OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume VIII/The Letters/Letter 162

Letter CLXII.
To Eusebius, bishop of Samosata.
The same cause seems to make me hesitate to write, and to prove that I must write. When I think of the visit which I owe, and reckon up the gain at meeting you, I cannot help despising letters, as being not even shadows in comparison with the reality. Then, again, when I reckon that my only consolation, deprived as I am of all that is best and most important, is to salute such a man and beg him, as I am wont, not to forget me in his prayers, I bethink me that letters are of no small value. I do not, myself, wish to give up all hope of my visit, nor to despair of seeing you. I should be ashamed not to seem to put so much confidence in your prayers as even to expect to be turned from an old man into a young one, if such a need were to arise, and not merely from a sick and emaciated one, as I am now, into one a little bit stronger. It is not easy to express in words the reason of my not being with you already, because I am not only prevented by actual illness, but have not even force of speech enough at any time to give you an account of such manifold and complex disease. I can only say that, ever since Easter up to now, fever, diarrhœa, and intestinal disturbance, drowning me like waves, do not suffer me to lift my head above them. Brother Barachus may be able to tell you the character of my symptoms, if not as their severity deserves, at least clearly enough to make you understand the reason of my delay. If you join cordially in my prayers, I have no doubt that my troubles will easily pass away.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Placed in 374.
* ↑ On Basil’s hopes of visiting Eusebius.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume VIII/The Letters/Letter 165

Letter CLXV.
To Ascholius, bishop of Thessalonica.
God has fulfilled my old prayer in deigning to allow me to receive the letter of your veritable holiness. What I most of all desire is to see you and to be seen by you, and to enjoy in actual intercourse all the graces of the Spirit with which you are endowed. This, however, is impossible, both on account of the distance which separates us, and the engrossing occupations of each of us. I therefore pray, in the second place, that my soul may be fed by frequent letters from your love in Christ. This has now been granted me on taking your epistle into my hands. I have been doubly delighted at the enjoyment of your communication. I felt as though I could really see your very soul shining in your words as in some mirror; and I was moved to exceeding joy, not only at your proving to be what all testimony says of you, but that your noble qualities are the ornament of my country. You have filled the country beyond our borders with spiritual fruits, like some vigorous branch sprung from a glorious root. Rightly, then, does our country rejoice in her own offshoots. When you were engaging in conflicts for the Faith she heard that the goodly heritage of the Fathers was preserved in you, and she glorified God. And now what are you about? You have honoured the land that gave you birth by sending her a martyr who has just fought a good fight in the barbarian country on your borders, just as a grateful gardener might send his first fruits to those who had given him the seeds. Verily the gift is worthy of Christ’s athlete, a martyr of the truth just crowned with the crown of righteousness, whom we have gladly welcomed, glorifying God who has now fulfilled the gospel of His Christ in all the world. Let me ask you to remember in your prayers me who love you, and for my soul’s sake earnestly to beseech the Lord that one day I, too, may be deemed worthy to begin to serve God, according to the way of His commandments which He has given us to salvation.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Placed in 374.
* ↑ So all the mss. But it is the opinion of Maran that there can be no doubt of the letter being addressed, not to Ascholius, but to Soranus, duke of Scythia. We have seen in letter 255 that Basil requested his relative Julius Soranus to send him some relics of the Gothic martyrs. This letter appears to refer to his prompt compliance with the request by sending relics of Saint Sabas.
# Oklahoma Arbor and Bird Day, Friday, March Twelfth, 1909/Part One: Arbor Day/Proclamation of the President

