PREFACE.

that they were made by the same individual. The circumstance of the mention of Tatian’s Diatessaron gospel harmony shows that they could not have become a part of Addai’s work till after the Diatessaron was compiled, and had begun to be used in the Syrian Church. The interpolations, therefore, could not have been introduced till towards the close of the second century. So much for the upper limit. The next question is, Where is the lower limit to be placed? From what follows, I think we may be able to answer sufficiently this question. Eusebius has devoted a chapter of his Ecclesiastical History to Abgar, and the planting of the church at Edessa by Addai. The Syriac of this chapter, from the letter of Abgar to the end is substantially the same as the Syriac of the corresponding portion of our document. Whoever will take the trouble to compare the two, will find that the variations are not many. He will, I think, be satisfied that Eusebius had our writing before him, when he wrote the thirteenth chapter of the first book of his Ecclesiastical History. Eusebius says:— “The very letters themselves were taken by us from the archives of Edessa.” But although the word us is used, it does not follow that the extract was made by himself from the archives. He probably did not make it, for it is not known that he was ever at Edessa. He might have consistently employed the pronoun us, if the extract, which constitutes a chapter of his history, had been made by a person living at a previous period, who