aken, but satanic. And as faith was essential to salvation, and
heresy led straight to hell, the elimination of the heretic was in the
interest of the people he might divert from the road to paradise. It was
simply an act of social sanitation.

I am aware that this conception is not paraded by "advanced" Christians,
though they seldom renounce it in decisive language. But these
"advanced" Christians are the children of a later age, full of
intellectual and moral influences which are foreign to, or at least
independent of, Christianity. Their attitude is the resultant of several
forces. But suppose a time of reaction came, and the influences I
have referred to should diminish for a season; is it not probable,
nay certain, that the old forces of Christian exclusiveness and
infallibility, based upon a divine revelation, would once more produce
the effects-which cursed and degraded Europe for over a thousand years?
Such, at any rate, is my belief; it is also, I think, the belief of most
Freethinkers; and this is the reason why we cannot forgive and forget.
The serpent is scotched, not slain; and we must beware of its fangs.

THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM.

Matthew, or whoever was the author of the first Gospel, had a rare
eye (or nose) for portents and prodigies. He seems also to have had
exclusive sources of information. Several of the wonderful things he
relates were quite unknown to the other evangelists. They were ignorant
of the wholesale resurrection of saints at the crucifixion, and also
of the watch at the sepulchre, with all the pretty circumstantial story
depending upon it. At the other end of Christ's career they never heard
of the visit of the wise men of the east to his cradle, or of Herod's
massacre of the innocents, or of the star which guided those wise men
to the birthplace of the little king of the Jews. That star is the sole
property of Matthew, and the other evangelists took care not to infringe
his copyright. Indeed, it is surprising how well they did with the
remnants he left them.

Matthew was not a Jules Verne. He had no knowledge of astronomy.
Consequently he did not make the most of that travelling star. It
was seen by wise men "in the east." This is not very exact, but it is
precise enough for a fairy tale. Those wise men happened to be "in the
east" at the same time. They were really "Magi"--as may be seen in the
Revised Version; that is, priests of the religion of Persia; and it
requires a lot