44. Q. To what is the fact due that Thucydides is not so entertaining a historian as Herodotus? A. Partly to the nature of his subject; but partly to the nature of the man. 45. Q. What does Thucydides describe in his history? A. The so-called Peloponnesian war. 46. Q. To what conflict is this name given? A. To a conflict, continued with little interruption during twenty-seven years, between Sparta, with her allies, on the one side, and Athens, with her allies, on the other. 47. Q. What was the prize contended for in this war? A. The leadership in Hellenic affairs. 48. Q. How did Thucydides regard the Peloponnesian war? A. He thought that never in the world had there been a war so great as promised in its imminency to be the Peloponnesian war. 49. Q. In what particulars is the history of Thucydides important? A. Not as history, but, first, as literature, and secondly, as fund of illustration for the Greek national genius, it is of the very highest importance. 50. Q. In what form is it composed? A. In the form of annals, that is, the events and incidents are related chronologically by years. II.—FIFTY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON “THE CHARACTER OF JESUS.” 51. Q. What is the design of the author in the argument of the book under consideration? A. To show the self-evidencing, superhuman character of Christ, forbidding his possible classification with men. 52. Q. What is the grand peculiarity of the sacred writings? A. That they deal in supernatural events and transactions, and show the fact of a celestial institution finally erected on earth. 53. Q. Who is the central figure of Christianity? A. Jesus Christ, and with him the entire fabric either stands or falls. 54. Q. In the argument, what is, and what is not assumed, in regard to the narrative by which the manner and facts of the life of Jesus are reported to us? A. The truth of the narrative is not assumed, but only the representations themselves as being just what they are. 55. Q. On what is it proposed to rest a principal argument for Christianity as a supernatural institution? A. On the single question of the more than human character of Jesus. 56. Q. What is the first peculiarity at the root of his character? A. That he begins life with a perfect youth. 57. Q. What is the early character of Jesus in this respect? A. It is a picture that stands by itself. 58. Q. What element in the character of Jesus in his maturity do we discover at once which distinguishes it from all human characters? A. His innocence. 59. Q. How does human piety begin? A. With repentance. 60. Q. What does Christ, in the character given him, acknowledge as to sin? A. He never acknowledges sin. 61. Q. What elements of character was Christ able perfectly to unite? A. Elements of character that others find the greatest difficulty in uniting, however unevenly and partially.