, 1881-03-27
Wilkinson vs.. Beecher-Won-
derful Magnetism Of the
Brooklyn Divine.
General Notes, Personal Mention,
Sunday Salad, Services
To-Day.


Is 1t to quit the dish
Of flesh, yet still
To fill
The platter high with dshf
Isit to fast an hour
Or ragged go
Or show
a downcast LOOK and sour2
MOI IT'S fast to dole
And meat,
Unto the hungry soul
Its to fast from strife,
From old debate
And hate
To circumcse thy life.
To show heart grief-rent;
To starve thy sin,
Not bin;
And that 5 to keep thy Lent,
Robert HtFTck
THE NEW TESTAaIENTS.
TIE MOST FAMOUS OF THE ANCIENT MANU-
SCRIPTS.
Boston Journal
During the fourteen centuries which elapsed
between the death Of the Apostles and the
Invention Of printing, the Scriptures were
multiplied and circulated solely By means Of
written copies. The autograph manuscripts
probably perished in the earliest years Of
the Church. Written, as they doubtless
were, on papyTus, most perishable material,
they could i'll Withstand the effects Of time;
and, while the people could yet hear the
Apostles own utterances, but little lmpor-
tance would be attached to their written
words. The early copies probably met the
same fate. Parchment and velIum could not
be afforded by the first disciples. Even the
rich used them only for the most precious
cha 4o xvh hi11f tho
Church was subjected rendered the copying
and circulation Of the New Testament diff
cult and dangerous, and when the stray
copies were gathered together after the last
effort Of Diocletian to eradicate Christianity
from the Roman Empire it was seen how
very yearly successful the Emperor had been
in his design. No known copy Of the New
Testament is now IN existence dating back Of
the reign Of Diocletian (oS4.-3o5). Probably
time did for the fragile leaves Of the few re-
manning copies what the fire of the prosecutor
had failed to do. l.
With the conversion of Constantine new
era for the Bible opened. To possess the
most exquisitlg decorated copies Of the de-
spised and prescribed papyrus leaves became
the ambition Of Princes. In the magnificent
converts which Constantine planted
throughout his Empire, the Scriptorium was
the principal room and the Scriptores the
favored monks. The finest yellum was sub
stituted for the frail paper reed, and gold
leaf was hardly precious enough TO l[lumlne
the sacred works. To the work of copying
the entire Scriptures a monk often gave
many years; and the labor Of 4 lifetime was
thought to bear rich fruit if it beQueathed to
the monastery few copies of the Bible, the
Fathers, or the Church nlissal. It is due to
the work done in the Script0rium that
sacred literature has come to us through
such mass Of original manuscripts, yer-
sions, and selections. While many Of the most
valuable works Of antiquity have utterly
perished, and many more are preserved in a
single copy, it is estimated that there are III
existence no less than 1,7G3 manuscripts OF
the whole or portions Of the New Testament,
ranging In date from the fourth to the six
teenth century.
These manuscripts are divided according
to the style Of writing, into two classes: I'LL
cials and cursiyes. The uncials are written
In large, square, upright capitals: the ours
Ives in flowing script. The former mode Of
writing was employed up to the tenth cent
ury> when the cursiye was introduced The
proportion of uncial to cursive manuscripts
uscripts, all previous to the: ninth century,
are without dates, and the skill attained by
critical scholars in assigning to them their
proper chronological places seems almost in
glish critics, according to Scriyener, who can
at once detect the most skillfullv executed
Imitation OF an ancient manuscript
In determining the age Of manuscript a
variety OF considerations must be taken into
account A few may be noticed:
F'irst-The form. Those manuscripts hav-
ing several columns OH a page are considered
older than those having but one, since they
conform more nearly III appearance to the |
ancient scrolls made by joining the necessar-
ily narrow strips of papyrus: 49,,
Second-The quality Of the yellum. The
timer the vellusn the greater the presumption I
glazed linen was substituted tor velIam, and |
Ieseaoled it SO closely as to be difficult OF |
detection. |
1hird-The character Of the uncials. In
writing the older the manuscript. Thus the !
oldest known speci.uen of uncial writing,
piece OF papyrus from llerculaneuul, has !
characters square, upright, Of equal size, |
Will no space between Tie worlds, no ac-
cents, breathings, nor lamentations. Besides |
these external marks Of age there is also in |
ternal evidence which must be weighed. !
\ariatlons III spelling, or in the form Of |
scale.
We may now consider in detail few of !
the most ancient and valuable OF the manu-
scripts Of the New Testament It mnst not !
part, Of the mass Of manuscripts are in any !
sense complete copies. Many Of them are
mere fragments, part Of u leaf, it may be,
rescued trpn the waste paper-box OF some
convent, OF picked piece BY piece from the
binding Of a printed book. One-ouarter Of !
them appear III the form of dictionaries or
churcli-lesson books, selections made from
the Gospels (Eyangelistaria). or from the
Acts and Episiies tPraxapostoli) for public
reading in The churches. Most of them are
copies OF but one Of the four parts into
which the New Testament WAS ancien.iy di- |
Epistlcs, the Pauline Epistes, and the Apoc-
alypse. But one uEcial copy of the entire
New Testament is known TO exist, and only
1wenty-three Or rweuty~four cursiyes.
Every manuscript of any Importance that
has been collated or examined, has its own
proper name, and also its letter or number
tUr more convenient notation. Tie uncials |