things because they were in the service, that they were not slayers of men, but servants of the law; and not avengers of their own injuries, but guardians of the public safety, his answer to them was:  “Do violence to no man,” etc.

     Isidore, Etymologiae, Bk.  XVIII, ch. iii: A righteous war is
     one waged according to orders, to recover property or drive back
     the enemy.

Pope Nicholas to the questions of the Bulgarians: If there is no urgent need, not only in Lent but at all times, men should abstain from battles.  If however there is an unavoidable and urgent occasion, and it is not Lent, beyond all doubt preparations for wars should be sparingly made in one’s own defence or in that of one’s country or the laws of one’s fathers; lest forsooth this word be said:  A man if he has an attack to make, does not carefully take counsel beforehand for his own safety and that of others, nor does he guard against injury to holy religion.[9]

This example shows the scholastic method in its earliest form,—­the statement of the thesis, followed by the simple citation of authorities, pro and con.  Later writers added the conclusion which they wished to support, or at least indicated it in the statement of the thesis.  This, of course, robbed the method of much of its stimulus to independent thinking.  Other modifications also appeared.  See the examples on pages 58 ff., 121 ff.  The point to be noted here is that in the “Yes and No” Abelard struck out definitely the method which was followed for centuries in a large part of university instruction.  How great a part it played can be understood only by an extended study of university history.  A brief discussion of the subject is given on pages 35-37.  The stimulating way in which Abelard used it was potent in drawing students to Paris.  Among those who came to hear him was John of Salisbury.

(b) A Pre-University Scholar:  John of Salisbury

John of Salisbury (c. 1120-1180), “for thirty years the central figure of English learning,” “beyond dispute the best-read man of his time,” is a good example of the more serious students among those who travelled abroad for study in the early days of the revival described above.  He spent twelve years (1136-1148) at Paris and at Chartres.  His “Metalogicus” (completed about 1159) is perhaps the best contemporary account of educational affairs in France in the twelfth century.

The book is interesting now mainly for its account of the writer’s training, for its advocacy of liberal studies as a preparation for logic, and for its vigorous argument in favor of using all of the works of Aristotle then known, several of which had only recently become accessible.  It was written originally, however, to discredit the educational practices of a certain person—­designated by the pseudonym “Cornificius “—­who was offering a short and showy education, and spreading it abroad through his disciples.  The description of “Cornificius” and his school is not necessarily true, but some passages are quoted from it to illustrate a mode of educational argument thoroughly characteristic of the Middle Ages,—­and not unknown to-day.  They also give point, by contrast, to the education and views of John Salisbury himself.  John begins by personal abuse of “Cornificius”: