220 



Proceedings of the Royal Iriah Acade)iiy. 



Conf. § 51. caper ent for caper et. So Denis. 



Conf. § 57. scrutatur ior scrutator'^, scrutahor O'F^^. So Denis. 

 Conf. § 58. coyitingat for contingunt. So Ware. 

 Conf. § 58. ins. me bef. testem. So Denis [me]. 

 Ep. § 11. ins. dedit bef. in corde. So Denis [dedit]. 



ITote tbat of the eight emendations adopted from Boll., only three 

 are acknowledged as such by Denis. 



With the exception of the above seventeen conjectures, there is 

 nothing printed in the text that has not ms. authority of some kind. 

 The whole of the diplomatic evidence of A is presented either in the 

 text or in the foot-notes. The eccentricities of the other mss. will be 

 found in the Appendix. With these exceptions, the reading in the 

 text is in every case that of the mss. whose variations are not recorded 

 in the foot-notes. 



HiSTOEicAL Materials supplied by the Latin Writings of 

 St. Patrick. 



Those who have attempted to construct a history of St. Patrick 

 have too commonly approached the consideration of his Latin writings 

 from a wrong point of view. They have consciously or unconsciously 

 made Jocelin's twelfth-century Life their starting-point, and have in 

 consequence read into the Confession matters which are not really 

 there expressed, or even implied. 



It does not fall within the scope of this edition of the Lihri 

 S. Patricii to discuss at length the facts of St. Patrick's life, or his 

 place in the development of the Western Church. The sources of the 

 ancient Lives are at present being investigated by Professors Gwynn 

 and iJury ; and until their conclusions as to the comparative value of 

 the materials are fully known, it would be rash and uncritical for one 

 who has not studied the subject very carefully to attempt to weave 

 them into a consecutive narrative. 



iS'evertheless, the Conf essio and Epistola, which are here presented 

 to the student, are in fact the primary authorities available for a Life of 

 St. Patrick ; they form the only documentary evidence actually contem- 

 porary with the saint ; and later authorities, if they can be shown to 

 conflict with these, must be disregarded in such points of difference. 

 This being so, it lies within the province of the present editor to bring 

 together here the facts and inferences that may be gathered fi'om these 



