53-viii.

11.

That I shall be able to satisfy those persons who profess themselves unconvinced by what was offered concerning St.Mark's last twelve verses, I am not so simple as to expect.

But I trust that I shall have with me all candid readers who are capable of weighing evidence impartially, and understanding the nature of logical proof, when it is fully drawn out before them,--which indeed is the very qualification that I require of them.
And first, the case of the _pericope de adultera_ requires to be placed before the reader in its true bearings.

For those who have hitherto discussed it are observed to have ignored certain preliminary considerations which, once clearly apprehended, are all but decisive of the point at issue.