The
editors are compelled to keep constantly in view the wider field.
editors are compelled to keep constantly in view the wider field.
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THE CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY AT WASHINGTON, D. C.
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IN
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THE COMESSIONAL LIBRARY AT WASHA
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LIBRARY
OF THE
WORLD'S BEST LITERATURE
Ancient and Modern
CHARLES DUDLEYWARNER
EDITOR
HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE, LUCIA GILBERT RUNKLE,
GEORGE H. WARNER
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
THIRTY VOLUMES
VOL. I
NEW YORK
R. S. PEALE AND J. A. HILL
PUBLISHERS
1.
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COPYRIGHT 1896
BY R. S. PEALE AND J. A. HILL
All rights reserved
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
DEARBORN CENTER LIBRARY
دن را
S2
WERNERCOMPAM
PINTEROX
KRONO
KINDERS
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THE ADVISORY COUNCIL
CRAWFORD H. TOY, A. M. , LL, D. ,
Professor of Hebrew, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Cambridge, Mass.
THOMAS R. LOUNSBURY, LL. D. , L. H. D. ,
Professor of English in the Sheffield Scientific School of
YALE UNIVERSITY, New Haven, Conn.
WILLIAM M. SLOANE, Ph. D. , L. H. D. ,
Professor of History and Political Science,
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, Princeton, N. J.
BRANDER MATTHEWS, A. M. , LL. B. ,
Professor of Literature, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, New York City.
JAMES B. ANGELL, LL. D. ,
President of the UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor, Mich.
WILLARD FISKE, A. M. , Ph. D. ,
Late Professor of the Germanic and Scandinavian Languages
and Literatures,
CORNELL UNIVERSITY, Ithaca, N. Y.
EDWARD S. HOLDEN, A. M. , LL. D. ,
Director of the Lick Observatory, and Astronomer,
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Berkeley, Cal.
ALCÉE FORTIER, Lit. D. ,
Professor of the Romance Languages,
TULANE UNIVERSITY, New Orleans, La.
WILLIAM P. TRENT, M. A. ,
Dean of the Department of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of
English and History,
UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH, Sewanee, Tenn.
PAUL SHOREY, PH. D. ,
Professor of Greek and Latin Literature,
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, Chicago, Ill.
WILLIAM T. HARRIS, LL. D. ,
United States Commissioner of Education,
BUREAU OF EDUCATION, Washington, D. C.
MAURICE FRANCIS EGAN, A. M. , LL. D. ,
Professor of Literature in the
CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, Washington, D. C.
## p. 2 (#16) ###############################################
NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT
WING to the many changes in the assignment of topics and
engaging of writers incident to so extended a publication
as the Library of the World's Best Literature, the Editor
finds it impossible, before the completion of the work, adequately
to recognize the very great aid which he has received from a large
number of persons.
A full list of contributors will be given in one
of the concluding volumes. He will expressly acknowledge also his
debt to those who have assisted him editorially, or in other special
ways, in the preparation of these volumes.
Both Editor and Publishers have endeavored to give full credit to
every author quoted, and to accompany every citation with ample
notice of copyright ownership. At the close of the work it is their
purpose to express in a more formal way their sense of obligation to
the many publishers who have so courteously given permission for
this use of their property, and whose rights of ownership it is intended
thoroughly to protect.
## p. 3 (#17) ###############################################
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOL. 1
LIVED
PAGE
17
ABÉLARD AND HÉLOISE (by Thomas Davidson) 1079-1142
Letter of Héloise to Abélard
Abélard's Answer to Héloise
Vesper Hymn of Abélard
34
EDMOND ABOUT
1828–1885
The Capture ('The King of the Mountains')
Hadgi-Stavros (same)
The Victim (“The Man with the Broken Ear')
The Man without a Country (same)
51
ACCADIAN-BABYLONIAN AND Assyrian LITERATURE (by Craw-
ford H. Toy)
Theogony
Adapa and the Southwind
Revolt of Tiamat
Penitential Psalms
Descent to the Underworld Inscription of Sennacherib
The Flood
Invocation to the Goddess
The Eagle and the Snake
Beltis
The Flight of Etana
Oracles of Ishtar of Arbela
The God Zu
An Erechite's Lament
84
Abigail Adams (by Lucia Gilbert Runkle) 1744-1818
Letters To her Husband: May 24, 1775; June 15, 1775;
June 18, 1775; Nov. 27, 1775; April 20, 1777;
June 8, 1779
To her Sister: Sept. 5, 1784; May 10, 1785;
July 24, 1784; June 24, 1785
To her Niece
109
HENRY ADAMS
1838–
Auspices of the War of 1812
What the War of 1812 Demonstrated
Battle between the Constitution and the Guerrière
## p. 4 (#18) ###############################################
4
LIVED
PAGE
126
JOHN ADAMS
1735-1826
At the French Court (Diary')
Character of Franklin (Letter to the Boston Patriot)
134
John QUINCY ADAMS
1767-1848
Letter to his Father, at the Age of Ten
From the Memoirs, at the Age of Eighteen
From the Memoirs, Jan. 14, 1831; June 7, 1833; Sept. 9,
1833
The Mission of America (Fourth of July Oration, 1821)
The Right of Petition (Speech in Congress)
Nullification (Fourth of July Oration, 1831)
1805-1848
145
SARAH FLOWER ADAMS
He Sendeth Sun, He Sendeth Shower
Nearer, My God, to Thee
148
Joseph Addison (by Hamilton Wright Mabie) 1672-1720
Sir Roger de Coverley at Vanity of Human Life
the Play
Essay on Fans
Visit to Sir Roger de Cov- Hymn, The Spacious Fir-
erley
mament'
172
ÆLIANUS CLAUDIUS
Second Century
Of Certain Notable Men that made themselves Playfel-
lowes with Children
Of a Certaine Sicilian whose Eyesight was Woonderfull
Sharpe and Quick
The Lawe of the Lacedæmonians against Covetousness
That Sleep is the Brother of Death, and of Gorgias draw-
ing to his End
Of the Voluntary and Willing Death of Calanus
Of Delicate Dinners, Sumptuous Suppers, and Prodigall
Banqueting
Of Bestowing Time, and how Walking Up and Downe
was not Allowable among the Lacedæmonians
How Socrates Suppressed the Pryde and Hautinesse of
Alcibiades
Of Certaine Wastgoodes and Spendthriftes
ÆSCHINES
B. C. 389-314
A Defense and an Attack (Oration against Ctesiphon')
178
## p. 5 (#19) ###############################################
5
LIVED
PAGE
183
ÆschyLUS (by John Williams White) B. C. 525-456
Complaint of Prometheus (Prometheus')
Prayer to Artemis (“The Suppliants')
Defiance of Eteocles (“The Seven against Thebes')
Vision of Cassandra (Agamemnon')
Lament of the Old Nurse (“The Libation-Pourers')
Decree of Athena (“The Eumenides')
200
Æsop (by Harry Thurston Peck) Seventh Century B. C.
The Fox and the Lion
The Belly and the Members
The Ass in the Lion's Skin The Satyr and the Traveler
The Ass Eating Thistles
The Lion and the other Beasts
The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing The Ass and the Little Dog
The Countryman and the
The Country Mouse and the
Snake
City Mouse
The Dog and the Wolf
209
JEAN Louis RODOLPHE AGASSIZ
1807-1873
The Silurian Beach (Geological Sketches)
Voices (Methods of Study in Natural History')
Formation of Coral Reefs (same)
A. D. 536-581
223
AGATHIAS
Apostrophe to Plutarch
224
GRACE AGUILAR
1816-1847
Greatness of Friendship (Woman's Friendship')
Order of Knighthood ('The Days of Bruce')
Culprit and Judge (Home Influence')
WILLIAM HARRISON AINSWORTH
1805-1882
Students of Paris (Crichton')
235
252
MARK AKENSIDE
1721-1770
From the Epistle to Curio
Aspirations after the Infinite ( Pleasures of the Imagina-
tion')
On a Sermon against Glory
262
PEDRO ANTONIO DE ALARCÓN
1833-1891
A Woman Viewed from Without ("The Three-Cornered
Hat')
How the Orphan Manuel gained his Sobriquet (“The Child
of the Ball')
## p. 6 (#20) ###############################################
6
LIVED
PAGE
268
AlcEUS
The Palace
A Banquet Song
An Invitation
Sixth Century B. C.
The Storm
The Poor Fisherman
The State
Poverty
272
275
BALTÁZAR DE ALCÁZAR
1530 ? -1606
Sleep
The Jovial Supper
ALCIPHRON (by Harry Thurston Peck) Second Century
From a Mercenary Girl — Petala to Simalion
Pleasures of Athens-Euthydicus to Epiphanio
From an Anxious Mother — Phyllis to Thrasonides
From a Curious Youth - Philocomus to Thestylus
From a Professional Diner-out — Capnosphrantes to Aris-
tomachus
Unlucky Luck - Chytrolictes to Patellocharon
Seventh Century B. C.
281
ALCMAN
Poem on Night
282
Louisa May Alcott
1832-1888
The Night Ward ('Hospital Sketches')
Amy's Valley of Humiliation ('Little Women')
Thoreau's Flute (Atlantic Monthly)
Song from the Suds ('Little Women')
Alcuin (by William H. Carpenter)
735 ? -804
On the Saints of the Church at York (Alcuin and the
Rise of the Christian Schools')
Disputation between Pepin, the Most Noble and Royal
Youth, and Albinus the Scholastic
A Letter from Alcuin to Charlemagne
295
303
HENRY M. ALDEN
1836-
A Dedication - To My Beloved Wife ('A Study of Death')
The Dove and the Serpent (same)
Death and Sleep (same)
The Parable of the Prodigal (same)
THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH
312
Destiny
Identity
1837-
Prescience
Alec Yeaton's Son
-
## p. 7 (#21) ###############################################
7
LIVED
PAGE
Thomas BailEY ALDRICH — Continued :
Memory
Sea Longings
Tennyson (1890)
A Shadow of the Night
Sweetheart, Sigh No More Outward Bound
Broken Music
Reminiscence
Elmwood
Père Antoine's Date-Palm
Miss Mehetabel's Son
349
ALEARDO ALEARDI
1812-1878
Cowards ("The Primal Histories')
The Harvesters ('Monte Circello')
The Death of the Year (“An Hour of My Youth')
354
JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT
1717-1783
Montesquieu (Eulogy in the Encyclopédie)
1749-1803
371
VITTORIO ALFIERI (by L. Oscar Kuhns)
Scenes from 'Agamemnon'
383
ALFONSO THE Wise
1221-1284
What Meaneth a Tyrant, and How he Useth his Power
('Las Siete Partidas')
On the Turks, and Why they are So Called ('La Gran
Conquista de Ultramar')
To the Month of Mary ("Cantigas ')
389
Alfred The Great
849-901
King Alfred on King-Craft
Alfred's Preface to the Version of Pope Gregory's 'Pas-
toral Care
From Boethius
Blossom Gatherings from St. Augustine
399
Charles Grant ALLEN
1848–
The Coloration of Flowers ('The Colors of Flowers')
Among the Heather ('The Evolutionist at Large')
The Heron's Haunt (“Vignettes from Nature')
409
JAMES LANE ALLEN
1850-
A Courtship (A Summer in Arcady')
Old King Solomon's Coronation (“Flute and Violin')
## p. 8 (#22) ###############################################
8
LIVED
PAGE
428
WILLIAM ALLINGHAM
The Ruined Chapel
The Winter Pear
O Spirit of the Summer-time
The Bubble
St. Margaret's Eve
1828-1889
The Fairies
Robin Redbreast
An Evening
Daffodil
Lovely Mary Donnelly
439
KARL JONAS LUDVIG ALMQUIST
1793-1866
Characteristics of Cattle
A New Undine (from 'The Book of the Rose')
God's War
446
JOHANNA AMBROSIUS
A Peasant's Thoughts
Struggle and Peace
1854-
Do Thou Love, Too!
