Essays, or discourses, vol. 1 (of 4) : $b Selected from the works of Feyjoo, and translated from the SpanishFeijoo, Benito Jerónimo
Philosophy
Essays, or discourses, vol. 1 (of 4) : $b Selected from the works of Feyjoo, and translated from the Spanish
Feijoo, Benito Jerónimo
Spanish essays -- Translations into English
XLIV. So that this man, who could not be made to bend to the most
learned men of France, who were engaged in continual controversies
with him; nor to the force of the civil power, exerted against him
various times at the instance of his enemies; nor to the ecclesiastical
prelates, nor to the authority of a council, nor to the zeal and
learning of a St. Bernard: This man, I say, on whom all these
exertions had no influence, submitted to the gentle, compassionate,
and benevolent spirit of St. Peter the Venerable. The estimation and
tenderness, with which this saint always regarded Abelard after his
conversion, was very great, as is evident from two epitaphs he wrote to
grace his tomb. I shall insert a part of each of them here, by which
may be seen the high opinion he entertained of the learning and wisdom
of this eminent man.
First Epitaph.
_Gallorum Socrates, Plato maximus Hesperiarum,_
_Noster Aristoteles, Logicis, quicumque fuerunt,_
_Aut par, aut melior, studiorum cognitus orbi_
_Princeps, ingenio varius, subtilis, & acer._
Second Epitaph.
_Petrus in hac petra latitat, quem mundus Homerum_
_Clamabat, sed jam sidera sidus habent._
_Sol erat hic Gallis, sed eum jam fata tulerunt:_
_Ergo caret Regio Gallica sole sua._
_Ille sciens quidquid fuit ulli scibile, vicit_
_Artifices, artes absque docente docens._
XLV. The second example, which is still more striking and illustrious
than the first, is that of the Huguenots in the reign of Charles the
ninth, in the diocese of Lisieux in Normandy. The learned Dominican
John Henuyer, who had been confessor to Henry the second, was bishop
of that diocese, when orders came from the king to the governor of
Normandy, to put to the sword all the Huguenots of that province. The
venerable prelate opposed the execution of the order as far as it
related to his own diocese efficaciously, by declaring that he would
sooner submit his own throat to the knife, than consent to the death
of those heretics, whom he had always considered as sheep of his
flock, although they had gone astray; and used such other arguments,
as prevailed on the governor to suspend the execution of the orders;
and the king, moved with the firmness and zeal of the pious bishop,
revoked the decree with respect to the Huguenots of that bishopric. The
hand of Omnipotence heaped blessings on the paternal affection which
bishop Henuyer manifested to his flock, and on the pious exertion he
made to save their lives at all events; and (O wonderful to relate!)
in none of the other parts of France, where rivers of Huguenot blood
had been spilt in the execution of the king’s orders, was the heresy
extinguished; but on the diocese of Lisieux only, did God confer this
great blessing. The experience of the paternal bowels and feeling of
their prelate for them, made such an impression on the hearts of the
Huguenots of that district, that they all, without a single exception,
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