roup of three subjects--Grammar, Rhetoric, and
Logic--constituted what was known as the _seven liberal arts_; but, in
the darkest ages, the quadrivium was almost lost sight of, and few went
beyond the trivium.

EVE OF THE UNIVERSITY.

In the 7th century, the era of deepest intellectual gloom, philosophy
was at an entire stand-still. Light arises with the 8th, when we are
introduced to the Cathedral and Cloister Schools of Charlemagne; and the
9th saw these schools fully established, and an educational reform
completed that was to be productive of lasting good results. But the
range of instruction was still narrow, scarcely proceeding beyond the
Old Logic, and the teachers were, as formerly, the Monks. The 11th
century is really the period of dawn. The East was now opened up through
the Crusades, and there was frequent intercourse with the learned
Saracens of Spain; and thus there were brought into the West the whole
of Aristotle's works, with Arabic commentaries, chiefly in Latin
translations. The effervescence was prodigious and alarming. The schools
were reinforced by a higher class of teachers, Lay as well as Clerical;
a marked advance was made in Logic and Dialectic; and the great
controversy of Realism _versus_ Nominalism, which had found its birth in
the previous century, raged with extraordinary vigour. We are now on the
eve of the founding of the Universities; Bologna, indeed, being already
in existence.

[TWO CLASSES OF MEDIEVAL CHURCHMEN.]

SEPARATION OF PHILOSOPHY FROM THEOLOGY.

The University proper, however, can hardly be dated earlier than the
12th century; and the important particulars in its first constitution
are these:--First, the separation of Philosophy from Theology. To
expound this, would be to give a chapter of mediaeval history. Suffice
it to say that Aristotle and the awakening intellect of the 11th century
were the main causes of it. Two classes of minds at this time divided
the Church--the pious, devout believers (such as St. Bernard), who
needed no reasons for their faith, and the polemic speculative divines
(such as Abaelard), who wished to make Theology rational. It was an age,
too, of stirring political events; the crusading spirit was abroad, and
found a certain gratification even in the war of words. The nature of
Universals was eagerly debated; but when this controversy came into
collision with such leading theological doctrines as the Trinity and
Predestination, it was no long