if I may so term him, not from the place of his birth, for he was an Englishman, but by the surname which he gained by his successful conduct of his schools. One of these teachers was scrupulous even to minutiæ, and every where found some subject to raise a question; for the smoothest surface presented inequalities to him, and there was no rod so smooth that he could not find a knot in it, and shew how it might be got rid of. The other of the two was prompt in reply, and never for the sake of subterfuge avoided a question that was proposed; but he would choose the contradictory side, or by multiplicity of words would shew that a simple answer could not be given. In all questions, therefore, he was subtle and profuse, whilst the other in his answers was perspicuous, brief, and to the point. If two such characters could ever have been united in the same person, he would be the best hand at disputation that our times have produced. Both of them possessed acute wit, and an indomitable perseverance, and I believe they would have turned out great and distinguished men in Physical Studies, if they had supported themselves on the great base of Literature, and more closely followed the tracks of the ancients, instead of

taking such pride in their own discoveries. All this is said with reference to the time during which I attended on them. For one of them afterwards went to Bologna, and there unlearnt what he had taught on his return also, he untaught it: whether the change was for the better or the worse, I leave to the judgment of those who heard him before and after. The other of the two was also a proficient in the more exalted Philosophy of Divinity, wherein he obtained a distinguished name. With these teachers I remained two years, and got so versed in common places, rules and elements in general, which boys study, and in which my teachers were most weighty, that I seemed to myself to know them as well as I knew my own nails and fingers. There was one thing which I had certainly attained to, namely, to estimate my own knowledge much higher than it deserved. I fancied myself a sciolist, because I was ready in what I had been taught. I then, beginning to reflect and to measure my strength, attended on the Grammarian William de Conches, during the space of three years; and read much at intervals: nor shall I ever regret the way in which my time was then

spent. After this I became a follower of Richard l'Evêque', a man who was master of every kind of learning, and whose breast contained much more than his tongue dared give utterance to; for he had learning rather than eloquence, truthfulness rather than vanity, virtue rather than ostentation. With him I reviewed all that I had learnt from the others, besides certain things, which I now learnt for the first time, relating to the Quadrivium, in which I had already acquired some information from the German Hardewin. I also again studied Rhetoric, which I had before learnt very superficially with some other studies from Master Theodoric, but without understanding what I read. Afterwards I learnt it more fully from Peter Hely. My maintenance, by God's blessing on me,-for I was away from my friends and relations, and very poor,-was supplied me by the sons of the nobility, whom I instructed this made me of necessity, and at their request, frequently recal to memory what I had before heard. I then formed a close intimacy with Master Adam, a

Mr. Wright calls him Bernard l'Evêque in his Biographia Britannica, vol. ii. p. 231. The Amsterdam edition of the Metalogicus and the Cambridge MS. both have Ricardus.

!

man of most acute understanding, and-whatever others may think-of much learning, and who gave his particular attention to Aristotle. Though he was not my tutor, he communicated to me what he knew, and laid himself open to me in a manner which he had never done before, or at least to very few; for he was thought to be a very envious man. Meanwhile I taught the first elements of Logic to William of Soissons, who afterwards invented something to assail the antiquity of Logic, to draw unexpected consequences, and destroy the opinions of the ancients; and at last I handed him over to the aforesaid preceptor. There he perhaps learnt that the same thing is not the same thing, &c. &c. but I could never be brought to believe, that from one impossibility all impossibilities could arise. I was at last rescued from all this by the poverty of my condition, the request of my companions, and the advice of my friends, that I should undertake the office of a tutor. I obeyed their wishes; and on my return after three years, finding Master Gilbert, I studied Logic and Divinity with him: but he was very speedily removed from us, and in his place we had Robert de Poule, a man amiable alike for his rectitude and his attainments.

Then came Simon de Poissy, who was a faithful reader, but an obtuse disputator. These two were my teachers in Theology only. In this manner twelve years having passed away, whilst I was engaged in these various occupations, I determined to revisit my old companions, whom I found still engaged with Logic at Mont St. Geneviève."

From Paris, John of Salisbury went to the abbey of Moûtier-la-Celle, where he became a clerk in the service of the Abbat Petrus Cellensis, to whom he afterwards addressed some letters". After staying there about three years, he returned to England, and entered the household of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury. After the death of this Prelate, John of Salisbury remained with his successor, the celebrated Thomas à Becket. From this time to the martyrdom of his patron, John adhered with unflinching fidelity to the cause which he had espoused, and was the first of the Archbishop's friends who was exiled in their master's behalf. After Becket's death in 1170, John of Salisbury was made Bishop of Chartres, where he spent the remaining

See Epistola 85, vol. i. p. 117, of this edition.