presbyter late in the second century, who are proved by their names to be Latins, yet chose to write in Greek; it does not follow that the Church would not contain many humbler members, both Romans and Italians, ignorant of any language except Latin, and for whose instruction a Latin version would be required. On the ground of _internal_ evidence, however, Wiseman made out a case which all who have followed him, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Davidson, Tregelles, accept as irresistible; indeed it is not easy to draw any other conclusion from his elaborate comparison of the words, the phrases, and grammatical constructions of the Latin version of Holy Scripture, with the parallel instances by which they can be illustrated from African writers, and from them only (Essays, vol. i. pp. 46-66)(60). It is impossible to exhibit any adequate abridgement of an investigation which owes all its cogency to the number and variety of minute particulars, each one weak enough by itself, the whole comprising a mass of evidence which cannot be gainsaid. In the works of Apuleius and of the African Fathers, Tertullian [150?-220?], Cyprian [† 258], and in the following century, Arnobius, Lactantius, Augustine, we obtain a glimpse into the genius and character of the dialect in which the earliest form of the Old Latin version is composed. We see a multitude of words which occur in no Italian author so late as Cicero; constructions (e.g. _dominantur eorum_, Luke xxii. 25; _faciam vos fieri_, Matt. iv. 19) or forms of verbs (_sive consolamur ... sive exhortamur_, 2 Cor. i. 6) abound(61), which at Rome had long been obsolete; while the lack of classic polish is not ill-atoned for by a certain vigour which characterizes this whole class of writers, but never degenerates into barbarism. The _European_ and _Italian_ forms of the Old Latin version will be discussed afterwards. The following manuscripts of the version are extant. They are usually cited by the small italic letters of the alphabet, according to the custom set by Lachmann (1842-1850), which has been considerably extended, and partially altered, since his time. His _a b c d_ of the Gospels, _d e_ of the Acts, and _g_ of St. Paul, remain the same, but his _f_ and _ff_ of St. Paul = our _d_ and _e_, and his _h_ = Primasius. _Old Latin Manuscripts of the Gospels._