Invitation
EDMONDO DE AMICIS
1846–
453
The Light (Constantinople')
Cordova (Spain)
Resemblances (same)
The Land of Pluck (Holland
Birds (same)
and Its People')
The Dutch Masters (Holland and Its People')
478
HENRI FRÉDÉRIC AMIEL (by Richard Burton) 1821-1881
Extracts from Amiel's Journal:
Christ's Real Message
Music and the Imagination
Duty
Love and the Sexes
Joubert
Fundamentals of Religion
Greeks vs. Moderns
Dangers from Decay of Ear-
Nature, and Teutonic and
nestness
Scandinavian Poetry
Woman's Ideal the Commu-
Training of Children
nity's Fate
Mozart and Beethoven
French Self-Consciousness
Self-Interest
Frivolous Art
Wagner's Music
Critical Ideals
Secret of Remaining Young The Best Art
Results of Equality
The True Critic
View-Points of History
Spring - Universal Religion
Introspection and Schopen- Introspective Meditations
hauer
Destiny (just before death)
ANACREON
492
Drinking
Age
B. C. 562 ? -477
The Epicure
Gold
—
## p. 9 (#23) ###############################################
9
LIVED
PAGE
ANACREON -- Continued :
The Grasshopper
The Swallow
A Lover's Sigh
The Poet's Choice
Drinking
500
Hans ChrisTIAN ANDERSEN (by Benjamin W. Wells)
1805-1875
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
What the Moon Saw
The Teapot
The Lovers
The Ugly Duckling
The Snow Queen
The Nightingale
The Market Place and the Andersen Jubilee at Odense
(The Story of My Life')
(Miserere in the Sixtine Chapel ('The Improvisatore')
ANEURIN
Sixth Century
The Slaying of Owain
The Fate of Hoel, Son of the Great Cian
The Giant Gwrveling Falls at Last
539
543
ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE (by Robert Sharp)
From Beowulf)
The Fortunes of Men
Deor's Lament
From Judith
From The Wanderer
The Fightat Maldon
The Seafarer
Cædmon's Inspiration
From the Chronicle)
1864-
574
GABRIELE D'ANNUNZIO
The Drowned Boy ("The Triumph of Death')
To an Impromptu of Chopin (same)
India
586
ANTAR (by Edward S. Holden)
About 550-615
The l'alor of Antar
LUCIUS APULEIUS
Second Century
The Tale of Aristomenes, the Commercial Traveler (The
Metamorphoses')
The Awakening of Cupid (same)
597
## p. 10 (#24) ##############################################
Іо
LIST OF PORTRAITS
IN VOL. I.
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Full page
Full page
Full page
Pierre Abélard
Edmond About
Abigail Adams
John Adams
John Quincy Adams
Joseph Addison
Æschines
Æschylus
Æsop
Louis Agassiz
Grace Aguilar
W. H. Ainsworth
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Full page
Mark Akenside
Alcæus
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Louisa M. Alcott
T. B. Aldrich
Full page
J. Le R. d'Alembert
Vittorio Alfieri
Edmondo de Amicis
Anacreon
Hans Christian Andersen
Lucius Apuleius
Vignette
Vignette
Full page
Vignette
## p. 11 (#25) ##############################################
II
PREFACE
el
(C
HE plan of this work is simple, and yet it is novel. In its dis-
tinctive features it differs from any compilation that has yet
been made. Its main purpose is to present to American
households a mass of good reading. But it goes much beyond this.
For in selecting this reading it draws upon all literatures of all time
and of every race, and thus becomes a conspectus of the thought
and intellectual evolution of man from the beginning. Another and
scarcely less important purpose is the interpretation of this literature
in essays by scholars and authors competent to speak with authority.
The title, “A Library of the World's Best Literature,” is strictly
descriptive. It means that what is offered to the reader is taken from
the best authors, and is fairly representative of the best literature
and of all literatures. It may be important historically, or because
at one time it expressed the thought and feeling of a nation, or
because it has the character of universality, or because the readers
of to-day will find it instructive, entertaining, or amusing. The
Work aims to suit a great variety of tastes, and thus to commend
itself as a household companion for any mood and any hour. There
is no intention of presenting merely a mass of historical material,
however important it is in its place, which is commonly of the sort
that people recommend others to read and do not read themselves.
It is not a library of reference only, but a library to be read. The
selections do not represent the partialities and prejudices and culti
vation of any one person, or of a group of editors even; but, under
the necessary editorial supervision, the sober judgment of almost as
many minds as have assisted in the preparation of these volumes.
By this method, breadth of appreciation has been sought.
The arrangement is not chronological, but alphabetical, under the
names of the authors, and, in some cases, of literatures and special
## p. 12 (#26) ##############################################
I 2
subjects. Thus, in each volume a certain variety is secured, the
heaviness or sameness of a mass of antique, classical, or mediæval
material is avoided, and the reader obtains a sense of the varieties
and contrasts of different periods. But the work is not an encyclo-
pædia, or merely a dictionary of authors. Comprehensive information
as to all writers of importance may be included in a supplementary
reference volume; but the attempt to quote from all would destroy
the Work for reading purposes, and reduce it to a herbarium of
specimens.
In order to present a view of the entire literary field, and to make
these volumes especially useful to persons who have not access to
large libraries, as well as to treat certain literatures or subjects when
the names of writers are unknown or would have no significance to
the reader, it has been found necessary to make groups of certain
nationalities, periods, and special topics. For instance, if the reader
would like to know something of ancient and remote literatures
which cannot well be treated under the alphabetical list of authors,
he will find special essays by competent scholars on the Accadian-
Babylonian literature, on the Egyptian, the Hindu, the Chinese, the
Japanese, the Icelandic, the Celtic, and others, followed by selections
many of which have been specially translated for this work. In
these literatures names of ascertained authors are given in the Index.
The intention of the essays is to acquaint the reader with the spirit,
purpose, and tendency of these writings, in order that he may have
a comparative view of the continuity of thought and the value of
tradition in the world. Some subjects, like the Arthurian Legends,
the Nibelungen Lied, the Holy Grail, Provençal Poetry, the Chansons
and Romances, and the Gesta Romanorum, receive a similar treat-
ment.
Single poems upon which the authors' title to fame mainly
rests, familiar and dear hymns, and occasional and modern verse of
value, are also grouped together under an appropriate heading, with
reference in the Index whenever the poet is known.
It will thus be evident to the reader that the Library is fairly
comprehensive and representative, and that it has an educational
value, while offering constant and varied entertainment. This com-
prehensive feature, which gives the Work distinction, is, however,
## p. 13 (#27) ##############################################
13
supplemented by another of scarcely less importance; namely, the
critical interpretive and biographical comments upon the authors and
their writings and their place in literature, not by one mind, or by a
small editorial staff, but by a great number of writers and scholars,
specialists and literary critics, who are able to speak from knowledge
and with authority. Thus the Library becomes in a way representa-
tive of the scholarship and wide judgment of our own time. But the
essays have another value. They give information for the guidance
of the reader. If he becomes interested in any selections here given,
and would like a fuller knowledge of the author's works, he can turn
to the essay and find brief observations and characterizations which
will assist him in making his choice of books from a library.
The selections are made for household and general reading; in the
belief that the best literature contains enough that is pure and ele-
vating and at the same time readable, to satisfy any taste that should
be encouraged. Of course selection implies choice and exclusion.
It is hoped that what is given will be generally approved; yet it
may well happen that some readers will miss the names of authors
whom they desire to read. But this Work, like every other, has its
necessary limits; and in a general compilation the classic writings,
and those productions that the world has set its seal on as among
the best, must predominate over contemporary literature that is still
on its trial. It should be said, however, that many writers of pres-
ent note and popularity are omitted simply for lack of space.
The
editors are compelled to keep constantly in view the wider field.
The general purpose is to give only literature; and where authors
are cited who are generally known as philosophers, theologians, pub-
licists, or scientists, it is because they have distinct literary quality,
or because their influence upon literature itself has been so profound
that the progress of the race could not be accounted for without
them.
These volumes contain not only or mainly the literature of the
past, but they aim to give, within the limits imposed by such a
view, an idea of contemporary achievement and tendencies in all
civilized countries. In this view of the modern world the literary
product of America and Great Britain occupies the largest space.
## p. 14 (#28) ##############################################
14
It should be said that the plan of this work could not have been
carried out without the assistance of specialists in many departments
of learning, and of writers of skill and insight, both in this country
and in Europe. This assistance has been most cordially given, with
a full recognition of the value of the enterprise and of the aid that
the Library may give in encouraging and broadening literary tastes.
Perhaps no better service could be rendered the American public at
this period than the offer of an opportunity for a comprehensive
study of the older and the greater literatures of other nations. By
this comparison it can gain a just view of its own literature, and of
its possible mission in the world of letters.
