--Epictetus.

Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye
may know how ye ought to answer each one.

--Colossians 4. 6.

My Father, help me to learn through kindness and tenderness the value
of self-control. Help me in the moods of jealousy and impatience, that
I may not cause others unhappiness by words or deeds. Teach me how to
overcome the ways that keep me discontented, that I may have a
brighter speech. Amen.

JULY TENTH

John Calvin born 1509.

Sir William Blackstone born 1723.

Frederick Marryat born 1792.

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 calle