PREFACE. IX receive some supplem entary lig h t from h is letters. The sub­ jects of h is more elaborate ■writings are here handled in an easier,manner; and their sources, m otives, and origin are dis­ closed. D ifficulties w hich his published works had occasioned are here removed, new illustrations are noted, further develop­ m ents and^ fresh com plications o f heresy are alluded to, and the whole theological movement of the tim e is here reflected in a 'vi'vid and interesting shape. N o controversy o f h is age was settled -without his voice, and , it is in h is letters we chiefly see the vastness of his empire, -the variety of subjects on w hich appeal was' made to him , and the deference w ith which his judgm ent was received. Inquiring philosophers, puzzled statesm en, angry heretics, pious ladies, a ll found their w ay ,to the, Bishop_ of Hippo. . And w hile he continually com­ plains o f w ant of leisure, of . the m ultifarious business o f his episcopate, o f the unwarranted demands made upon him, he y et carefully answers all. Sometimes he "writes w ith the courier who , is to carry h is letter im patiently chafing outside the door ; som etim es a prom ptly written reply is carried round the whole known world by some faithless messenger before it reaches his ' anxious correspondent; h u t,. am idst difficulties im thought o f under a postal system , his indefatigable diligence succeeds in diffusing intelligence and counsel to the most distant inquirers. In the present volum e w e have, as usual, followed the Benedictine edition. Among th e m any labours which the Benedictine Fathers encountered in editing the works of Augustine, they undertook the onerous task of rearranging the E pistles in chronological order. The manner in w hich th is task has been executed is em inently characteristic of their unostentatious patience and skiU. Their order has been uni­ versally adopted; it is to th is order that reference is made ■when any writer cites a letter o f Augustine’s ; and therefore it m atters .less whether in each case the date assigned by the