368 KEEPERS OF THE HERD OF SWINE x 



justly leads him to see that the authority of the 

 teachings of the synoptic Gospels, touching the 

 nature of the spiritual world, turns upon the 

 acceptance, or the rejection, of the Gadarene and 

 other like stories. As we accept, or repudiate, 

 such histories as that of the possessed pigs, so 

 shall we accept, or reject, the witness of the 

 synoptics to such miraculous interventions. 



It is exactly because these stories constitute 

 the key-stone of the orthodox arch, that I 

 originally drew attention to them ; and, in spite 

 of my longing for peace, I am truly obliged to 

 Mr. Gladstone for compelling me to place my case 

 before the public once more. It may be thought 

 that this is a work of supererogation by those 

 who are aware that my essay is the subject of 

 attack in a work so largely circulated as the 

 " Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture " ; and who 

 may possibly, in their simplicity, assume that it 

 must be truthfully set forth in that work. But 

 the warmest admirers of Mr. Gladstone will hardly 

 be prepared to maintain that mathematical accu- 

 racy in stating the opinions of an opponent is the 

 most prominent feature of his controversial method. 

 And what follows will show that, in the present 

 case, the desire to be fair and accurate, the 

 existence of which I am bound to assume, has 

 not borne as much fruit as might have been 

 expected. 



In referring to the statement of the narrators, 



