d abridgments 'as might amuse the
curiosity without oppressing the indolence of the public.' The Patriarch
Photius stands out as a literary hero among the commentators and critics
of the ninth century. That famous book-collector, in analysing the
contents of his library for an absent brother, became the preserver of
many of the most valuable classics. As Commander of the Guard he led the
life of a peaceful student: as Patriarch of Byzantium his turbulence rent
the fabric of Christendom, and he was 'alternately excommunicated and
absolved by the synods of the East and West.' We owe the publication of
the work called _The Myriad of Books_ to the circumstance that he was
appointed to an embassy at Bagdad. His brother wrote to remind him of
their pleasant evenings in the library when they explored the writings of
the ancients and made an analysis of their contents. Photius was about to
embark on a dangerous journey, and he was implored to leave a record of
what had been done since his brother had last taken part in the readings.
The answer of Photius was the book already mentioned: he reviews nearly
three hundred volumes of the historians and orators, the philosophers and
theologians, the travellers and the writers of romance, and with an even
facility 'abridges their narrative or doctrine and appreciates their
style and character.'

The great Imperial library which stood by St. Sophia had been destroyed
in the reign of Leo the Iconoclast in the preceding age, and in an
earlier conflagration more than half a million books are said to have
been lost from the basilica. The losses by fire were continual, but were
constantly repaired. Leo the Philosopher, who was educated under the care
of Photius, and his son and successor Constantine, were renowned as the
restorers of learning, and the great writers of antiquity were collected
again by their zeal in the square hall near the Public Treasury.

The boundaries of the realm of learning extended far beyond the limits of
the Empire, and the Arabian science was equally famous among the Moors
of Spain and in the further parts of Asia. We are told of a doctor
refusing the invitation of the Sultan of Bokhara, 'because the carriage
of his books would have required four hundred camels.' We know that the
Ommiad dynasty formed the gigantic library at Cordova, and that there
were at least seventy others in the colleges that were scattered through
the kingdom of Granada. The prospect was very