of openness to conviction. He was not a mere patron
of scholars, he was their friend to whom they deferred on difficult points;[1] he liked to enter into disputation
with them, laid down theses and invited them to discuss
them without reserve. As emperor he wished to appear
a loyal son of the catholic church, but he refused to condemn opinions unless they were plainly shewn to be hostile
to it, and he was generally discreet enough to hesitate
about the proof and to hold his judgement free. The
keenness of his intelligence conspired with a natural
elasticity of temper to produce in his political action
what certainly degenerated into an habitual irresolution
and infirmity of purpose. But the vices of a statesman
are often virtues in private life, and in this view Charles’s indecision bears the character of a judicial tolerance,
a tolerance to which his continued intercourse with John the Scot is a speaking witness; although it would be
unsafe to infer from the scanty notices we have of their relation, that he shared with the philosopher more than a general sympathy with his spirit of free enquiry.
John certainly had e disciples, but they cannot have been numerous. Among near contemporaries of Auxerre, and his pupil, saint Remigius, both teachers of great repute, may be proved to have been indebted
- ↑ Heric of Auxerre's epistle dedicatory to the emperor, prefixed to his Life of saint Germanus of Auxorre, shows us, in however exaggerated terms, what contemporaries thought of Charles as a patron of learning. Part of it is well-known (cf. supra p. 22), but a larger extract will not come amiss here: Id vobis singulare studium effecistis, ut sic ubi terrarum magistri floreront artium, quarurn principalem operam philosophia pollicetur, hoc ad publicam eruditionem undecumque vestra celsitudo conduceret, comitas attraheret, dapsilitas provocaret. Luget hoc Graecia, novis invidiae aculeis lacessita, quam sui quondam incolae iam dudum cum Asianis opibus aspernantur, vestra potius magnanimitate delectati, studiis allecti, liberalitate confisi: dolet, inquam, se olim singulariter mira- bilem ac mirabiliter singularem a suis destitui: dolet certe sua ilia privilegia (quod numquam hactenus verita est) ad climata nostra transferri. Quid Hiberniam memorem, contempto pelagi discrimine, pene totam cum grege philosophorum ad littora nostra migrantem? Quorum quisquis peritior est ultro sibi indicit exilium; ut Salomon! sapientissimo famuletur ad votum : Actt. SS. mens. lul. 7. 221 F sq., Antwerp 1731 folio. An admirable characterisation of the emperor is given by Noorden, Hinkmar 116 sqq.