PROCLAMATION OF THE PRESIDENT.
To the Children of the United States:
Arbor Day (which means simply "Tree Day") is now observed in every State of our Union, and mainly in the schools. At various times from January to December, but chiefly in the month of April, you give a day or part of a day to special exercises, and perhaps to actual tree planting, in recognition of the importance of trees to us as a nation, and of what they yield in adornment, comfort and useful products to the communities in which they live.
It is well that you should celebrate your Arbor Day thoughtfully, for within your lifetime the nation's need of trees will become serious. We of an older generation can get along with what we have, though with growing hardship; but in your manhood and womanhood you will want what Nature once so bountifully supplied, and man so thoughtlessly destroyed; and because of that want you will reproach us, not for what we have used, but for what we have wasted.
For the nation, as for the man or woman and the boy or girl, the road to success is the right use of what we have and the improvement of present opportunity. If you neglected to prepare yourselves now for the duties and responsibilities which will fall upon you later, if you do not learn the things which you will need to know when your school days are over you will suffer the consequences. So any nation which in its youth lives only for the day, reaps without sowing and consumes without husbanding, must expect the penalty of the prodigal, whose labor could with difficulty find him bare means of life.
A people without children would face a hopeless future; a country without trees is almost as hopeless; forests which are so used that they cannot renew themselves will soon vanish, and with them all their benefits. A true forest is not merely a storehouse full of wood, but, as it were, a factory of wood, and at the same time a reservoir of water. When you help to preserve our forests or to plant new ones you are acting the part of good citizens. The value of forestry deserves, therefore, to be taught in schools, which aim to make citizens of you. If your Arbor Day exercises help you to realize what benefits each one of you receives from the forest and how by your assistance these benefits may continue, they will serve a great end.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
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# Oklahoma Arbor and Bird Day, Friday, March Twelfth, 1909/Part One: Arbor Day/Song of Dedication—An Arbor Day Tree

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SONG OF DEDICATION—AN ARBOR DAY TREE.
(Air: "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean.")
The tree we are planting on this day. Is chosen with tenderest care; May beauty adorn it, hereafter, And clothe it with usefulness rare. May green leaves appearing each springtime Be leaves of a fair book of fame, And spread to the breezes the story Extalling the new-given name.
The tree is an emblem of greatness. As springing from one tiny seed, It mounts ever upward and onward, An emblem of greatness, indeed! The birds sing its praises to others, The winds carry swiftly the tale The tree is the monarch of forest, Of hill, valley, greenwood, and dale.
—Florida Arbor Day Annual.
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# Oklahoma Arbor and Bird Day, Friday, March Twelfth, 1909/Part One: Arbor Day/Subjects for Arbor Day Consideration

SUBJECTS FOR ARBOR DAY CONSIDERATION.
The First Arbor Day. History of Arbor Day. How to make Arbor Day most useful. Improvement of School Grounds. How to plant trees. The best trees to plant. The best trees and shrubs for home lawns. The most useful trees. Varieties of trees on Oklahoma farms, and in forests. How to care for trees. The world's greatest forests. Historic trees. The relation of trees to birds. Why we should encourage tree planting.
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# Oklahoma Arbor and Bird Day, Friday, March Twelfth, 1909/Part One: Arbor Day/List of Historical Trees

LIST OF HISTORICAL TREES.
The Elm Tree at Philadelphia under which William Penn made his famous treaty with nineteen tribes of barbarians.
The Charter Oak at Hartford which preserved the written guarantee of the liberties of the Colony of Connecticut.
The Wide-spreading Oak Tree of Flushing, Long Island, under which George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends, preached.
The Lofty Cypress tree in the Dismal Swamp under which Washington reposed one night in his young manhood.
The huge French Apple tree near Ft. Wayne, Ind., where Little Turtle, the great Miami chief, gathered his warriors.
The Elm tree at Cambridge in the shade of which Washington first took command of the Continental army, on a hot summer's day.
The Tulip tree on King's Mountain battlefield in South Carolina on which ten blood-thirsty Tories were hanged at one time.
The tall Pine tree at Ft. Edward, N. Y., under which the beautiful Jane McCrea was slain.
The magnificent Black Walnut tree near Haverstraw on the Hudson at which General Wayne mustered his forces at midnight, preparatory to his gallant and successful attack on Stoney Point.
The great Pecan tree at Viller's plantation, below New Orleans, under which a portion of the remains of General Peckenham was buried.
The pear trees planted, respectively, by Governor Endicott, of Massachusetts, and Governor Stuyvesant, of New York, more than two hundred years ago.
The Freedman's Oak, or Emancipation Oak, Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia, under which the slaves of this region first heard President Lincoln's Emancipation proclamation.
The Eliot Oak of Newton, Mass., under which the apostle, John Eliot, taught the Indians Christianity.
The old Liberty Elm of Boston planted and dedicated by a schoolmaster to the independence of the colonies, and the rallying point for patriots before, during and after the Revolutionary war.
The Burgoyne Elm at Albany, N. Y., planted the day Burgoyne was brought there a prisoner.
The Ash and Tulip trees planted at Mount Vernon by Washington.
The Elm tree planted by General Grant on the Capitol Grounds at Washington.
Sequoia—Palo Alto, California
The Cary Tree planted by Alice and Phoebe Cary in 1832, a large and beautiful Sycamore, seen from the Hamilton turnpike, between College Hill and Mt. Pleasant, Hamilton County, Ohio.
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# Oklahoma Arbor and Bird Day, Friday, March Twelfth, 1909/Part One: Arbor Day/State Flowers

