forgotten, some ingenious Brother explained the note of infamy
attached to his memory by a hypothesis built upon his name
itself.

[43] Giord., 12, 13, and 14.

* * * * *




CHAPTER XIV

THE CRISIS OF THE ORDER[1]

Autumn, 1220


On his arrival in Venice Francis informed himself yet more exactly
concerning all that had happened, and convoked the chapter-general at
Portiuncula for Michaelmas (September 29, 1220).[2] His first care was
doubtless to reassure his sister-friend at St. Damian; a short fragment
of a letter which has been preserved to us gives indication of the sad
anxieties which filled his mind:

"I, little Brother Francis, desire to follow the life and the
poverty of Jesus Christ, our most high Lord, and of his most
holy Mother, persevering therein until the end; and I beg you
all and exhort you to persevere always in this most holy life
and poverty, and take good care never to depart from it upon the