creature and tool of human expediency, he has exchanged it for a mysticism which dissociates faith from reason, for a religion in which sentimentalism takes the place of conscience, and abjectness of veneration; and for a morality which can trifle with the holiest objects, and stoop to the meanest subterfuges.

The work before us is more worthy of its author than its title. We admit that it is not wholly without merit; for, though partial in his investigations, the writer has shewn great diligence in examining the bulls and letters of the popes, and the minutes of councils, for matter relating to his subject; and the representation is not unfrequently, especially in the second part, and the commencement of the third, methodical, clear, and attractive. But the omissions are numerous, and unfortunately, not merely accidental. The spirit of the partisan is as much revealed by what he has suppressed as by what he has recorded. And when he draws near to the end of his work, he dispenses with all moderation and restraint; and descends, from even the outward dignity of the historian, to the truculent vituperation of the renegade.

The first part professes to describe the seminaries of the catholic church from the earliest period to the era of Charlemagne. Having disposed, in half a page, of the catechetical school of Alexandria, so admirably described in Dr. Guerike's extensive and really learned work,* the author glances in the most superficial manner at those of Emessa and Nisibis, Augustine's seminary at Hippo, those of Fulgentius at Ruspa in Sardinia and Faustus and Rufinianus in Sicily, and the various conventual establishments (for such, in fact, they were, the seminarists having all things in common, and usually giving what wealth they possessed to the seminary or the poor), which provided for the spiritual training of the clergy. The few hints relating to England will be found, with much additional matter, in Bede and Usher. As a consistent Romanist, he takes no account of the existence of Christianity in England previous to Augustine's coming, and says, that he and his companions transplanted into this country, still sunk in the profoundest intellectual and social barbarism, the high and flourishing culture of Latium; and gave the church of England the seal of perfection which distinguished that of Rome, of which it must be regarded as the daughter.' We notice, however, a fact given on the authority of Gregory of Tours, which, if true, is both curious and interesting. Speaking of the high degree of learning to which the clergy of France had arrived in the sixth century, he says:'When the king Gontran made his solemn entry into Orleans in the year 540, a number of young people who were pursuing their

De Scholâ Catecheticâ Alexandrinâ. Halæ Sax. 1828.

studies under the bishop, harangued him in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac, and placed in his hands some poems. composed in his honour in those languages.' The historical notices in this part are continually interrupted by passages in praise of monachism, and disquisitions on the tendency of the monastic spirit to promote the education of the clergy.

In the second part of his history Dr. Theiner describes the ecclesiastical seminaries which existed between the age of Charlemagne and the Council of Trent. This part is written with more order and distinctness than the former, contains some passages of interest, and-excepting towards the close-has much less of disquisition and digression. We shall quote some passages from it, partly on account of the novel information they convey, and partly that our readers may feel assured that we would not purposely withhold from them any matter which might induce them to a more favourable judgment on the work than that we have expressed. Our first extract is intended to convey an idea of the form and character of ecclesiastical education in the ninth century:

'The conventual schools had thus, as it appears, the character of seminaries for secular ecclesiastics. It was thought that by frequenting them, the gravity requisite in those who would serve at the altar would be best acquired. Thus Hincmar, the illustrious archbishop of Rheims, informs us that he had been reared, from the tenderest infancy, in the convent of St. Denis; that he had there received the ecclesiastical habits (habitum canonicum); that he had there been ordained priest; and that he had left the convent to attend the court of Louis the Debonair.

By erecting the academy of Osnaburg, Charlemagne founded, in the year 804, a high school for the clergy. Special provision was made for teaching the Greek and Latin languages, which the clergy were required to learn.

