e Cross without tears; yet he never knew whether
those tears were prompted by admiration, pity, or desire.

When he arose and left the little sanctuary, he felt, as Bunyan's
pilgrim felt, that he had lost his load, and lost it for ever.

But he felt that he had assumed another. He had taken up the Cross. He
had devoted himself to its service. '_God forbid_,' he cried, '_that I
should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the
world is crucified unto me and I unto the world._' When, five centuries
later, Isaac Watts surveyed the wondrous Cross on which the Prince of
Glory died, his contemplation led to the same resolve:

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

And so, once more, without knowing the words, Francis sang in his soul
that song of consecration.

'_I looked and looked and looked again!_' say Francis and Spurgeon, six
centuries apart.

'_It was very surprising to me that the sight of the Cross should thus
ease me of my burden!_' say Francis and Bunyan, with four centuries
between.

'_Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast save in the death of Christ my
God!_' cry Francis and Isaac Watts, undivided by a chasm of five hundred
years.

In the presence of the Cross all the lands are united and all the ages
seem as one.

V

'_God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world._'
In the one cross Francis saw--as Paul did--three crucifixions.

He saw on the Cross _his Lord crucified for him_.

He saw on the Cross _the world crucified to him_.

He saw on the Cross _himself crucified to the world_.

From that hour Francis knew nothing among men save Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. Laying aside the gay clothing of which he was so fond, he
donned a peasant's cloak and tied it at the waist with a piece of
cord--the garb that afterwards became the habit of the Franciscan Order.
He then set out to initiate the greatest religious revival and the
greatest missionary movement of the mediaeval ages--the enterprise that
paved the way for the Renaissance and the Reformation. Beginning at his
native town, he journeyed through the classic cities of Italy, unfolding
to all sorts and conditions of men the wonders of the Cross. Although
the hideous sight and loathsome smell of leprosy had always fille