On the contrary, the piety of the motive seems to have been held to constitute a sufficient excuse for any amount of licence.

The copies which had undergone this process of castigation were even styled 'corrected,'-- and doubtless were popularly looked upon as 'the correct copies' [like our 'critical texts'].

An illustration of this is afforded by a circumstance mentioned by Epiphanius.
He states (ii.

36) that the orthodox, out of jealousy for the Lord's Divinity, eliminated from St.Luke xix.

41 the record that our Saviour 'wept.' We will not pause to inquire what this statement may be worth.
But when the same Father adds,--'In the uncorrected copies ([Greek: en tois adiorthotois antigraphois]) is found "He wept,"' Epiphanius is instructive.