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He must be acknowledged to be a strictly polemical or

controversial writer who makes the best of everything on one side

and the worst of everything on the other. He has no sympathy with

the old Roman life as Plato has with Greek life, nor has he any

idea of the ecclesiastical kingdom which was to arise out of the

ruins of the Roman empire. He is not blind to the defects of the

Christian Church, and looks forward to a time when Christian and

Pagan shall be alike brought before the judgment-seat, and the

true City of God shall appear...The work of St. Augustine is a

curious repertory of antiquarian learning and quotations, deeply

penetrated with Christian ethics, but showing little power of

reasoning, and a slender knowledge of the Greek literature and

language. He was a great genius, and a noble character, yet

hardly capable of feeling or understanding anything external to

his own theology.