Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1820-01-26

gundian monastery, OF which the venerable
Peter was abbot. This amiable ecc'esias-
tic soothed the wearied soul of Abeillard,
who remained for some time his guest. AT
length reconciliation between Abeiliard
and ST. Bernard was effected by the abbot OF
Citeaux, though not till sentence had been
pronounced at Rome, condemning Abeil-
lard to silence and Imprisonment, and bis
work TO the flames, and consigning his OPT
Mon to execration, by assocating his name
with that of Arnold, the Brescian. This
celebrated demagogue the precursor, and
perhaps the prototype of Rienzi, had ex-
posed the vices OF the hierarchy, and seem
ed patriot, till in the enjoyment of doml-
Mon, he lost the virtues by which he had
gained il.
The Pope yielded to Peters intercession
fer Abeillard, suspended the sentence, ana
permitted him to reside at Clune there,
according TO the abbot's statement, his hu-
miity and devotion were exemplary. Ihe
monks, unlike those OF St. Gildas. were ca
ger TO obtain instruction from his lips, and
improvement from his example. The age
and opulence Of the convent had been at
tended. as usual, with decay in its dsci-
pine of which the persuasioas of Abeil-
lard checked the progress, and by intusing
into the minds oil The monks literary taste,
be prepared them for indulgences purer than
those pracised by holy men in the middle
ages. Obeying the universal request OF the
convent, Abeillard sometimes lectuied in its
school, and the applauses of the auditors
were as vehement as those which had re-
warded the labors Of his younger and hap
pier days. But this exercise, while it per-
turbed mind, 10 which tranquility was
now essential, proportionably injured his
feeble body. The violence of disease at
length necessitated his removal to milder
climate, and the priory ofSt. Malceilus was
selected by his venerable friend. Here, as
far as was possible to his wasting strength,
be resumed the benevolent and pous habits
which had marked his residence at Clune.
Beside the engagement ofsecret prayer, he
writ edifying addresses, and when he grew
unable 'to write, spoke extemporaneously
TO the afflicted and admiring monks But
the benefit of these instructions was not con-
tinued to them long, for on the 2lst April,
Il42, in the esd year of his age, died the
once ardent lover OF Heloisa and idolized
philosopher of F:ance.
To Heoisa who had been tortured by anx-
iety during the late persecution Of Aheillard,
the venerable Peter transmitted an account
Of his death. Aware that the task was diff
cult and delicate, he introduced it with an
encomium on his correspondent, and after
praising the merits and plying the suferings
of Abeillard, at length announced the dis
tressful event. Amid the pungent griefs
which memory assembled in the breast of
Heloisa she recollected that Abeillard had
once enjoined her TO bury him at the Para
clete, but the Monks of ST. MarcelIus had al
ready performed that Office a their own &C.
metery, and refused 10 exhumate the body,
Choosing dark night for efecting clandes-
timely what he was reluctant to do by an ex-
ercise Of bis power. he removed the body
from the vault and caused it ~ be conveyed
to the Paraclete. Here il was inferred amid
the Amentng eulogy Of Peter, the passion
ale wailings Of the Nuns. and the unuttera-
BILE anguish of Heloisa After the Abbot's
departure, and when her mind grew more
tranquil she writ him letter expressing es
tenn for his virtues and gratitude for his ser
vices, and valuable as being the latest of her
compositions, which posterity possesses. In
ii she also solicits the Abbot's protection for
her son Astrolabius, and his written absolu-
ton of Abeillard. From this period 10 tina,
of her death, an interval of 81 years,
but little is known of Heloisa however find
ing nothing in conventua history interesting
10 mankind, Mr. Bennington has endeavored
to instruct them by contendiug that selfish
ness is not more descriptive of recluses than
of other persons Perhaps men do not gene
rally undertake the customary duties of soci
ETY., through motives more pbianthropical
than those which impel them to monasteres,
but their lives are surely mere useful to their
neighbors and of course less selfish in their
consequences. The difference between this