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

      Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
        Ring out the narrow lust of gold: 
      Ring out the thousand wars of old,
        Ring in the thousand years of peace.

    —­Alfred Tennyson.

    Let every dawn of morning be to you as the beginning of life, and
    every setting sun be to you as its close.

    —­John Ruskin.

    The night is far spent, and the day is at hand:  let us therefore
    cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of
    light.

    —­Romans 13. 12.

My Father, as I look to the past days, I feel much of my happiness and much of my misery has come from my own choice.  May I be more watchful of my standards and less wasteful of my time, and keep a poise in life that will leave a memory of well-spent days.  For the year that has passed and for its blessings I thank thee.  Amen.