as in this place. Hear him!

"Notwithstanding that in very many copies of the present Gospel, the
passage beginning, 'Now when [JESUS] was risen early the first day of the
week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene,' be not found,--(certain
individuals having supposed it to be spurious,)--yet WE, at all events,
inasmuch as in very many we have discovered it to exist, have, out of
accurate copies, subjoined also the account of our Lord's Ascension,
(following the words 'for they were afraid,') in conformity with the
Palestinian exemplar of Mark which exhibits the Gospel verity: that is to
say, from the words, 'Now when [Jesus] was risen early the first day of
the week,' &c., down to 'with signs following. Amen.'(116)--And with these
words Victor of Antioch brings his Commentary on S. Mark to an end."

Here then we find it roundly stated by a highly intelligent Father,
writing in the first half of the vth century,--

(1.) That the reason why the last Twelve Verses of S. Mark are absent from
some ancient copies of his Gospel is _because they have been deliberately
omitted by Copyists_:

(2.) That the ground for such omission was the _subjective judgment_ of
individuals,--_not_ the result of any appeal to documentary evidence.
Victor, therefore, clearly held that the Verses in question had been
_expunged_ in consequence of their (seeming) inconsistency with what is
met with in the other Gospels:

(3.) That he, on the other hand, had convinced himself by reference to
"very many" and "accurate" copies, that the verses in question are
genuine:

(4.) That in particular the Palestinian Copy, which enjoyed the reputation
of "exhibiting the genuine text of S. Mark," contained the Verses in
dispute.--To _Opinion_, therefore, Victor opposes _Authority_. He makes his
appeal to the most trustworthy documentary evidence with which he is
acquainted; and the deliberate testimony which he delivers is a complete
counterpoise and antidote to the loose phrases of Eusebius on the same
subject:

(5.) That in consequence of all this, following the Palestinian Exemplar,
he had from accurate copies _furnished his own work with the Twelve Verses
in dispute_;--which is a categorical refutation of the statement frequently
met with that the work of Victor of Antioch is _without_ them.

We are now at liberty to sum up; and to review the progress which has been
hitherto made in this Inquiry.

Six Fathers of the Church have been examined who ar