Excerpt from Abelard and Heloise a Tragedy in Five Acts Musing one day in Père la Chaise, my wandering footsteps unconsciously strayed by the restingplace of Abelard and Heloise. There, in that hallowed spot, rendered beautiful by its eloquence in stone, Death has lost much of his aspect of sorrow and of darkness. There, where all is hushed in solemn silence, broken only by the music of the summer birds voices, repose the ashes of some of the worlds greatest and fairest lights; and, though centuries have passed, surely none were more famous and beautiful than the learned Abelard and the lovely Heloise. Out in the busy life beyond the confines of this Gods Acre, kings and kingdoms rise and fall, men and women struggle through their brief roles and pass away unnoticed from the ranks of life; but the mutability of existence has no power here, for all remains unchanged through every vicissitude. It is governed by a tranquillity so profound, that even the thrushs gay song of Spring seems to have caught the infection of peace, and chants a gentler and a sadder note. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.