Chas. Budry Nasser
## p. 15 (#29) ##############################################
## p. 16 (#30) ##############################################
as
Books
are not absolutely dead things, but do contain
a potency of life in them to be as active as that
soul was whose progeny they are; nay, they do preserve
as in a vial the purest efficacy and extraction of that
living intellect that bred them. I know they are
lively, and as vigorously productive, as those fabulous
dragon's teeth ; and being sown up and down, may chance
to spring up armed men. And yet on the other hand,
unless wariness be used, as good almost kill a man as kill
a good book : who kills a man kills a reasonable creature,
God's image ; but he who destroys a good book, kills rea-
son itself, kills the image of God, as it were in the eye.
Many a man lives a burden to the earth ; but a good
book is the precious life-blood of a master-spirit, embalmed
and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.
JOHN MILTON.
## p. 17 (#31) ##############################################
17
ABÉLARD
(1079—1142)
BY THOMAS DAVIDSON
IERRE, the eldest son of Bérenger and Lucie (Abélard ? ) was
born at Palais, near Nantes and the frontier of Brittany,
ar in 1079. His knightly father, having in his youth been a
student, was anxious to give his family, and especially his favorite
Pierre, a liberal education. The boy was accordingly sent to school,
under a teacher who at that time was making his mark in the
world, — Roscellin, the reputed father of Nominalism. As the whole
import and tragedy of his life may be traced back to this man's teach-
ing, and the relation which it bore to the
thought of the time, we must pause to con-
sider these.
In the early centuries of our era, the two
fundamental articles of the Gentile-Christ-
ian creed, the Trinity and the Incarnation,
neither of them Jewish, were formulated
in terms of Platonic philosophy, of which
the distinctive tenet is, that the real and
eternal is the universal, not the individ-
ual. On this assumption it was possible
to say that the same real substance could
exist in three, or indeed in any number of
persons. In the case of God, the dogma-
ABÉLARD
builders were careful to say, essence is one with existence, and there-
fore in Him the individuals are as real as the universal. Platonism,
having lent the formula for the Trinity, became the favorite philoso-
phy of many of the Church fathers, and so introduced into Christian
thought and life the Platonic dualism, that sharp distinction between
the temporal and the eternal which belittles the practical life and
glorifies the contemplative.
This distinction, as aggravated by Neo-Platonism, further affected
Eastern Christianity in the sixth century, and Western Christianity
in the ninth, chiefly through the writings of (the pseudo-) Dionysius
Areopagita, and gave rise to Christian mysticism. It was then erected
into a rule of conduct through the efforts of Pope Gregory VII. , who
strove to subject practical and civil life entirely to the control of
1-2
## p. 18 (#32) ##############################################
18
ABÉLARD
ecclesiastics and monks, standing for contemplative, supernatural life.
The latter included all purely mental work, which more and more
tended to concentrate itself upon religion and confine itself to the
clergy. In this way it came to be considered an utter disgrace for
any man engaged in mental work to take any part in the institutions
of civil life, and particularly to marry. He might indeed enter into
illicit relations, and rear a family of nephews” and “nieces,” with-
out losing prestige; but to marry was to commit suicide. Such was
the condition of things in the days of Abélard.
But while Platonism, with its real universals, was celebrating its
ascetic, unearthly triumphs in the West, Aristotelianism, which main-
tains that the individual is the real, was making its way in the East.
Banished as heresy beyond the limits of the Catholic Church, in the
fifth and sixth centuries, in the persons of Nestorius and others, it
took refuge in Syria, where it flourished for many years in the schools
of Edessa and Nisibis, the foremost of the time. From these it found
its way among the Arabs, and even to the illiterate Muhammad, who
gave it (1) theoretic theological expression in the cxii. surah of the
Koran: “He is One God, God the Eternal; He neither begets nor is
begotten; and to Him there is no peer,” in which both the funda-
mental dogmas of Christianity are denied, and that too on the ground
of revelation; (2) practical expression, by forbidding asceticism and
monasticism, and encouraging a robust, though somewhat coarse,
natural life. Islâm, indeed, was an attempt to rehabilitate the human.
In Abélard's time Arab Aristotelianism, with its consequences for
thought and life, was filtering into Europe and forcing Christian
thinkers to defend the bases of their faith. Since these, so far as
defensible at all, depended upon the Platonic doctrine of univer-
sals, and this could be maintained only by dialectic, this science be-
came extremely popular,-indeed, almost the rage. Little of the real
Aristotle was at that time known in the West; but in Porphyry's
Introduction to Aristotle's Logic was a famous passage, in which all
the difficulties with regard to universals were stated without being
solved. Over this the intellectual battles of the first age of Scholasti-
cism were fought. The more clerical and mystic thinkers, like
Anselm and Bernard, of course sided with Plato; but the more
worldly, robust thinkers inclined to accept Aristotle, not seeing that
his doctrine is fatal to the Trinity.
Prominent among these was a Breton, Roscellin, the early in-
structor of Abélard. From him the brilliant, fearless boy learnt two
terrible lessons: (1) that universals, instead of being real substances,
external and superior to individual things, are mere names (hence
Nominalism) for common qualities of things as recognized by the
human mind; (2) that since universals are the tools and criteria of
## p. 19 (#33) ##############################################
ABÉLARD
19
thought, the human mind, in which alone these exist, is the judge
of all truth,-a lesson which leads directly to pure rationalism, and
indeed to the rehabilitation of the human as against the superhuman.
No wonder that Roscellin came into conflict with the church author-
ities, and had to flee to England. Abélard afterwards modified his
nominalism and behaved somewhat unhandsomely to him, but never
escaped from the influence of his teaching. Abélard was a rationalist
and an asserter of the human. Accordingly, when, definitely adopting
the vocation of the scholar, he went to Paris to study dialectic under
the then famous William of Champeaux, a declared Platonist, or real-
ist as the designation then was, he gave his teacher infinite trouble
by his subtle objections, and not seldom got the better of him.
These victories, which made him disliked both by his teacher and
his fellow-pupils, went to increase his natural self-appreciation, and
induced him, though a mere youth, to leave William and set up a
rival school at Mélun. Here his splendid personality, his confidence.
and his brilliant powers of reasoning and statement, drew to him a
large number of admiring pupils, so that he was soon induced to move
his school to Corbeil, near Paris, where his impetuous dialectic found
a wider field. Here he worked so hard that he fell ill, and was
compelled to return home to his family. With them he remained for
several years, devoting himself to study, - not only of dialectic, but
plainly also of theology. Returning to Paris, he went to study rhet-
oric under his old enemy, William of Champeaux, who had mean-
while, to increase his prestige, taken holy orders, and had been made
bishop of Châlons. The old feud was renewed, and Abélard, being
now better armed than before, compelled his master openly to with-
draw from his extreme realistic position with regard to universals,
and assume one more nearly approaching that of Aristotle.
This victory greatly diminished the fame of William, and in-
creased that of Abélard; so that when the former left his chair and
appointed a successor, the latter gave way to Abélard and became
his pupil (1113). This was too much for William, who removed his
successor, and so forced Abélard to retire again to Mélun. Here he
remained but a short time; for, William having on account of unpop-
ularity removed his school from Paris Abélard returned thither and
opened a school outside the city, on Mont Ste. Généviève. William,
hearing this, returned to Paris and tried to put him down, but in
vain. Abélard was completely victorious.
After a time he returned once more to Palais, to see his mother,
who was about to enter the cloister, as his father had done some
time before. When this visit was over, instead of returning to Paris
to lecture on dialectic, he went to Laon to study theology under the
then famous Anselm. Here, convinced of the showy superficiality of
## p. 20 (#34) ##############################################
20
ABÉLARD
once more
Anselm, he once more got into difficulty, by undertaking to expound
a chapter of Ezekiel without having studied it under any teacher.
Though at first derided by his fellow-students, he succeeded so well
as to draw a crowd of them to hear him, and so excited the envy
of Anselm that the latter forbade him to teach in Laon. Abélard
. ccordingly returned
to Paris, convinced that he was
fit to shine as a lecturer, not only on dialectic, but also on theology.
And his audiences thought so also; for his lectures on Ezekiel were
very popular and drew crowds. He was now at the height of his
fame (1118).
The result of all these triumphs over dialecticians and theo-
logians was unfortunate. He not only felt himself the intellectual
superior of any living man, which he probably was, but he also
began to look down upon the current thought of his time as obsolete
and unworthy, and to set at naught even current opinion. He was
now on the verge of forty, and his life had so far been one of spot-
less purity; but now, under the influence of vanity, this too gave
way. Having
further conquests to make in the intellectual world,
he began to consider whether, with his great personal beauty, manly
bearing, and confident address, he might not make conquests in the
social world, and arrived at the conclusion that no woman could reject
him or refuse him her favor.
It was just at this unfortunate juncture that he went to live
in the house of a certain Canon Fulbert, of the cathedral, whose
brilliant niece, Héloise, had at the age of seventeen just returned
from a convent at Argenteuil, where she had been at school. Ful-
bert, who was proud of her talents, and glad to get the price of
Abélard's board, took the latter into his house and intrusted him
with the full care of Héloïse's further education, telling him even
to chastise her if necessary. So complete was Fulbert's confidence
in Abelard, that no restriction was put upon the companionship of
teacher and pupil. The result was that Abélard and Héloïse, both
equally inexperienced in matters of the heart, soon conceived for each
other an overwhelming passion, comparable only to that of Faust and
Gretchen. And the result in both cases was the same. Abélard, as a
great scholar, could not think of marriage; and if he had, Héloise
would have refused to ruin his career by marrying him. So it came
to pass that when their secret, never very carefully guarded, became
no longer a secret, and threatened the safety of Héloise, the only
thing that her lover could do for her was to carry her off secretly to
his home in Palais, and place her in charge of his sister. Here she
remained until the birth of her child, which received the name of
Astralabius, Abélard meanwhile continuing his work in Paris. And
here all the nobility of his character comes out. Though Fulbert and
## p. 21 (#35) ##############################################
ABÉLARD
21
his friends were, naturally enough, furious at what they regarded as
his utter treachery, and though they tried to murder him, he pro-
tected himself, and as soon as Héloise was fit to travel, hastened to
Palais, and insisted upon removing her to Paris and making her his
lawful wife. Héloise used every argument which her fertile mind
could suggest to dissuade him from a step which she felt must be his
ruin, at the same time expressing her entire willingness to stand in
a less honored relation to him. But Abélard was inexorable. Taking
her to Paris, he procured the consent of her relatives to the marriage
(which they agreed to keep secret), and even their presence at the
ceremony, which was performed one morning before daybreak, after
the two had spent a night of vigils in the church.
