344 
JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
before the death of St. Francis, that four clerics and five laymen 
landed at Dover. They were Angnellus of Pisa, Richard of 
Intworth, Richard of Devonshire, and William Esseby, the 
three last of course Englishmen. The first was a deacon, the 
second a priest, and the other two were in minor orders. The 
laymen were Henry of Trevisa, Lawrence of Eelvaco, William of 
Florence, Melioratus and Jacobus Ultramontanus. 
They were Franciscan Friars, taking their name from the foun- 
der of their order, also called Gray Friars, from the colour of their 
habit, and Friars Minor, as the youngest and humblest of the 
religious orders. They were the first Franciscans known in Eng- 
land, and it is interesting to find that one was a Devonshire man.* 
The era was an important one in the religious history of the 
world when St. Francis sent forth his converts. Among the upper 
and middle classes evil tendencies were at work ; Eastern influences 
were making themselves felt, and interfering with the orthodox 
currents of thought; but a large number of the people were with- 
out instruction of any kind. The various religious bodies were 
unable to cope with this state of things. In the country the 
religious houses provided for the spiritual welfare of the bulk of 
the inhabitants, and administered to the temporal necessities of 
those requiring such help, and in such neighbourhoods things were 
comfortable enough perhaps, both socially and religiously. But in 
the towns it was far otherwise. While the population was small 
there was no difficulty ; but soon, when the town extended, when 
the people increased, ignorance and poverty, disease, filth, and 
misery existed without any prospect of alleviation. Fever, plague, 
and the sweating sickness were common, and from time to time 
thinned the ranks of the poor, and also claimed their victims from 
the classes above. When the scourge passed on, no remedy was 
proposed, and no attempt was made to prevent its recurrence ; no 
sanitary precautions were taken. " Upon the higher ground," says 
Mr. Brewer, "as may be seen in many towns in England in the 
present day, stood the guildhall and the ward of the aldermen, 
distinguished by houses partially built of stone, forming a striking 
contrast to the outer circle, and the suburbs, where, down to the 
water's edge, and straggling beyond it in an uncertain and pre- 
* I am mainly indebted for the account of the Franciscans and their 
works to the most interesting- and valuable preface of Professor Brewer to 
the "Monumenta Franciscana," and from it I have quoted largely. 
