Note 461 — BOOK IV. (continued 3)

Instead of these words “nor was he liberated, &c.,” another manuscript reads, “and whether he ever will be set free, is doubtful.” Upon which Mr. Hardy observes that these various readings of the MSS. seem to mark the periods when the author composed and amended his history. In other words, the reading in the text was substituted by the author, when he revised his work after Robert’s death, for the reading in the note, which is copied from a MS. written whilst Robert was still in prison.