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justified in assuming, from the coincidences actually observable, that at least some of his authorities drew their histories from the monuments; and it even seems as if Herodotus had himself had access to certain of the most important of those documents which were preserved in the archives of the empire."

Whatever might be the opinion of Mr. Rawlinson, one thing is clear on its face, that the truthfulness of the Persian informants upon whom Herodotus had depended was not quite beyond suspicion, viz., the utter silence of Herodotus upon the founder of the Persian religion. While Xanthus is believed to have made mention of Zoroaster and his laws, while Plato, who flourished 55 years after Herodotus, and must have drawn his materials consequently from sources as old as those of the latter, freely alludes to Zoroaster, it is impossible to conceive how Herodotus, who has described Persian life and Persian religion so elaborately, should have been unfamiliar with the name of the Prophet of the land and the founder