[Sidenote: (II) Concerning the Correction of Books] (1) The responsibility for the expurgation of books in accordance with the principles laid down in this Index rests with the bishops and inquisitors, or, where there are no inquisitors, with the bishops alone. They are instructed to secure for such work the service of two or three scholarly and pious men. (2) The expurgators are instructed to cancel passages from the Scriptures which have been wrongly worded by heretical translators, unless it may be that such passages have been cited simply for the purpose of refutation; passages which give praise or commendation to heretics or their writings; passages adverse to the freedom, the immunity, and the jurisdiction of the Church; passages which undertake to defend the tyranny of the State, or which give countenance to theories adverse to the authority of ecclesiastical and Christian law. (3) In the books of Catholics written after 1515, when the necessary correction can be arrived at through the introduction or omission of single words, this course shall be taken. If this is not practicable, the entire passage or chapter must be cancelled. (4) In the writings of the earlier Catholics, no alterations shall be made except in the case of passages which have been inserted through the malice of heretics or through the heedlessness of printers. When the pernicious material appears to be of distinctive importance, it will be well to order the production of a new and corrected edition which shall take the place of the erroneous text. The essential purpose to accomplish is the presentation, in clear and comprehensible form, of the actual doctrine and original thought of the writer. Mendham points out that, according to this rule, the correctors or compilers of expurgatory indexes were apparently placed in a position to assume a _fraus haereticorum_ whenever such assumption seemed desirable for their purpose, and to amend the text accordingly.