im acclaimed Him Lord,
And wove His story into holiest song.
So sinners wrought
For Him the Kingdom He had vainly sought,
And to His feet the world's frankincense brought._

V

LOVE AND FORGIVENESS

In these instances it is the singular completeness of Christ's
forgiveness which is the most startling feature. It would be a libel on
human nature to say that men do not forgive each other, but human
forgiveness usually has reservations, reticences, conditions. Jesus
taught unlimited forgiveness, and what He taught He practiced.

"_Then came Peter, and said to Him, 'Lord, how oft shall my brother sin
against me and I forgive him? Until seven times?' Jesus said unto him,
'I say not unto thee, until seven times; but until seventy times seven.'_"

It is a vehement reply, in which a quiet note of scorn vibrates; not
scorn of Peter, but scorn of any kind of love that is less than
limitless. But whose love is limitless? Do we not commonly speak of
love as being outworn by offense or neglect? In the compacts which we
make with one another in the name of love, do we not specifically name
certain offenses as unpardonable? Thus one man will say, "I can forgive
anything but meanness," and another says, "no friendship can survive
perfidy"; and in the relations between men and women unfaithfulness is
held to cancel all bonds, however indissoluble they may seem. Now and
again, it is true, some strange voice reaches us, keyed to a different
music. Shakespeare, for example, in his famous one hundred and sixteenth
sonnet, boldly states that

Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.

But who listens, who believes? Yet, if it should happen to us to be
placed in the position of the offender, we need no one to convince us
that a true love should be, in its very nature, unalterable. How
astonished and dismayed are we, when eyes that have so many times met
ours in tenderness harden at our presence, and lips which have uttered so
many pledges of affection, speak harshly! We do not deny our fault,
indeed; but we think we can discern reasons why it should be regarded
mercifully, why the very memory and sacredness of old affection should
make harsh judgment impossible; nay, more, why a deeply generous love
should even rejoice in the opportunity to forgive, and so should sanctify
our very shame with the healing touch of pity, and pour our tears int