'The fathers of the third council of Tours, in the year 813, decided that those who wished to receive the sacrament of Orders, should prepare for it by a longer or shorter residence in the episcopal palace, in order to learn there how to fulfil the duties of their profession; and that opportunity might be had of examining their manners and habits, to ascertain if they were worthy to be admitted into the priesthood. We hereby ascertain the exact form of the higher seminaries. Moreover, the decree of this council is merely an extract from the twenty-third canon of the fourth council of Toledo. On the other hand, we learn that the celebrated Theodulphus, bishop of Orleans, in a capitular addressed to the priests of his diocese, ordered that the incumbents of parishes, when they attended the assemblies of the clergy, which, in conformity with the ancient practice of the church, were held regularly every spring and autumn, should take with them two or three of the young clerics who assisted them in the ceremonial of divine worship, in order that a judgment

might be formed of the progress which they had made in the knowledge necessary to their profession. These young people studied, doubtless, in lesser seminaries of some kind, which were established, either in villages or small towns, and placed under the superintendence of pastors of reputation and experience. From the manner in which Theodulphus speaks of these pupils, it is evident that they lived in common in the house of the parish clergyman. From these seminaries they were transferred to the upper one, which was usually established in the episcopal palace. Both the one and the other were, therefore, subject to the superior inspection of the bishop. The fathers of the council of Châlons-sur-Saône, in 813, ordered the bishops to follow the laws prescribed by Charlemagne respecting the institutions for clerical education, and to watch over their execution, in order that worthy ministers of the Lord might come forth from them, of whom it might be said, that they were the salt of the earth, and who should be so versed in the sciences, that they might contend, if need were, not only against heretics, but against antichrist himself.'

Omitting a few pages of discussion, in which Dr. Theiner shows that these institutions were intended for the education of the secular clergy, and in the course of which he has occasion to refer to St. Ludger, bishop of Münster, who had commenced his studies in the seminary founded by Gregory of Utrecht, in the preceding century, and had finished them at York in England, under the direction of Alcuin,* we come to the following account of a new institution :

To the different kinds of ecclesiastical schools founded by Charlemagne, there was added, under Louis the Debonair, a fifth species, which appears to have had nearly the same form as the academies [universities] which were erected in after times. It was to them, at any rate, that the latter owed their origin. The fathers of the council [of Paris, held A.D. 806] prayed the emperor to found high schools in three cities at least of the [western] empire. They promised themselves great benefit from these establishments, which would redound to the glory of the church of God, and offer the surest guarantee for the maintenance of learning and of ecclesiastical education. These three schools would rival in lustre the Schola Palatina which was established in the emperor's palace. In that school there was assembled the élite of the nation, to use the expression of St. Radbod, bishop of Utrecht, who had studied in the palatine school of Louis

As this bishop had part of his theological training in Yorkshire, it may be interesting to see his character as drawn in Massillon's 'Acta Sanctorum Ordinis Sancti Benedicti :' 'Erat S. Liudgerus in scripturis sanctis eruditissimus, tamque ardenter alios erudire gestiens, ut præter publicas prædicationes quoque mane discipulis suis per se traderet lectiones, ipse nihil extra faciens, quam quod in scripturis facindis invenit.'-See his Life as above, lib. ii. §. 6. He further proved his ardour in the cause of education, by founding a seminary at Münster, and in order to endow it, sold all the palaces and lands which Charlemagne had given him.

the Debonair, with Stephen and Mancius, bishops of Tongres and Châlons-sur-Marne. This was less in order to arrive at high ecclesiastical dignities, than from a pure love of the sciences, which were taught there better than elsewhere. From the information we have been able to collect concerning these principal schools, it appears to have been those of Tours, Lyons, and Fulda which the fathers of the council of Paris designed for advanced ecclesiastical studies; it is those, at least, which have acquired the greatest renown for the extent of their instruction, as well as for the learning of their professors and the number of great men who have been trained in them.'

