The character of the latter--upright, sincere, impulsive--pleased Jesus, who at times permitted himself to smile at his resolute manners.

Peter, little of a mystic, communicated to the master his simple doubts, his repugnances, and his entirely human weaknesses,[5] with an honest frankness which recalls that of Joinville toward St.Louis.Jesus chided him, in a friendly manner, full of confidence and esteem.

As to John, his youth,[6] his exquisite tenderness of heart,[7] and his lively imagination,[8] must have had a great charm.

The personality of this extraordinary man, who has exerted so peculiar an influence on infant Christianity, did not develop itself till afterward.

When old, he wrote that strange Gospel,[9] which contains such precious teaching, but in which, in our opinion, the character of Jesus is falsified upon many points.