The method adopted throughout the work was very simple and ingenious. It
was this: the words of each Evangelist were marked in the margin by a
distinguishing letter, viz. St. Matthew, by A; St. Mark, by B; St. Luke,
by C.; St. John by D, so that to read any one Gospel straight through, it
was only necessary to read all the passages marked by the same initial
letter, omitting all the others. But when, as often happens, two or more
writers use identical language, the words which had been inserted before,
were put in different type. The body of the work was given in ordinary
Roman type, but the words which occurred a second time and were,
therefore, unnecessary for the continuous history were given in old
English lettering.
To make this contrivance quite clear the following directions were
written at the beginning of the concordance--
"If you would read the Evangelical History keepe on still from one of the
marking letters to another, reading onely that which is in the Roman
letter. But if you would read the Evangelists severally, then you must
keepe still from section to section in the same letter with which you
begin, reading both context and supplement, that is the Roman letter and
the Inglish letter annexed. Where you find any one word or more streaked
under, you are to omit it in the reading of the context to make the
clearer sence; but it is necessarily left remaining for the reading of
the Evangelist severally."
To carry out this scheme in the first instance required a complete
acquaintance with the text, a clear idea of the sequence of events, an
ingenious head to plot out the work, and no small amount of purely
mechanical skill to bring it to a successful result.
Nicholas Ferrar himself planned the whole Concordance, and also
superintended his nephews and nieces while they did the work; but the
system adopted may well be given in the words of the old manuscripts. A
large room was set apart purposely for the work, and called "the
Concordance room," which was all coloured over with green, pleasant
colour, varnished for the more pleasure to their eyes, and round the
upper part of the walls were sentences written, suggested by each person
of the family and some good friends, such as "Glory be to God on high,"
"Prosper Thou, O Lord, the work of our hands," "Innocency is never better
lodged than at the sign of labour," "The industrious man hath no leisure
to sin; and the idle man hath no power to avoid sin."
In this room Mr. Ferrar "every day spent one hour in contriving the
Concordance, and directed his nieces that attended him in what manner
they should cut the pieces out of the Evangelist, and so, and so, to lay
them together as to make and perfect such a head or chapter. When they
had first cut out those pieces with their knives or scissors, then they
did neatly and exactly fit each verse that was so cut out, to be pasted
down on sheets of paper; and so artificially they performed it, that it
looked like a new kind of printing, when it was finished; so finely were
all the pieces joined together, and with great presses for that purpose,
pressed down upon the white sheets of paper."
Even this description scarcely conveys an adequate impression of the
labour involved, for in many cases only two or three words are taken out
of one Evangelist, and added to the account given by another.
And, besides the letterpress, every page is supplied with engravings,
relating to the subject in hand; and when, as often happened, they could
not find an engraving to suit exactly, parts of different prints were
combined, so as to make a suitable illustration; and so cleverly is this
"splicing" carried out, that it is almost impossible to be sure where the
pictures join.
It will give some idea of the work if a few details are given from the
volume under consideration. In one place the narrative is composed of
five verses from St. Matthew, seven from St. Mark, and four from St.
Luke; but there are forty-four separate cuttings pasted in; in another
case seventeen verses required fifty-three cuttings, and in another,
fifteen verses from the four Evangelists are inserted with thirty-four
cuttings.
But even when whole verses, or perhaps whole chapters, could have been
put in entire (as would occur in the discourses related only by St.
John), the Miss Collets did not save themselves trouble if the appearance
of the page could be improved. Some of the most attractive sheets are
those where each line has been cut out, and pasted in again in the
original sequence, but with open spacing, so as to occupy the full page.
In one case fifty-six lines have been treated thus, in another
fifty-eight, in another fifty-one, where each passage might have been
inserted entire.
* * * * *
Some instances may now be given to show the clever compilation of
connected sentences out of the accounts of different Evangelists,
_e.g._--
"And came into the coasts of Judea, beyond Jordan, into the place
where John at first baptized, and there He abode, and great
multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there, and as He was wont
He taught them again" (_vide_ St. Matt. xix. 1; St. John x. 40; St.
Mark x. 1),
which reads as if it was one sentence, but is in reality four extracts
from three Evangelists.