oubt that the authors of the genealogies regarded
him (Jesus), as did his countrymen and contemporaries generally, as the
eldest son of Joseph, Mary's husband, and that they had no idea of
anything miraculous connected with his birth. All the attempts of the
old commentators to reconcile the inconsistencies of the evangelical
narratives are of no avail." (Albert Reville: Hist. Dogma, Deity, Jesus,
p. 15.)

[162:4] The reader is referred to Thomas Scott's English Life of Jesus,
Strauss's Life of Jesus, The Genealogies of Our Lord, by Lord Arthur
Hervey, Kitto's Biblical Encyclopaedia, and Barnes' Notes.

[163:1] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 130. Asiatic Researches,
vol. i. p. 259, and Allen's India, p. 379.

[163:2] Hist. Hindostan, ii. p. 310.

[163:3] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 157. Bunsen: The
Angel-Messiah. Davis: Hist. of China, vol. ii. p. 80, and Huc's Travels,
vol. i. p. 327.

[163:4] Allen's India, p. 379.

[163:5] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 200, and Chambers's Encyclo.,
art. "Fuh-he."

[163:6] Davis: History of China, vol. ii. p. 48, and Thornton: Hist.
China, vol. i. p. 151.

[163:7] See almost any work on Egyptian history or the religions of
Egypt.

[163:8] See Lundy: Monumental Christianity, p. 403.

[163:9] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 152. Roman Antiquities, p. 124, and
Bell's Pantheon, i. 382.

[164:1] See Greek and Italian Mythology, p. 81. Bell's Pantheon, vol. i.
p. 117. Murray: Manual of Mythology, p. 118, and Roman Antiquities, p.
71.

[164:2] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 170, and Bulfinch: The Age of
Fable, p. 161.

[164:3] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 27. Roman Antiquities, p. 136,
and Taylor's Diegesis, p. 150.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS.

Interwoven with the miraculous conception and birth of Jesus, the star,
the visit of the Magi, &c., we have a myth which belongs to a common
form, and which, in this instance, is merely adapted to the special
circumstances of the age and place. This has been termed "the myth of
the dangerous child." Its general outline is this: A child is born
concerning whose future greatness some prophetic indications have been
given. But the life of the child is fraught with danger to some powerful
individual, generally a monarch. In alarm at his threatened fate, this
person endeavors to take the child's life, but it is preserved by divine
care.

Escaping the measures directed against it, and