V.

TO PARIS.-PARIS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY.

In the year 1100, or not far from that, Abelard journeyed to Paris. Where were the crusaders ? Most of them had arrived at a better Jerusalem than the old, we hope. Loyal to his mission, Abelard did not trouble himself about the work of others. His pilgrimage was after free thought. Reason was then buried, and the armed soldiers of Mother Church were keeping watch at her grave. He who would make a pilgrimage thither, was compelled to insult the divinity that he would worship. Reason, however, was only sleeping in the sepulchre, was waiting for a resurrection—was waiting to reappear, in the white robes of Christianity, restored to its original nobility through the power of the redemption. O lion-hearted Breton youth! I fear thou hast undertaken a dangerous pilgrimage, for thou wilt encounter worse than Saracen foes,-thy own passions and the darkness of thy times! Persevere nevertheless; a sight of the shrine which

thou seekest shall bless thine eyes, but its capture shall be the work of a braver than Godfrey of Bouillon, of a heroic Teuton, who shall gather up in his own experience the whole antecedent history of the world, who shall fear neither Duke George, the Council at Worms, nor pope Leo X.,-neither men nor devils; who shall obey God alone and emancipate the soul!

Abelard was little more than twenty years* of age when he arrived in Paris. Although he was so young he was still a veteran in controversial experience and dialectic skill. Paris was then the centre of letters and arts, for northern and western Europe. The ardent young logical knight-errant was attracted by the city which contained the most celebrated schools, and was the home of the most distinguished professors of philosophy.

As every one who has visited Paris knows, and as any one who will open a map of it may see, there is an island in the Seine, at the centre, which is called Cité. When Abelard first visited Paris, it did not extend beyond this island. It was joined to the right bank of the river by the grand-pont (great bridge), and to the left bank by the petit-pont (small-bridge). Upon this famous island was then concentrated all

* Vie d'Abelard, p. 8.

Among the Documents ined. sur l'hist. de France, see Paris sous Philippe le Bel. Vie d'Ab., pp. 40-44.

that was greatest and best in the kingdom. It was the seat of royalty, of the church, of the administration of justice, and of instruction. On the left bank of the river arose the hill whose summit was crowned with the abbey of Sainte-Genevieve. On the right bank, between the ancient churches of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois and Saint-Gervais, was the quarter where foreign merchants dwelt. Here and there upon the neighboring plains, were springing up establishments of piety or learning, destined to great renown. The abbey of Saint-Germain-des-pres, on the west, perpetuated the memory of that bishop of Paris whose fame rivalled that of Saint-Germain-d'Auxerre. Down the left bank of the Seine, in the neighborhood of this abbey, where the school of Fine Arts and the University now stand, not far above the present site of the Palais Bourbon, was the playground of the scholars and clerks ; thither they repaired, to engage in those exercises and rude sports that were fitted for the robust nature of the men of the times !*

Towards the lower end of the island, was the palace of the early French kings. On the end of the island, between the palace and the river, was the gar den of the palace. It was not much like the modern gardens of Paris. It was a place planted with trees, which was opened on certain days as a public prome

*Hist. Univ. Paris, t. II., p. 750, et seq.

nade. In front of the palace was the ancient church of Notre-Dame,—an imposing structure, although very inferior to the immense church which has succeeded it. When one would speak a word about Notre-Dame he remembers Victor Hugo's romance, and remains silent. "There is one," says Michelet, "who has laid such a lion's paw on this monument as to deter all others from touching it; henceforward, it is his, his fief, the entailed estate of Quasimodo-by the side of the ancient cathedral he has reared another cathedral of poetry as firm as its foundations, as lofty as its towers."*

Where the Garden of the Tuileries, the Champs Elysées, and the Avenue de Neuilly leading out to the Arc de Triomphe, now are, there was an unbroken marsh 750 years ago, at the beginning of the twelfth century. Every thing changes; the earth is metamorphosed under the busy hands of man. At the period of which we are speaking Paris is small, still she is the cherished capital of the nation. Abelard comes up from the forests and the villages of Brittany, and gazes upon her for the first time with wonder and delight. His blood flows faster, and his ambition is inflamed How many sons of genius shall follow him-to fame and misery! Dear, deceptive, gay, graceful

anew.

Paris.

See the third book of Victor Hugo's Notre-Dame de

city! thou shalt increase in wisdom and beauty, in strength and sin; thou shalt invite the lovers of pleasure from the ends of the earth, to enjoy thy charms; thou shalt drink the wine of poesy and wit, and eat the food of learning, and take the lead in the world's civilization; thy night revels shall be revolutions, and thy fair bosom more than once shall be drenched with the blood of heroes contending for thy smile; thou wilt banish thine own children and nourish those that come unto thee from afar; thou shalt be the loved and the envied among the capitals of the nations; but the rose of innocence thou wilt not wear upon thy ravishing breast; thy queenly face shall fade, thou shalt at length sleep with thy elder sisters, with Nineveh, Athens and Rome; the hand of retribution shall touch thee, and through long years of mourning thou shalt decay; the eyes of strangers shall gaze upon thy ruins, and foreign feet shall tread carelessly upon thy dust!