not remain there long unsuspected, but is charged with being one of the followers of Jesus. His fear preponderates; his bold resolution, so lately formed, gave way; he denies all knowledge of his Master. Yes, Simon Peter, the leader of the twelve, the rock of the Church, the confidant of Jesus, who walked on the sea, who held the spiritual keys, who saw the dead raised up, who witnessed the glorious transfiguration, who declared himself but just now ready to be bound, and led to death for his Master, now sits among menials, denying him to menials! with the mingled flush of dread and shame upon his cheek, denying, to a set of scoffing hirelings of a corrupt palace, that he ever knew that kind and trusting Master whom he had so lately acknowledged to be the princely Messiah, the Son of the King of Heaven!. By and by, and from another quarter, he is again attacked with the same charge, "Thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth." Having committed himself once, and not having recovered from his confusion and fear, detected, and yet obstinate, struggling between contrition and wrath, a deep sense of humiliation and a strong dread of exposure, he again "denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest."

There are some apparent discrepancies in the several accounts given by the evangelists of Peter's denial of his Master. But they are only

apparent; and indeed the veracity of the sacred writers is rather confirmed by these slight differences, which ought to be expected in separate narratives of what must necessarily have been a confused and hurried scene. John, for instance, says that Peter stood with the officers at the fire, and Matthew and Mark say that he sat. Doubtless he sat at one time and stood at another, in the agitation he was in, and therefore both relations are not only true, but more strikingly authentic from their very appearance of discrepancy. Again, there is a difference with regard to the persons who are represented as having at several times accused Peter. Now, it is highly probable that though the apostle made but three distinct denials, he was yet accused by many, who in a tumultuous manner may have raised their voices against him, and thus rendered it doubtful who was the prominent assailant among a number of clamorous witnesses. In short, the accounts of the evangelists are evidently but sketches of a scene in which many things occurred which are not related by either, and some things which are recorded by one, though omitted by another. The main facts, however, agree in all; and this being the case, the variations accord so well with the character of the scene described, and the agitation which all parties must have been in, that they only add truth to truth.

Only imagine the scene! Jesus, standing bound, as if he had been a criminal, surrounded by soldiers and exulting enemies, and questioned like an apprehended culprit by the high priest, but dignified, collected, and prepared for the worst; while just below is his chief disciple, in the midst of a servile crowd, agonized with terror, and endeavoring with all his native vehemence, and with a native accent too, which of itself contradicts him, to clear himself before his contemptible accusers from the imputation of having anything to do with one whom he had been following daily and hourly for months, and whom, but a few moments ago, he had promised to follow to prison and to death! But the measure of his degradation is not yet full; for again, the third time, is the charge repeated; "Surely, thou also art one of them, for thy speech betrayeth thee." And then, as others are apt to do, who become more boisterous the more they are in the wrong and the nearer they are to detection, and who call the God of truth to witness their transgressions of truth, the unhappy man began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew." How dark is the account now of disgrace and crime against the fallen disciple! Ingratitude, cowardice, falsehood, profanity! It was the lowest fall; and, happily, it was the last. "The Lord turned, and looked upon Peter."

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What a volume of pathos and eloquence is contained in those few simple words! His Lord looked upon him, "and with that gracious and chiding look called him back to himself and him." He remembered all,- remembered his Master's love, remembered his Master's warning, remembered his own duty. Conviction falls upon him, repentance overwhelms him, and he went out and wept bitterly.

"What language in that look! Swifter than thought
The apostle's eye it caught,

And sank into his very soul!
Through every vein a thrilling tremor crept;

Away he stole,

And wept;

Bitterly he wept!"

From this time till after the crucifixion of Jesus, we hear no more of Peter. He probably passed this distressing interval in remorse and tears; and there is no doubt that his repentance was entire and sincere, and that his character was much improved and purified by the late fiery trial through which it had been led; for we find that Jesus, on the morning of his resurrection, after he had shown himself to Mary Magdalene, appeared also to Peter, according to an especial message which he had sent to him by an angel, in testimony of his continued confidence in him.* That Peter

*The message was delivered by the angel to the Marys, who reported it to Peter. The angel, or young man clothed in white,

had returned to his allegiance is manifest from the fact that he was the first of the male disciples who descended into the tomb wherein the Saviour had been laid.

Some days afterwards, as several of the disciples were fishing together in a vessel, on the sea of Tiberias, Jesus appeared to them on the shore. On this occasion we may again observe a symptom of Peter's characteristic ardor. No sooner had he understood from John that it was the Lord who stood on the shore, and had been speaking with them, than he girt his fisher's coat about him, cast himself into the sea, and in this manner gained the land, while the rest came after him in the vessel. When they had all dined on the fish which had been taken, Jesus required of Peter that thrice-repeated assurance of his love in which. a fanciful interpreter would discover a direct allusion to the late thrice-repeated denial. On receiving each assurance, his Lord gives him an especial charge to feed his sheep. He then signified to

says to the women, "Tell his disciples, and Peter, that he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him, as he said unto you." What a touching pledge of forgiveness and reconciliation! The moral to be derived from the history of Peter's fall is thus well and concisely brought home to us in the following verse by Cowper:

"Beware of Peter's word,

Nor confidently say

'I never will deny thee, Lord,'

But, Grant I never may!""