But, supposing that the monk historian had the instincts and powers of a chronicler, he could not, as a monk, have either the experience or the Opportunities of a free agent. He could not follow the court or camp, he could get only second-hand news, he could not give the exact dates of public events, nor adjudge to the de tails the relative importance and proportion which they possessed in the eyes of witnesses. His work had a value of another sort.