"A new world opened on my sight as I read the earliest master of the Alexandrian Catechetical School--the teacher of Origen. What treasures lie hid in these three works, the _Exhortatio ad Graecos_, the _Paedagogus_, and the _Stromata_! _The Exhortatio ad Graecos_ is a masterpiece of Christian controversy against Paganism, considered in its popular mythology, its poetry, and its philosophy. The _Paedagogus_, written for catechumens, sets before them a magnificent portrait of the true and only Master--the eternal Word of the Father--who has created man to His own image; who alone can provide a fitting remedy for fallen and guilty humanity; who, though man had become of the earth, earthly, yet enables him to attain to his heavenly destiny; who, in fine, confides him to the maternal yet virginal love of the Church. Then came the eight books of the _Stromata_, an unpretending mosaic, in which the loftiest problems of philosophy and theology are treated with great learning and rare penetration. These three works were, without doubt, connected together in the author's mind. The idea of the Word is the central point of Clement's entire demonstration; and in that idea we must seek the essential unity of his system. It is the Word which tenderly invites man; which instructs him; which guides him to his end by leading him to see the things of God in their profundity; and thus the idea of the Word embraces in one same circle all philosophy, dogmatic as well as moral" (pp. 85, 88). The monograph on Clement of Alexandria was prefaced by prolegomena, containing a sketch of Clement's life, an analysis of his doctrine, and an inquiry into the historical sources of his doctrine on the Word. For this the author had to examine the relation in which Clement stood in philosophy and theology towards classical antiquity, Alexandrine Judaeism, the Apostolic Fathers, and the first Christian apologists. The subject proper of the essay was divided into two parts: the first treated of the relations of the Word with God; the second considered the Word as the Revealer. The work was well received by the faculty of theology, and its author was declared the successful candidate, 31st of October, 1854. By the advice of Winer and others, and by the kindness of Tischendorf, it was published in March, 1855. Wachsmuth, dean of the faculty of philosophy, advised M. Laemmer to stand his examination for the doctorship in philosophy, and backed his advice by the offer of a burse to enable him to meet the expenses. The young student obtained this degree after having presented a dissertation on the religious philosophy of Clement of Alexandria, and having passed a successful examination.