rts of the New Testament, particularly the Apocalypse.
But of the gospels as well as other parts of the New Testament, we have
some very ancient manuscripts which are of high value in textual
criticism. The agreement of this version in many characteristic readings
with the oldest known Greek manuscripts has already been noticed. Chap.
3, No. 3. Such agreement is the strongest possible testimony for the
genuineness of the readings in question. Chap. 26, No. 2.

The _Codex Vercellensis_, belonging to the fourth century, and
said to have been written by Eusebius, bishop of Vercellae (now
Vercelli) in Northern Italy where the manuscript is preserved,
is one of the oldest manuscripts of the sacred text in
existence. The _Codex Veronensis_ at Verona, the Graeco-Latin
_Codex Claromontanus_ in the Imperial Library at Paris, the
_Codex Vindobonensis_ at Vienna, the _Codex Bobbiensis_ at
Turin, and others that might be named, are also very ancient.
Among the codices that contain what is called the _Italic_
version, is the _Brixianus_ of the sixth century.

4. About A.D. 388, Jerome at the solicitation of Damasus, bishop of
Rome, undertook the arduous task of _revising_ the Old Latin version by
a comparison with the original Greek text. In this work he proceeded
very cautiously, being well aware of the prejudices which he must
encounter on the part of multitudes who could not discriminate between
the authority of the original Greek text and that of the Latin version
made from it. He began with the four gospels. According to his own
testimony, he selected ancient Greek manuscripts, but such as did not
differ much from the Latin usage; and in the use of these he so
restrained his pen that, when he had corrected those things only which
seemed to change the sense, he suffered the rest to remain as they were.
(Preface to the four gospels addressed to Damasus.) His work of revision
was afterwards extended to the remaining books of the New Testament; a
revision which Tregelles describes as "less complete and uniform than
that of the gospels, and in which many parts seem to have received
hardly any alterations from his hand." In Horne, vol. 4, ch. 23. About
the same time he turned his attention to the Latin version of the Old
Testament, which had been made, not from the original Hebrew, but from
the Greek Septuagint. Of this he first revised the Psalter, but not very
thoroughly; in his own words, "