Were there stenographers to fix these fleeting words?
Was there an analyst always present to note the gestures, the manners, the sentiments of the actors?
Let any one endeavor to get at the truth as to the way in which such or such contemporary fact has happened; he will not succeed.

Two accounts of the same event given by different eye-witnesses differ essentially.

Must we, therefore, reject all the coloring of the narratives, and limit ourselves to the bare facts only?
That would be to suppress history.

Certainly, I think that if we except certain short and almost mnemonic axioms, none of the discourses reported by Matthew are textual; even our stenographic reports are scarcely so.

I freely admit that the admirable account of the Passion contains many trifling inaccuracies.