After the marriage, they parted and for some time saw little of
each other. When Héloise's relatives divulged the secret, and she
was taxed with being Abélard's lawful wife, she «anathematized and
swore that it was absolutely false. ” As the facts were too patent,
however, Abélard removed her from Paris, and placed her in the
convent at Argenteuil, where she had been educated. Here she
assumed the garb of a novice. Her relatives, thinking that he must
have done this in order to rid himself of her, furiously vowed ven-
geance, which they took in the meanest and most brutal form of
personal violence. It was not a time of fine sensibilities, justice, or
mercy; but even the public of those days was horrified, and gave
expression to its horror. Abélard, overwhelmed with shame, despair,
and remorse, could now think of nothing better than to abandon the
world. Without any vocation, as he well knew, he assumed the
monkish habit and retired to the monastery of St. Denis, while
Héloise, by his order, took the veil at Argenteuil. Her devotion and
heroism on this occasion Abélard has described in touching terms.
Thus supernaturalism had done its worst for these two strong,
impetuous human souls.
If Abélard had entered the cloister in the hope of finding peace,
he soon discovered his mistake. The dissolute life of the monks
utterly disgusted him, while the clergy stormed him with petitions to
continue his lectures. Yielding to these, he was soon again sur-
rounded by crowds of students — so great that the monks at St. Denis
were glad to get rid of him. He accordingly retired to a lonely cell,
to which he was followed by more admirers than could find shelter
or food. As the schools of Paris were thereby emptied, his rivals did
everything in their power to put a stop to his teaching, declaring
that as a monk he ought not to teach profane science, nor as a lay-
man in theology sacred science. In order to legitimatize his claim to
teach the latter, he now wrote a theological treatise, regarding which
he says: —
## p. 22 (#36) ##############################################
22
ABÉLARD
«It so happened that I first endeavored to illuminate the basis of our
faith by similitudes drawn from human reason, and to compose for our stu-
dents a treatise on (The Divine Unity and Trinity,' because they kept asking
for human and philosophic reasons, and demanding rather what could be
understood than what could be said, declaring that the mere utterance of
words was useless unless followed by understanding; that nothing could be
believed that was not first understood, and that it was ridiculous for any one
to preach what neither he nor those he taught could comprehend, God him-
self calling such people blind leaders of the blind. ”
(
Here we have Abélard's central position, exactly the opposite to
that of his realist contemporary, Anselm of Canterbury, whose prin-
ciple was Credo ut intelligam” (I believe, that I may understand).
We must not suppose, however, that Abélard, with his rationalism,
dreamed of undermining Christian dogma. Very far from it!
He
believed it to be rational, and thought he could prove it so.
No won-
der that the book gave offense, in an age when faith and ecstasy
were placed above reason. Indeed, his rivals could have wished for
nothing better than this book, which gave them a weapon to use
against him. Led on by two old enemies, Alberich and Lotulf, they
caused an ecclesiastical council to be called at Soissons, to pass judg-
ment upon the book (1121). This judgment was a foregone conclusion,
the trial being the merest farce, in which the pursuers were the judges,
the Papal legate allowing his better reason to be overruled by their
passion. Abélard was condemned to burn his book in public, and to
read the Athanasian Creed as his confession of faith (which he did
in tears), and then to be confined permanently in the monastery of
St. Médard as a dangerous heretic.
His enemies seemed to have triumphed and to have silenced him
forever. Soon after, however, the Papal legate, ashamed of the part
he had taken in the transaction, restored him to liberty and allowed
him to return to his own monastery at St. Denis. Here once more
his rationalistic, critical spirit brought him into trouble with the big-
oted, licentious monks. Having maintained, on the authority of Beda,
that Dionysius, the patron saint of the monastery, was bishop of Cor-
inth and not of Athens, he raised such a storm that he was forced
to flee, and took refuge on a neighboring estate, whose proprietor,
Count Thibauld, was friendly to him. Here he was cordially received
by the monks of Troyes, and allowed to occupy a retreat belonging
to them.
After some time, and with great difficulty, he obtained leave from
the abbot of St. Denis to live where he chose, on condition of not
joining any other order. Being now practically a free man, he
retired to a lonely spot near Nogent-sur-Seine, on the banks of the
Ardusson. There, having received a gift of a piece of land, he estab-
## p. 23 (#37) ##############################################
ABÉLARD
23
lished himself along with a friendly cleric, building a small oratory
of clay and reeds to the Holy Trinity. No sooner, however, was
his place of retreat known than he was followed into the wilderness
by hosts of students of all ranks, who lived in tents, slept on the
ground, and underwent every kind of hardship, in order to listen to
him (1123). These supplied his wants, and built a chapel, which he
dedicated to the Paraclete, ” — a name at which his enemies, furious
over his success, were greatly scandalized, but which ever after
designated the whole establishment.
So incessant and unrelenting were the persecutions he suffered
from those enemies, and so deep his indignation at their baseness,
that for some time he seriously thought of escaping beyond the
bounds of Christendom, and seeking refuge among the Muslim. But
just then (1125) he was offered an important position, the abbotship
of the monastery of St. Gildas-de-Rhuys, in Lower Brittany, on the
lonely, inhospitable shore of the Atlantic. Eager for rest and a posi-
tion promising influence, Abélard accepted the offer and left the Par-
aclete, not knowing what he was doing.
His position at St. Gildas was little less than slow martyrdom.
The country was wild, the inhabitants were half barbarous, speaking
a language unintelligible to him; the monks were violent, unruly, and
dissolute, openly living with concubines; the lands of the monastery
were subjected to intolerable burdens by the neighboring lord, leav-
ing the monks in poverty and discontent. Instead of finding a home
of God-fearing men, eager for enlightenment, he found a nest of greed
and corruption. His attempts to introduce discipline, or even decency,
among his sons," only stirred up rebellion and placed his life in dan-
ger. Many times he was menaced with the sword, many times with
poison. In spite of all that, he clung to his office, and labored to do
his duty. Meanwhile the jealous abbot of St. Denis succeeded in
establishing a claim to the lands of the convent at Argenteuil, - of
which Héloise, long since famous not only for learning but also for
saintliness, was now the head,- and she and her nuns were violently
evicted and cast on the world. Hearing of this with indignation,
Abélard at once offered the homeless sisters the deserted Paraclete
and all its belongings. The offer was thankfully accepted, and Hélo-
ise with her family removed there to spend the remainder of her life.
It does not appear that Abélard and Héloïse ever saw each other at
this time, although he used every means in his power to provide for
her safety and comfort. This was in 1129. Two years later the Para-
clete was confirmed to Héloise by a Papal bull. It remained a con-
vent, and a famous one, for over six hundred years.
After this Abélard paid several visits to the convent, which he
justly regarded as his foundation, in order to arrange a rule of life
## p. 24 (#38) ##############################################
24
ABÉLARD
for its inmates, and to encourage them in their vocation. Although
on these occasions he saw nothing of Héloise, he did not escape the
malignant suspicions of the world, nor of his own flock, which now
became more unruly than ever, - so much so that he was compelled
to live outside the inonastery. Excommunication was tried in vain,
and even the efforts of a Papal legate failed to restore order. For
Abélard there was nothing but « fear within and conflict without. ”
It was at this time, about 1132, that he wrote his famous Historia
Calamitatum,' from which most of the above account of his life has
been taken. In 1134, after nine years of painful struggle, he defi-
nitely left St. Gildas, without, however, resigning the abbotship. For
the next two years he seems to have led a retired life, revising his
old works and composing new ones.
Meanwhile, by some chance, his History of Calamities) fell into
the hands of Héloise at the Paraclete, was devoured with breathless
interest, and rekindled the flame that seemed to have smoldered in
her bosom for thirteen long years. Overcome with compassion for
her husband, for such he really was, she at once wrote to him a let-
ter which reveals the first healthy human heart-beat that had found
expression in Christendom for a thousand years. Thus began a cor-
respondence which, for genuine tragic pathos and human interest,
has no equal in the world's literature. In Abélard, the scholarly
monk has completely replaced the man; in Héloise, the saintly nun
is but a veil assumed in loving obedience to him, to conceal the
deep-hearted, faithful, devoted flesh-and-blood woman. And such a
woman! It may well be doubted if, for all that constitutes genuine
womanhood, she ever had an equal. If there is salvation in love,
Héloise is in the heaven of heavens. She does not try to express her
love in poems, as Mrs. Browning did; but her simple, straightforward
expression of a love that would share Francesca's fate with her lover,
rather than go to heaven without him, yields, and has yielded,
matter for a hundred poems. She looks forward to no salvation; for
her chief love is for him. Domino specialiter, sua singulariter: “As a
member of the species woman I am the Lord's, as Héloïse I am
yours ” — nominalism with a vengeance!
But to return to Abélard. Permanent quiet in obscurity was
plainly impossible for him; and so in 1136 we find him back at Ste.
Généviève, lecturing to crowds of enthusiastic students. He probably
thought that during the long years of his exile, the envy and hatred
of his enemies had died out; but he soon discovered that he was
greatly mistaken. He was too marked a character, and the tendency
of his thought too dangerous, for that. Besides, he emptied the
schools of his rivals, and adopted no conciliatory tone toward them.
The natural result followed. In the year 1140, his enemies, headed
## p. 25 (#39) ##############################################
ABÉLARD
25
by St. Bernard, who had long regarded him with suspicion, raised a
cry of heresy against him, as subjecting everything to reason. Ber-
nard, who was nothing if not a fanatic, and who managed to give
vent to all his passions by placing them in the service of his God, at
once denounced him to the Pope, to cardinals, and to bishops, in
passionate letters, full of rhetoric, demanding his condemnation as a
perverter of the bases of the faith.
At that time a great ecclesiastical council was about to assem-
ble at Sens; and Abélard, feeling certain that his writings contained
nothing which he could not show to be strictly orthodox, demanded
that he should be allowed to explain and dialectically defend his
position, in open dispute, before it. But this was above all things
what his enemies dreaded. They felt that nothing was safe before
his brilliant dialectic. Bernard even refused to enter the lists with
him; and preferred to draw up a list of his heresies, in the form of
sentences sundered from their context in his works, some of them,
indeed, from works which he never wrote,- and to call upon the coun-
cil to condemn them. (These theses may be found in Denzinger's
'Enchiridion Symbolorum et Definitionum,' pp. 109 seq. ) Abélard,
clearly understanding the scheme, feeling its unfairness, and knowing
the effect of Bernard's lachrymose pulpit rhetoric upon sympathetic
ecclesiastics who believed in his power to work miracles, appeared
before the council, only to appeal from its authority to Rome. The
council, though somewhat disconcerted by this, proceeded to con-
demn the disputed theses, and sent a notice of its action to the Pope.
