or with feet roughly tied up in the bark of trees, waited impatiently for the announcement of Li Mestre.  Pale-faced southerners had braved the Alps and the Pyrenees under the fascination of “the wizard.”  Shaven and sandalled monks, black-habited clerics, black canons, secular and regular, black in face too, some of them, heresy hunters from the neighboring abbey of St. Victor, mingled with the crowd of young and old, grave and gay, beggars and nobles, sleek citizens and bronzed peasants....

Over mountains and over seas the mingled reputation of the city and the school were carried, and a remarkable stream set in from Germany, Switzerland, Italy (even from proud Rome), Spain, and England; even “distant Brittany sent you its animals to be instructed,” wrote Prior Fulques to Abelard (a Breton) a year or two afterwards.[5]

What was there in the teaching of Abelard which brought together this extraordinary gathering?  One may admit the presence of unanalysable genius in this master, and still find certain qualities indispensable to the efficient teacher of to-day,—­a winning personality, fulness of knowledge, and technical skill as a teacher.  These are admirably set forth in the following description: 

It is not difficult to understand the charm of Abelard’s teaching.  Three qualities are assigned to it by the writers of the period, some of whom studied at his feet; clearness, richness in imagery, and lightness of touch are said to have been the chief characteristics of his teaching.  Clearness is, indeed, a quality of his written works, though they do not naturally convey an impression of his oral power.  His splendid gifts and versatility, supported by a rich voice, a charming personality, a ready and sympathetic use of human literature, and a freedom from excessive piety, gave him an immeasurable advantage over all the teachers of the day.  Beside most of them, he was as a butterfly to an elephant.  A most industrious study of the few works of Aristotle and of the Roman classics that were available, a retentive memory, an ease in manipulating his knowledge, a clear, penetrating mind, with a corresponding clearness of expression, a ready and productive fancy, a great knowledge of men, a warmer interest in things human than in things divine, a laughing contempt for authority, a handsome presence, and a musical delivery—­these were his gifts.[6]

He takes his place in history, apart from the ever-interesting drama and the deep pathos of his life, in virtue of two distinctions.  They are, firstly, an extraordinary ability in imparting such knowledge as the poverty of the age afforded—­the facts of his career reveal it; and, secondly, a mind of such marvellous penetration that it conceived great truths which it has taken humanity seven or eight centuries to see—­this will appear as we proceed.  It was the former of these gifts that made him, in literal truth,