[[Greek: Treis] is the common reading of the LXX. as [Hebrew:
arbaiym] of the Hebrew. We know of no variants. J. H. Michaelis'
account of the matter is, "Perperam vero LXX. hunc
_quadragenarium_ dierum numerum in _triduanum_ commutarunt."]
_The Empress Helena._--Most readers of general history are aware that
the parentage of the renowned mother of the still more renowned
Constantine has been claimed for two widely different sources,--a
British king on the one hand, and an innkeeper of Bithynia on the other.
In favour of the former, we have Geoffrey of Monmouth, Carte the English
historian, and modern Welsh authors; for the latter, Gibbon and his
authorities. The object of the present Query is threefold: 1. Will some
one having access to Geoffrey be kind enough to favour me (in the
original or a translation) with the exact statement of the chronicler to
which Gibbon refers? 2. Are writers of intelligence and credit quite
agreed that the tradition which assigns to the wife of Constantius a
royal British parentage was "invented in the darkness of monasteries?"
3. Where is the question--one of interest in many ways--fully and
satisfactorily discussed?