Fearing that Abélard, who had friends in Rome, might proceed
thither and obtain a reversal of the verdict, Bernard set every agency
at work to obtain a confirmation of it before his victim could reach
the Eternal City. And he succeeded.
The result was for a time kept secret from Abélard, who, now
over sixty years old, set out on his painful journey. Stopping on his
way at the famous, hospitable Abbey of Cluny, he was most kindly
entertained by its noble abbot, who well deserved the name of Peter
the Venerable. Here, apparently, he learned that he had been con-
demned and excommunicated; for he went no further. Peter offered
the weary man an asylum in his house, which was gladly accepted;
and Abélard, at last convinced of the vanity of all worldly ambition,
settled down to a life of humiliation, meditation, study, and prayer.
Soon afterward Bernard made advances toward reconciliation, which
Abélard accepted; whereupon his excommunication was removed.
Then the once proud Abélard, shattered in body and broken in spirit,
had nothing more to do but to prepare for another life. And the end
was not far off.
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LIBRARY
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CHARLES DUDLEYWARNER
EDITOR
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COPYRIGHT 1896
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THE ADVISORY COUNCIL
CRAWFORD H. TOY, A. M. , LL, D. ,
Professor of Hebrew, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Cambridge, Mass.
THOMAS R. LOUNSBURY, LL. D. , L. H. D. ,
Professor of English in the Sheffield Scientific School of
YALE UNIVERSITY, New Haven, Conn.
WILLIAM M. SLOANE, Ph. D. , L. H. D. ,
Professor of History and Political Science,
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, Princeton, N. J.
BRANDER MATTHEWS, A. M. , LL. B. ,
Professor of Literature, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, New York City.
JAMES B. ANGELL, LL. D. ,
President of the UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor, Mich.
WILLARD FISKE, A. M. , Ph. D. ,
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CORNELL UNIVERSITY, Ithaca, N. Y.
EDWARD S. HOLDEN, A. M. , LL. D. ,
Director of the Lick Observatory, and Astronomer,
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Berkeley, Cal.
ALCÉE FORTIER, Lit. D. ,
Professor of the Romance Languages,
TULANE UNIVERSITY, New Orleans, La.
WILLIAM P. TRENT, M. A. ,
Dean of the Department of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of
English and History,
UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH, Sewanee, Tenn.
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Professor of Greek and Latin Literature,
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NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT
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## p. 3 (#17) ###############################################
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOL. 1
LIVED
PAGE
17
ABÉLARD AND HÉLOISE (by Thomas Davidson) 1079-1142
Letter of Héloise to Abélard
Abélard's Answer to Héloise
Vesper Hymn of Abélard
34
EDMOND ABOUT
1828–1885
The Capture ('The King of the Mountains')
Hadgi-Stavros (same)
The Victim (“The Man with the Broken Ear')
The Man without a Country (same)
51
ACCADIAN-BABYLONIAN AND Assyrian LITERATURE (by Craw-
ford H. Toy)
Theogony
Adapa and the Southwind
Revolt of Tiamat
Penitential Psalms
Descent to the Underworld Inscription of Sennacherib
The Flood
Invocation to the Goddess
The Eagle and the Snake
Beltis
The Flight of Etana
Oracles of Ishtar of Arbela
The God Zu
An Erechite's Lament
84
Abigail Adams (by Lucia Gilbert Runkle) 1744-1818
Letters To her Husband: May 24, 1775; June 15, 1775;
June 18, 1775; Nov. 27, 1775; April 20, 1777;
June 8, 1779
To her Sister: Sept. 5, 1784; May 10, 1785;
July 24, 1784; June 24, 1785
To her Niece
109
HENRY ADAMS
1838–
Auspices of the War of 1812
What the War of 1812 Demonstrated
Battle between the Constitution and the Guerrière
## p. 4 (#18) ###############################################
4
LIVED
PAGE
126
JOHN ADAMS
1735-1826
At the French Court (Diary')
Character of Franklin (Letter to the Boston Patriot)
134
John QUINCY ADAMS
1767-1848
Letter to his Father, at the Age of Ten
From the Memoirs, at the Age of Eighteen
From the Memoirs, Jan. 14, 1831; June 7, 1833; Sept. 9,
1833
The Mission of America (Fourth of July Oration, 1821)
The Right of Petition (Speech in Congress)
Nullification (Fourth of July Oration, 1831)
1805-1848
145
SARAH FLOWER ADAMS
He Sendeth Sun, He Sendeth Shower
Nearer, My God, to Thee
148
Joseph Addison (by Hamilton Wright Mabie) 1672-1720
Sir Roger de Coverley at Vanity of Human Life
the Play
Essay on Fans
Visit to Sir Roger de Cov- Hymn, The Spacious Fir-
erley
mament'
172
ÆLIANUS CLAUDIUS
Second Century
Of Certain Notable Men that made themselves Playfel-
lowes with Children
Of a Certaine Sicilian whose Eyesight was Woonderfull
Sharpe and Quick
The Lawe of the Lacedæmonians against Covetousness
That Sleep is the Brother of Death, and of Gorgias draw-
ing to his End
Of the Voluntary and Willing Death of Calanus
Of Delicate Dinners, Sumptuous Suppers, and Prodigall
Banqueting
Of Bestowing Time, and how Walking Up and Downe
was not Allowable among the Lacedæmonians
How Socrates Suppressed the Pryde and Hautinesse of
Alcibiades
Of Certaine Wastgoodes and Spendthriftes
ÆSCHINES
B. C. 389-314
A Defense and an Attack (Oration against Ctesiphon')
178
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5
LIVED
PAGE
183
ÆschyLUS (by John Williams White) B. C. 525-456
Complaint of Prometheus (Prometheus')
Prayer to Artemis (“The Suppliants')
Defiance of Eteocles (“The Seven against Thebes')
Vision of Cassandra (Agamemnon')
Lament of the Old Nurse (“The Libation-Pourers')
Decree of Athena (“The Eumenides')
200
Æsop (by Harry Thurston Peck) Seventh Century B. C.
The Fox and the Lion
The Belly and the Members
The Ass in the Lion's Skin The Satyr and the Traveler
The Ass Eating Thistles
The Lion and the other Beasts
The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing The Ass and the Little Dog
The Countryman and the
The Country Mouse and the
Snake
City Mouse
The Dog and the Wolf
209
JEAN Louis RODOLPHE AGASSIZ
1807-1873
The Silurian Beach (Geological Sketches)
Voices (Methods of Study in Natural History')
Formation of Coral Reefs (same)
A. D. 536-581
223
AGATHIAS
Apostrophe to Plutarch
224
GRACE AGUILAR
1816-1847
Greatness of Friendship (Woman's Friendship')
Order of Knighthood ('The Days of Bruce')
Culprit and Judge (Home Influence')
WILLIAM HARRISON AINSWORTH
1805-1882
Students of Paris (Crichton')
235
252
MARK AKENSIDE
1721-1770
From the Epistle to Curio
Aspirations after the Infinite ( Pleasures of the Imagina-
tion')
On a Sermon against Glory
262
PEDRO ANTONIO DE ALARCÓN
1833-1891
A Woman Viewed from Without ("The Three-Cornered
Hat')
How the Orphan Manuel gained his Sobriquet (“The Child
of the Ball')
## p. 6 (#20) ###############################################
6
LIVED
PAGE
268
AlcEUS
The Palace
A Banquet Song
An Invitation
Sixth Century B. C.
The Storm
The Poor Fisherman
The State
Poverty
272
275
BALTÁZAR DE ALCÁZAR
1530 ? -1606
Sleep
The Jovial Supper
ALCIPHRON (by Harry Thurston Peck) Second Century
From a Mercenary Girl — Petala to Simalion
Pleasures of Athens-Euthydicus to Epiphanio
From an Anxious Mother — Phyllis to Thrasonides
From a Curious Youth - Philocomus to Thestylus
From a Professional Diner-out — Capnosphrantes to Aris-
tomachus
Unlucky Luck - Chytrolictes to Patellocharon
Seventh Century B. C.
281
ALCMAN
Poem on Night
282
Louisa May Alcott
1832-1888
The Night Ward ('Hospital Sketches')
Amy's Valley of Humiliation ('Little Women')
Thoreau's Flute (Atlantic Monthly)
Song from the Suds ('Little Women')
Alcuin (by William H. Carpenter)
735 ? -804
On the Saints of the Church at York (Alcuin and the
Rise of the Christian Schools')
Disputation between Pepin, the Most Noble and Royal
Youth, and Albinus the Scholastic
A Letter from Alcuin to Charlemagne
295
303
HENRY M. ALDEN
1836-
A Dedication - To My Beloved Wife ('A Study of Death')
The Dove and the Serpent (same)
Death and Sleep (same)
The Parable of the Prodigal (same)
THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH
312
Destiny
Identity
1837-
Prescience
Alec Yeaton's Son
-
## p. 7 (#21) ###############################################
7
LIVED
PAGE
Thomas BailEY ALDRICH — Continued :
Memory
Sea Longings
Tennyson (1890)
A Shadow of the Night
Sweetheart, Sigh No More Outward Bound
Broken Music
Reminiscence
Elmwood
Père Antoine's Date-Palm
Miss Mehetabel's Son
349
ALEARDO ALEARDI
1812-1878
Cowards ("The Primal Histories')
The Harvesters ('Monte Circello')
The Death of the Year (“An Hour of My Youth')
354
JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT
1717-1783
Montesquieu (Eulogy in the Encyclopédie)
1749-1803
371
VITTORIO ALFIERI (by L. Oscar Kuhns)
Scenes from 'Agamemnon'
383
ALFONSO THE Wise
1221-1284
What Meaneth a Tyrant, and How he Useth his Power
('Las Siete Partidas')
On the Turks, and Why they are So Called ('La Gran
Conquista de Ultramar')
To the Month of Mary ("Cantigas ')
389
Alfred The Great
849-901
King Alfred on King-Craft
Alfred's Preface to the Version of Pope Gregory's 'Pas-
toral Care
From Boethius
Blossom Gatherings from St. Augustine
399
Charles Grant ALLEN
1848–
The Coloration of Flowers ('The Colors of Flowers')
Among the Heather ('The Evolutionist at Large')
The Heron's Haunt (“Vignettes from Nature')
409
JAMES LANE ALLEN
1850-
A Courtship (A Summer in Arcady')
Old King Solomon's Coronation (“Flute and Violin')
## p. 8 (#22) ###############################################
8
LIVED
PAGE
428
WILLIAM ALLINGHAM
The Ruined Chapel
The Winter Pear
O Spirit of the Summer-time
The Bubble
St. Margaret's Eve
1828-1889
The Fairies
Robin Redbreast
An Evening
Daffodil
Lovely Mary Donnelly
439
KARL JONAS LUDVIG ALMQUIST
1793-1866
Characteristics of Cattle
A New Undine (from 'The Book of the Rose')
God's War
446
JOHANNA AMBROSIUS
A Peasant's Thoughts
Struggle and Peace
1854-
Do Thou Love, Too!
