this. It was a wonderful act of faith achieved without an
afterthought. Surely in the sight of God it was like the cup of cold
water which counterbalances the loftiest virtues. The prayers put up
by two feeble nuns and a priest represented the whole Monarchy, and
possibly at the same time, the Revolution found expression in the
stranger, for the remorse in his face was so great that it was
impossible not to think that he was fulfilling the vows of a boundless
repentance.

When the priest came to the Latin words, _Introibo ad altare Dei_, a
sudden divine inspiration flashed upon him; he looked at the three
kneeling figures, the representatives of Christian France, and said
instead, as though to blot out the poverty of the garret, "We are
about to enter the Sanctuary of God!"

These words, uttered with thrilling earnestness, struck reverent awe
into the nuns and the stranger. Under the vaulted roof of St. Peter's
at Rome, God would not have revealed Himself in greater majesty than
here for the eyes of the Christians in that poor refuge; so true is it
that all intermediaries between God and the soul of man are
superfluous, and all the grandeur of God proceeds from Himself alone.

The stranger's fervor was sincere. One emotion blended the prayers of
the four servants of God and the King in a single supplication. The
holy words rang like the music of heaven through the silence. At one
moment, tears gathered in the stranger's eyes. This was during the
_Pater Noster_; for the priest added a petition in Latin, and his
audience doubtless understood him when he said: "_Et remitte scelus
regicidis sicut Ludovicus eis remisit semetipse_"--forgive the
regicides as Louis himself forgave them.