It is an interesting matter of conjecture just how long it would have taken for John the Baptist to transfer the leadership of the religious group which he founded to Jesus, if John had kept free from the toils of the Roman law and Herod had not set him aside. Judging by the persistence of the John cult among the churches of the East we may believe that the process would have been slow. Just so the modern missionary, whose era may be dated during the past one hundred and fifty years, although he has always announced that his rôle was that of John the Baptist, has nevertheless moved slowly in helping the national leaders to “increase” while he “decreased.”