Invitation
EDMONDO DE AMICIS
1846–
453
The Light (Constantinople')
Cordova (Spain)
Resemblances (same)
The Land of Pluck (Holland
Birds (same)
and Its People')
The Dutch Masters (Holland and Its People')
478
HENRI FRÉDÉRIC AMIEL (by Richard Burton) 1821-1881
Extracts from Amiel's Journal:
Christ's Real Message
Music and the Imagination
Duty
Love and the Sexes
Joubert
Fundamentals of Religion
Greeks vs. Moderns
Dangers from Decay of Ear-
Nature, and Teutonic and
nestness
Scandinavian Poetry
Woman's Ideal the Commu-
Training of Children
nity's Fate
Mozart and Beethoven
French Self-Consciousness
Self-Interest
Frivolous Art
Wagner's Music
Critical Ideals
Secret of Remaining Young The Best Art
Results of Equality
The True Critic
View-Points of History
Spring - Universal Religion
Introspection and Schopen- Introspective Meditations
hauer
Destiny (just before death)
ANACREON
492
Drinking
Age
B. C. 562 ? -477
The Epicure
Gold
—
## p. 9 (#23) ###############################################
9
LIVED
PAGE
ANACREON -- Continued :
The Grasshopper
The Swallow
A Lover's Sigh
The Poet's Choice
Drinking
500
Hans ChrisTIAN ANDERSEN (by Benjamin W. Wells)
1805-1875
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
What the Moon Saw
The Teapot
The Lovers
The Ugly Duckling
The Snow Queen
The Nightingale
The Market Place and the Andersen Jubilee at Odense
(The Story of My Life')
(Miserere in the Sixtine Chapel ('The Improvisatore')
ANEURIN
Sixth Century
The Slaying of Owain
The Fate of Hoel, Son of the Great Cian
The Giant Gwrveling Falls at Last
539
543
ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE (by Robert Sharp)
From Beowulf)
The Fortunes of Men
Deor's Lament
From Judith
From The Wanderer
The Fightat Maldon
The Seafarer
Cædmon's Inspiration
From the Chronicle)
1864-
574
GABRIELE D'ANNUNZIO
The Drowned Boy ("The Triumph of Death')
To an Impromptu of Chopin (same)
India
586
ANTAR (by Edward S. Holden)
About 550-615
The l'alor of Antar
LUCIUS APULEIUS
Second Century
The Tale of Aristomenes, the Commercial Traveler (The
Metamorphoses')
The Awakening of Cupid (same)
597
## p. 10 (#24) ##############################################
Іо
LIST OF PORTRAITS
IN VOL. I.
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Full page
Full page
Full page
Pierre Abélard
Edmond About
Abigail Adams
John Adams
John Quincy Adams
Joseph Addison
Æschines
Æschylus
Æsop
Louis Agassiz
Grace Aguilar
W. H. Ainsworth
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Full page
Mark Akenside
Alcæus
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Louisa M. Alcott
T. B. Aldrich
Full page
J. Le R. d'Alembert
Vittorio Alfieri
Edmondo de Amicis
Anacreon
Hans Christian Andersen
Lucius Apuleius
Vignette
Vignette
Full page
Vignette
## p. 11 (#25) ##############################################
II
PREFACE
el
(C
HE plan of this work is simple, and yet it is novel. In its dis-
tinctive features it differs from any compilation that has yet
been made. Its main purpose is to present to American
households a mass of good reading. But it goes much beyond this.
For in selecting this reading it draws upon all literatures of all time
and of every race, and thus becomes a conspectus of the thought
and intellectual evolution of man from the beginning. Another and
scarcely less important purpose is the interpretation of this literature
in essays by scholars and authors competent to speak with authority.
The title, “A Library of the World's Best Literature,” is strictly
descriptive. It means that what is offered to the reader is taken from
the best authors, and is fairly representative of the best literature
and of all literatures. It may be important historically, or because
at one time it expressed the thought and feeling of a nation, or
because it has the character of universality, or because the readers
of to-day will find it instructive, entertaining, or amusing. The
Work aims to suit a great variety of tastes, and thus to commend
itself as a household companion for any mood and any hour. There
is no intention of presenting merely a mass of historical material,
however important it is in its place, which is commonly of the sort
that people recommend others to read and do not read themselves.
It is not a library of reference only, but a library to be read. The
selections do not represent the partialities and prejudices and culti
vation of any one person, or of a group of editors even; but, under
the necessary editorial supervision, the sober judgment of almost as
many minds as have assisted in the preparation of these volumes.
By this method, breadth of appreciation has been sought.
The arrangement is not chronological, but alphabetical, under the
names of the authors, and, in some cases, of literatures and special
## p. 12 (#26) ##############################################
I 2
subjects. Thus, in each volume a certain variety is secured, the
heaviness or sameness of a mass of antique, classical, or mediæval
material is avoided, and the reader obtains a sense of the varieties
and contrasts of different periods. But the work is not an encyclo-
pædia, or merely a dictionary of authors. Comprehensive information
as to all writers of importance may be included in a supplementary
reference volume; but the attempt to quote from all would destroy
the Work for reading purposes, and reduce it to a herbarium of
specimens.
In order to present a view of the entire literary field, and to make
these volumes especially useful to persons who have not access to
large libraries, as well as to treat certain literatures or subjects when
the names of writers are unknown or would have no significance to
the reader, it has been found necessary to make groups of certain
nationalities, periods, and special topics. For instance, if the reader
would like to know something of ancient and remote literatures
which cannot well be treated under the alphabetical list of authors,
he will find special essays by competent scholars on the Accadian-
Babylonian literature, on the Egyptian, the Hindu, the Chinese, the
Japanese, the Icelandic, the Celtic, and others, followed by selections
many of which have been specially translated for this work. In
these literatures names of ascertained authors are given in the Index.
The intention of the essays is to acquaint the reader with the spirit,
purpose, and tendency of these writings, in order that he may have
a comparative view of the continuity of thought and the value of
tradition in the world. Some subjects, like the Arthurian Legends,
the Nibelungen Lied, the Holy Grail, Provençal Poetry, the Chansons
and Romances, and the Gesta Romanorum, receive a similar treat-
ment.
Single poems upon which the authors' title to fame mainly
rests, familiar and dear hymns, and occasional and modern verse of
value, are also grouped together under an appropriate heading, with
reference in the Index whenever the poet is known.
It will thus be evident to the reader that the Library is fairly
comprehensive and representative, and that it has an educational
value, while offering constant and varied entertainment. This com-
prehensive feature, which gives the Work distinction, is, however,
## p. 13 (#27) ##############################################
13
supplemented by another of scarcely less importance; namely, the
critical interpretive and biographical comments upon the authors and
their writings and their place in literature, not by one mind, or by a
small editorial staff, but by a great number of writers and scholars,
specialists and literary critics, who are able to speak from knowledge
and with authority. Thus the Library becomes in a way representa-
tive of the scholarship and wide judgment of our own time. But the
essays have another value. They give information for the guidance
of the reader. If he becomes interested in any selections here given,
and would like a fuller knowledge of the author's works, he can turn
to the essay and find brief observations and characterizations which
will assist him in making his choice of books from a library.
The selections are made for household and general reading; in the
belief that the best literature contains enough that is pure and ele-
vating and at the same time readable, to satisfy any taste that should
be encouraged. Of course selection implies choice and exclusion.
It is hoped that what is given will be generally approved; yet it
may well happen that some readers will miss the names of authors
whom they desire to read. But this Work, like every other, has its
necessary limits; and in a general compilation the classic writings,
and those productions that the world has set its seal on as among
the best, must predominate over contemporary literature that is still
on its trial. It should be said, however, that many writers of pres-
ent note and popularity are omitted simply for lack of space.
The
editors are compelled to keep constantly in view the wider field.
The general purpose is to give only literature; and where authors
are cited who are generally known as philosophers, theologians, pub-
licists, or scientists, it is because they have distinct literary quality,
or because their influence upon literature itself has been so profound
that the progress of the race could not be accounted for without
them.
These volumes contain not only or mainly the literature of the
past, but they aim to give, within the limits imposed by such a
view, an idea of contemporary achievement and tendencies in all
civilized countries. In this view of the modern world the literary
product of America and Great Britain occupies the largest space.
## p. 14 (#28) ##############################################
14
It should be said that the plan of this work could not have been
carried out without the assistance of specialists in many departments
of learning, and of writers of skill and insight, both in this country
and in Europe. This assistance has been most cordially given, with
a full recognition of the value of the enterprise and of the aid that
the Library may give in encouraging and broadening literary tastes.
Perhaps no better service could be rendered the American public at
this period than the offer of an opportunity for a comprehensive
study of the older and the greater literatures of other nations. By
this comparison it can gain a just view of its own literature, and of
its possible mission in the world of letters.
Chas. Budry Nasser
## p. 15 (#29) ##############################################
## p. 16 (#30) ##############################################
as
Books
are not absolutely dead things, but do contain
a potency of life in them to be as active as that
soul was whose progeny they are; nay, they do preserve
as in a vial the purest efficacy and extraction of that
living intellect that bred them. I know they are
lively, and as vigorously productive, as those fabulous
dragon's teeth ; and being sown up and down, may chance
to spring up armed men. And yet on the other hand,
unless wariness be used, as good almost kill a man as kill
a good book : who kills a man kills a reasonable creature,
God's image ; but he who destroys a good book, kills rea-
son itself, kills the image of God, as it were in the eye.
Many a man lives a burden to the earth ; but a good
book is the precious life-blood of a master-spirit, embalmed
and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.
JOHN MILTON.
## p. 17 (#31) ##############################################
17
ABÉLARD
(1079—1142)
BY THOMAS DAVIDSON
IERRE, the eldest son of Bérenger and Lucie (Abélard ? ) was
born at Palais, near Nantes and the frontier of Brittany,
ar in 1079. His knightly father, having in his youth been a
student, was anxious to give his family, and especially his favorite
Pierre, a liberal education. The boy was accordingly sent to school,
under a teacher who at that time was making his mark in the
world, — Roscellin, the reputed father of Nominalism. As the whole
import and tragedy of his life may be traced back to this man's teach-
ing, and the relation which it bore to the
thought of the time, we must pause to con-
sider these.
