John
with Jesus, are legendary.]

It seems, in fact, that, notwithstanding his profound originality,
Jesus, during some weeks at least, was the imitator of John. His way
as yet was not clear before him. At all times, moreover, Jesus yielded
much to opinion, and adopted many things which were not in exact
accordance with his own ideas, or for which he cared little, merely
because they were popular; but these accessories never injured his
principal idea, and were always subordinate to it. Baptism had been
brought by John into very great favor; Jesus thought himself obliged
to do like John; therefore he baptized, and his disciples baptized
also.[1] No doubt he accompanied baptism with preaching, similar to
that of John. The Jordan was thus covered on all sides with Baptists,
whose discourses were more or less successful. The pupil soon equaled
the master, and his baptism was much sought after. There was on this
subject some jealousy among the disciples;[2] the disciples of John
came to complain to him of the growing success of the young Galilean,
whose baptism would, they thought, soon supplant his own. But the two
teachers remained superior to this meanness. The superiority of John
was, besides, too indisputable for Jesus, still little known, to think
of contesting it. Jesus only wished to increase under John's
protection; and thought himself obliged, in order to gain the
multitude, to employ the external means which had given John such
astonishing success. When he recommenced to preach after John's
arrest, the first words put into his mouth are but the repetition of
one of the familiar phrases of the Baptist.[3] Many other of John's
expressions may be found repeated verbally in the discourses of
Jesus.[4] The two schools appear to have lived long on good terms with
each other;[5] and after the death of John, Jesus, as his trusty
friend, was one of the first to be informed of the event.[6]

[Footnote 1: John iii. 22-26, iv. 1, 2. The parenthesis of ver. 2
appears to be an interpolation, or perhaps a tardy scruple of John
correcting himself.]

[Footnote 2: John iii. 26, iv. 1.]

[Footnote 3: Matt. iii. 2, iv. 17.]

[Footnote 4: Matt. iii. 7, xii. 34, xxiii. 33.]

[Footnote 5: Matt. xi. 2-13.]

[Footnote 6: Matt. xiv. 12.]

John, in fact, was soon cut short in his prophetic career. Like the
ancient Jewish prophets, he was, in the highest degree, a censurer of
the established authorities.[1] The extreme vivacity w