ais,
oi de mathetai
tois] anakeimenois.]

The one sufficient proof that St. John did so write, being the testimony
of the MSS. Moreover, we are expressly assured by St. Matthew (xiv. 19),
St. Mark (vi. 41), and St. Luke (ix. 16), that our Saviour's act was
performed in this way. It is clear however that some scribe has suffered
his eye to wander from [Greek: tois] in l. 2 to [Greek: tois] in l.
4,--whereby St. John is made to say that our Saviour himself distributed
to the 5000. The blunder is a very ancient one; for it has crept into
the Syriac, Bohairic, and Gothic versions, besides many copies of the
Old Latin; and has established itself in the Vulgate. Moreover some good
Fathers (beginning with Origen) so quote the place. But such evidence is
unavailing to support [Symbol: Aleph]ABL[Symbol: Pi], the early reading
of [Symbol: Aleph] being also contradicted by the fourth hand in the
seventh century against the great cloud of witnesses,--beginning with D
and including twelve other uncials, beside the body of the cursives, the
Ethiopic and two copies of the Old Latin, as well as Cyril Alex.

Indeed, there does not exist a source of error which has proved more
fatal to the transcribers of MSS. than the proximity of identical, or
nearly identical, combinations of letters. And because these are
generally met with in the final syllables of words, the error referred
to is familiarly known by a Greek name which denotes 'likeness of
ending' (Homoeoteleuton). The eye of a scribe on reverting from his copy
to the original before him is of necessity apt sometimes to alight on
the same word, or what looks like the same word, a little lower down.
The consequence is obvious. All that should have come in between gets
omitted, or sometimes duplicated.

It is obvious, that however inconvenient it may prove to find oneself in
this way defrauded of five, ten, twenty, perhaps thirty words, no very
serious consequence for the most part ensues. Nevertheless, the result
is often sheer nonsense. When this is the case, it is loyally admitted
by all. A single example may stand for a hundred. [In St. John vi. 55,
that most careless of careless transcripts, the Sinaitic [Symbol:
Aleph], omits on a most sacred subject seven words, and the result
hardly admits of being characterized. Let the reader judge for himself.
The passage stands thus:--[Greek: he gar sarx mou alethos esti brosis,
kai to haima mou alethos esti posis]. The transcriber of [S