, 1881-03-27

by Mill in his edition of the New Testament
(i71Ol. The precise birthplace Of this 1nanu-
Script is not known. John Lnscar brought it
from the East to Florence in the early part Of
passed through several hands to Catherine Of
Medici. She brought it to Paris and deposit
: ed it in the National Library, where it still
renlnins It contains l45 leaves Of the New
lost entirely, while fotty-two leaves are miss
2 ing from the other Epistles, thirty-seyen from
the Gospels, ten from the Acts, and eight
from the Apocalypse. III the character Of its
writing, as well as the character, Of Its text,
Cod. G bears strong family likeness to Cod.
ever. is coarser, and has been, moreover,
much disiigurel by the chemicals used to re-
store the original text.
The manuscript was thoroughly collatel by
Wetslein i'll 17l0, and more recently by lis
chendorf.
Codex Bezae, sometimes called the Cam
bridge manuscript and D Of the Gospels AMI
Acts, was presented by BeZa to Cambridge
University i'll 1881. In his letter rot prescnta-
ton he states that 1t was obtained at the
building, was sacked and burned during the
religious wars of the sixteenth century, aud
the manuscript was doubtless rescued by
some soldier. Cod. D is tie oldest manu-
text Oh opposit pages. It has, therefore. 4
double value in giving one Of the Oldest Latin
versions as well as a good Greek text. This
version is Gaelic, and less resembles the Eul-
gate than any. translation known. The
doubtless + Hlnce. Its date most critics as
sign to the sixth century. In spite Of its age,
however, the Cambridge manuscript is not
regarded as high critical authority. 1t is de-
tective in rs pages, deviates in many ways
GUS and bold interpretations. The order OF
The Gospels is peculiar. John follows Mat
thew. succeeded by Mark and Luke
In 4 cts alone GOO interpolatlons appear. Two
worthy to be mentioned. The first follows
Matt. xX., Is: But you, seek ye from little
things that ye may become great, and not
from great things may become little. Nhcn-
ever .ye are invited to house to supper, sit
is more honored than thou Should come. md
the lord of the supper slluuld say, Come be-
low and thou be ashamed in the eyes OF the
guests. But If thou sit down i'll the little
place and he that is less than thou shall come,
Come near and come up and sit down. thou
shalt have more glory in the eyes of the
gllests."' The Curetonion Syriac version, and
the margin Of the Philoxenian, and a few
versions of less value contain this passage in
forms varying among themselves
The second Interpolation occurs after Luke
xi.. 5, and is found in this manuscript only:
"On the same day: seeing one working on
the Sabbath, lie said unto him: %. man, it
art Blessed: Dnt If thou knowest not thoa
art accursed and 4 transgressor Of the law"
4 purer text than Cod. D and OF the Cos
pei. though closely resembling it, is Cod. u
Of Paul's Epistles. This manuscript also con-
Greek. It was found By Beza, and from him
passed into the hands Of n French scholar,
Dnpoy, whose SOIL sold 1t to Louis XIV. for
the National Library at Paris.
In 17o7 thirty-tiye Of its leaves were stolen.
One was disposed Of in Holland, and the re-
lnalnder were sold to the Earl Of Oxford,
Queen An1le's Lord Treasurer. This single
leaf was first restored, and III 1850 Earl Oh
ford's son returned the sheets in his posses
SION With the exception Of few pages Cod
D is complete copy Of the Epistles.
1t will not be necessary to speak at length
of the other unciai manuscripts. With the
exception OF few fragments, all are Of
later date and inferior value.
Before turning to the versions we may,
however, proftably glance at few of the
best OF the c1lrsiye manuscripts. OF the six
teen hundred eursiye copies and parts OF
copies Of the New Testament few have been
colinted. Cod. IS is regarded as
l meet a e c of oe 70 the rgc 60sfS str
Colbert, and is now ut the National Library !
at Paris.
Cod. of the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles |
llas peculiar Interest, since it was one OF
our received text. It belongs to tha Public
Library at Dasle and was used BY Erasmus
in tue preparation of his first printed edition
of the New Testament. The writing is in 4
is only inferior to that Of Cod. 3s
The Town Of Leicester, Eng. boasts of a
cursiye manuscript of much worth. AL |
though a copy Of as recent a date as the. four |
tenth h as century, its archetype was evidently
hand in ,yfich II il written renders IT. vprr |