g
for children slain._ Far from flying hurriedly away by night, his
parents _celebrate openly_, and at the usual time, the circumcision of
the child; and when he is presented in the temple, there is not only no
sign that enemies seek his life, _but the devout saints give public
thanks for the manifestation of the Saviour_.

Dr. Hooykaas, speaking of the slaughter of the innocents, says:

"Antiquity in general delighted in representing great men,
such as Romulus, Cyrus, and many more, as having been
threatened in their childhood by fearful dangers. This served
to bring into clear relief both the lofty significance of
their future lives, and the special protection of the deity
who watched over them.

"The brow of many a theologian has been bent over this
(Matthew) narrative! For, as long as people believed in the
miraculous inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, of course they
accepted every page as literally true, and thought that there
_could_ not be any contradiction between the different
accounts or representations of Scripture. The worst of all
such pre-conceived ideas is, that they compel those who hold
them to do violence to their own sense of truth. For when
these so-called religious prejudices come into play, people
are afraid to call things by their right names, and, without
knowing it themselves, become guilty of all kinds of evasive
and arbitrary practices; for what would be thought quite
unjustifiable in any other case is here considered a duty,
inasmuch as it is supposed to tend toward the maintenance of
faith and the glory of God!"[173:1]

As we stated above, this story is to be found in the fictitious gospel
according to Matthew only; contemporary history has nowhere recorded
this audacious crime. It is mentioned neither by Jewish nor Roman
historians. Tacitus, who has stamped forever the crimes of despots with
the brand of reprobation, it would seem then, did not think such
infamies worthy of his condemnation. Josephus also, who gives us a
minute account of the atrocities perpetrated by Herod up to even the
very last moment of his life, does not say a single word about this
unheard-of crime, which must have been so notorious. Surely he must have
known of it, and must have mentioned it, had it ever been committed. "We
can readily imagine the Pagans," says Mr. Reber, "who composed the
learned and inte