The Hindu-Arabic Numerals c9.138

c9.138

1. The falsification of texts has always been the subject of complaint. It was so with the Romans,² it was common in the Middle Ages,³ and it is much more prevalent to-day than we commonly think. We have but to see how every hymn-book compiler feels himself authorized to change at will the classics of our language, and how unknown editors have mutilated Shakespeare, to see how much more easy it was for medieval scribes to insert or eliminate paragraphs without any protest from critics.¹