THE WRITINGS OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI.
The Writings of St. Francis of Assisi. Translated into English by Father Paschal Robinson. (J. M. Dent and Co. 3s. 6d. not.)—The writings of St. Francis of Assisi afford us little, if any, information as to the life of their author. Accordingly, however, to their latest editor, they reflect his personality, and "are at once formidably mystic and exquisitely human." This is the verdict of a Roman Catholic priest, and will not, we think, be that of the ordinary layman. To us the human element seems far to seek, and only in two or three sentences do we recognise the St. Francis by whose poetic portrait his simple disciple charmed the world. Here is an exhortation which recalls the legends :—"Let them [the brothers] take care not to appear exteriorly sad and gloomy like hypocrites, but let them show themselves to be joyful and contented in the Lord, merry and becomingly courteous." The Franciscan " Rule," as it is here given, is interesting, but it is impossible not to be dis- agreeably struck by the very real tyranny which was to underlie the humble demeanour of Superiors, who must not assume the name of Prior. The uncertain food, obtained only by begging, the " mean," insufficient clothing patched with sackcloth, the exaltation of silence, and the reiterated injunctions to the friars to practise self-contempt and welcome the ill opinions of others, are self-imposed hardships the spiritual value of which the modern mind has no longer the power to perceive. The same change of standpoint renders the.ecstatic utterances of the saint in adoration of such personifications as Queen Wisdom, Lady Poverty, Lady Charity, Sister Death, and Brother San well-nigh incomprehensible. That St. Francis was a man of genius no one who thinks about this history of Christianity can possibly doubt ; but the common estimate of his genius will nut be enhanced by reading Father Paschal Robinson's edition of his writings.
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