During a schism, which happened in the Church of Rome, the authority of Bernard determined both Lewis VI. king of France, and Henry I. king of England, to support the claims of Innocent II, This is one instance, among many, of his influence, which was employed in various negotiations, for the good of the Church, as he thought; but of which the detail is very foreign to the views of this history. That which eminently marked the character of Bernard, amidst the profusion of honours heaped on his character throughout Europe, was his undissembled humility. Though no potentate, whether civil or ecclesiastical, possessed such real power as he did in the Christian world, and though he was the highest in the judgment of all men, he was nevertheless, in his own estimation, the lowest. He said, and he felt what he said; namely, that he had neither the will nor the power to perform the services, for which he was so much extolled, but was wholly indebted to the influence of divine grace. At intervals, from the employments of ecclesiastical affairs, he meditated on the subject of the Book of Canticles. The love of Christ toward his Church, his great condescension towards it, though sullied and dishonoured by sin, the reciprocal affection also of the Church toward the divine Saviour, the prelibations of his love afforded toward her, varied however with anxieties and interruptions, these subjects engaged his attention, and he wrote on them in that manner which experience only can dictate*. Another writer of Bernard's life tells us, of the excellent dignitaries of the Church, who had received their education in the monastery of Clairval. But as I know nothing of any of them, except one, it must suffice to mention him, pope Eugenius III. Life of Bernard, 1123. +1127. Life of Bernard, by Ernald, CENT. XII. I. CHAP. From a monk, he rose to that height of ecclesiastical dignity; and he still practised the austerities of the convent, so far as his exalted station admitted; and we have yet extant five books, addressed to him by Bernard, written with that air of genuine piety and sincerity, which showed that the abbot was no respecter of persons. The pope himself was irreproachable in his manners, continued to reverence the abbot, was zealous toward God, and appears to have far excelled the generality of popes. For the worst thing that can be said of Eugenius was, that he seems to have had no scruples in accepting the popedom. But it is not for man to say, how great a quantity of ignorance and superstition is compatible with the existence of genuine Engenius piety. Eugenius was raised to the pontificate in comes pope, the year 1145, and governed nine years in a state A. D. of splendid misery. For feuds and factions con1145. vulsed his government; and he was obliged to fly from Rome into France, to avoid the fury of his enemies. It was probably a blessing in the disguise of afflictions, that he was never allowed to taste the sweets of power and grandeur. III. be Theobald, count of Blois, elder brother to Stephen king of England, was also much guided by the counsels of Bernard, and he was surely a very extraordinary character. Though a powerful prince, he lived in abstemiousness, simplicity, and plainness. Nothing indecent was permitted to be said or done in his presence. His care and munificence in relieving the afflicted was wonderful: in a famine he opened his store-houses to the poor: his life in short, was devoted to the service of mankind; and I hope it was true what Ernald tells, that he laid up treasures above. But we must be content with details of external things from a writer, who gives no account of the inward vital godliness of his heroes. Theobald also had his share of afflictions, * Life of Bernard, by Ernald, 1129. though the account of their nature, and of his relief CENT. from them at last, is beyond measure obscure. The talents of Bernard in preaching, were, doubtless, of the first order. He possessed that variety of gifts which fitted him either to address the great or the vulgar. He knew how to improve conversation to salutary purposes, and to overrule the frivolous trifling of a company by introducing something serious, which yet was of an inviting and an agreeable nature. At the command of the pope, and at the request of other bishops, he was wont to preach in various places; and the impressions left on the congregations, who crowded from all parts to hear him, demonstrated the powers of his eloquence*. The Crusade of Lewis VII. called the younger, was supported by the eloquent voice of Bernard, who unhappily prevailed to draw numbers to join that monarch in his absurd expedition, which was in its consequences, pregnant with misery and ruin t If we had no other apologies for Bernard, than those very absurd ones suggested by Gaufrid, it must be confessed, he would be totally inexcusable. But in the review of his works, we shall have occasion to hear the abbot speak for himself. XII. CHA P. II. BERNARD'S DEFENCE OF EVANGELICAL TRUTH born, A. D. THE merits of the controversy between these two Peter great men, can scarce be appreciated, without Abelard some previous review of the life and transactions of the latter. Peter Abelard was born in Britanny, in the year 1079. He was, doubtless a man of + Id. 1137. Berington's history of this * Life of Bernard, by Gaufrid. I have been obliged to Mr. man, for the arrangement of certain facts and circumstances. 1079. II. CHAP. genius, industry, and learning. In early life, he was put under the tuition of Roscelin, an acute logician, already mentioned, who, incorporating his philosophical subtilties with Christian ideas, departed from the simplicity of the faith, and, toward the close of the foregoing century, was condemned for tritheism. Abelard needed not the instructions of such a master, in order to learn the arts of self-sufficiency. Confident and presumptuous by nature, elated with applause, and far too haughty to submit to the simple truth, as it is revealed in Scripture, he was, from the moment that he applied himself to the study of the sacred writings, ardently disposed to embrace heretical singularities. After he had appeared in a very splendid light in the schools of philosophy, and had been equally distinguished by his acuteness and by his contentious spirit, he attended the lectures of* Anselm in divinity. What sort of lectures they were, we are not told, but I have not the worse opinion of them from the supercilious contempt with which Abelard spake of them. He himself had given very little attention to the sacred books, and yet very speedily decided against his teacher, pronounced him void of reason and common sense, and declared, that, with the assistance of an easy expositor, the Scriptures were perfectly intelligible to any one, who had the smallest pretensions to literature. "Are you equal to the work of expounding the Scriptures?" said his companions. "I am ready," said he: " choose any book, which you please, from the Old or New Testament, and allow me a single commentator." I scarce need to say, that I am constrained to differ, toto cœlo, from him in sentiments. Nor is it possible, that it should be otherwise, where two persons have scarce one common principle of theology in which they agree. * This person must not be confounded with the famous archbishop of Canterbury of that name. They instantly fixed on the most difficult of all the prophets, Ezekiel. He studied that night, and next morning declared, that he was prepared to expound the prophet: "for it is not by leisure," said he, "but by energy of genius, that I undertake to master the sciences." He exhibited himself in public, lectured repeatedly on Ezekiel, and was admired by his ignorant auditories. Hitherto every thing seems to be a modern scene. The same juvenile confidence, supported by the same ignorance of themselves, and the same depraved nature, has formed many Socinian and Pelagian preachers and writers in our times, who, between the age of twenty and thirty, have despised the wisdom of antiquity, and the authority of men inost justly renowned for good sense, learning, and holi ness, and have committed themselves to the direction of plausible and presumptuous innovators, who are often sufficiently artful in beguiling the unwary. One of their most successful devices is, they pretend to teach young students of divinity how to think for themselves. It is remarkable, however, that we very seldom find any of those, who have gone to visit the sick lion, to return from his den. A self-confident spirit naturally leads the mind into opinions the most daringly subversive of the Gospel, as well as into a course of life the most opposite to its precepts. And when a man has begun to despise the influence of the Holy Spirit, he is awfully left at large to his own dark designs, and to the crafts of the prince of darkness. The connection between doctrines and practice is close and exact. He, who thought highly of himself, was easily disposed to think meanly of divine grace; and the best uses of the story of this miserable man are these, to teach youth to be modest, and to inform mankind, whether young or old, that the Scriptures should ever be studied with reverence, humility, and prayer, 341 CENT. XII. |