STATE FLOWERS.
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# Oklahoma Arbor and Bird Day, Friday, March Twelfth, 1909/Part One: Arbor Day/Scripture Reading for Arbor Day

SCRIPTURE READING FOR ARBOR DAY.
TEACHER: I will plant in the wilderness the cedar tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine and the box tree together.
PUPILS: Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord. He shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water that bringeth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also doth not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
TEACHER: I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranites budded.
PUPILS: And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the Lord.
TEACHER: For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land; a land of brooks of water of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranites; a land of oil, olive, and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
PUPILS: And Israel said take of the best fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds.
TEACHER: Wisdom is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her; and happy is everyone that retaineth her.
PUPILS: The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.
TEACHER: Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
TEACHER AND PUPILS: To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
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# Oklahoma Arbor and Bird Day, Friday, March Twelfth, 1909/Part One: Arbor Day/Suggestive Program

SUGGESTIVE PROGRAM.
Music—"The House in the Wood," (No. 35, Modern Music Series, Third Book)
Reading of Governor's Proclamation
Reading of State Superintendent's letter to the school children of Oklahoma.
Paper—Origin and History of Arbor Day.
Song—(Appropriate selection.)
Recitation—Arbor Day.
Recitation—My Country.
Paper—Our Forest Reserves.
Song—"We Love the Trees."
General Discussion—Tree Planting and its Necessity.
Paper—"Why We Observe Arbor Day."
Historic Trees—(A paper prepared on this subject giving a brief sketch of several historic trees.)
Paper—The Usefulness of Trees.
Address by some invited guest.
Closing Song—"America."
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# Oklahoma Arbor and Bird Day, Friday, March Twelfth, 1909/Part One: Arbor Day/The Farmer

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THE FARMER.
If the farmer fails And can not buy, Then the merchant's goods Upon the shelf must lie.
If the farmer fails And has nothing to sell, Then the banker's account Does not swell.
If the farmer fails And has nothing to ship The railroad train Makes an empty trip
If the farmer fails And hasn't the money aught Then the lawyer's fee Drops down to naught.
If the farmer fails And hasn't the bills, Then the doctor Ceases to roll his pills.
If the farmer fails And can not pay, The school-teacher's account Waits another day.
If the farmer fails, As sometimes fail he must, The world's business lags And the wheels of commerce rust.
But if the farmer succeeds, As succeed he should, We all look happy And we all feel good.
For upon our broad shoulders All the rest do lie, And sometimes the pile Gets very, very high.
—JAMES B. HUNNICUTT, in Agriculture for the Common Schools.
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# Oklahoma Arbor and Bird Day, Friday, March Twelfth, 1909/Part One: Arbor Day/Joaquin Miller, Among His Friends

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Joaquin Miller, Among His Friends.
Courtesy Sturm's Oklahoma Magazine.
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# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume V/On the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin/On the Grace of Christ/Chapter 9

