in abolishing 'the crumbs which fell
from the rich man's table.'

[The foregoing instances afford specimens of the influence of accidental
causes upon the transmission from age to age of the Text of the Gospels.
Before the sense of the exact expressions of the Written Word was
impressed upon the mind of the Church,--when the Canon was not
definitely acknowledged, and the halo of antiquity had not yet gathered
round writings which had been recently composed,--severe accuracy was
not to be expected. Errors would be sure to arise, especially from
accident, and early ancestors would be certain to have a numerous
progeny; besides that evil would increase, and slight deviations would
give rise in the course of natural development to serious and perplexing
corruptions.

In the next chapter, other kinds of accidental causes will come under
consideration.]

FOOTNOTES:

[50] P. 232.

[51] _Ap._ Orig. i. 827.

[52] Ambrose i. 659, 1473, 1491:--places which shew how insecure would
be an inference drawn from i. 543 and 665.

[53] Hieron. v. 966; vi. 969.

[54] _Ap._ Mai ii. 516, 520.

[55] i. 370.

[56] P. 12.

[57] ii. 169.

[58] ii. 142.

[59] i. 715, 720; ii. 662 (_bis_) 764; vii. 779.

[60] v^{2}. 149 (luc. text, 524).

CHAPTER IV.

ACCIDENTAL CAUSES OF CORRUPTION.

III. From Writing in Uncials.

Sec. 1.

Corrupt readings have occasionally resulted from the ancient practice of
writing Scripture in the uncial character, without accents, punctuation,
or indeed any division of the text. Especially are they found in places
where there is something unusual in the structure of the sentence.

St. John iv. 35-6 ([Greek: leukai eisi pros therismon ede]) has suffered
in this way,--owing to the unusual position of [Greek: ede]. Certain of
the scribes who imagined that [Greek: ede] might belong to ver. 36,
rejected the [Greek: kai] as superfluous; though no Father is known to
have been guilty of such a solecism. Others, aware that [Greek: ede] can
only belong to ver. 35, were not unwilling to part with the copula at
the beginning of ver. 36. A few, considering both words of doubtful
authority, retained neither[61]. In this way it has come to pass that
there are four ways of exhibiting this place:--(_a_) [Greek: pros
therismon ede. Kai ho therizon]:--(_b_) [Greek: pros therismon. Ede ho
th.]:--(_c_) [Greek: pros therismon ede. Ho therizon]:--(_d_) [Greek:
pros therismon. Ho therizon, k.t.l.]

The only