xt of the Gospels, under the true name, is that which came
fresh from the pens of the Evangelists; and that all variations from it,
however they have been entitled, are nothing else than corrupt forms of
the original readings. Our diagram in rough presentation will therefore
assume this character:--

Traditional Text.--|-
|-Western Readings.
|-w
|-x
|-y
|-z
|-etc.
|-Alexandrian Readings.

It should be added, that w, x, y, z, &c., denote forms of corruption. We
do not recognize the 'Neutral' at all, believing it to be a Caesarean
combination or recension, made from previous texts or readings of a
corrupt character.

The question is, which is the true theory, Dr. Hort's or ours?

The general points that strike us with reference to Dr. Hort's theory
are:--

(1) That it is very vague and indeterminate in nature. Given three
things, of which X includes what is in Y and Z, upon the face of the
theory either X may have arisen by synthesis from Y and Z, or X and Z
may owe their origin by analysis to X.

(2) Upon examination it is found that Dr. Hort's arguments for the
posteriority of D are mainly of an internal character, and are loose and
imaginative, depending largely upon personal or literary predilections.

(3) That it is exceedingly improbable that the Church of the fourth and
fifth centuries, which in a most able period had been occupied with
discussions on verbal accuracy, should have made the gross mistake of
adopting (what was then) a modern concoction from the original text of
the Gospels, which had been written less than three or four centuries
before; and that their error should have been acknowledged as truth, and
perpetuated by the ages that succeeded them down to the present time.

But we must draw nearer to Dr. Hort's argument.

He founds it upon a detailed examination of eight passages, viz. St.
Mark vi. 33; viii. 26; ix. 38; ix. 49; St. Luke ix. 10; xi. 54; xii. 18;
xxiv. 53.

1. Remark that eight is a round and divisible number. Did the author
decide upon it with a view of presenting two specimens from each Gospel?
To be sure, he gives four from the first two, and four from the two
last, only that he confines the batches severally to St. Mark and St.
Luke. Did the strong style of St. Matthew, with distinct meaning in
every word, y