Ephraim Chambers died 1740.
Florence Nightingale born 1820.
Michael W. Balfe born 1808.
Edmund Keane died 1833.
Daniel O'Connell died 1847.
Light human nature is too lightly lost
And ruffled without cause, complaining on,
Restless with rest, until being overthrown,
It learneth to lie quiet.
--Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Was the trial sore?
Temptation sharp? Thank God a second time!
Why comes temptation but for a man to meet
And master and make crouch beneath his foot,
And so be pedestaled in triumph? Pray
"Lead us into no such temptations, Lord!"
Yea, but, O thou whose servants are the bold,
Lead such temptations by the head and hair,
Reluctant dragons, up to who dares fight
That so he may do battle and have praise.
--Robert Browning.
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that
were heard, lest haply we drift away from them.
--Hebrews 2. 1.
Almighty God, if I am overwhelmed by the tides of temptation and
discouragement, let me not drift away to sea, but anchor and take
harbor in thee. May I not be afraid to trust in thy protection, but
calmly wait and watch for thy deliverance. Amen.