The xerces plugin no longer works, since revision 8705. This checkin removed the actual parser code from the plugin.
Interestingly enough this was no problem until you actually tried to use the plugin (by setting parser to xerces) because then it would hit an unsatisfied external reference. Apparently we never used xerces since last June.
This problem may have been the cause (or part of the cause) of bug #849 too.
Kees: assigning to you, because you probably did this checkin with a reason.
Fixed in rev.8986.