Sir,--When reading Hallam's _History of the Middle Ages_ a short time
ago I was startled by the following passage which occurs amongst other
evidences of the ignorance of the clergy during the period subsequent to
the dissolution of the Roman Empire.
"Not one priest in a thousand in Spain about the age of
Charlemagne, could address a common letter of salutation to
another."--_Hallam's Middle Ages_, vol. iii. p. 332.
And for this statement he refers to Mabillon, _De Re Diplomatica_, p.
52.