in his own defence, we have seen him on his escape from the coffin, upon the point of being shaken, and bruised into a jelly, we shall not therefore leave him without subjection for meditation; nor devoid of eause for gratitude, that his fate was not worse than it proved.

ABELARD AND ELOISA.

ABELARD, SO famous for his writings and amours with Eloisa, ranks among the Heretics for opinions concerning the Trinity! His superior genius probably makes him appear so culpable in the eyes of his enemies. The cabal formed against him disturbed the earlier part of his life with a thousand persecutions, till at length they persuaded Bernard, his old friend, but who had now turned saint, that poor Abelard was what their malice described him to be. Bernard, enflamed against him, condemned unheard the unfortunate scholar. But it is remarkable that the book which was burnt as unorthodox, and as the composition of Abelard, was, in fact, written by Peter Lombard, bishop of Paris: a work which has since been canonized in the Sorbonne, and on which is founded the scholastic theology. The objectionable passage is an illustration of the Trinity by the nature of a syllogism!

"As," (says he) the three propositions of a syllogism form but one truth, so the Father and Son constitute but one essence.-The major represents the Father, the minor the Son; and the conclusion the Holy Ghost!" It is curious to add, that Bernard himself has explained this mystical union precisely in the same manner, and equally clear. The understanding, (says this saint) is the image of God. We find it consists of three parts: Memory, intelligence, and will. To memory we attribute all which we know, without cogitation; to intelligence, all truths we discover which have not been deposited by memory. By memory we resemble the Father; by intelligence the Son; and by will the Holy Ghost. "Bernards Lib. de Anima, cap. 1. num. 6, quoted in the Mem. Secretes de la Republique des Lettres." We may add, also, that because Abelard, in the warmth of honest indignation, had reproved the monks of St. Denis, in France; and St. Gildas de Ruys in Bretagne, for the horrid incontinence of their lives, they joined his enemies, and assisted to embitter the life of this ingenious sholar; who perhaps was guilty of no other crime than that of feeling too sensibly an attachment to one, who not only possessed the enchanting attractions of the softer sex, but what indeed is very unusual, a congeniality of disposition, and an enthusiasm of imagination.

"Is it in Heaven a crime to love too well?" It appears by a letter of Peter de Arny to Eloisa, that she had solicited for Abelard's absolution. This

abbot gave it to her; it runs thus: "Ego Petrus cluniacencis Abbat, qui Petrum Abælardum in monachum cluniasensum recepi, et corpus ejus furtim delatum. Heloissa abbatissæ et monialio Paracleti concessi, auctoritate omnipotentis Dei, et omnium sanctorum absolvo, eum pro officio ab omnibus peccatis suis."

In an antient chronicle of Tours it is given as a fact; that when they deposited the body of the abbess Eloisa in the tomb of her lover Peter Abelard, who had been there interred twenty years, this faithful husband raised his arms, stretched them, and closely embraced his beloved Eloisa*.

This poetic fiction was invented to sanctify, by a miracle, the frailties of their youthful days. This is not wonderful but it is strange that Duchesne, the father of French history, relates this anecdote. And though it is only a wild fiction of the ancient chro-` niclers, he not only gives it as an incident well authenticated, but also maintains its possibility by various other examples: a poetical use has frequently been made of these fanciful incidents.

Bayle tells us that billets doux and amorous verses, are two powerful machines to employ in the assaults of love; particularly when the passionate songs the poetical lover composes, are sung by himself. This secret was well known to the elegant Abelard. Abelard so touched the sensible heart of Eloisa, and in

*An account of the monument by Kotzebue, will be found in our last volume.

fused such fire into her frame, by employing his fine pen, and his fine voice, that the poor woman never recovered from the attack. She herself informs us, that he displayed two qualities which are rarely found in philosophers, and by which he could instantly win the affections of the female ;-he wrote and sung finely. He composed love verses so beautiful, and songs so agreeable, as well for the words as the airs, that all the world got them by heart, and the name of his mistress was spread from province to province.

What a gratification to the enthusiastic, the amorous, the vain Eloisa? in whom Lord Lyttleton, (in his curious life of Henry II.) observes, that had she not been compelled to read the Fathers and the Legends in a nunnery, but had been suffered to improve her genius by a continued application to polite literature, one may venture to say from what appears in her letters, that she would have excelled in it more than any man of that age.

Eloisa, I suspect however, would have proved-but a very indifferent divine. She seems to have had a certain delicacy in her manners which rather belong to the fine lady. One cannot but smile at an observation of her's on the Apostles, which we find in her letters. It is this, "We read that the Apostles even in the company of their master, were so rustic and ill-bred, that regardless of common decorum, as they passed through the corn-fields they plucked the ears, and ate them like children. Nor did they wash their hands before they sat down to table. To eat

with unwashed hands, said our Saviour to those who were offended, doth not defile a man.

It is on the misconception of the mild apologetical reply of Jesus, indeed, that religious fanatics have really considered that to be careless of their dress, and not to avoid filth and slovenliness, is an act of piety, just as the late political fanatics who thought that republicanism consisted in the most offensive filthiness. On this principle, that it is saintlike to go dirty, ragged, and slovenly, says Bishop Lavington, "Enthusiasm of the Methodists and Papists," vol. 1. p. 17. How piously did Whitfield take care of the outward man, who in his journal writes. " My apparel was mean-thought it unbecoming a penitent to have powdered hair-I wore woollen gloves, a patched gown, and dirty shoes !"

After an enquiry, not less cruel than humiliating, Abelard raises the school of the Paraclete; with what enthusiasm is he followed to that desert! His scholars in crowds hasten to their adored master, They cover with the branches of trees their mudsheds. They do not want to sleep under better roofs, provided they remain by the side of their unfortunate master! How lively must have been their taste for study? It formed their solitary passion, and the love, of glory was gratified in that desert.

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