with the "Harmony."

So little is known regarding the _Diatessaron_ of Tatian that even the
language in which it was written is matter of vehement debate. The name
would, of course, lead to the conclusion that it was a Greek
composition, and many other circumstances support this, but the mere
fact that it does not seem to have been known to Greek Fathers, and
that it is very doubtful whether any of them, with the exception of
Theodoret, had ever seen it, has led many critics to maintain that it
was written in Syriac. Nothing but circumstantial evidence of this can
be produced. This alone shows how little we really know of the
original. The recently discovered works, being in Arabic and Armenian,
even supposing them to be translations from the Syriac and that the
_Diatessaron_ was composed in Syriac, can only indirectly represent the
original, and they obviously labour under fatal disability in regard to
a restoration of the text of the documents at the basis of the work.
Between doubtful accuracy of rendering and evident work of revision,
the original matter cannot but be seriously disfigured.

It is certain that the name of Tatian did not appear as the author of
the _Diatessaron_. [152:1] This is obvious from the very nature of the
composition and its object. We have met with three works of this
description and it is impossible to say how many more may not have
existed. As the most celebrated, by name at least, it is almost certain
that, as time went on and the identity of such works was lost, the
first idea of anyone meeting with such a Harmony must have been that it
was the _Diatessaron_ of Tatian. What means could there be of
correcting it and positively ascertaining the truth? It is not as if
such a work were a personal composition, showing individuality of style
and invention; but supposing it to be a harmony of Gospels already
current, and consequently varying from similar harmonies merely in
details of compilation and arrangement, how is it possible its
authorship could remain in the least degree certain, in the absence of
an arranger's name?

An illustration of all this is aptly supplied in the case of Victor of
Capua, and I will allow Dr. Lightfoot himself to tell the story.

"Victor, who flourished about A.D. 545, happened to stumble upon an
anonymous Harmony or Digest of the Gospels, and began in consequence
to investigate the authorship. He found two notices in Eusebius of
such Harmonie