In the early centuries of our era, the two
fundamental articles of the Gentile-Christ-
ian creed, the Trinity and the Incarnation,
neither of them Jewish, were formulated
in terms of Platonic philosophy, of which
the distinctive tenet is, that the real and
eternal is the universal, not the individ-
ual. On this assumption it was possible
to say that the same real substance could
exist in three, or indeed in any number of
persons. In the case of God, the dogma-
ABÉLARD
builders were careful to say, essence is one with existence, and there-
fore in Him the individuals are as real as the universal. Platonism,
having lent the formula for the Trinity, became the favorite philoso-
phy of many of the Church fathers, and so introduced into Christian
thought and life the Platonic dualism, that sharp distinction between
the temporal and the eternal which belittles the practical life and
glorifies the contemplative.
This distinction, as aggravated by Neo-Platonism, further affected
Eastern Christianity in the sixth century, and Western Christianity
in the ninth, chiefly through the writings of (the pseudo-) Dionysius
Areopagita, and gave rise to Christian mysticism. It was then erected
into a rule of conduct through the efforts of Pope Gregory VII. , who
strove to subject practical and civil life entirely to the control of
1-2
## p. 18 (#32) ##############################################
18
ABÉLARD
ecclesiastics and monks, standing for contemplative, supernatural life.
The latter included all purely mental work, which more and more
tended to concentrate itself upon religion and confine itself to the
clergy. In this way it came to be considered an utter disgrace for
any man engaged in mental work to take any part in the institutions
of civil life, and particularly to marry. He might indeed enter into
illicit relations, and rear a family of nephews” and “nieces,” with-
out losing prestige; but to marry was to commit suicide. Such was
the condition of things in the days of Abélard.
But while Platonism, with its real universals, was celebrating its
ascetic, unearthly triumphs in the West, Aristotelianism, which main-
tains that the individual is the real, was making its way in the East.
Banished as heresy beyond the limits of the Catholic Church, in the
fifth and sixth centuries, in the persons of Nestorius and others, it
took refuge in Syria, where it flourished for many years in the schools
of Edessa and Nisibis, the foremost of the time. From these it found
its way among the Arabs, and even to the illiterate Muhammad, who
gave it (1) theoretic theological expression in the cxii. surah of the
Koran: “He is One God, God the Eternal; He neither begets nor is
begotten; and to Him there is no peer,” in which both the funda-
mental dogmas of Christianity are denied, and that too on the ground
of revelation; (2) practical expression, by forbidding asceticism and
monasticism, and encouraging a robust, though somewhat coarse,
natural life. Islâm, indeed, was an attempt to rehabilitate the human.
In Abélard's time Arab Aristotelianism, with its consequences for
thought and life, was filtering into Europe and forcing Christian
thinkers to defend the bases of their faith. Since these, so far as
defensible at all, depended upon the Platonic doctrine of univer-
sals, and this could be maintained only by dialectic, this science be-
came extremely popular,-indeed, almost the rage. Little of the real
Aristotle was at that time known in the West; but in Porphyry's
Introduction to Aristotle's Logic was a famous passage, in which all
the difficulties with regard to universals were stated without being
solved. Over this the intellectual battles of the first age of Scholasti-
cism were fought. The more clerical and mystic thinkers, like
Anselm and Bernard, of course sided with Plato; but the more
worldly, robust thinkers inclined to accept Aristotle, not seeing that
his doctrine is fatal to the Trinity.
Prominent among these was a Breton, Roscellin, the early in-
structor of Abélard. From him the brilliant, fearless boy learnt two
terrible lessons: (1) that universals, instead of being real substances,
external and superior to individual things, are mere names (hence
Nominalism) for common qualities of things as recognized by the
human mind; (2) that since universals are the tools and criteria of
## p. 19 (#33) ##############################################
ABÉLARD
19
thought, the human mind, in which alone these exist, is the judge
of all truth,-a lesson which leads directly to pure rationalism, and
indeed to the rehabilitation of the human as against the superhuman.
No wonder that Roscellin came into conflict with the church author-
ities, and had to flee to England. Abélard afterwards modified his
nominalism and behaved somewhat unhandsomely to him, but never
escaped from the influence of his teaching. Abélard was a rationalist
and an asserter of the human. Accordingly, when, definitely adopting
the vocation of the scholar, he went to Paris to study dialectic under
the then famous William of Champeaux, a declared Platonist, or real-
ist as the designation then was, he gave his teacher infinite trouble
by his subtle objections, and not seldom got the better of him.
These victories, which made him disliked both by his teacher and
his fellow-pupils, went to increase his natural self-appreciation, and
induced him, though a mere youth, to leave William and set up a
rival school at Mélun. Here his splendid personality, his confidence.
and his brilliant powers of reasoning and statement, drew to him a
large number of admiring pupils, so that he was soon induced to move
his school to Corbeil, near Paris, where his impetuous dialectic found
a wider field. Here he worked so hard that he fell ill, and was
compelled to return home to his family. With them he remained for
several years, devoting himself to study, - not only of dialectic, but
plainly also of theology. Returning to Paris, he went to study rhet-
oric under his old enemy, William of Champeaux, who had mean-
while, to increase his prestige, taken holy orders, and had been made
bishop of Châlons. The old feud was renewed, and Abélard, being
now better armed than before, compelled his master openly to with-
draw from his extreme realistic position with regard to universals,
and assume one more nearly approaching that of Aristotle.
This victory greatly diminished the fame of William, and in-
creased that of Abélard; so that when the former left his chair and
appointed a successor, the latter gave way to Abélard and became
his pupil (1113). This was too much for William, who removed his
successor, and so forced Abélard to retire again to Mélun. Here he
remained but a short time; for, William having on account of unpop-
ularity removed his school from Paris Abélard returned thither and
opened a school outside the city, on Mont Ste. Généviève. William,
hearing this, returned to Paris and tried to put him down, but in
vain. Abélard was completely victorious.
After a time he returned once more to Palais, to see his mother,
who was about to enter the cloister, as his father had done some
time before. When this visit was over, instead of returning to Paris
to lecture on dialectic, he went to Laon to study theology under the
then famous Anselm. Here, convinced of the showy superficiality of
## p. 20 (#34) ##############################################
20
ABÉLARD
once more
Anselm, he once more got into difficulty, by undertaking to expound
a chapter of Ezekiel without having studied it under any teacher.
Though at first derided by his fellow-students, he succeeded so well
as to draw a crowd of them to hear him, and so excited the envy
of Anselm that the latter forbade him to teach in Laon. Abélard
. ccordingly returned
to Paris, convinced that he was
fit to shine as a lecturer, not only on dialectic, but also on theology.
And his audiences thought so also; for his lectures on Ezekiel were
very popular and drew crowds. He was now at the height of his
fame (1118).
The result of all these triumphs over dialecticians and theo-
logians was unfortunate. He not only felt himself the intellectual
superior of any living man, which he probably was, but he also
began to look down upon the current thought of his time as obsolete
and unworthy, and to set at naught even current opinion. He was
now on the verge of forty, and his life had so far been one of spot-
less purity; but now, under the influence of vanity, this too gave
way. Having
further conquests to make in the intellectual world,
he began to consider whether, with his great personal beauty, manly
bearing, and confident address, he might not make conquests in the
social world, and arrived at the conclusion that no woman could reject
him or refuse him her favor.
It was just at this unfortunate juncture that he went to live
in the house of a certain Canon Fulbert, of the cathedral, whose
brilliant niece, Héloise, had at the age of seventeen just returned
from a convent at Argenteuil, where she had been at school. Ful-
bert, who was proud of her talents, and glad to get the price of
Abélard's board, took the latter into his house and intrusted him
with the full care of Héloïse's further education, telling him even
to chastise her if necessary. So complete was Fulbert's confidence
in Abelard, that no restriction was put upon the companionship of
teacher and pupil. The result was that Abélard and Héloïse, both
equally inexperienced in matters of the heart, soon conceived for each
other an overwhelming passion, comparable only to that of Faust and
Gretchen. And the result in both cases was the same. Abélard, as a
great scholar, could not think of marriage; and if he had, Héloise
would have refused to ruin his career by marrying him. So it came
to pass that when their secret, never very carefully guarded, became
no longer a secret, and threatened the safety of Héloise, the only
thing that her lover could do for her was to carry her off secretly to
his home in Palais, and place her in charge of his sister. Here she
remained until the birth of her child, which received the name of
Astralabius, Abélard meanwhile continuing his work in Paris. And
here all the nobility of his character comes out. Though Fulbert and
## p. 21 (#35) ##############################################
ABÉLARD
21
his friends were, naturally enough, furious at what they regarded as
his utter treachery, and though they tried to murder him, he pro-
tected himself, and as soon as Héloise was fit to travel, hastened to
Palais, and insisted upon removing her to Paris and making her his
lawful wife. Héloise used every argument which her fertile mind
could suggest to dissuade him from a step which she felt must be his
ruin, at the same time expressing her entire willingness to stand in
a less honored relation to him. But Abélard was inexorable. Taking
her to Paris, he procured the consent of her relatives to the marriage
(which they agreed to keep secret), and even their presence at the
ceremony, which was performed one morning before daybreak, after
the two had spent a night of vigils in the church.
After the marriage, they parted and for some time saw little of
each other. When Héloise's relatives divulged the secret, and she
was taxed with being Abélard's lawful wife, she «anathematized and
swore that it was absolutely false. ” As the facts were too patent,
however, Abélard removed her from Paris, and placed her in the
convent at Argenteuil, where she had been educated. Here she
assumed the garb of a novice. Her relatives, thinking that he must
have done this in order to rid himself of her, furiously vowed ven-
geance, which they took in the meanest and most brutal form of
personal violence. It was not a time of fine sensibilities, justice, or
mercy; but even the public of those days was horrified, and gave
expression to its horror. Abélard, overwhelmed with shame, despair,
and remorse, could now think of nothing better than to abandon the
world. Without any vocation, as he well knew, he assumed the
monkish habit and retired to the monastery of St. Denis, while
Héloise, by his order, took the veil at Argenteuil. Her devotion and
heroism on this occasion Abélard has described in touching terms.
Thus supernaturalism had done its worst for these two strong,
impetuous human souls.
