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lecn inftruinental in bringing upon Europe. \ie attributed 

 Its failure to tlie fins of the croifes, which had hindered the 

 accoiiipliftiment of his prophecies. How far he was aifcdled 

 hy tlie difcomfiturc and general dillrefs in which this expe- 

 dition terminated, or by the accufations he fuflercd, it is im- 

 poflible to fay. However, it is certain that ho did not long 

 fnrvive that difallrous event ; for he died at ClairvuuK, la 

 1153, in the 63d year of his age. 



I'"ew men poITefll-d a more e.\tcnfive and uncontroulable 

 command over the minds of men than St. Bernard : and his 

 influence was wholly owing to his perfonal qiialifications. 

 But though he had an abfolute command by his eloquence 

 and writings, he feems to have been more an enthufiall than 

 a politician, and to have wanted worldly wifdom to diredland 

 manage the various engines which he put into motion. 

 With good intentions he blended pafilon and prejudice, and 

 the love of po\Ver. He was, without doubt, a man of dillin- 

 guilhed piety, as well as integrity ; and, confidering the thne 

 jn which he lived, an elegant and learned fcholar. Erafmus 

 gives the following charafter of him : " Chriftiane doftus, et 

 fanftc facundus, ct pie feflivus." As a writer, he was copious ; 

 his llyle was charafterized by force, vivacity, elevation, and 

 Iweetnefs ; and his imagination furnilhed him with figures of 

 comparifon and Itrong antithefes in great variety and abun- 

 dance ! fo that he has been regarded as the lall of the fathers 

 formed upon the models of St. Ambrofe and St. Auguftin. 

 The bed edition of Bernard's works is that of the learned 

 Benediftine Mabillon, in z vols. fol. firft printed at Paris in 

 1666, 1667, and reprinted in 1690 and 17 19. A Latin im- 

 prcflion of this edition was made at Venice, in 6 vols. fol. 

 Cave's Hift. Lit. ii. p. 186, Gen. Did. Nouv. Dia. Hift. 

 Mofheim's Eccl. Hill. vol. iii. p. 66. 



Bernard of Mcvthon, the founder of a religious com- 

 munity, was born in the Genevois, in 903, and defcended from 

 one of the mod illullrious houfes of Savoy. Having dedi- 

 cated himfelf to the ecclcfiaftical profeflion, he retired to 

 Aofta, a fmall town at the foot of the Alps, and became arch- 

 deacon of its church. Here he employed himfelf in miffions 

 among the unconverted Pagans, who inhabited the mountains, 

 and profelyted them to Chriftianity. Having witneffcd the 

 hardfliips and dangers encountered by the Trench and German 

 pilgrims, in their paflage to Rome over the Alps, which 

 Hannibal had anciently traverftd with Angular fortitude and 

 perfeverance, this benevolent monk founded two mnnafteries 

 or hofpitia, for their relief, on Mont-joux, called from him 

 " Great and Little .St. Bernard." Thefe were peopled with 

 canons-regnlar of St. Auguftin, and Bernard himfelf became 

 their firft provoft. He obtained feveral important privileges 

 for his eftabliftiment from fucceflive popes, and it acquired 

 great popularity and large pofTeffions. Bernard died at 

 Novara, at the age of 85, and was canonized by the Romilh 

 church. His inftitution has undergone a variety of vicifli- 

 :udea, and loft great part of its riches ; but it ftill fubfifts, and 

 is eminently ufeful. There are ordinarily between twenty 

 and thirty monks belonging to the convent ; eight of whom 

 are ufnally difperfed among the Alpine parifh churches, 

 under their patronage ; and ten or twelve conftantly refide, 

 being fuch as, from their age and health, are able to bear the 

 keen atmofphere of the mountain. The few others, who can 

 no longer bear it, are permitted to refide with the aged 

 provolt of the whole, in a houfe belonging to the convent, 

 and fituated at Martigny below. The monks of the moun- 

 tain are induftrioufly employed in the profccution of their 

 jjrivate ttudies, in the inftruclion of their novices, in the 

 education of ionie fcholars who are fent to board and lodge 

 with them, and in managing the temporal economy of the 

 wLoie. They have a pnor, the deputy of the provoft, and 

 go.cruor of the convfnt in his abfeiicc ; a facriftan, who takes 



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care of their chapels ; a cellarer, ferving ae puiveyor, comp. 

