Page:The Czar, A Tale of the Time of the First Napleon.djvu/351

Rh ever to pardon his enemies. It seemed to him something which he could not help doing, because he had been himself forgiven. "Why should I do otherwise?" he said, when Madame de Krudener expressed her surprise at some act of forgiveness extraordinary even for him; "have I not the gospel in my heart? I know only that; and I think that if any one were to compel me to go a mile with him, I should willingly go with him twain." So glad was his heart in those early days of faith and love.

God had given this man the seventh part of the habitable globe to rule over. He had given him the splendour of a throne, the wealth of an imperial treasury, the command of mighty armaments. He had given him even more—victory over all his foes, success in all his undertakings; at this time nothing that he sought to accomplish was denied him. Yet the man's deep heart was still unsatisfied. "All these things were too little" for him. One thing he desired of the Lord, that he sought after—"to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple." That also God gave him. The brightest glory, the "crowning mercy" of Alexander's life, was no earthly triumph, no victory in war or diplomacy; it was that God answered him in the joy of his heart, and enabled him to say, with the poorest and humblest of his believing children, "My Father, my Saviour." The secret of the Lord was with him, and He showed him His covenant.