Gisla and Rotruda sent him a delightfully affectionate and bright letter in reply. They liken Alcuin to Jerome sending the Scriptures from his cave in Bethlehem to Rome; and in begging him to send the rest of the commentary on St. John they remind him that the shallow Loire is crossed with less danger than the Tuscan Sea, and that a messenger gets more easily from Tours to Paris than from Bethlehem to Rome. It is certain from the dedicatory verses of Alcuin’s which have been preserved, that at least four complete copies of the whole Bible had been corrected by him or under his direction, and sent to the emperor. Of these, not one is known to be still in existence. Of one of them Alcuin makes definite mention in the following letter:— [Sidenote: Ep. 205. A.D. 801-3.] “To the most desired and entirely loveable David the king Albinus wishes present prosperity and eternal beatitude in Christ. “I have long deliberated upon the question what could the devotion of my mind think of as worthy to be given towards the splendour of your imperial power and the increase of your most rich treasury. I feared lest the poor intelligence of my mind should remain torpid in empty idleness, while others were offering various rich gifts, and the messenger of my littleness should come before the presence of your beatitude with empty hands. I have at length, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, found something which it is fitting that I should send and it may be agreeable to your prudence to receive. “In the most sacred solicitude of your piety it is clear beyond doubt what the Holy Spirit works through you for the safety of the whole Church, and how earnestly all faithful people should pray that your empire be extended to full glory, and be loved at home by all God’s people, and terrible abroad to all the enemies of His Son. To my questioning and desiring mind, nothing seemed more worthy of your most peace-giving honour than a present of the divine books, which by the dictation of the Holy Spirit and the ministration of Christ God have been written by the pen of divine grace for the salvation of the whole race of man. These, brought together into the sanctity of one most clear body, and diligently emended, I have sent to your most lofty authority by this dearest son of ours and faithful servant of yours, that with full hands he may with most joyous service stand before your dignity. He has been ill for a long time, but now that by God’s mercy he has to some extent recovered, he has with the greatest satisfaction hastened to approach your piety.