If Abélard had entered the cloister in the hope of finding peace,
he soon discovered his mistake. The dissolute life of the monks
utterly disgusted him, while the clergy stormed him with petitions to
continue his lectures. Yielding to these, he was soon again sur-
rounded by crowds of students — so great that the monks at St. Denis
were glad to get rid of him. He accordingly retired to a lonely cell,
to which he was followed by more admirers than could find shelter
or food. As the schools of Paris were thereby emptied, his rivals did
everything in their power to put a stop to his teaching, declaring
that as a monk he ought not to teach profane science, nor as a lay-
man in theology sacred science. In order to legitimatize his claim to
teach the latter, he now wrote a theological treatise, regarding which
he says: —
## p. 22 (#36) ##############################################
22
ABÉLARD
«It so happened that I first endeavored to illuminate the basis of our
faith by similitudes drawn from human reason, and to compose for our stu-
dents a treatise on (The Divine Unity and Trinity,' because they kept asking
for human and philosophic reasons, and demanding rather what could be
understood than what could be said, declaring that the mere utterance of
words was useless unless followed by understanding; that nothing could be
believed that was not first understood, and that it was ridiculous for any one
to preach what neither he nor those he taught could comprehend, God him-
self calling such people blind leaders of the blind. ”
(
Here we have Abélard's central position, exactly the opposite to
that of his realist contemporary, Anselm of Canterbury, whose prin-
ciple was Credo ut intelligam” (I believe, that I may understand).
We must not suppose, however, that Abélard, with his rationalism,
dreamed of undermining Christian dogma. Very far from it!
He
believed it to be rational, and thought he could prove it so.
No won-
der that the book gave offense, in an age when faith and ecstasy
were placed above reason. Indeed, his rivals could have wished for
nothing better than this book, which gave them a weapon to use
against him. Led on by two old enemies, Alberich and Lotulf, they
caused an ecclesiastical council to be called at Soissons, to pass judg-
ment upon the book (1121). This judgment was a foregone conclusion,
the trial being the merest farce, in which the pursuers were the judges,
the Papal legate allowing his better reason to be overruled by their
passion. Abélard was condemned to burn his book in public, and to
read the Athanasian Creed as his confession of faith (which he did
in tears), and then to be confined permanently in the monastery of
St. Médard as a dangerous heretic.
His enemies seemed to have triumphed and to have silenced him
forever. Soon after, however, the Papal legate, ashamed of the part
he had taken in the transaction, restored him to liberty and allowed
him to return to his own monastery at St. Denis. Here once more
his rationalistic, critical spirit brought him into trouble with the big-
oted, licentious monks. Having maintained, on the authority of Beda,
that Dionysius, the patron saint of the monastery, was bishop of Cor-
inth and not of Athens, he raised such a storm that he was forced
to flee, and took refuge on a neighboring estate, whose proprietor,
Count Thibauld, was friendly to him. Here he was cordially received
by the monks of Troyes, and allowed to occupy a retreat belonging
to them.
After some time, and with great difficulty, he obtained leave from
the abbot of St. Denis to live where he chose, on condition of not
joining any other order. Being now practically a free man, he
retired to a lonely spot near Nogent-sur-Seine, on the banks of the
Ardusson. There, having received a gift of a piece of land, he estab-
## p. 23 (#37) ##############################################
ABÉLARD
23
lished himself along with a friendly cleric, building a small oratory
of clay and reeds to the Holy Trinity. No sooner, however, was
his place of retreat known than he was followed into the wilderness
by hosts of students of all ranks, who lived in tents, slept on the
ground, and underwent every kind of hardship, in order to listen to
him (1123). These supplied his wants, and built a chapel, which he
dedicated to the Paraclete, ” — a name at which his enemies, furious
over his success, were greatly scandalized, but which ever after
designated the whole establishment.
So incessant and unrelenting were the persecutions he suffered
from those enemies, and so deep his indignation at their baseness,
that for some time he seriously thought of escaping beyond the
bounds of Christendom, and seeking refuge among the Muslim. But
just then (1125) he was offered an important position, the abbotship
of the monastery of St. Gildas-de-Rhuys, in Lower Brittany, on the
lonely, inhospitable shore of the Atlantic. Eager for rest and a posi-
tion promising influence, Abélard accepted the offer and left the Par-
aclete, not knowing what he was doing.
His position at St. Gildas was little less than slow martyrdom.
The country was wild, the inhabitants were half barbarous, speaking
a language unintelligible to him; the monks were violent, unruly, and
dissolute, openly living with concubines; the lands of the monastery
were subjected to intolerable burdens by the neighboring lord, leav-
ing the monks in poverty and discontent. Instead of finding a home
of God-fearing men, eager for enlightenment, he found a nest of greed
and corruption. His attempts to introduce discipline, or even decency,
among his sons," only stirred up rebellion and placed his life in dan-
ger. Many times he was menaced with the sword, many times with
poison. In spite of all that, he clung to his office, and labored to do
his duty. Meanwhile the jealous abbot of St. Denis succeeded in
establishing a claim to the lands of the convent at Argenteuil, - of
which Héloise, long since famous not only for learning but also for
saintliness, was now the head,- and she and her nuns were violently
evicted and cast on the world. Hearing of this with indignation,
Abélard at once offered the homeless sisters the deserted Paraclete
and all its belongings. The offer was thankfully accepted, and Hélo-
ise with her family removed there to spend the remainder of her life.
It does not appear that Abélard and Héloïse ever saw each other at
this time, although he used every means in his power to provide for
her safety and comfort. This was in 1129. Two years later the Para-
clete was confirmed to Héloise by a Papal bull. It remained a con-
vent, and a famous one, for over six hundred years.
After this Abélard paid several visits to the convent, which he
justly regarded as his foundation, in order to arrange a rule of life
## p. 24 (#38) ##############################################
24
ABÉLARD
for its inmates, and to encourage them in their vocation. Although
on these occasions he saw nothing of Héloise, he did not escape the
malignant suspicions of the world, nor of his own flock, which now
became more unruly than ever, - so much so that he was compelled
to live outside the inonastery. Excommunication was tried in vain,
and even the efforts of a Papal legate failed to restore order. For
Abélard there was nothing but « fear within and conflict without. ”
It was at this time, about 1132, that he wrote his famous Historia
Calamitatum,' from which most of the above account of his life has
been taken. In 1134, after nine years of painful struggle, he defi-
nitely left St. Gildas, without, however, resigning the abbotship. For
the next two years he seems to have led a retired life, revising his
old works and composing new ones.
Meanwhile, by some chance, his History of Calamities) fell into
the hands of Héloise at the Paraclete, was devoured with breathless
interest, and rekindled the flame that seemed to have smoldered in
her bosom for thirteen long years. Overcome with compassion for
her husband, for such he really was, she at once wrote to him a let-
ter which reveals the first healthy human heart-beat that had found
expression in Christendom for a thousand years. Thus began a cor-
respondence which, for genuine tragic pathos and human interest,
has no equal in the world's literature. In Abélard, the scholarly
monk has completely replaced the man; in Héloise, the saintly nun
is but a veil assumed in loving obedience to him, to conceal the
deep-hearted, faithful, devoted flesh-and-blood woman. And such a
woman! It may well be doubted if, for all that constitutes genuine
womanhood, she ever had an equal. If there is salvation in love,
Héloise is in the heaven of heavens. She does not try to express her
love in poems, as Mrs. Browning did; but her simple, straightforward
expression of a love that would share Francesca's fate with her lover,
rather than go to heaven without him, yields, and has yielded,
matter for a hundred poems. She looks forward to no salvation; for
her chief love is for him. Domino specialiter, sua singulariter: “As a
member of the species woman I am the Lord's, as Héloïse I am
yours ” — nominalism with a vengeance!
But to return to Abélard. Permanent quiet in obscurity was
plainly impossible for him; and so in 1136 we find him back at Ste.
Généviève, lecturing to crowds of enthusiastic students. He probably
thought that during the long years of his exile, the envy and hatred
of his enemies had died out; but he soon discovered that he was
greatly mistaken. He was too marked a character, and the tendency
of his thought too dangerous, for that. Besides, he emptied the
schools of his rivals, and adopted no conciliatory tone toward them.
The natural result followed. In the year 1140, his enemies, headed
## p. 25 (#39) ##############################################
ABÉLARD
25
by St. Bernard, who had long regarded him with suspicion, raised a
cry of heresy against him, as subjecting everything to reason. Ber-
nard, who was nothing if not a fanatic, and who managed to give
vent to all his passions by placing them in the service of his God, at
once denounced him to the Pope, to cardinals, and to bishops, in
passionate letters, full of rhetoric, demanding his condemnation as a
perverter of the bases of the faith.
At that time a great ecclesiastical council was about to assem-
ble at Sens; and Abélard, feeling certain that his writings contained
nothing which he could not show to be strictly orthodox, demanded
that he should be allowed to explain and dialectically defend his
position, in open dispute, before it. But this was above all things
what his enemies dreaded. They felt that nothing was safe before
his brilliant dialectic. Bernard even refused to enter the lists with
him; and preferred to draw up a list of his heresies, in the form of
sentences sundered from their context in his works, some of them,
indeed, from works which he never wrote,- and to call upon the coun-
cil to condemn them. (These theses may be found in Denzinger's
'Enchiridion Symbolorum et Definitionum,' pp. 109 seq. ) Abélard,
clearly understanding the scheme, feeling its unfairness, and knowing
the effect of Bernard's lachrymose pulpit rhetoric upon sympathetic
ecclesiastics who believed in his power to work miracles, appeared
before the council, only to appeal from its authority to Rome. The
council, though somewhat disconcerted by this, proceeded to con-
demn the disputed theses, and sent a notice of its action to the Pope.
Fearing that Abélard, who had friends in Rome, might proceed
thither and obtain a reversal of the verdict, Bernard set every agency
at work to obtain a confirmation of it before his victim could reach
the Eternal City. And he succeeded.
The result was for a time kept secret from Abélard, who, now
over sixty years old, set out on his painful journey. Stopping on his
way at the famous, hospitable Abbey of Cluny, he was most kindly
entertained by its noble abbot, who well deserved the name of Peter
the Venerable. Here, apparently, he learned that he had been con-
demned and excommunicated; for he went no further. Peter offered
the weary man an asylum in his house, which was gladly accepted;
and Abélard, at last convinced of the vanity of all worldly ambition,
settled down to a life of humiliation, meditation, study, and prayer.
Soon afterward Bernard made advances toward reconciliation, which
Abélard accepted; whereupon his excommunication was removed.
Then the once proud Abélard, shattered in body and broken in spirit,
had nothing more to do but to prepare for another life. And the end
was not far off.
