f a private
inheritance; by a vow of poverty and penance, by closing his eyes
against the visible world, [30] by the refusal of all ecclesiastical
dignities, the abbot of Clairvaux became the oracle of Europe, and the
founder of one hundred and sixty convents. Princes and pontiffs trembled
at the freedom of his apostolical censures: France, England, and Milan,
consulted and obeyed his judgment in a schism of the church: the debt
was repaid by the gratitude of Innocent the Second; and his successor,
Eugenius the Third, was the friend and disciple of the holy Bernard.
It was in the proclamation of the second crusade that he shone as the
missionary and prophet of God, who called the nations to the defence of
his holy sepulchre. [31] At the parliament of Vezelay he spoke before
the king; and Louis the Seventh, with his nobles, received their crosses
from his hand. The abbot of Clairvaux then marched to the less easy
conquest of the emperor Conrad: [311] a phlegmatic people, ignorant of
his language, was transported by the pathetic vehemence of his tone and
gestures; and his progress, from Constance to Cologne, was the
triumph of eloquence and zeal. Bernard applauds his own success in the
depopulation of Europe; affirms that cities and castles were emptied of
their inhabitants; and computes, that only one man was left behind for
the consolation of seven widows. [32] The blind fanatics were desirous of
electing him for their general; but the example of the hermit Peter was
before his eyes; and while he assured the crusaders of the divine favor,
he prudently declined a military command, in which failure and victory
would have been almost equally disgraceful to his character. [33] Yet,
after the calamitous event, the abbot of Clairvaux was loudly accused
as a false prophet, the author of the public and private mourning;
his enemies exulted, his friends blushed, and his apology was slow and
unsatisfactory. He justifies his obedience to the commands of the pope;
expatiates on the mysterious ways of Providence; imputes the misfortunes
of the pilgrims to their own sins; and modestly insinuates, that his
mission had been approved by signs and wonders. [34] Had the fact been
certain, the argument would be decisive; and his faithful disciples,
who enumerate twenty or thirty miracles in a day, appeal to the public
assemblies of France and Germany, in which they were performed. [35]
At the present hour, such prodigies will not obtain cred