In the vulgate, the verses are thus translated:

7th.

Quoniam tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in cælo ; Pater, Verbum, et Spiritus Sanctus: et hi tres unum

sunt.

8th.

Et tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in terrâ; spiritus, et aqua, et sanguis: et hi tres in unum sunt.

έν

The question is, whether the whole of the 7th verse, or, to speak with greater accuracy, whether the words, ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, ὁ πατὴρ, ὁ λόγος, καὶ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα· nai ouro, oi Tpeis ev tir, in the 7th verse, and the words, καὶ τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες ἐν τῇ γῇ, in the 8th verse, are genuine or spurious. If the passage in question be genuine, the text stands properly, as it is now expressed if it be spurious, it should stand; "OrI TPETS εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες, τὸ πνεῦμα, καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ τὸ ἅιμα· καὶ οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσιν, in the Greek;—and in the Latin, “(Quoniam tres sunt, qui testimonium dant; spiritus, et aqua, et sanguis et hi tres in unum sunt.' II. With respect to the HISTORY OF THE GENERAL

ADMISSION OF THE VERSE INTO THE PRINTED TEXT:

1. The first event, which deserves attention, is the insertion of it in the Latin Vulgate :—what should be understood by the Vulgate, in this place, will be mentioned afterwards.

2. The second is Erasmus's insertion of The Verse, in his three last editions of the Greek Testa

ment.

Erasmus had the honour of being the person who published the first printed edition of the Greek New Testament. He published five editions, in 1516, 1519, 1522, 1527, and 1535. The Complutensian Polyglott was printed in 1517, and published in 1522. In his edition of 1522, and in his two subsequent editions, Erasmus is supposed to have conformed his text, in different places, to the Complutensian edition; this makes his edition of 1519 the most esteemed of all he published. In his editions of 1516 and 1519, he did not insert The Verse of the Heavenly Witnesses. This gave rise to a dispute between him and Lee, an Englishman, and to a dispute between him and the Spanish divines employed on the Complutensian Polyglott. He promised to restore The Verse, if it could be found in a single Greek manuscript. Such a manuscript was found,-the manuscript now in Trinity College, Dublin, then called the Codex Britannicus, since called the Codex Montfortianus; and, in consequence of this discovery, Erasmus inserted The Verse in his edition of 1522, and retained it in his two subsequent editions.

3. The third of these events, is the insertion of The Verse in the Complutensian Polyglott. That noble work was begun in 1502, completed in 1517, and published in 1522.

4. The fourth of these events, is the insertion of The Verse by Robert Stephens, in his celebrated edition of the New Testament, in 1550; the text of it,

with a very few variations, is similar to that of the fifth edition of Erasmus.

5. The fifth of these events, is the insertion of The Verse in Beza's editions of the Greek Testament. The first of his editions was published in 1565; he principally follows in it, the third edition of Robert Stephens. He printed other editions in 1576, 1582, 1589, and 1598; they do not contain every where the same text, but in all of them, The Verse is inserted.

6. The sixth of these events, is the insertion of The Verse in the Elzevir edition of the Greek New Testament.

Five several printers of the name and family of Elzevir, are immortalized by the successful labours of their presses. Lewis, the eldest of them, was a printer of distinction in 1505; Daniel, the last of them, died in 1680.

Their edition of the Greek Testament was first printed, at Leyden, in 1624; it was printed from the third edition of Robert Stephens: where it varies from that edition, it follows, generally, the edition of Beza; and, like each of those editions, contains The Verse. By this edition, the text, which had fluctuated, in the preceding editions, acquired a consistency. It was followed, in all subsequent editions, and, on that account, it deservedly acquired the appellation of Editio Recepta: the editors of it are unknown.

7. The seventh of these events, is the insertion of The Verse in the modern edition of Luther's transla

tion of the New Testament. From the translations published by himself, he uniformly rejected it. The last edition, which was in the press, while he was living, but was not quite finished till after his death, was that of 1546. In that, as in all his former editions, it is wholly absent. Luther concludes his preface to that edition, with what may be termed his dying request, that, upon no account, his translation should be altered, in the slightest instance. Verse, however, was inserted in the Frankfort edition of 1574; and, for a time, inserted in some, and rejected in other editions: but, since the beginning of the 17th century, with the exception of the Wittenberg edition of 1607, the insertion of it, in the editions of Luther's translation, has been general.

The

8. It should be added, that the principal printed editions of the Greek New Testament since the Elzevir, are those of Mill, Bengel, Wetstein, and Griesbach. The Verse is found in the text of them all :it is determined by the two first, to be genuine; by the two last, to be spurious. To the credit of all the editors, it should be observed, that, notwithstanding their particular sentiments, they state, with equal candour and fairness, the arguments for and the arguments against The Verse.

III. With respect to THE PRINCIPAL DISPUTES TO

WHICH IT HAS GIVEN RISE:

1. The first, is the dispute between Erasmus and Lee, and between Erasmus and the Editors of the Complutensian Polyglott.

1

It has been mentioned that Erasmus published five editions of the Greek New Testament. He did not insert The Verse in the two editions of 1516 and 1519. For this, he was reprehended, in the severest terms, by Lee or Ley, an English divine of some note, afterwards advanced, by Henry the Eighth, to the archbishopric of York; and by Stunica, a Spanish divine, employed on the Complutensian Polyglott. In answer to them, he declared his readiness to insert The Verse, if a single manuscript should be found to contain it. As The Verse was inserted in the Complutensian Polyglott, and ought not to have been inserted in it, without the authority of one or more manuscripts, Stunica was bound, in honour, to produce such a manuscript; but he produced none. (For the controversy between Erasmus and Lee, see Burigni, Vie d'Erasme, 2 vol. 8vo. Paris, 1757, 1 vol. 372-381;-for, the controversy between Erasmus and Stunica, see the same work, 2 vol. 163–175; and for Stunica's attack and Erasmus's defence, see the Crit. Sac. Tom. vii. p. 1229.) At length, the Codex Montfortianus, then called the Codex Britannicus, now in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, was found to contain The Verse. In performance of his promise, Erasmus inserted The Verse in his edition of 1522; and retained it in his editions of 1527 and 1535.

2. The second dispute, respecting the authenticity of The Verse, may be considered to have begun