Page:Illustrations of the history of medieval thought and learning.djvu/120

102 a relief in this tempestuous time to make acquaintance with a man holding a distinguished place as a teacher, who nevertheless pursued his quiet way in the study of the classics, and seemed unconscious of the surrounding tumult. d We are, he would say, as dwarfs mounted on shoulders of giants, so that we can see more and further than they; yet not by virtue of the keenness of our eyesight, nor through the tallness of our stature, but because we are raised and borne aloft upon that giant mass.

In this reverent dependence on the ancients lies therefore the main peculiarity of the school of Chartres. Learning, Bernard took it, was the fruit of long and patient thought, careful study of worthy models, and a tranquil life free from distracting circumstances. In his own words,

Grammar, the necessary staple of a school, was thus to be a discipline as well as a technical acquirement. Now we have to bear in mind that in the middle ages boys learned grammar, that is Latin, not commonly as an accomplishment or piece of training, but as an indispensable vehicle of communication. Fluency more than depth was required, and elegant scholarship was nearly unknown. To meet this demand therefore it was usual for the schoolmaster to drill his boys simply in books of rules and abstracts. Priscian, Donatus, and Alcuin supplied the common text-books, and the classical authors, if heard of at all, were only heard of through delectuses. Bernard's method was a protest directed against this hurried unintelligent system. He maintained that grammar was the basis of all culture and must be learned slowly, leisurely, thoroughly; above all it must be gathered from the classics themselves, and not from all authors alike, but from the best authors.

f John of Salisbury has given a large and most interesting picture of what he found in practice under Bernard's disciples. g Gilbert of La Porrée followed him as