2. RHETORIC. Rhetoric, as defined by Maurus, was "the art of using secular discourse effectively in the circumstances of daily life," and enabling the preacher or missionary to put the divine message in eloquent and impressive language (R. 74 b). Much of the old Roman rhetoric had been taken over by grammar, but in its place was added a certain amount of letter and legal documentary writing. The priest, it must be remembered, became the secretary and lawyer of the Middle Ages, as well as the priest, and upon him devolved the preparation of most of the legal papers of the time, such as wills, deeds, proclamations, and other formal documents. Accordingly the art of letter-writing [7] and the preparation of legal documents were made a part of the study of rhetoric, and some study of both the civil ("worldly") and canon (church) law was gradually introduced. 3. DIALECTIC. Dialectic, or logic, says Maurus, is the science of understanding, and hence the science of sciences (R. 74 c). By means of its aid one was enabled to unmask falsehood, expose error, formulate argument, and draw conclusions accurately. The study was one of preparation for ethics and theology later on. Extracts from the works of Aristotle, prepared by Boethius, and later his complete works, constituted the texts used. While grammar was the great subject of the seven during all the early Middle Ages, dialectic later came to take its place. After the rise of the universities and the organization of schools of theology, with theology more of a rational science and less a matter of dogma, dialectic came to hold first place in importance as a preparation for the disputations of the later Middle Ages. Theological questions formed the practical exercises, and the schools doing most in dialectic attracted many students because of this. These three studies, constituting the _Trivium_, based as they were directly on the old Roman learning and schools, contained more that was within the teaching knowledge of the time than did the subjects of the _Quadrivium_, and also subject-matter which was much more in demand. II. THE QUADRIVIUM The _trivial_ studies, in most cases before the thirteenth century, sufficed to prepare for the study of theology, though those few who desired to prepare thoroughly also studied the subjects of the _quadrivium_. In schools not offering instruction in this advanced group some of the elements of its four studies were often taught from the textbooks in use for the _Trivium_. Particularly was this the case during the early Middle Ages, when the knowledge of arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy possessed by western Europe was exceedingly small. No regular order in the study of the subjects of this group was followed.