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My Dear Father:—The inquiry you made in your last
letter, “What hath become of John of Jordan, since
the fame of Jesus hath so far eclipsed his own?” I can
answer, but with sadness. Your inquiry seems to infer
that he would feel envious of the power and the miracles
that distinguish his Successor. But on the contrary, John
always plainly declared in his preaching, that “he was
not worthy to unloose the shoe latchet of Him who was to
come after him;” and he distinctly said many times to all,
that “He to whom I bear witness must increase, but I
must decrease!” The mission on which John came terminated
when Jesus came. Soon afterwards he left the
wilderness and entered Jericho, where Herod was then
dwelling. Here he preached in the public places, and in
the market, and on the very steps of the palace, that God's
judgments were coming upon the earth, and that men
must by repentance appease his wrath; and that Christ
would be the Judge of men! Now while he was thus
speaking to the people, and the officers and soldiers of the
Tetrarch's guard, Herod himself came forth upon the balcony
to listen, for he had heard much of John, and had
long a desire to hear him. The prophet no sooner beheld
him, than he boldly addressed him, and sternly reproved

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him for the sin of having married the widow of his brother
Philip contrary to law. Now Herod, it is said, did not
show resentment at this plain dealing, and inviting the
prophet into his hall talked much with him, and in parting,
offered him gifts, which John refused to touch. The next
day he sent for him again to ask him some questions
touching the Messias whom he preached. Now Herodia,
when it was reported to her how that the prophet had
publicly spoken against her marriage with Herod, became
very angry; and when she found that John was still
favored by her husband, she sent for Herod, and said, “that
if he would please her he must throw the prophet of Jordan
into prison.” Herod would have excused him, asserting
that he was a man of God; but Herodia only the more
vehemently insisted that he should be cast into prison. At
length Herod yielded, against his own will, and gave
orders for the arrest of the prophet, who the same night
was thrown into the ward of the castle. When this intelligence
reached the followers of John, it created great sorrow;
and many went to see him and talk with him. But
he told them they must think of him no longer; that his
short stay was drawing to its close; but that they must
turn their eyes towards the Christ the Sun of Righteousness,
whose rising was unto an everlasting day. “Said I
not unto ye,” he asked of them, “He must increase and I
must decrease?” For some weeks this holy man, whose
only offence was that he had the courage to reprove sin in
high places, remained in prison, while Herod each day
sought to find some excuse for releasing him without displeasing
Herodia, of whose anger he stood in great fear, he
being an abject slave to his love for her. At length the

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birthday of Herod arrived, and he conveyed word to John
that in honor of the day he would send and fetch him out
of prison, so soon as he should obtain the consent of his
wife, which he believed she would accord to him on such
an anniversary.

Now, after the feast, Philippa, the daughter of Herodia
and of her former husband Philip, came in and danced
before Herod; and being beautiful in person and full of
grace in every motion, she so pleased her step-father that
he made oath, having drunk much wine with his guests,
that he would give her whatever she would ask, were it
the half of his kingdom. Her mother then called to her,
and whispered to her imperatively.

“Give me,” said the maiden, turning towards Herod,
asking what her mother had commanded, “the head now
of John Baptist in a charger.”

The king no sooner heard this request than he turned
pale, and said, fiercely:

“Thy mother hath been tampering with thine ears, girl.”
Herodia, however, betrayed no confusion, but sat unconcerned.
Herod, it is said by those who were present, hesitated
a long time, and at length said: “Ask half of my
kingdom and I will give it thee; but let me not shed
blood on my birthday.”

“Wilt thou falsify thine oath?” asked his wife, scornfully.

“For mine oath's sake, and for these who have heard it,
I will grant thy desire,” he at length answered, with a
sigh of regret and self-reproach. He then turned to the
captain of the guard, and commanded him to slay John

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Baptist in prison, and bring presently there his head upon
a charger.

At the end of a quarter of an hour, which was passed
by Herod in great excitement, walking up and down the
floor, and by his guests in silent expectation, the door
opened, and the captain of the guard entered, followed by
the executioner, who carried a brazen platter upon which
lay the gory head of the eloquent forerunner of Christ.

“Give it to her!” cried Herod sternly, waving him
towards the beautiful but cruel and heartless maiden, who
stood near the inner door. The executioner placed the
charger in her hands; and, without turning pale, but with
a smile of triumph, she bore it to her mother, who had
retired to an inner chamber. It is said, that no sooner did
she behold it, than she spat in the face, and setting it up
before her, reviled it. His disciples, when they heard of
his death, came to Herod and asked the body of John,
and taking it away, buried it; but when they would have
asked the head also of Herodia, she answered, “that she
had given it to her dogs to devour!” So terrible can be
the revenge of a woman who fears not God!

