It is told about one of the queens of England, that one day a person who had access to her court was seen creeping up to her, having a dagger concealed on her person, and was arrested. Tearing the mask from her face, she said, "You see, I am a woman and I came to assassinate the queen." The queen took a deep interest in this strange person, and as the woman had dropped at her feet, she asked her, "What judgment should I pronounce upon you for such a deed?" The culprit looked up; hope came to her, and she said, "Do you ask me as the queen or as the judge?" "I am the queen," was the reply. "Then, pardon me" said the woman. But the queen of England did not understand grace, did not know the depth of its meaning and so inquired: "If I pardon you, if I give you back your forfeited life, then what guarantee will I have that you will not again attempt to take my life?" The woman replied, "Grace that hath conditions, grace that is fettered by precautions is no grace." The result was that the queen forgave her on the spot, and turned to her courtiers to say, "I have been taught such a lesson this day as I trust I shall not forget."

"Grace that hath conditions is no grace." Those were memorable words. Grace takes no knowledge of future things in us, of nothing but present need. It does not ask, "What will you promise for the future?" It does not notice your excuses for the past; it knows but one thing: you are lost and need salvation, and as such there is grace for you. If you can say, I have earned a title to the judgment of God, the Lord Jesus Christ says, I have earned a title to the salvation of God, and you can have it as a gift of grace on the spot. "Grace that is fettered by precautions is no grace."

The queen of England forgave her. What did the woman do? She loved the queen. She received back her forfeited life, and blessed the queen for it and remained her good friend forever after. How blessed are the fruits of grace.

—B.C. Greenman