In this constant joy of his, his dislike to grieve
others by his own sorrows, we have one phase of
another of his most striking characteristics—
his exquisite spirit of courtesy. This he showed
all his life long by example and precept. In the
Fioretti we read how he said to a noble cavalier
who desired to become a member of the Order,



12



§>aint Stancie of Keeiei

"Know, dearest brother [carissimo fratello],
that courtesy is one of the attributes of God,
who gives his sun and his rain to the just and
the unjust through his courtesy; and courtesy
is sister to charity, which extinguishes hate
and preserves love." The method of Saint Fran-
cis was not like that of the minister who once
proclaimed from the pulpit, " I would break any
man's back if I could save his soul."
We might linger longer over these minor
traits of Saint Francis, his perfect tact, his ire-
nic spirit, his mansu etude— that quality so lit-
tle known to-day that even the name is obsoles-
cent, if not obsolete. But all these are dimmed
by the greater glory of the one overwhelming
passion of his soul in its triple form of love for
man, love for nature, and love for God. No man
since the days of the Saviour had a heart more
overflowing with love; it was the great feature
of his character, the motive of all his actions,
the secret of that invincible attraction which
he exercised over all men— nay, over all ani-
mals, if we may believe the many stories told
of him. He loved the rich as well as the poor,
and not merely the poor as well as the rich.
