, 1880-07-27
AN ANCIENT MANUSCRIpT.
The Gospels Of st. Matthew and st.
Mark discovered in Italy.
EAiMkurIh StogthtIt.


The Gospels Of 81. Matthew and st.
Mark Discovered in Italy.
Edinburgh Seotsnatt.
The general fecltng uf scholars tn regard
to manuscripts Of ancient writer's Is that al-
,,lost ali have been discovered that there Is
any hope Of discovering. Tits feeling, how
eyer, l,,ls been happily disappointed Ii, sey-
crai cases. Tile recent find uf n manuscript
Of Clemens Romnnns and other early rcclesi-
nsttcal writer's In Cbnstatltlnonle gave nil
agreeable surprise to students Of church his
tHry. III 40 department have such dEscoy-
cries been more surprising md more valuable
than those IN connection With thu New Testu-
ineut. Tisclle1ilort. in his watld,rInus
nuuong libraries In all parts Of the world,
came upon 1iniiy leayes Of old New Testn-
11eut manuscripts mud crowned lIts lnyesti-
CATIONS by uneartt1ng III the Sinaftlc inonas-
terry the nlust complete manuscript of tic
New Testament III existcucc belonging 10
| an curly date. The Issuing Of It trustworthy
edition Of tile "Cadcx Vaticanusn in ouruae
| lnuy alsu br deemed II rcul discovery. LII
tlis way the twu manuscripts which Will bt
held IN future as nust valuable III deterInli'-
coine known to ,ssr}lle!ars only within the lnst
| twenty years. W. lilyG iInw to record the
discovery of annther manuscript of !. pUrtLo'l
OF the New Iessauc,n. written. at u very
| curly pEEHuN+ HI HELL III llG AtSEDfEI4 -
due to two ter.nnt scll0!nrs Oscar y. tiet,-.
hardt and Adolf iINrllIcll, whose edition Ut
the Apostolic Fathers" I,as ,leserset!!y re-
ceiyed the wnrtlcst cDtl!,nclidutl1n. These
! epnce Ut the German Government M1ul Ill eil-
| downleltt attached to tho Leipzig University,
70 nuke Journey III Marcel VI this year to
Southern Italy Md Sicily, IN which they r.
tentlon WIS specially directed 10 llotiees Of II
monastery ut lossu1o. near thu Gulf Of 'l'nr-
entunl, III wlttc!! linporlaEt nsi'llser!pts were
| sniA ol,ee to hayc been. They could find no
there WIS Il very old book preserved
III tic palaec Of the Archbishop Of Nnssa,io.
Accordingly they asked permission IL set 1t,
and to thel1r great 10y found tlat Il w,s /:
S.. Matthew nild ST. Mark. They HOW Issue
un Accnul!t Of 1t ln sotun1e just published,
EyangrlioriM Eotlcx Greclis l'urpureuss
yidcturesesulo y scriptus pict,irtsqu. ornat,.s,
seille E1,ttecktng seln Observation-Disclosures
Mntl ktlnstlerlselleF. Wertll slarEessellt y9n
Tile leayes Ut this manuscript are made Uf
purple parchment, and te inaterlai used
throughout III writing y silver, except IN The
il,St tl's l1ss Of ch Ssil tioss' w'.ers Tue
lnanuserlptnf this kind IN existence contain.
Ing my portion 0f tho New Testament, nNl
It Is IN . n,uti!nted, condition., fur Of iss
l0llfG3 uGIk Ill ltHltlolkt Blk III kluLGt lNU Ml
Vienna. mid tltr.y-tl,ree l'aye bee,. 1l"re II:
Gently discovered in tho 1slalMl Of l'tt1nss.
'rlle present volume, on tie other llnit. con.
sfsts OF ISs leaves; mud contains thu whole nt
St. Mark down to the, middle Of the
fourteenth verse Of the sixteenth, chapter.
All tic crlterin used III Judging of nlNllu-
scripts ntltcate tho end of the iitt!. Or htgi-
The manuscript Is written In uncinl c!ntac-
ters, with twp columns III each .page. There
III no separation Ut words, nU breuthing, no
accent, md oiy to s!iEhtSft . nt,snpt 1T nt
Size Of the unclAls, tho .AlnI,Dnlan sections
are lndcntrfaIul tho Eustbiass calolls must
huyp been g!yGn, for It cnlit'sisis u portion Ut
the letter nl Euseblus y CarplAn4s, n'!4 taefo
followed by II table ut the EtScbia!. c..istll.5.
The letters 1war the closrs! RESEMBLANCE 70
those occurring Il, Inanl!Ser'ptH of the ilttll
nd axt ssss te ng f3as a a,i
they pllblEsi 1t In fill. All TINT they .statu
NOW Is, that 1t hears It striking resemblance
~ tint fund III Tie ntler manuscript Of pur-
pic parc'lnenL TINT t. contntlls some unique
readings, atld TINT it rather Eggs with tho
later manuscripts wl,cru tho Si,ntic aud Vati-
csul diiferfrvll tfion Considerable Interest Mt
tactes to THIS manuscript fro,n tin, circuul;:
miniatures illustrating .tl!e llfc OF Christ.
THESE are ill1ulig lilo rq.rllcst works Of this
kiud that nre extnnt., The editors have pre-
inUfits lrlo subjects arn tiU !" Resurrection
Of Lazarus" ~ EMtrnea int, tnto ;leraS;.. 7,
"Wise md FooIis!l Virgins" tho :. Lust
Sqppern MMl Wasl'inE, ,u,,, tn Fritz :; the the
in Gctllsslna,le," ilse" llsalMg9f tlie Blind"
tI. "KA rs; ;sannrltal'" "ct!rIst ,,,l bGfors r,
.lrAas,,' "'rhe Jews Dofnre., Pl1ate," t4ul
"Christ al'l l'arnbhas." ln atl OF them Tho
grouping ~ tlono very artlstIc:llly, md III thu
Whole tle figures aro well drawn. with much
animation n!u expression. Some nf then!nre
interesting from il lsistorical lM,nt OF yicw,
~ that whlel, uortruys tho distribution nt
breatl and vino ut tho Eucharist. All OF
ttlein threw light o,l early Christian art, md
iinrnrh thinks thut lle sut:s cluser c0lltlec-
ton betweou tlless wUrks nMl Gtotto tl!nl.
between later miniatures nlil tln.t nrtlst.
Besides the Now Testament scclles there nls,
forty heuIs OF prophets ald onepr two nt'er
subjects.
Canadian TFopl.Ecs-lteticH Being Col.
lecteL for u dominion military Hlu.
| nell1ll.
! Gttatn {tIaf,i FFrs Isrrss.
k1lnkx f1IItl Ia %tSI