The preceding extracts give an interesting view of the importance which the emperors and prelates of that period attached to the education of the clergy. Louis had indeed, three years previous to the meeting of the council, required the bishops of the empire not only to watch over the existing seminaries with the greatest care, but also to erect new ones in districts were there were none existing: and the bishops, in reply, expressed themselves with the utmost frankness on the subject, and acknowledged it to be one of their most sacred duties to watch with the most scrupulous concern over the education of the clergy. Dr. Theiner traces to the laws of Charlemagne and Louis on this subject the canon published by Pope Eugenius II., at the council of Rome in 826 (the acts of which were signed by sixty-seven Italian bishops), and the establishment of the seminaries of Italy. In consequence, however, of the intestine wars which had prevailed in France, it would appear that in 855, and even in 845, the schools of that country, and indeed the empire generally, were in a state of decline. This drew the attention of the councils of Meaux (A.D. 845), Valence (A.D. 855), and Tulle (A.D. 859), the canons of which concur with all we know of the habits of the times, and indeed of much later times in our own country, to prove that whatever establishments existed for the purpose of education (excepting, of course, those immediately connected with the courts of sovereigns), had almost exclusively in view the training of the clergy, whatever that training might be. And though we cannot take, as Dr. Theiner does, the exception for the rule, or believe that the education generally given and received amounted to much, we cheerfully admit that whatever there was of real learning in those times, and there were splendid exceptions to the prevailing ignorance, was the fruit of those establishments. We close our extracts on the subject of the schools erected by Charlemagne and Louis the Debonair, with our author's remark that

'These public schools [viz., those proposed by the council of Paris as mentioned in the last extract] or to speak more correctly, academies, were distinguished from the great and little

seminaries, (i.e. the episcopal, and parochial or district seminaries) in two principal respects: in the first place, because in addition to theology the sciences were taught in them, at least so far as the knowledge of them might contribute to the more perfect understanding of the holy scriptures; and secondly, because any person, of whatever diocese or country he might be, was admitted to study in them.'

Dr. Theiner next notices the condition of these schools in the time of Charles the Bald; (and under this head the ardour of the Irish scholars, then highly distinguished for learning, to obtain employment in them) and afterwards proceeds to the state of theological education in Italy during the same century. 'It appears,' he says, 'that from very early times there existed a seminary at Rome for young people of the English nation. Its foundation is ordinarily carried back to the time of Ina. King Alfred the Great, the restorer of letters in England, found it in existence when he went to Rome in 889, but the building had just been destroyed by fire. Alfred rebuilt it under the name of Collegium Saxonicum. This seminary is now the ENGLISH COLLEGE.'

The next account would provoke discussion had we space or leisure for it. It relates to Denmark, and the efforts of the 'pious King Harald' to diffuse christianity there. Thence the author passes to the theological schools of Germany and England in the sixth century. We must allow ourselves an extract on this subject, which we do the more willingly, because it is treated with more regard to the laws of historical narrative than almost any other in the work, and because our previous extracts have been chiefly descriptive.

The theological schools of Germany and England maintained during the sixth century the lustre of their renown. St. Adalbert, archbishop of Prague, had prosecuted his studies in the seminary at Magdeburg; while Pepin, bishop of Wurzburg, carried his improvements so far as to obtain professors from Rome. That of the convent of Schoenau was particularly famous as a nursery for the German clergy. St. Wolfgang, bishop of Ratisbon, was educated there. The famous episcopal seminary at Münster produced St. Ethelwald, who was bishop of this city, and Oswald, archbishop of York. The archiepiscopal seminary at Canterbury still enjoyed the reputation which Theodore the Grecian had obtained for it. The Archbishop, St. Odo, president of this institution, was so versed in the Greek and Latin languages, that in his leisure moments he composed hymns in them. He wrote prose with much ease in both languages. To form a just idea of the knowledge of the English clergy, it is sufficient to know that many able men of this country distinguished themselves as professors in celebrated schools, as, for instance, that of Fleury-sur-Loire. St. Cadroc, an Irishman by birth, and one of the most learned men of his age, travelling for the sake of further