Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: No. III. " nil duleius est, bene quam rnunita tenere Edita doctrina sapientum templa serena; Despicere unde quens alios, passimque videre Errare, atque viam palanteia quaerere vitae."—Lucretius. " Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law."—Ps. cxix. When I began the preceding paper, I had no idea of replying to Robertson's character of the clergy during the dark ages at such length; and meant only to notice, very briefly, such parts of his statement as are absolutely untrue. I intended, until I should have thus gone through his remarks, to say little or nothing on matters which may be more conveniently, intelligibly, and convincingly, discussed after untruths have been exposed, and the prejudices created and fostered by them removed; and also, after a variety of facts have been adduced, which may be referred to for proof or illustration. Perhaps enough has been already said to shew that the clergy of the period to which Robertson refers were not so universally, or even so entirely, ignorant as might be supposed from his language; yet, having said so much, and considering that it all tends to the elucidation of our subject in more than one way, I feel desirous (without professing here to enter fully into the matter) to add one or two more extracts, which are not, I think, in themselves uninteresting. From the Constitutions of Reculfus, who became Bishop of Soissons in A.d. 879, and who is supposed to have issued these instructions to his clergy ten years afterwards, it appears as if he took it for granted that they could, not only read, but write. The fourth, fifth, and sixth sections are as follows:—" Know, therefore, that this is addressed to you, ' Be ye clean, ye that bearthe vessels of the Lord ';' which you must not suppose to re... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.