viii Jlrtfate^ 



home, he fuffered from a long and 

 tedious illnefs which proved a turn- 

 ing-point in his career. He began 

 to long for fomething better and 

 higher than mere amufement. It 

 was the age of knighthood, and his 

 firfl thought was to redrefs wrong and 

 help the weak. He fet out to join 

 the forces of the Count de Brienne, 

 defcribed as a man of great magnifi- 

 cence and liberality ; but flopping at 

 Spoleto, he was warned in a dream to 

 return home, which he did in a ftate 

 of melancholy and abforption. His 

 merry comrades laughingly afked if 

 he was dreaming of a wife, that he 

 was fo fober. " Yes," was the anfwer, — 

 " of a wife more noble, more beauti- 

 ful, and more rich than anything your 

 fancy can conceive." This bride was 

 Poverty, whom he was fo foon to 

 efpoufe. He now began to devote 

 himfelf more entirely to the fick and 

 poor, particularly the lepers, of whom 

 there were many at that time. Thefe 

 wretched beings were fhunned by 



