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228 what throws light on the reasons of John's doubts, 'Blessed is he whoever is not offended in me; who does not consider the lowliness of my appearance incompatible with the loftiness of my pretentions.'

"This good and holy man, having lived just long enough to see the rising twilight of the new dispensation for which he was sent to prepare the way, fell a victim to the intrigues and revenge of a wicked woman. Herodias, the wife of one of the sons of Herod the Great, accompanying her husband to Rome, there became acquainted with Herod the tetrarch of Perea, and after her return to Judea she abandoned her husband, and with her daughter Salome went to live with him, in open defiance of the laws of God and man. John, the intrepid prophet of righteousness, reproved such flagrant iniquity in high places, and said to the royal transgressor, 'It is not lawful for thee to have her.' For this bold testimony for righteousness he was sent to the castle Machærus, on the confines of Palestine and Arabia. But the sleepless revenge of Herodias followed him even there, and he died, as is well known, a martyr to the truth. Thus perished John the Baptist, the morning star of Christianity, and his dying eyes caught scarcely a glimpse of the glory that was revealed.

"There is no subject which literature approaches with such diffidence as the personal character and history of Christ. There is no theme on which language is found so inadequate and imperfect. A person in human form, with every attribute of humanity,