There was a young soldier in Napoleon’s army who committed an offense worthy of death. The day before he was scheduled for the firing squad, the young man’s mother went to Napoleon and asked him to show mercy for her son. Napoleon harshly replied, “Woman, your son does not deserve mercy.” “I know,” the mother answered. “If he deserved it, then it would not be mercy.
llustration is from sermon by Richard Tow entitled "The Merciful." Story is for the Heart compiled by Alice Gray.