360 THE KING'S MIRROR 



seat and to disturb arrogantly; the arrangement which 

 God has made. And every one who is assigned to this 

 seat should ponder in deep thought what plea he shall 

 have to present when he comes before his own Judge; 

 for every man who comes in his turn before the Highest 

 Judge, having been steward in His hall, may confidently 

 expect Him to employ some mode of address like the 

 following: " Thou bearest Mine own name, forjjthou art 

 both king and judge as I am; therefore I demand that 

 thou render account for thy stewardship, inasmuch as 

 thou art the appointed judge and leader of My people/^J 

 Wherefore each one will need to prepare after long re- 

 flection and with great care what he is to reply when 

 he comes before the Judge. If the archangel, in whom 

 there is no sign of weakness, gives his answer with fear 

 and trembling, when he is called upon to render account 

 for his services to our Lord and King, one can imagine 

 what fear and trembling will come upon a frail and sin- 

 ful man, when he is asked to render account for his 

 stewardship in the presence of God. But he who has 

 had this hall in his keeping will first of all be asked how 

 he has dealt out justice among men; and if he is unable 

 to give a satisfactory account, he may expect to hear 

 this sentence: " Thou wicked thrall, since thou hast not 

 observed justice in thy verdicts, thou shalt fare thither 

 where all verdicts are evil; for thine own mouth has 

 assigned thee to this place, inasmuch as it was not 

 ashamed to deliver dishonest judgments." But if he 

 can defend the justice of his decisions with good rea- 

 sons, he shall find joy in his stewardship and hear these 



