I 175. HINCMAR OF EHEIMS. 757
discretion to be shown in the administration of justice [chaps. 16-28] ; (c) the duty of a king in the unsparing punishment of rebels against God, the Church and the State, even though they be near relatives [chaps. 29-33]. It was composed in a time of frequent rebellion, and therefore the king had need to exercise severity as well as gentleness in dealing with his subjects.1 Hincmar delivers himself with great plainness and gives wise counsels.
4. The vices to be shunned and the virtues to be exercised? An other treatise designed for the guidance of Charles the Bald, compiled chiefly from Gregory the Great's Homilies and Morals. Its occasion was Charles's request of Hincmar to send him Gregory the Great's letter to king Reccared, when the latter came over to Catholicism. Hincmar's treatise is a sort of ap pendix. It begins with a reference to the letter's allusion to the works of mercy, and then out of Gregory's writings Hinc mar proceeds to treat of these works and their opposite vices. In chaps. 9 and 10 Hincmar discusses the eucharist and shows his acceptance of the view of Paschasius Radbertus.
5, 6. Treatises upon rape, a common offense in those lawless days.3
7. To the noblemen of the Kingdom, for the instruction of King Carloman.* It was Hincmar's response to the highly compli mentary request of the Frankish nobles, that he draw up some instructions for the young King Carloman, on his accession in 882. It was therefore one of the last pieces the old statesman prepared.
IV. Writings upon ecclesiastical affairs. 1. The Capitularies
1 Ebert (II. 251) accordingly finds the explanation of the treatise in its third division.
* De cavendiis vitiis etvirtutibus exercendio, ibid. col. 857-930.
8 De coercendis militum rapinis, and De coercendo et ex^tirpando raptu viduarum, puellarum ac sanctimonialium, ibid. col. 953-956, 1017-1036.
* Ad proceres regni, ibid. col. 993-1008.
758 FOUKTH PEBl'oD. A. D. 590-1049.
of 852, 874, 877, 881.1 2. A defense of the liberties of the church, addressed to Charles.2 It is in three parts, called respectively Quaterniones, Rotula and Admonitio ; the first sets forth the necessity of the independence of the Church of the State, and quotes the ancient Christian Roman imperial laws on the subject. The second is on the trial of charges against the clergy as laid down in synodical decrees and papal decisions. The third is an exhortation to the king to respect ecclesiastical rights.
3. The crimination of priests, a valuable treatise upon the way in which their trials should be conducted, as shown by synodical decrees and quotations from Gregory the Great and others.3
4. The case of the presbyter Teutfrid, who had stolen Queen Imma's tunic, a golden girdle set with gems, an ivory box, and other things.4 The treatise deals with the ecclesiastico-legal aspects of the case, and shows how the criminal should be treated. Gregory the Great is freely quoted.
V. Miscellaneous. 1. Exposition of Psalm civ. 17. 5 In the Vulgate the second clause of the verse reads, " the nest of the stork is their chief." The treatise was written in answer to Louis the German's question as to the meaning of these words. He begins with a criticism of the text, in which he quotes the Septuagint rendering, the exposition of Jerome, Augustin, Prosper and Cassiodorus. The meaning he advocates is that the nest of the stork surpasses that of the little birds of which it is the chief or leader. The treatise is particularly interesting for its manner of dealing with one of the so-called Scripture difficulties.
2. The vision of Remold? This interesting little story dates from 877, the year of Charles the Bald's death. Bernold lived
1 Oapitula, ibid. col. 773-804, 1069-1086.
2 Pro ecclesics libertatum defensione ibid. col. 1035-1070.
3 De presbyteris criminosis, ibid. col. 1093-1110.
4 De causa Teutfridi presbyteri, ibid. col. 1111-1116.
5 De verbis Psalmi : Herodii domus dux est eorum, ibid. col. 957-962.
6 De visione Bernoldi presbyteri, ibid. col. 1115-1120.