Quote:
It was a capitulation to his own conscience and sense of honor. When the authorities asked him why he left it out, he said it wasn't in any of his manuscripts. They threw the requisite hissy fit and demanded that he insert it. He refused, but Erasmus being Erasmus, he made a rash promise: if they could show him one Greek manuscript with the verse in it, he would include it in his next edition. So they made one and gave it to him. He knew what they had done but he couldn't prove it, and he didn't specify that they couldn't do that. His sense of honor to his word required him to keep his promise.
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