ABE 



ABE 



of Moab, oppofite to Jericho, not far from Jordnn. Here 

 Mofes eiicainpcd before the Ifraelitss paffeu the Jordan un- 

 der Jolh 11. Here alio, fediiced by Balak, they worihippcd 

 Biil-Ppor, and were puniflied by the iridrumeiitality of the 

 Levites. Numb. \xv. i. &c. xxxiii. ^9. 



ABEL-TREE, or Abele-trke, in Botany, a fpecies of 

 POPLAR, with large leaves. This tree may be propagated by 

 layers or cutting;>,and alfo by fuckers. Many advantages might 

 be derived trom planting it in boggy foih, where few othjr 

 trees will thriv^-. The wood of it is ufeful for flooring or 

 wainfcoting rooms ; and it is preferred for turnery-ware to 

 any other, on account of its peculiar whitenels. The 

 quieknefs of its growth, infomuch that it will yield flioots 

 of cigiiteen or twenty feet long in a year, renders it eligible 

 in plantations that are defigned for fhade or fhelter. 



ABELA,_7-/-"' Frtincls,'m B'tographv, wascommander of the 

 order of Malta. His book, intitled Maltha Uliijirata, publilhed 

 in 1647, in folio, and containing a defcription of Malta, and of 

 its principal antiquities, is rare and curious. Biog. Dift. 



