passages in modern times, and has extended to a supposed detection of
passages which in fact are not spurious. Some people appear to feel
delight if they can prove any charge against people who claim to be
orthodox; others without any such feeling delight in superior criticism;
and the flavour of scepticism especially commends itself to the taste of
many. To the votaries of such criticism, omissions of passages which
they style 'interpolations,' offer temptingly spacious hunting-fields.

Yet the experience of copyists would pronounce that Omission is the
besetting fault of transcribers. It is so easy under the influence of
the desire of accomplishing a task, or at least of anxiety for making
progress, to pass over a word, a line, or even more lines than one. As
has been explained before, the eye readily moves from one ending to a
similar ending with a surprising tendency to pursue the course which
would lighten labour instead of increasing it. The cumulative result of
such abridgement by omission on the part of successive scribes may be
easily imagined, and in fact is just what is presented in Codex B[263].
Besides these considerations, the passages which are omitted, and which
we claim to be genuine, bear in themselves the character belonging to
the rest of the Gospels, indeed--in Dr. Hort's expressive phrase--'have
the true ring of genuineness.' They are not like some which some critics
of the same school would fain force upon us[264]. But beyond all,--and
this is the real source and ground of attestation,--they enjoy superior
evidence from copies, generally beyond comparison with the opposing
testimony, from Versions, and from Fathers.]

Sec. 2.

The fact seems to be all but overlooked that a very much larger amount
of proof than usual is required at the hands of those who would persuade
us to cancel words which have been hitherto by all persons,--in all
ages,--in all countries,--regarded as inspired Scripture. They have (1)
to account for the fact of those words' existence: and next (2), to
demonstrate that they have no right to their place in the sacred page.
The discovery that from a few copies they are away, clearly has very
little to do with the question. We may be able to account for the
omission from those few copies: and the instant we have done this, the
negative evidence--the argument _e silentio_--has been effectually
disposed of. A very different task--a far graver responsibility--is
imposed upon the