Chapter 9 [VIII.]—The Law One Thing, Grace Another. The Utility of the Law.
Hence, then, it is clear that he acknowledges that grace whereby God points out and reveals to us what we are bound to do; but not that whereby He endows and assists us to act, since the knowledge of the law, unless it be accompanied by the assistance of grace, rather avails for producing the transgression of the commandment. “Where there is no law,” says the apostle, “there is no transgression;” and again: “I had not known lust except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Therefore so far are the law and grace from being the same thing, that the law is not only unprofitable, but it is absolutely prejudicial, unless grace assists it; and the utility of the law may be shown by this, that it obliges all whom it proves guilty of transgression to betake themselves to grace for deliverance and help to overcome their evil lusts. For it rather commands than assists; it discovers disease, but does not heal it; nay, the malady that is not healed is rather aggravated by it, so that the cure of grace is more earnestly and anxiously sought for, inasmuch as “The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” “For if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.” To what extent, however, the law gives assistance, the apostle informs us when he says immediately afterwards: “The Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.” Wherefore, says the apostle, “the law was our schoolmaster in Christ Jesus.” Now this very thing is serviceable to proud men, to be more firmly and manifestly “concluded under sin,” so that none may pre-sumptuously endeavour to accomplish their justification by means of free will as if by their own resources; but rather “that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Because by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.” How then manifested without the law, if witnessed by the law? For this very reason the phrase is not, “manifested without the law,” but “the righteousness without the law,” because it is “the righteousness of God;” that is, the righteousness which we have not from the law, but from God,—not the righteousness, indeed, which by reason of His commanding it, causes us fear through our knowledge of it; but rather the righteousness which by reason of His bestowing it, is held fast and maintained by us through our loving it,—“so that he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

## Footnotes

* ↑ Rom. iv. 15.
* ↑ Rom. vii. 7.
* ↑ 2 Cor. iii. 6.
* ↑ Gal. iii. 21.
* ↑ Gal. iii. 22.
* ↑ Gal. iii. 24.
* ↑ Rom. iii. 19–21.
* ↑ 1 Cor. i. 31.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume V/On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants
## Contents

* Title Page
* Extract from Augustin's Retractations
* Book I
* Book II
* Book III
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume V/On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants/Book I/Chapter 1

Chapter 1 [I.]—Introductory, in the Shape of an Inscription to His Friend Marcellinus.
Howeverabsorbing and intense the anxieties and annoyances in the whirl and warmth of which we are engaged with sinful men who forsake the law of God,—even though we may well ascribe these very evils to the fault of our own sins,—I am unwilling, and, to say the truth, unable, any longer to remain a debtor, my dearest Marcellinus, to that zealous affection of yours, which only enhances my own grateful and pleasant estimate of yourself. I am under the impulse [of a twofold emotion]: on the one hand, there is that very love which makes us unchangeably one in the one hope of a change for the better; on the other hand, there is the fear of offending God in yourself, who has given you so earnest a desire; in gratifying which I shall be only serving Him who has given it to you. And so strongly has this impulse led and attracted me to solve, to the best of my humble ability, the questions which you have submitted to me in writing, that my mind has gradually admitted this inquiry to an importance transcending that of all others; [and it will now give me no rest] until I accomplish something which shall make it manifest that I have yielded, if not a sufficient, yet at any rate an obedient, compliance with your own kind wish and the desire of those to whom these questions are a source of anxiety.

## Footnotes

* ↑ This is probably an allusion to the Donatists, who were then fiercely assailing the Catholics; [and over the conference between whom and the Catholics, Marcellinus had presided the previous year (411).—W.]
* ↑ [Flavius Marcellinus, a “tribune and notary,” a Christian man of high character and devout mind, who was much interested in theological discussions. He was appointed by Honorius to preside over the commission of inquiry into the disputes between the Catholics and Donatists in 411, and held the famous conference between the parties, that met in Carthage on the 1st, 3d, and 8th of June, 411. He discharged this whole business with singular patience, moderation, and good judgment; which appears to have cemented the intimate friendship between him and Augustin. Augustin’s treatise on The Spirit and Letter is also addressed to him, and he undertook the City of God on his suggestion. See below, p. 80.—W.]