obscurity in which the greater number of them have remained. Peter,
Paul, John, James, Judas, occupy the stage almost exclusively. If Paul
was an apostle, we have fourteen, instead of twelve. Leaving out
Judas, and counting Matthias, who was elected in his place, we have
thirteen apostles.

The number forty figures also in many primitive myths. The Jews were
in the wilderness for forty years; Jesus fasted for forty days; from
the resurrection to the ascension were forty days; Moses was on the
mountain with God for forty days. An account in which such scrupulous
attention is shown to supposed sacred numbers is apt to be more
artificial than real. The biographers of Lincoln or of Socrates do not
seem to be interested in numbers. They write history, not stories.

Again, many of the contemporaries of Lincoln bear written witness to
his existence. The historians of the time, the statesmen, the
publicists, the chroniclers--all seem to be acquainted with him, or to
have heard of him. It is impossible to explain why the contemporaries
of Jesus, the authors and historians of his time, do not take notice
of him. If Abraham Lincoln was important enough to have attracted the
attention of his contemporaries, how much more Jesus. Is it reasonable
to suppose that these Pagan and Jewish writers knew of Jesus,--had
heard of his incomparably great works and sayings,--but omitted to
give him a page or a line? Could they have been in a conspiracy
against him? How else is this unanimous silence to be accounted for?
Is it not more likely that the wonder-working Jesus was unknown to
them? And he was unknown to them because no such Jesus existed in
their day.

Should the student, looking into Abraham Lincoln's history, discover