The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed; It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes. 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; * * * * * It is enthroned in the hearts of kings; It is an attribute to God himself. --William Shakespeare. His gain is loss; for he that wrongs his friend Wrongs himself more, and ever has about A silent court and jury, and himself The prisoner at the bar, ever condemned. --Alfred Tennyson. Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to thyself, lest thou also be tempted. --Galatians 6. 1. My Father, help me to avoid the critical spirit that leans toward injustice. Grant that none may be made despondent waiting for my mercy; but through forgiveness may I inspire confidence in those who have made mistakes, and influence them to a better life. Amen. JULY ELEVENTH Robert de Bruce born 1274. Jean Marmontel born 1723. John Quincy Adams, Massachusetts, sixth President United States, born 1767. Susan Warner (E. Wetherell) born 1819. A friend to chide me when I'm wrong, My inmost soul to see: And that my friendship prove as strong For him as his for me. --John Quincy Adams. Our chief want in life is somebody who shall make us do what we can: this is the service of a friend. --Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. --Ecclesiastes 7. 5, 6. My Father and Friend, who calleth me to check the progress of the wrong, make me submissive and eager for what is right, that I may learn and uphold to others thy purposes and desires. Amen. JULY TWELFTH Caius Julius Caesar born B.C. 100. Josiah Wedgwood born 1730. Alexander Hamilton killed 1804. Henry David Thoreau born 1817. Clara Louise Kellogg born 1842. Each reaching and aspiration is an instinct with which all nature consists and cooperates, and therefore it is not in vain. If a man believes and expects great things of himself it makes no odds where you put him, he will be surrounded by grandeur. --Henry David Thoreau. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost--that is where they should be: now put foundations under them. --Henry David Thoreau. He is like a man building a house, who digged and went deep, and laid a foundation upon the rock: and when a flood arose, the stream brake against that house, and could not shake it: because it had been well builded. --Luke 6. 48.