ABELARD, Peter, ah eminent fcholaftic philofopher 

 of the 1 2th centu'.y. He was the fon of Berenger, of noble 

 defcent, and born at Palais, near Nantes in Brittany, in the 

 year 1079. At the age of 16 he had acquired, under Rof- 

 ctline, the founder of the feft of the Nominalifts, a con- 

 fidcrable acquaintance with mctaphyfics and logic ; together 

 with a fubtlety of thought and a fluency of exprcflion, which 

 qualified him for the literary contells in which he was after- 

 wards engaged. Ardent in the profccution of fame, and of 

 that kind of fcience, which then prevailed, he fettled at 

 Paris, in the 20th year of his age, and devoted himfelf to 

 the fl;udy of dialeftics under William de Champeaux, called 

 the •vmcrable dudor. The mafter and the pupil were for 

 fome time much attached to each other ; but when the difciple 

 prefumed to contradift his teacher, and to enter into difpu- 

 tations with him, in which, according to the judgment of 

 his fellow ftudents, he was viftorious, the vanity of Abelard 

 was inflamed, and the jealoufy of Champeaux excited ; and 

 a feparation became neceflai-y. Thus flattered and encou- 

 mged, and poflefling fuperior talents, both by nature and in 

 confequence of fedulous apphcation, Abelard, at the age of 

 22, determined to open a public fchool for himfelf; and the 

 place which he felected was Melun, a town dillant from 

 Paris about ten leagues, \^-here the court at that time often 

 refided. Notwithflanding the competition and hoftility of 

 Champeaux, the young ledlurer's fchool was thronged 

 with auditors, who were highly gratified by his public per- 

 formances. Farther emboldened by this fuccefs, he ap- 

 proached nearer to Paris, and removed his fchool to Corbeil, 

 where he had an opportunity of triumphing over his former 

 mailer, and of compelling him to retire. His application and 

 aftivity, h.^wever, impaired his health, and rendered it ne- 

 ceffary for him to withdraw from the pubhc fcene of literary 

 conteft into his native country. After an abfence of two 

 years, he returned to Corbeil ; where he renewed his lectures 

 with fuch reputation, that the fcholars of Champeaux dc- 

 ferted him ; and where he obtained freih triuinphs over his 

 envy and oppofition. In the in"ue his vitlory was fo com.- 

 plete, that Champeaux, who had affuraed the monailic ha- 

 bit among the regular canons in the convent of St. Victor, 

 and who was afterwards preferred to the fee of Chalons, was 

 confl;rained to rclinquifli the conteft and to yield to the ac- 

 knowledged fupcriority of his rival. Upon this Abelard 

 quitted the fchool which he had cilabliflied at the abbey of 

 St. Genevieve, and direiStinpf his views to the lludy and 

 profefiion of theology, removed to Laon, and placed himfelf 

 under the tuition of Anfelm. Here again the difciple, by the 

 fuperiority of his talents and acquirements, excited the jea- 



loufy of this celebrated theologian ; and after cdablifhing his 

 rep;;tation by the lectures which he delivered, he was com- 

 pelled to retire from Laon, and to remove to Paris. His 

 leftures in this city, both in theology and philofophy, 

 were attended by a great number of ftudents, who re- 

 forted .to his fchool, not only from various parts of 

 France, but from Spain, Italy, Germany, Flanders, and 

 Great Britain. At the age of forty Abelard facrificed the 

 reputation which ho had acquired, as an able difputant and 

 popular preceptor, to the love of pleafure, and difgraced 

 himfelf by forming and executing a deliberate plan tor the 

 fedudion of female innocence. During his refidence at 

 Paris, where he was acquiring affluence as well as renown, 

 he boarded in the houi'e of Fulbert, a canon of the cathedral 

 church, who had a niece called Heloife, about the age of 

 1 8 years, and erpial'y celebrated for her beauty and literary 

 attainments. The avaricious canon, wifliing to have his 

 niece inllrutted without expence, employed Abelard as her 

 preceptor ; but inftead of improving her in the fciences, he 

 betrayed his truft, taught her to love, and determined to 

 feduce her. From this time Abelard became remits in the 

 perfoi-mance of his public funftions, and wrote nothing but 

 ainorous verfes. The canon, deluded by his refpeil for the 

 preceptor of his niece, remained ignorant of an amour, which 

 became the fubjeft of general converfation. In a little while, 

 however, the pregnancy of Heloife difcovercd the culpable 

 conduct of her lover, and roufed the refentment of the infa- 

 tuated uncle. She was foon removed to the houfe of Abelard's 

 fifter in Brittany, and there dehvercd of a fon. When the 

 child was born, Abelard made a propofal to Fulbert of pri- 

 vately marrying his niece, to which the canon confented. 

 Heloife, however, hefitated in accepting the offer, partly 

 from a regard to the honoin- of Abelard, whofe profeffion 

 bound him to celibacy, and partly from a romantic notion, 

 that her paffion ought not to fubmit to ordinary reftraints. 

 Abelard at laft prevailed, and they were privately man-ied at 

 Paris ; though it is faid, that flie proteiled to her uncle tUat 

 fhe was not married, and that this was one caule of his un- 

 kind and fevere treatment of her. Abelard made this a plea 

 for removing her from his houfe to the abbey of Benedidtine 

 nuns, in which file had been educated. The uncle meditated 

 revenge, and hired ruffians, who forced their way into his 

 chamber by night, and inflicted on his perfon a difgraceful 

 and cruel mutilation. Abelard refolved that, as Heloife 

 could no longer be his, (he Ihould never be another's, and 

 demanded from her a promife to devote herfelf to vehg'on. 

 She fubmitted to the felfifh and harlh injunction, and pw- 

 feffed herfelf in the abbey of Argenteuil. On tliis occalion 

 file exclaimed, in the v/ords of Cornelia : 



O maxime conjiix! 



O thalamis indigne meis, hoc juris habebit 

 In tantum fortuna caput! cur impia nupfi. 

 Si miferum faftura fui ? nunc accipe puenas, 

 Sed quas fponte luam. 

 Lucan Pharfal. 1. viii. v. 94, &c. p. 541. Ed. Burman. 



" Ah ! my once greateft lord ! Ah ! cruel hour ! 

 Is thy viftorious head in fortune's pow'r \ 

 Since miferies my baneful love purl'ue. 

 Why did I wed thee, only to undo ! 

 But fee, to death my wi inig neck I bow; 

 Atone the angry gods by one kind blow." 



RowE 



Soon after this event Abelard affumed the monadic habit in 

 the abbey of St. Denys. Hs fcholars in Paris, however, 

 intreatcd him to return to his fchool ; aad after fome deli- 

 beration 