All the disciples of the murdered prophet then went
where Jesus was preaching and healing, and told him what
had been done to John. “When Jesus heard of the death
of John he was very sorrowful,” writes John, his disciple,
to Mary, “and went away into a desert place apart, in
order to mourn over the fate of his bold and holy forerunner.”
In the meanwhile, the disciples of John Baptist,
believing that the murder of their prophet was but the first
blow of a general slaughter, fled into the deserts, and
sought Jesus to protect and counsel them. At length he

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found himself surrounded by a great multitude, who had
fled from the cities, chiefly of John's disciples, besides
many who came to hear him preach, and be healed of
him. The place was a desert, and far from any town.
Forgetful of all else, save following Jesus, they were without
food. “Which,” says John, writing to Rabbi Amos,
“we who were his disciples seeing, suggested that Jesus
should send them away to the villages to buy themselves
victuals. But Jesus answered us and said quietly:

“`They need not go away—give ye them to eat.'

“And Simon said, `Master, where can we get bread for
so many? There is verily here an army to be fed, and we
have among us but five loaves and two small fishes.'
Upon hearing this, Jesus said, `It is enough; bring them
hither to me.'

“We collected the bread and fishes, and I, myself, laid
them upon a rock before Jesus. He then said to us,
`Command the multitude to sit down on the grass.' And
when they were all seated he took the five loaves, and
laying his hands upon them and upon the two fishes, he
looked up to heaven and blessed them; and then breaking
them into fragments, he gave them to us his disciples,
and bade us distribute to the people. As often as we
would return for more, we found the loaves and the fishes
undiminished, and I saw with wonder how when he would
break off a piece of one of the fishes, or of a loaf, the same
part would immediately be seen thereon as if it had not
been separated; and in this manner he continued to break
and distribute to us for nearly an hour, until all ate as
much as they would, and were filled; and when no one
demanded more, and he ceased to break, he commanded

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us to gather up the fragments which lay by his side,
which he had piled up about him as rapidly as he broke
them off, and they were twelve baskets full over and above
what was needed. The number that were thus miraculously
fed was about five thousand men, besides nearly an
equal number of women and children. And this mighty
Prophet, who could thus feed an army, voluntarily suffered
forty days and nights the pangs of hunger in the desert!
He seems both a man in suffering, and a God in
creating!”

This wonderful miracle, my dear father, is one that has
too many witnesses to be denied. He who could feed five
thousand could feed all men! Must not He then, who
could feed all mankind, be divine? Surely, this must be
the Son of God! If I should mention to you all the
miracles which have been done by him, I should fill many
letters. Not a day passes that we do not hear of some
more extraordinary exhibition of his power than the
preceding. Every morning, when men meet in the
market places, or in the courts of the Temple, the first
inquiry is, “what new wonder has he performed? Have
you heard of another miracle of this mighty Prophet?”
Indeed, so great is the interest here felt to see Jesus
and witness his miracles, that where one went to hear
John preach in the wilderness of Jordan, ten go to see
Christ in Galilee. The priests alone are offended, and
speak evil of him through envy. They say that he
draws off people from the sacrifices; that he is preaching
another law than that of Moses; that he eats with
sinners; that he enters the houses of Samaritans; and
that he loveth Galilee rather than Jerusalem, which they

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contend, is an evidence that he is not the Christ who was
“to come to the Temple and send forth his law from
Jerusalem.”

They even have gone so far as to assert that he performs
his miracles by magic and the aid of Beelzebub, the Prince
of the devils. “If we suffer him to take men's minds as
he doth,” said Caiaphas to Rabbi Amos yesterday, when
he heard that Jesus had walked on the sea to join his disciples
in their ship, and stilled a tempest with a word,
“the worship in the Temple will be at an end, and the
sacrifice will cease. He draweth all men unto him.”

Herod having, as I have said, slain John, and hearing
soon after of the fame of Jesus, said to Herodia: “This is
John Baptist risen from the dead, and therefore do mighty
works show forth themselves in him.”

“If he rise from the dead threescore and ten times, I
will as many times have his head,” answered Herodia;
whereupon Herod privately sent to Jesus, supposing him
to be John Baptist, to keep in the parts of Galilee where
he was. The Levites and Scribes of the city contend that
he is Elias, who it is prophesied must come and restore all
things before Messias. Others believe that he is Isaiah,
or Jeremiah, raised from the dead; and some say one
thing, and others another thing. They are willing to
believe Jesus to be everything but that which he is, viz.,
the true Christ, Son of the Highest.

You have asked, dear father, in your letter, “Where is
Elias, who is to precede Messias, according to the Prophet
Malachi?” This question Jesus himself has answered,
says John, when some Rabbis put it to him. He answered
them thus:

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