translated, 'A and B.' This circumstance has also been much commented
upon, but without our arriving at any very definite result. All that
can be said is, that Cassiodorus must have formed his collection of
State-papers either from rough drafts in his own possession, or from
copies preserved in the public archives, and that, from whichsoever
source he drew, the names in that source had not been preserved: a
striking comment on the rhetorical unbusinesslike character of the
Royal and Imperial Chanceries of that day, in which words were deemed
of more importance than things, and the flowers of speech which were
showered upon the performer of some piece of public business were
preserved, while the name of the performer was forgotten.

[Sidenote: Treatise 'De Anima.']

As soon as he had finished the collection of the 'Variae,' the
Praefect--again in obedience to the entreaties of his
friends--composed a short philosophic treatise on the Nature of the
Soul ('De Anima'). As he said, it seems an absurd thing to treat as a
stranger and an unknown quantity the very centre of our being; to seek
to understand the height of the air, the extent of the earth, the
causes of storms and earthquakes, and the nature of the wandering
winds, and yet to leave the faculty, by which we grasp all this
knowledge, itself uncomprehended[72]. He therefore sets himself to
enquire, in twelve chapters:

[Footnote 72: 'Cum jam suscepti operis optato fine gauderem, meque
duodecim voluminibus jactatum quietis portus exciperet, ubi etsi non
laudatus, certe liberatus adveneram, amicorum me suave collegium in
salum rursus cogitationis expressit, postulans ut aliqua quae tam in
libris sacris, quam in saecularibus abstrusa compereram de animae
substantia, vel de ejus virtutibus aperirem, cui datum est tam
ingentium rerum secreta reserare: addens nimis ineptum esse si eam per
quam plura cognoscimus, quasi a nobis alienam ignorare patiamur, dum
ad anima sit utile nosse qua sapimus' (De Anima, Praefatio).]

1. Why the Soul is called Anima?

2. What is the definition of the Soul?

3. What is its substantial quality?

4. If it is to be believed to have any shape?

5. What moral virtues it has which contribute to its glory and its
adornment?

6. What are its natural virtues [or powers], given to enable it to
hold together the framework of the body?

7. Concerning the origin of the Soul.

8. What is its especial seat, since it appears to be in a certai