It must be evident by this time to any 'impartial mind,' that the
_Supernatural Religion_ of the reviewers cannot be our _Supernatural
Religion_. The higher criticism has taught me that poor foolish Papias,
an extreme specimen of 'the most deplorable carelessness and want of
critical judgment' displayed by the Fathers on all occasions, cannot
possibly have had our St Mark's Gospel before him [10:2], because he
says that his St Mark recorded only 'some' of our Lord's sayings and
doings, and did not record them in order (though by the way no one
maintains that everything said and done by Christ is recorded in our
Second Gospel, or that the events follow in strict chronological
sequence); and how then is it possible to resist the conclusion, which
is forced upon the mind by the concurrent testimony of so many able
reviewers, the leaders of intellectual thought in this critical
nineteenth century, to the consummate scholarship of the writer, that
they must be referring to a different recension, probably more authentic
and certainly far more satisfactory than the book which lies before me?

2. And the difficulty of the popular identification will be found to
increase as the investigation proceeds. There is a second point, also,
on which our critics are unanimous. Our first reviewer describes the
author as 'scrupulously exact in stating the arguments of adversaries.'
Our fourth reviewer uses still stronger language: 'The author with
excellent candour places before us the materials on which a judgment
must rest, with great fulness and perfect impartiality.' The testimony
of the other two, though not quite so explicit, tends in the same
direction. 'An earnest seeker after truth,' says the second reviewer,
'looking around at all particulars pertaining to his inquiries.' 'The
account given in the volume we are noticing,' writes the third, 'is a
perfect mine of information on this subject, alloyed indeed with no
small prejudice, yet so wonderfully faithful and comprehensive that an