u shalt be condemned; and of every idle word that
men shall speak they shall give an account in the day of judgment--how
much more then for a _deliberate_ word, affirmed, and reaffirmed, and
affirmed again."

It was as if a judgment-seat were already set up in his soul, and the
spirits were pleading him outside mercy; not one would speak in his
behalf. Even the promises and the threatenings were against him; the
first saying, we strengthened him; and the second, we warned him. Then
some voices would testify against him on a side where one would think
nothing would have been said, "Thou hast injured the faith; thou hast
weakened the brethren; thou hast been infidel against love, and for
such there is no repentance; thou hast sold thy Lord at a cheaper rate
than Judas!"

"Dost thou remember, Peter, that tree which the Lord cursed, because,
when He had a right to expect fruit from it, it bore none? Was there
ever a time when the Master expected so much from thee as this? and now
He has come, and found 'nothing but leaves.'"

Then, perhaps, one ray of hope would gleam into his darkened soul--"But
the Lord did pray for me, and He never prayed in vain. He said,
Father, I know that Thou hearest Me always; and He prayed for me."

And then the spirits would answer, "But the Lord prayed for thee that
thy faith might not fail, and _it has failed_; where now is the power
of the Lord's prayer? And if that has failed what remains for thee
unless it be a certain fearful looking-for of judgment. If even He who
said, 'Father, I thank Thee that Thou hearest Me always,' has been
refused in His petition; even God is against thee, and the stars in
their courses rule thee down, Simon, son of Jonas."

Another bitter shaft enters his heart: "Dost thou remember, Peter, how
the Lord said of His own followers, 'I have kept them in Thy name, and
none of them is lost but the son of perdition'? Thou hast not only
made vain the Lord's prayers, but denied the Lord's faith, and caused
Him to appear before heaven and earth as a false witness. Would He
speak like that now, if He were beginning His intercessory prayer
again? Would He not have to say, 'None of them is lost, except the
Sons of Perdition, the Denier and the Betrayer'? So that even Christ's
words failed to meet his case."

"And now, Peter, the high priest is asking Him of His disciples and His
doctrines; what thoughts must be in His mind about thee when He takes
up His testim