u consider you as such!"

There are some historians who declare that this friendship--for a very
real friendship sprang up between Francis and Ugolino--was no
advantage to the Order, but rather harmed it. There is no evidence of
this among the best authorities; they lean rather to a contrary
opinion, and we are inclined to believe ourselves that the Order would
never have developed as it did but for Cardinal Ugolino. He went back
and told the Pope what he had seen, and the old man rejoiced greatly.
It was the last joy he had on earth, for he died a few days later.

[Sidenote: _Growth of the Order._]

Time went on, the Order spread and spread till it was impossible for
one man to do justice to the whole. To meet the growing need for
oversight, Italy was divided into several provinces, these provinces
were to be directed by brothers who were called "Ministers" or
"Provincial Servants." Francis named Peter Catani for Umbria, Elias
for Tuscany, Bennet of Arezzo for the Marches of Ancona, John of
Stracchai for Lombardy, Daniel for Calabria. Then it was also decided
that Bernardo di Quintavelle was to take charge of Spain, and John of
Penna, Germany. Francis himself was to take France, a land he had
always been especially drawn to. It was through the intervention of
Ugolino that he forewent this mission. Francis stopped at Florence on
his way to tell him of his journey. Ugolino saw what Francis could not
see, that in view of all their new ventures he could not afford to
leave the country just then. Francis argued that he could not stay at
home in safety and let the brothers go abroad on dangerous missions,
it would raise talk. Ugolino wanted to know if Italy wasn't big enough
for him. Francis replied that God had raised them up for the good of
the whole world.

"Perhaps so," said Ugolino, "but in any case _you_ cannot go away yet
without imprudence. Your Order is only just started, you know the
opposition it met with at first; its enemies are not yet disarmed, and
your presence is necessary to defend and maintain it."

Francis saw that Ugolino spoke wisely, and he gave in and stayed at
home. For some time he was the guest of the Cardinal, and their mutual
liking for each other was greatly increased. The more Ugolino saw of
Francis the more he loved him, and though he could not see eye to eye
with him in everything at first, he eventually came round to his ways.
As much as possible Francis lived his simple manner of life