 troUcr of the kitchen, and managing all the exterior concerns 

 of the monaftery ; a clavandeer, who keeps the keys, and 

 difpenfes the reqnifite articles to the monks and to the tra- 

 vcllers ; and an infirmier, who takes care of the fick in the 

 apartment appropriated to them. The cellarer keeps twenty 

 horfei conftantly employed during the fnmmer in fetching 

 the magazines of flour, bread, cheefe, liquors, and dried 

 fruits, for themfelves and their guefts ; and forage for the 

 milch cows and fatting cattle, during winter._ Their fire- 

 wood, of which they expend a great quantity, is brought to 

 them on the backs of mules, from the dift:uice of four leagues, 

 and by a ftecp path, that is pafTable only for fix months in 

 the whole year. Before the winter fets in, they fend down 

 their horfes for the feafon to a farm which they have on the 

 northern fide of the Rhone. To a fympatliifing and com- 

 paffionate mind it is peculiarly pleafing to obferve the foli« 

 citude of thefe amiable monks on fuch days as the pals is moft 

 frequented, in perfonally receiving, warming, and recovering 

 travellers, that are exhaufted by their excefs of fatigue, or in- 

 difpofed from the feverity of the air. With equal attention 

 they relieve both their own countrymen, and foreigners. They 

 make no diftinclion of ftate, fex, or religion ; and afli no 

 queftions concerning the country or the creed of the wretched. 

 In winter and in fpring, their folicitude has a larger range of 

 attention and aftivity. From that very time nearly, in which 

 Hannibal conducled an army over Great St. Bernard, and at 

 which the Romans reckoned the general winter of Italy to 

 commence, from the ift of November, through the winter, to 

 the ! ft of May, a trufty Alpine fervant, who, as an Alpine, is 

 denominated a Maronnier, and one or two dogs of an extra- 

 ordinary fize accompanying him, are conftantly engaged in 

 going to meet travellers a confiderable way down the defcent 

 towards the Vallais. Thefe dogs poffefs an inftinft, and re- 

 ceive a training, which fit them to be peculiarly ufeful in their 

 employment. They point out the road to the guide and the 

 travellers, through fogs, tempefts, and fnows ; they have alfo 

 the fagacity to difcover travellers that have loft their way, 

 that have fallen amidft the drifts of fnovi', and that are lying 

 upon them, wearied and exhaufted. The monks themfelves 

 often accompany the guide, and aid him in adminiftering ne- 

 ceflary rehef. Apprized of the benumbing and ftupefying 

 effeift of extreme cold, they roufe the fleeping travellers, and 

 exert themfelves in a variety of ways in prelerving and reco- 

 vering them from approaching or apparent death ; and in 

 doing this, they expofe themfelves to great danger. In order 

 to avoid the numbuefs occailoned by the cold, they carry with 

 them fliort thick ftaffs, armed at the ends with iron, and with 

 thefe they continually ftrike their hands and feet. About 

 three miles below the convent, on the read of Hannibal's 

 afcent, they have built a fmall vaulted room, called the hof- 

 pital, which is intended for the cafual refrefhment of travel- 

 lers benumbed, and unable to reach the convent. The trufty 

 Maronnier vifits it frequently, in order to meet the traveller ; 

 but principally at the approach of night, and on his return 

 leaves bread, cheefe, and wine. On extraordinary occafions, 

 when a ftorm fiibfides, he fallies forth to this building, with 

 his ftock of wine and meat, and afhfts all whom he fitids 

 diftrefted. The monks themfelves are often feen on the tops 

 of their rocks, watching opportunities for the exercife of 

 their humanity. When the fnow juft fallen is deep on the 

 ground, they employ themfelves in making roads through it, 

 and thus by timely vigilance prevent many fatal accidents. 

 But notwithftanding all their charitable efforts, fcarcely a 

 winter paffes in which fome traveller is not brought to the 

 convent with his limbs benumbed and frozen. The traveller 

 is fometimes overwhelmed at once, and plunged into the body 

 of deiccnding fnow. When he is not very deep, the dogs 

 I difcover 



