idate hoiou
pneumatos este hymeis]) he obelized as probably not genuine:--the third
([Greek: ho gar huios tou anthropou ouk elthe psychas anthropon
apolesai, alla sosai]) he rejected entirely. Lachmann also retains the
first clause, but rejects the other two. Alford, not without misgiving,
does the same. Westcott and Hort, without any misgiving about the third
clause, are 'morally certain' that the first and second clauses are a
Western interpolation. Tischendorf and Tregelles are thorough. They
agree, and the Revisers of 1881, in rejecting unceremoniously all the
three clauses and exhibiting the place curtly, thus.--[Greek: Kyrie,
theleis eipomen pyr katabenai apo tou ouranou, kai analosai autous;
strapheis de epetimesen autois. kai eporeuthesan desan eis heteran
komen].

Now it may as well be declared at once that Codd. [Symbol:
Aleph]BL[Symbol: Xi] l g^{1} Cyr^{luc}[564], two MSS. of the Bohairic (d
3, d 2), the Lewis, and two cursives (71, 157) are literally the only
authority, ancient or modern, for so exhibiting the text [in all its
bare crudeness]. Against them are arrayed the whole body of MSS. uncial
and cursive, including ACD; every known lectionary; all the Latin, the
Syriac (Cur. om. Clause 1), and indeed every other known version:
besides seven good Greek Fathers beginning with Clemens Alex. (A.D.
190), and five Latin Fathers beginning with Tertullian (A.D. 190):
Cyprian's testimony being in fact the voice of the Fourth Council of
Carthage, A.D. 253. If on a survey of this body of evidence any one will
gravely tell me that the preponderance of authority still seems to him
to be in favour of the shorter reason, I can but suggest that the sooner
he communicates to the world the grounds for his opinion, the better.

(1) In the meantime it becomes necessary to consider the disputed
clauses separately, because ancient authorities, rivalling modern
critics, are unable to agree as to which they will reject, which they
will retain. I begin with the second. What persuades so many critics to
omit the precious words [Greek: kai eipen, Ouk oidate hoiou pneumatos
este hymeis], is the discovery that these words are absent from many
uncial MSS.,--[Symbol: Aleph]ABC and nine others; besides, as might have
been confidently anticipated from that fact, also from a fair proportion
of the cursive copies. It is impossible to deny that _prima facie_ such
an amount of evidence against any words of Scripture is exceedingly
weight