“‘And so, my dear child,’ said I, ‘does God love us. And the trials which he sends on us are the proofs of his love. As the sculptor was trying to make this image of an angel out of the marble block, by every blow he gave it, so God, by all the afflictions of this life, is fitting us to be like the angels in the heavenly kingdom.’ “‘Now, I shall never feel sad on account of my lameness,’ said Annie. ‘To think that this is a proof of God’s love will always make me happy.’” Let us remember these four lessons when we think of the history of the apostle Peter. The lesson about _self-confidence_—about _deliverance from temptation_—about _overcoming prejudice_—and about _the benefit of trials_. We may close this subject with the Collect for All Saints’ Day: “O Almighty God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of thy Son Christ, our Lord: grant us grace so to follow thy blessed saints, in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those unspeakable joys which thou hast prepared for those who unfeignedly love thee; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.” ST. JOHN AND ST. PAUL In the original plan of this work, it was intended to have a separate chapter for each of these two noble workers in the cause of Christ. But room for this fails. All that can be done is to give a brief sketch of each in this closing chapter. We have now to speak of the apostle John. Most of the pictures that have been made of this apostle, represent him as looking more like a woman than a man. But we shall find that there was no authority for this when we come to see what his real character was. He is supposed to have been born in Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. This town was situated on the western shore of the sea of Galilee, or the lake of Tiberias, at the upper part of the lake. His father’s name was Zebedee, and his mother’s, Salome. We know nothing more of Zebedee than that he was a fisherman, the husband of Salome, and the father of James and John. Salome, the mother of John, we often read of afterwards, as one of those good women who followed our Lord through the different scenes of his ministry, and were a great help and comfort to him. John is supposed to have been younger than his brother James, who is generally mentioned first when they are spoken of together. They are referred to, as “James and John, the sons of Zebedee.” John was probably the youngest of all the apostles. It is said, that he was younger than the Saviour himself, having been born in the year four, Anno Domini, or when Jesus was four years old.