Fraffce to Charles the Great, and afterwards fent for Books 
out of Egherfs Library, as may be gathered from William of 
Malmeshur}\ he introduced chat fine way of Writing, which 
immediately took place with all but the Publick Notaries. 
Mahiikn owns the thing in efleft, tho' he diflembles the Qii- 
gmA: Prima Jiirpe extinBa, Carolus M. Liter as expolire c^epit^ 
aut certe jam tantijper expolitum Scripture genm a Merovin- 
ginco in elegant ior em formam commutavit^ qu^ in eandem for- 
mam evafit, qus hatienus mimtlKom^ni Character is nomen re- 
tinet. (Lib. I. Gap, 1 1. num. lo) And if this Change was not 
wrought in a moment, becaufe the Tranfcribers us'd to the 
old Merovingian hand conformed it to the new,as much as they 
could, yet that wore off by degrees: fo Mahillon^ qua^ [Caro- 
Una Scriptura\ principio nonnihil Merovingici CharaBeris ha- 
lehat intermifium ; at fuhtnde politior effeUa^ in eandem for- 
mam , ^z. MaliUon acknowledges, that introduced 
the modern Puhftuation into the French MSS. and Records, 
which he learned from the <5i7Xi>;^j, particularly [%;] for a full 
Period, as is manifeft to all that fhall look into the Saxon MSS, 
or printed Books in imitation of them. 
Befides, all our Latin MSS. in England, 'till fome time af- 
ter the Conqueft, were writ in the Saxon Charadter. So 
Archbifhop Varker publiflied Afferius Menevenfis : and there 
are feveral Latin MSS. ia the Univerfity-Library of Cambridge^ 
written in the Saxon Charafter. And it is no wonder that 
thofe Letters which expreded Sounds not ufed in the Roman 
Tongue, fliould be left out by the /y^^^^c/; Tranfcribers, who at 
the fame time might ufe Saxon Copies : fo that it is not ftrange 
VojfiHS fliould be miftaken, when he thought fl and D were 
from the Greek £i and 0, who did not confider them to be 
both Runic Letters^ which were introduced upon a particular 
occafion, by Chilpert:, who took them from the Vifigoths in 
Spfin, d^s Wormius {de Liter atura Runica) has probably pro- 
ved from Gregorins Turonenfis and a Conftitution of the fame 
Chilperic printed in Goldaftus : yet I will not deny but Theo- 
dore y or fome other of thofe Greeks, who in that Age had fo 
Z z X great 
