PREFACE.

"the Invention of the Cross, search in the Letter of Abgar; Petronice and read it." We infer from this quotation that the letter of Abgar (this is sometimes found as the title of the work) containing the story of Protonice was known in the fourth century, that Protonice had then a place in the calendar of the Armenian Church, and that the festival of the Invention of the Cross existed in that century. The festival was founded, as we read in this extract, on the strength of what is related in our document. The story itself must have been much older than the institution of the festival, or it would not have been believed in as a discovery in the time of St. James. We may, therefore, fairly conclude that our work contained the story of Protonice, and if so, it contained the other interpolations when it was made use of by Eusebius.*

What has been advanced goes to show that this ancient Syrian document is to be regarded in the main as genuine. The question of its genuineness has given rise to much controversy. It is one of very great importance, and demands a candid and patient consideration. Many able scholars, such as Baronius,

* The story of the Invention of the Cross by Helena, the mother of Constantine, is identical in nearly all the details with this by Protonice. There can be no doubt that one story gave rise to the other; and as the story of Protonice takes chronological precedence, the inference is that the Invention of the Cross by Helena is nothing more than a repetition of this Oriental fable.