mary of the Foundations in a second Defence;1 and I will here repeat a part of that summary. u Erasmus, as he himself admits , had only one Greek Manuscript on the Apocalypse, by Jo. Capnio, and the commentary of Andreas of Caesarea, with which the text (ro xei/imv) was interspersed. From that , he says, WE TOOK care that the words of the context should he wntten down . And since the book was mutilated , he supplied the text, in a hasty manner , from the Vulgate, which was not yet revised ; and he did this without great care , since he did not very highly esteem this prophecy. Stephens, who was a man of learning, but overwhelmed with business as a printer, published, word for word , the text of the Apocalypse as given by Erasmus, though it was of such a character, especially in his last edition, which so many other editors have followed. This is evident to the eye. But before these two, that is before the Reformation, in the Complutensian edition, a text of the Apocalypse very remarkable, and of signal efficacy as to its testimony against the Papacy, and one which we ought by no means to disparage , came forth in the midst of Spain, and was spread far and wide in other countries of Europe. Afterwards the Oriental languages and Versions were studied : the most ancient Latin Version was restored, in which I gained a glean- ing similar to that which my Apparatus exhibits : and many Greek and Latin Fathers , and those too, Fathers who make copious and strong allusions to the Apocalypse, have been brought to light and examined. Greek Manuscripts of the Apocalypse, so rarely met with in former times, have been procured in considerable numbers and at different places ; and of two, which came into my hands, one fortunately contained the same commentary of Andreas of Caesarea ; by the aid of which I more accurately perceived in what part Eras- mus was correct, and in what he was at fault. And th q Alexandrian Codex2 (which is a matter of great importance) has been introduced into the West — a manuscript which is acknowledged by true critics to be incomparable, on account of its antiquity , and in the Apocalypse especially, on account of its purity and authority. And Erasmus and Stephens, if they were alive at the present day, would most gladly avail themselves of these aids furnished by God, and more readily so than the whole band of their followers ; and they would with one mouth declare, that the text of the Apocalypse is presented
1 App. Crit. Ed. ii. P. iv. N. ix.
2 Marked usually as A. It was given to Charles I. by Cyril Lucar, Patri- arch of Alexandria, and afterwards of Constantinople ; now in the Brit. Museum. Edited fac-simile by Woide, 1786. — E.