sermon they would sing the Hymn of the Sun; and
they were to close by saying to the crowd gathered around them in the
public places, "We are God's jugglers. We desire to be paid for our
sermon and our song. Our payment shall be that you persevere in
penitence."[21]

"Is it not in fact true," he would add, "that the servants of God are
really like jugglers, intended to revive the hearts of men and lead them
into spiritual joy?"

The Francis of the old raptures had come back, the layman, the poet, the
artist.

The Canticle of the Creatures is very noble: it lacks, however, one
strophe; if it was not upon Francis's lips, it was surely in his heart:

Be praised, Lord, for Sister Clara; thou hast made her silent,
active, and sagacious, and by her thy light shines in our
hearts.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Thirty-sixth and last strophe of the song

_Amor de caritade
Perche m' hai si ferito?_

found in the collection of St. Francis's works.

[2] By the Abbe Amoni, at the close of his edition of the Fioretti,
Rome, 1 vol., 12mo, 1889, pp. 390-392. We can but once more
regret the silence of the editor as to the manuscript whence
he has drawn these charming pages. Certain indications seem
unfavorable to the author having written it before the second
half of the thirteenth century; on the other hand, the object
of a forgery is not evident. An apochryphal piece always
betrays itself by some interested purpose, but here the story
is of an infantine simplicity.

[3] 2 Cel., 3, 104; Bon., 119; _Fior. ii. consid._

[4] _Parti san Francesco per Monte-Acuto prendendo la via di
Monte-Arcoppe e del foresto._ This road from the Verna to Borgo
San-Sepolero is far from being the shortest or the easiest, for
instead of leading directly to the plain it lingers for long
hours among the hills. Is not all Francis in this choice?

[5] 2 Cel., 3, 41; Bon., 141; _Fior. iv. consid._

[6] 1 Cel., 63 and 64; _Fior. iv. consid._

[7] 1 Cel., 70; _Fior. iv. consid._

[8] 1 Cel., 109; 69; Bon. 208. Perhaps we must refer to this
circuit the visit to Celano. 2 Cel., 3, 30; _Spec._, 22; Bon.,
156 and 157.

[9] 1 Cel., 97 and 98; 2 Cel., 3, 137; Bon., 205 and 206.

[10] Richard of St. Germano, _ann. 1225_. Cf. Potthast, 7400 ff.

[11] 1 Cel., 98 and 99; 2 Cel., 3, 137; _Fior._, 19.