what it was.
His authority would at least have kept in check the discords, perfidies,
and excesses to which he, probably with justice, afterward attributed
the failure of the enterprise. From these causes, together with a fatal
incapacity on the part of the French and German generals, the second
crusade resulted in nothing but the wholesale massacre of the Christian
armies by the Turks. Bernard, who had predicted the success of the
expedition, was deeply distressed at the unfortunate result; the more
as, with great injustice, the weight of popular indignation fell upon
him and seriously damaged his influence. This disappointment, however,
did not discourage him, and only served to concentrate his attention for
the rest of his life on the more immediate duties of his calling.

These he had never neglected, even while immersed in religious politics.
By advice and example he greatly reformed the discipline of monastic
life. He continually preached in his own convent; and, either personally
or through agents, is said to have founded upward of sixty monasteries
in alliance with Clairvaux. Among them the Hospice of Mount St. Bernard,
in Switzerland, has distinguished itself by loving deeds worthy of its
founder. Bernard was an eminent theologian, both in theory and practice,
and many of his works are extant. They disclose very forcibly his strong
intellect and warm heart. Many of his opinions were most liberal for his
age, and he rejected several tenets, on which the Roman Catholic Church
has since insisted, with a decision which would have ranked him among
heretics had he lived a few centuries later. He manifested,
nevertheless, a want of freedom in his conduct toward the great Abelard,
who in that age represented the true Protestant spirit of inquiry into
the received doctrines of the Church. Against this daring thinker
Bernard unjustifiably employed the weight of authority which he
possessed, to silence what he deemed a dangerous boldness of opinion.
Toward Abelard personally, however, he displayed nothing but generous
and respectful courtesy, even in the heat of controversy; and it is
satisfactory to know that a cordial interchange of kindly feeling passed
between these two eminent men long before their deaths.

Many of Bernard's wise and good deeds are recorded, which cannot be
noticed here. We may refer to but one, which greatly influenced the
world for centuries after his death; namely, the sanction and aid which
he