THE LORD'S PRAYER Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. This is the most beautiful and best of all prayers, because Our Lord Himself made it.... more...

PROLOGUE The city is always gray. Even in March, the greenest month of all, when the Presidio, and the Mission Hills, and the islands in the bay are beautiful with spring, there's only such a little bit of green gets into the city! It lies in the lap of five hills, climbing upward toward their crests where the trees are all doubled and bent by the trade-wind. It seems to give its own color to the... more...

TREATISE ON THE THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES (QQ. 1-46) _______________________ QUESTION 1 OF FAITH (In Ten Articles) Having to treat now of the theological virtues, we shall begin withFaith, secondly we shall speak of Hope, and thirdly, of Charity. The treatise on Faith will be fourfold: (1) Of faith itself; (2) Of the corresponding gifts, knowledge and understanding; (3) Of the opposite vices; (4) Of the... more...

Uncle Noah's Christmas Inspiration I The twilight of a Christmas Eve, gray with the portent of coming snow, crept slowly over the old plantation of Brierwood, softening the outlines of a decrepit house still rearing its roof in massive dignity and a tumbledown barn flanked by barren fields. A quiet melancholy hovered about the old house as if it brooded over a host of bygone Yuletides alive with... more...

AMBOYNA. The tragedy of Amboyna, as it was justly termed by the English of the seventeenth century, was of itself too dreadful to be heightened by the mimic horrors of the stage. The reader may be reminded, that by three several treaties in the years 1613, 1615, and 1619, it was agreed betwixt England and Holland, that the English should enjoy one-third of the trade of the spice islands. For this... more...

Chapter 1 A FORESHADOWING THE Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt was expecting company. He stood at the window of his palace looking down the long road, that at the first sign of his guests' arrival he might go forth and welcome them. Before him, like a white pearl in the blue waters of the Mediterranean, lay the city of Alexandria—"the beautiful," as men loved to call it. Across the harbor... more...

HAPPY NEW YEAR Happy New Year, Juniors! The morning of the first day of every year we enter into a contest. We see who will be the first to give that day's greeting. Before I was awake this morning my boy ran into my room shouting, "Happy New Year! Happy New Year!" He won in the contest. Now, however, you are in Church and it is not proper for you to speak out loud, so I am able to get... more...

THE WIVES OF GENERAL HOUSTON Sixty or seventy years ago it was considered a great joke to chalk up on any man's house-door, or on his trunk at a coaching-station, the conspicuous letters "G. T. T." The laugh went round, and every one who saw the inscription chuckled and said: "They've got it on you, old hoss!" The three letters meant "gone to Texas"; and for any man to... more...

I. THE NEW ECONOMIC LIFE 1. The Historic Present The knell of a dying order is tolling. Its keynote is despair. Gaunt hunger pulls at the bell-rope, while dazed humanity listens, bewildered and afraid. Uncertainty and a sense of futility have gripped the world. They are manifesting themselves in unrest, disillusionment, the abandonment of ideals, opportunism, and a tragic concentration on the life of... more...

"As we have already," began the Professor, "had a talk about the stars in general, let us this morning give a little attention to our own particular star." "Is there a star that we can call our own?" asked May, with unusual animation. "How nice! I wonder if it can be the one I saw from our front window last evening, that looked so bright and beautiful?" "I am sure it... more...