DISCOVERY 



17t 



servants." That is in the Rule. A topsy-turvy 

 world, but it must be remembered that Francis aimed 

 at putting into practice the precepts of the Gospel. 

 The task of reconciling the ideal with the real was 

 beyond him. He had always taught his followers 

 that they must convert by humility and reverence, 

 and so now, when they demanded other methods, he 

 " would not become an executioner to punish and 



BROTHER LEO KNEELING BEFORE ST. FRANCIS. 



From Uie Lilllt Flowers ol Si. Francis (T. W. Arnold), by kind permission 



of aiessrs. Chatto and Windus. 



scourge them, like the magistrates of this world," but 

 1 retired more and more from the management of affairs ; 

 i he tried to fulfil his ideal in his own life, and be an 



example, or " Mirror of Perfection," to the brethren, 



" and at the end his spirit did herein find rest and 



comfort." 



One among the many services rendered to Franciscan 



history by Sabatier is his rediscover^' and rehabiU- 

 I tation of the Speculum Perjedionis, or " Mirror of 



Perfection," ' but few will now admit his contention 

 that the original version of it was written by Leo, the 

 secretary of St. Francis, in 1227, and was consequently 

 the earliest Life of the saint. The view which is now 

 held by most Franciscan scholars is that the Mirror 

 of Perfection dates in its present form from about 1318,. 

 but that it contains, in a more or less revised shape, 

 many chapters and narratives written by Brother Leo, 

 and perhaps by other companions of St. Francis. The 

 aim is to distinguish between genuine and spurious, or 

 garbled, versions of the narratives, and if possible to 

 recover the originals. 



St. Francis died on October 3, 1226, and the earlieab 

 Life of him is that written by Thomas of Celano •' 

 in 1228-9. Celano was selected for the office ot 

 biographer because he was a stylist ; his work has many 

 merits, but suffers from two defects : the writer had 

 very little personal acquaintance with Francis ; andi 

 he knew too much about the lives and legends of other 

 saints. There is thus a certain tendency — conscious 

 or unconscious — to assimilate Francis to the traditional 

 and conventional saint. 



WTien, in 1244, it was decided to revise and supple- 

 ment the first Life, the task was again given to Celano, 

 but with him were associated the friars who had been 

 the companions of St. Francis in his last years (es- 

 pecially Brother Leo), and they supplied most of the 

 new matter which Celano w^orked up into literary form 

 in the second Life. Some of the contributions made 

 by the companions are incorporated in the Speculum 

 Perfeciionis, and a few more have recently been 

 found. 



One example may be given. Celano, in the second 

 Life, tells how Francis one night in his last illness 

 longed for a little parsley, and of the difficulty he had 

 in persuading the Brother Cook to go out and hunt 

 for it on a dark, windy night. Wlien at length the 

 parsley was found, Francis improved the occasion by 

 saying : " My brethren, obey orders at once, and do 

 not wait for them to be repeated ; and do not allege 

 that anything is impossible, for even were I to bid 

 you to do anything beyond your strength, obedience 

 would not be wanting in strength." That is what a 

 saint ought to have said. A primitive version— 

 probably a copy of the original supplied by Leo — of 

 the narrative was discovered in a manuscript a few 

 years ago. The story of the parsley is given in simpler 

 language than Celano's and far more vividly, and 

 St. Francis's words are : " My brethren, you should 

 not make me say a thing so often " {Fratres mei, non 

 > Speculum Perfeciionis seu S. Francisci Assisiensis Legenda 

 Antiquissima. Ed. P. Sabatier, Paris, 1898. Translated by 

 Evans (Nutt), Okey (Dent), etc. 



« Both the Lives by Thomas de Celano wore edited by 

 E. d'Alen^on. Rome, 1906: translation by Ferrers Howell, 

 Methuen, 1908. 



