The trouble with most young men is that they do not learn anything
thoroughly, and are apt to do the work committed to them in a careless
manner. The business world is full of such young men, content in simply
putting in their time somehow and drawing their salaries, making no
effort whatever to increase their efficiency and thereby enhance their
own as well as their employers' interests.
--_Unknown._
1330
_The Clemency of a Queen._--It is related that during the first few days
of the reign of Queen Victoria, then a girl between nineteen and twenty
years of age, some sentences of a court-martial were presented for her
signature. One was death for desertion. She read it, paused, and looked
up to the officer who laid it before her, and said:--"Have you nothing
to say in behalf of this man?" "Nothing; he has deserted three times,"
answered the officer. "Think again, Your Grace," was the reply. "And,"
said the gallant veteran, as he related the circumstance to his
friends--(for he was none other than the Duke of Wellington)--"seeing
her majesty so earnest about it, I said--'He is certainly a bad
_soldier_, but there was somebody who spoke as to his good character,
and he may be a good _man_ for aught I know to the contrary.'" "Oh, I
thank you a thousand times!" exclaimed the youthful queen, and hastily
writing 'Pardoned' in large letters on the fatal page, she sent it
across the table with a hand trembling with eagerness and beautiful
emotion.
--_Hodgins._
1331
Mercy's door should open to those who knock.
1332
When there is doubt, lean to the side of mercy.
--_Cervantes._
1333