ne,
whose idea was a society of secular ecclesiastics, who, living in common
and having the necessaries of life, should give themselves up entirely to
study and gratuitous teaching. Not only did St. Louis give him every
facility and every aid necessary for the establishment of his learned
college, but he made him one of his chaplains, and often invited him to
his presence and his table in order to enjoy his conversation. "One day
it happened," says Joinville, "that Master Robert was taking his meal
beside me, and we were talking low. The king reproved us, and said,
'Speak up, for your company think that you may be talking evil of them.
If you speak, at meals, of things which should please us, speak up; if
not, be silent.' "Another day, at one of their reunions, with the king
in their midst, Robert of Sorbon reproached Joinville with being "more
bravely clad than the king; for," said he, "you do dress in furs and
green cloth, which the king doth not." Joinville defended himself
vigorously, in his turn attacking Robert for the elegance of his dress.
The king took the learned doctor's part, and when he had gone, "My lord
the king," says Joinville, "called his son, my lord Philip, and King
Theobald, sat him down at the entrance of his oratory, placed his hand on
the ground and said, 'Sit ye down here close by me, that we be not
overheard;' and then he told me that he had called us in order to confess
to us that he had wrongfully taken the part of Master Robert; for, just
as the seneschal [Joinville] saith, ye ought to be well and decently
clad, because your womankind will love you the better for it, and your
people will prize you the more; for, saith the wise man, it is right so
to bedeck one's self with garments and armor that the proper men of this
world say not that there is too much made thereof, nor the young folk too
little." (Joinville, ch. cxxxv. p. 301; ch. v. and vi. pp. 12 16;
t. v. pp. 326, 364, and 368.)

Assuredly there was enough in such and so free an exercise of mind, in
such a rich abundance of thoughts and sentiments, in such a religious,
political, and domestic life, to occupy and satisfy a soul full of energy
and power. But, as has already been said, an idea cherished with a
lasting and supreme passion, the idea of the crusade took entire
possession of St. Louis. For seven years, after his return from the
East, from 1254 to 1261, he appeared to think no more of it; and there is
nothing to sh