It is supposed that he did, and that it was lost or destroyed. Justin appeals to it, as if then in the archives of the government. Whether he was well or ill informed upon the subject, the document to which he appeals, clearly was not understood by him to be one of the “Memoirs” of Christ, “drawn up” by an Apostle, or a “companion” of an Apostle. Nothing purporting to be Pilate’s report is extant. The Apocryphal book, known as the Gospel of Nicodemus or Acts of Pilate, does not purport to contain[5] any such report. _Another_ is, that Justin says that Christ was of the House of David; a fact which Jesus himself had declared[6] and which is also referred to, in Acts. The only remaining fact, in respect to the alleged use of the Protevangelium, is in relation to the _census_. It is claimed that Justin and the Protevangelium agree that it was only to be taken in Judea.[7] But Justin does not so state. It also happens, that while Justin makes mention of Cyrenius, the Protevangelium only says, “And there was an order from the Emperor Augustus that all in Bethlehem of Judea should be enrolled,” saying nothing of Cyrenius. This is followed by an absurd and worthless story of occurrences, by the way. Justin has two references to the census, which will be found in the note.[8] Justin, in stating that there was a census in Judea, does not exclude the idea that it was more general. Judge Waite, following the anonymous author of “The Supernatural,” and others, also claims that Justin’s statement that at the baptism of Jesus “a _fire_ was kindled in the Jordan,” must have been taken either from the “Gospel of the Hebrews,” or the “Preaching of Paul.” As to the former (as he gives the translation from a fragment from Jerome) it is, that, “certainly there shone around the place a great _light_,” which is not what Justin said. There is no evidence from any quarter that this “Gospel of the Hebrews” was in existence (other than as Matthew’s Gospel was in existence), when Justin wrote. Nor is there any evidence that it was in use, at _any_ period, except among the Nazarenes (a small Judaizing sect of Christians), and the Cerinthians, and Ebionites, two heretical sects. The very authorities quoted to prove its existence, clearly show that it was never in _general_ use, or accepted by the churches generally. Neither the work itself, nor Jerome’s translation of it, has been in existence _for centuries_. From what is known of it, it seems to have been[9] the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, “not entire and perfect, but corrupted and curtailed.” It omitted the first two chapters. Some of the corruptions show its true character[10] so far as it varied from Matthew’s Hebrew Gospel; for as Papias wrote, and the Fathers generally believed, Matthew first composed his Gospel in the Hebrew dialect.