wrong side of fifty, to let others start up to do for us things we
cannot do for ourselves. But it is the highest pleasure that a man can
have who has (to his own exceeding comfort) turned down the hill at last,
to believe that younger spirits will rise up after him, and catch the
lamp of Truth, as in the old lamp-bearing race of Greece, out of his hand
before it expires, and carry it on to the goal with swifter and more even
feet.

_Speech at Lotus Club_, _New York_. 1874.

Punishment Inevitable. June 13.

It is a fact that God does punish here, in this life. He does not, as
false preachers say, give over this life to impunity and this world to
the devil, and only resume the reigns of moral government and the right
of retribution when men die and go into the next world. Here in this
life He punishes sin. Slowly but surely God punishes. If any of you
doubt my words you have only to commit sin and then see whether your sin
will find you out.

_Sermons on David_. 1866.

The Problem Solved. June l4.

After all, the problem of life is not a difficult one, for it solves
itself so very soon at best--by death. Do what is right the best way you
can, and wait to the end to _know_.

_MS. Letter_.

But remember that though death may alter our place, it cannot alter our
character--though it may alter our circumstances, it cannot alter
ourselves.

_Discipline and other Sermons_.

The Father's Education. June 15.

Sin, [Greek text], is the missing of a mark, the falling short of an
ideal; . . . and that each miss brings a penalty, or rather is itself the
penalty, is to me the best of news and gives me hope for myself and every
human being past, present, and future, for it makes me look on them all
as children under a paternal education, who are being taught to become
aware of, and use their own powers in God's house, the universe, and for
God's work in it; and, in proportion as they do that, they attain
salvation,
_Letters and Memories_. 1852.

Parent and Child. June 16.

Superstition is the child of fear, and fear is the child of ignorance.

_Lectures on Science and Superstition_.
1866.

A Charm of Birds. June 17.

Listen to the charm of birds in any sequestered woodland on a bright
forenoon in early summer. As you try to disentangle the medley of
sounds, the first, perhaps, which will strike your ear will be the loud,
harsh, monotonous, flippant song of the chaffin