New-York tribune., 1868-11-12
THE ANCIENT GREEK MANUSCRIPTS OF THE
NEM TESTAMENT


DR.. r. G.. Conant delivered highly interest
ipq lecture ON Tuesday evening at hall c the Brooklyn
Historical Society," before very intelligent anu "pIo
ciatIve audience on "The existing documentary proofs
Of the integrity and uncOrrupted genuueheSSo VI o ca
cred writings and the possible means OF Perpe'u"ns 'o
text of these ancient documents lie ist sio"eu Iio"
the taxt which they contain none Of them being or ear
lier date than tie close the third century Is identned
with that the sacred autographs ms is uOhe through
Tho closely literal versions made soon after the completion
nj fhe New Testament exhibiting word for word. ana the
very order Of words; and through the cOhtiONtrsiu
writings OF the first three centuries, which abound an
quotations from sacred text 1t Is thus ehOwn that
the writings OF ancient author have come down 10 as
so fully atesed those Of the New Testament. 1he
written characters in these ancient MSS not OF te
form called running hand each letter was made by ITSELF
haviuga general resemblance to onr prnted capitals VIII
out connection with its preceding OF following one SO
laboriOus and tedious was the process Of writing,
and authors often wrote the first draft OF their works by
dictation TO an amanuensls AS an example relereuSe
was made TO the practice OF the Apostle raul as nHI
Gated by the statement IN Rom l6 D. l. Ieluus, VINO
wrote this epistle" &c As another peculaIlty IN te
manner Of Wruug, the lecturer st'Ved at tee - no o
separation OF words The text runs on in one unbr0ken
stream Of letters without anything to Indicate where one
word ends and another begins OF even any pt ta
10 show the beginning and end OF sentences But tue
initial and terminal forms Of infection. ana tne reg
ular structure Of the principal parts OF speecn anu anu
the connection and course OF thought leaNe ITiiy
little uncertainty in regard 70 these divisions. Inc Ihe
lecturer gave his opinion that there are more cases
OF uncertainty Of this kind In MtOns PARADISE Lost
New Testament. the lecturer tEen spoke oil te dner
ent modes OF arranging the text on the page III some
the page, in the Codcr Ephremi Iu others IT Is writ
ten double columns each page as III lie C0der At
GudraUs; in others in triple columns on each PAGE as ~
the COdtr Y0tCdHuS: While III the COder Shdd'eHS ire
Gently dscoyered), it Is written IN Quadrupe columns
Another arrangement spoken ot-the suclO
metric dviSIOn-a device adopted before the middle
OF the fifth century 10 answer, in some measure, the
purpose Of punctuation by dividing the text into very
short lines. A specimen Of such an arrangement was
read in an English version OF it, The divisions IN the
text were considered the oldest being those OF the
Vatican manuscript, indicated only by blank space,
equal 10 the width three letters and of similar
divisions in the Sinaitic manuscript indicated more
clearly by initial letter Of each paragraph standing
out beyond the line Of the column as well as by space
at the close of the paragraph The lecturer
then described the preparation OF MSS, ana the
duties Of eopyists and eoreetors, Illustrating Tie
conscientious care bestowed on the prepaIa-
ton by note appended TO part Of the
Binaitc MSS After speaking Of other divisions OF later
date OF the structure and OF the AmmOnan sections
and Euseban canOns, OF the means OF determining the
OF MSS Of pampests rescrpts, and OF the recent
discovery under mOdernrescrpt OF text OF the Apoc
aypse belonging the Oldest class Of MSS the lecturer
closed his remarks, the hOur having expired. The lee
turer by OF his voice being in bad condition. was
compelled to reuQuish the reading Of the entire paper
The Rev s. StOrrs, jr ID, hoped 10 have heard the
paper complete, and expressed his regret
The Rev. DR.. BuddngtOn moved and the Rev. Mr..
Beecher seconded, vote OF thanks the learned lee
turer which passed unanimously. The meeting then
adjourned.