Alphonsus, King of Naples and Sicily, so celebrated in history for his clemency, was once asked why he was so forgiving to all men, even to those most notoriously wicked? “Because,” he answered, “good men are won by justice; the bad by clemency.” When some of his ministers complained to him on another occasion of [...]
Abon Hannifah, chief of a Turkish sect, once received a blow in the face from a ruffian, and rebuked him in these terms, not unworthy of Christian imitation: “If I were vindictive, I should return you outrage for outrage; if I were an informer, I should accuse you before the caliph. But I prefer putting [...]
During the French revolution, the inhabitants of a village in Dauphiné had determined on sacrificing their lord to their revenge, and were only dissuaded from it by the eloquence of the curé, who thus addressed them: “My friends,” said he, “the day of vengeance is arrived; the individual who has so long tyrannized over you [...]