broad outline of the considerations by which the date of the work must be determined. The supposed acquiescence of two thousand years cannot be accepted as evidence of a questionable fact, but it may readily explain the existence of prepossessions other than rationalistic. Yet this is practically the main evidence on which the Danielic authorship is made to rest. As in so many inquiries, it is unconsciously assumed that a large body of conclusive evidence is ready for use, and that, if only objections