d in believing that the personal
appearance of the Saint must have been impressive and attractive in no
ordinary degree. This seems to have been a characteristic of many of
the saints, although their biographers, imbued with the peculiar
ascetical notion that unsightliness of body is somehow necessarily
associated with beauty and excellence of soul, usually discard all
reference to bodily endowments.

In his labours at the Council our Saint was ably seconded by two other
Franciscans--Rigaldi, Archbishop of Rouen, and Paul, Bishop of
Tripolis. Their prominence and the authority they wielded {103} seem
to have excited a certain amount of jealousy among their
contemporaries. Thus we find them referred to in the following
satirical triplet:--

Bonaventure, Rouen and Tripolitane
Dispense papal laws and unmindful remain
Of their Order which scorns all honours as vain.

This suggests the question: "How can we reconcile the acceptance of
ecclesiastical dignities with the Spirit of St. Francis and the
profession of his Rule?" Many answers might be given, but I believe
the following to be the most satisfactory. The leading principle of
the Franciscan Rule is obedience to the Pope, the supreme authority in
all things spiritual. Hence, submission to what he commands cannot be
a violation of the Franciscan spirit. Like every other religious
development of human origin the Order of St. Francis is entirely
subject to the authority of the Head of the Church. He can modify it
in its constitution and in its members as circumstances may demand.
Non-Catholic writers, and even Catholics, sometimes lose sight of
this. They seem to think that the Rule of Francis possesses some
species of supreme and absolute authority which no power on earth can,
or ought to, interfere with. This assumption is utterly false. None
would have more emphatically rejected it than St. Francis himself.
Hence, when the Vicar of Christ, for the welfare of the Church, calls
upon a child of St. Francis to accept some office to {104} which
attaches dignity or honour he may humbly refuse, but a persistent and
obstinate refusal would find no justification in the profession he has
made.

CHAPTER XIV.

DEATH.

By special Pontifical dispensation Bonaventure retained the office of
Minister-General for a short time after his elevation to the
Cardinalate. His successor could be elected only by a General Chapter,
and this could not conveniently be convoked unt