BOOKS.
ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX.* Turn sympathetic and careful study of St. Bernard is given to the public in the form of lectures, and has some of the disadvantages incident to that method of treatment. The narrative, instead of being continuous, is broken into portions, and an occasional address of the speaker to his audience gives a curious sense of incongruity. On the other hand, the lecturer is allowed a freedom of expression, and what we may term a rhetorical license, which would be out of place in a history or biography intended solely for readers; and Dr.
Storrs understands the art of appealing to the emotions as well as to the intellect. He is in love with his theme, and writes with an admiration of his great hero that is not always, perhaps, quite tempered with discretion. We say this however, with some hesitation, for on most points connected with St. Bernard's career the author's judgment strikes us as sound and generous.
If the Saint was in some respects the most practical of men, he was also one of the most visionary, and we do not think that Charles Kingsley was altogether wrong in saying that he had a "hysterical element" in his character. " I may not know precisely, "Dr. Storrs writes, "what was intended by the adjective, but it usually represents something fitful, paroxysmal, essentially convulsive in the habit and temper; and if that were the Canon's meaning I should say there was about as much of it in Bernard as in John Calvin or Julius Cmsar." Now we think it is easy to gather what Kingsley meant from the statements which immediately follow the pas- sage just quoted. Dr. Storrs admits that Bernard had so ruined his health by his austerities, that he had almost lost, the power of distinguishing flavours. He mistook raw blood for butter, and drank oil in place of water or wine, without knowing the difference. The very thought of food was repul- sive to him, and a bit of bread moistened with warm water was his usual diet. On another page, Dr. Storrs writes:—
" All time given to sleep he regarded as wasted, counting the sleeping as for the time practically dead ; and though ho was not able to pass the entire night in wakefulness, he certainly came as near bait as is possible to man. Through his excessive abstinence from food he lost all relish for it, almost all power of assimilating. it, and made himself the inferior invalid that he continued to 14
through life In all physical self-discipline his aim was not merely to conquer the desires of the flesh, but the senses themselves through which desire might be awakened ; practically, to 'keep under the body' by suspending its functions. Naturally, therefore, became after a time into that state of mind—abstracted,
* Bernard of Cloirraux the Time, the Man, and hie Work. By Richard B. Storrs, D.D., LL.D. London Hodder and h'tonzliton. Preoccupied, unrelated to sensible things, almost vitally detached from the body—in which seeing he saw not, hearing he heard not ; three windows in the room were the same to him as one, and of anything external which happened to him, his memory retained no impression."
Again, we are told how, on one occasion, he rode for an entire day by the Lake of Geneva without knowing, until evening, that the lake bad been near him ; and that while living on the verge of starvation be should see visions and dream dreams, is not surprising. How far spiritual power gained the mastery over physical weakness in a man so saintly as Bernard, is not for us to say ; but we have surely quoted enough from Dr. Storrs' own pages to show that the Saint was not wholly free from the physical infirmity which Charles Kingsley ascribed to him.
It is, however, a happy characteristic of Bernard that, while living the life of an ascetic and a mystic, he showed, when occasion called for it, the practical sagacity of a man of the world. Like all great founders of religious or political corn. inanities, he possessed the highest moral courage, great mental resources, and a power of commanding allegiance which never failed him. His influence was universally acknowledged ; and in many instances an absolute reliance seems to have been placed on his judgment and spiritual in- sight. This was seen in a striking way when it was left to Bernard to decide which of two ecclesiastics contending for the Popedom should be chosen by France ; and never was his courage and indomitable will made more evident than when his solemn rebuke brought the powerful and brutal William, Duke of Aquitaine, a suppliant to his feet. Probably a more fiery denouncer of what he regarded as evil never lived than Bernard of Clairvaux ; and yet strength was not a whit more evident in his character than tenderness. His love of Nature was that of a poet, and the words he addressed to Heinrich of Murdech—" Expert() orede ; aliquid amplius invenies in silvia quam in libris "—will remind the reader that Wordsworth has expressed a similar belief.
The lecture on St. Bernard's monastic life is marked throughout by liberality and good sense. While recognising the evils that are almost inseparable from an institution which, however acceptable to a few saintly souls, is opposed to the best instincts of our nature, Dr. Storrs dilates with energy and eloquence on the vast services rendered by the monasteries during what we are accustomed to call "the dark ages." There is necessarily little that is new in what he says ; but it was well to remind a. Protestant audience of some of the more prominent benefits we owe to the self-denying ser- vices of men who laboured for duty and love under conditions which the least luxurious of modern workers would deem intolerable. Truly does Dr. Storrs say that the destruction of the convents would have darkened the world in later Centuries; and he reminds us that the service rendered by the monks in the preservation of the Scriptures surpassed in im- portance and value their service towards the classical writers. At Clairvaux, where idleness was as unknown as luxury, Bernard's companions had no contempt for profane literature, and many of them were engaged in literary labours. The Saint's own pen was seldom idle, and his numerpus letters testify to his activity and earnestness. Great, indeed, must have been the energy of a community that sent forth a hundred and sixty colonies during the lifetime of its founder.
So much beloved was Bernard, that he found it difficult to induce his companions to leave a home which had become so dear :--
" From more fertile valleys and more genial skies, they fru:es- :al:lily longed to get back thither ; and one of his severest letters s written from Italy to a poor disciple who had been sent as A.bbot to the convent at Igny, but who was so home-sick for Clair- vasnx that he gave up his place of honour and trust to return where 'h4lErrt "43. The Almighty God spare thee,' says Bernard; heliev ids this that thou art set upon doing P Who would have n e _that thou wouldst have rushed into this great wrong, a
brings with so much goodness P How is it that a good
roe rebukreTH forth from itself such detestable fruit P' The Third, who had was not alone in his sense of exile. Eugenius with tears
o had been a monk in the beautiful valley, went from it to assume the duties and the dignities of the pontificate at Rome"
Dr. Storrs' study of one of the best and greatest men living in the twelfth century is far from being superficial. An occa- sional outburst of rhetoric can be forgiven to a lecturer ; but while endeavouring to make his subject attractive, he is far from being superficial, and there are unmistakable evidences throughout the volume that the author has not only a compre- hensive knowledge of the period, but has consulted the original authorities for every important statement. In other words, St. Bernard and his age have not been "got up" for the sake of the lectures, but the lectures afford the proof of previous and widely extended research. St. Bernard's life has been made familiar to English readers by the late Mr. Cotter Morison, to whose masterly biography Dr. Storrs does justice in his preface. He observes, however, as was indeed inevitable, that it is lees sympathetic than could be desired in spiritual tone ; and it is well that the great Abbot's career should be viewed from another and, in our judgment, a more reasonable standpoint.
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