of sacrifice in the world-it was tearing his God from him."*

These two men preached against Abelard, throwing doubts upon his faith and suspicions upon his life. The abbs of Clairvaux was not, it is probable, at this period, acquainted with the enemy of faith, and champion of reason, but had heard of his adventures, and knew of his logical duels with schoolmen and ecclesiastics. It must be remembered, too, that the Valley of Wormwood and the Paraclete were not far distant from each other, so that the two abbeys may be regarded as having been rivals. It is certain that the philosopher was in fear of the saint. During the last days of his stay at the place of his retreat, he constantly expected to be dragged before a council as a heretic. Such was the state of his mind, caused by apprehension, that he even thought of seeking refuge on infidel ground, among the enemies of Christ.†

About the year 1125, the abbey of Saint Gildas lost its head, and, after the consent of the abbé and monks of Saint Denis had been obtained, the vacant post was offered to Abelard. He accepted the offer, comparing himself, in escaping from the enmity of France, to St. Jerome, fleeing from the injustice of Rome.

* Michelet.

Ep. Ab. p. 96. Ep. Ab. p. 102.-Inter inimicos Christi Christianè vivere.

Saint Gildas* was in Brittany, situated on the summit of a promontory, overlooking the ocean, whose waves broke mournfully on the rocks beneath. The eloquent professor, the learned philosopher, the accomplished lover, who was withal a poet and a charming singer, went among an irregular, disorderly, violent, ferocious tribe of monks and savages, who could understand nothing, who knew not how to obey. Abelard became the subject of a tyrannical king, and the head of an abbey that had allowed itself to be despoiled to purchase venality for its misconduct. Surrounded by barbarians, he was powerless. No wonder that he became melancholy, and poured out his sadness in songs as plaintive as the wild winds that howled around his habitation.†

* Vie D'Abelard, p. 120.

Six of these elegiac songs, Oda flebiles, in which the author breathes out his own sorrows under the transparent veil of biblical fictions, have been found in the library of the Vatican at Rome.

XXIII.

HELOISE AGAIN.-THE MONODRAMA CONTINUES.

"Ah, think at least thy flock deserves thy care,
Plants of thy hand, and children of thy prayer.
From the false world in early youth they fled,
By thee to mountains, wilds, and deserts led.
You raised these hallowed walls; the desert smiled,
And Paradise was opened in the Wild.
No weeping orphan saw his father's stores
Our shrines irradiate, or emblaze the floors;
No silver saints, by dying misers giv'n,
Here bribed the rage of ill-requited heav'n;
But such plain roofs as Piety could raise,
And only vocal with the Maker's praise."

POPE'S "Eloisa to Abelard."

In the mean time, Heloise, it would seem, had been almost forgotten by her wandering spouse. We have found no mention of her name, in tracing his life thus far, since he entered the abbey of St. Denis. Her memory, however, may have been buried in his heart during these years of persecution and sorrow, and cherished there in faithfulness and silence.

At the convent of Argenteuil, the character and energy of Heloise soon placed her in the highest

rank. She was made prioress, and the church spoke of her with respect. But she was not destined to remain there a long time in quiet possession of her authority, and in the enjoyment of her honors.

It was found, by an examination of the ancient charters, that the monks of St. Denis could lay claim to Argenteuil. The history of these charters it is not necessary to trace. The legal right was with the monks, and, in order to make sure the claim, the abbé of St. Dennis accused the nuns of Argenteuil of grave irregularities. At his instance, a bull was obtained, in 1127, by which the nuns were dispossessed. The next year they were violently ejected. Some of the sisterhood entered the abbey of NotreDame-des-Bois, on the banks of the Marne; others, among whom was Heloise, sought, here and there, an asylum.*

News of this reached Abelard at St. Gildas. Already, in the midst of his sorrows, had he felt remorse for leaving the Paraclete,- for abandoning his followers, for deserting his last friends. Immediately on receiving information that the prioress of Argenteuil was wandering in search of a religious home, he returned to the country of Champagne, and invited her to occupy his abandoned oratory. The invitation was accepted, and to Heloise and her com

* Vie d'Abelard, p. 126.

panions he made a perpetual and irrevocable cession of all the property belonging to the deserted Paraclete. This donation was approved by the bishop of Troyes, in whose diocese the abbey was located; less than two years afterwards, was approved by the pope, and declared inviolable under penalty of excommunication.

This approval was given by the new pope, Innocent II., the successful rival of Anaclete. When the two were elected to fill the papal chair, Innocent, not finding sufficient support in Italy, found it necessary to seek an asylum in France. He disembarked with his cardinals at the port of St. Gildas, and was supported by Abelard, as well as by St. Bernard. When he was firmly seated on the papal throne, he did not forget one of the most distinguished abbés of France, who had been his friend in the hour of need, and granted every thing that was requested, in regard to transferring the abbey of Paraclete to Heloise and her followers.

Heloise was twenty-nine years of age when she took possession of that celebrated institution. Her title, at first, was that of prioress, but a bull, bearing the date of 1136, designated her as abbess.

At first, the abbess and her sisters had to endure many privations, but their resources were soon aug.

* Vie d'Abelard, p. 128.