ad not a crust to offer them. When they were all assembled he told
them with sublime faith to give no thought as to what they were to eat
or drink, but only to praise God. And his faith was rewarded. The
people came from Perugia, Spoleto, Foligno, and Assisi, and from all
the neighboring country to carry meat and drink to that strange
congregation. They came with horses and asses, and carts laden with
bread and cheese and beans and other good things, and besides this
they brought plates, and jugs, and knives; and knights, and barons,
and other noblemen, who had come to look on, waited on the brothers
with much devotion. It was such sight as once seen could never be
forgotten.

[Sidenote: _Three Grades._]

In these chapters Francis was at his best, and happily the historians
of the time have preserved for us details of his mode of work. He was
there to spend and be spent. His one desire was that the brethren
should gain a renewal of spiritual strength in the days passed
together, and at the same time that the Order in general should be
benefited. To attain the first end, he employed what we have pointed
out before as being one of his strongest points--private and
individual dealing. As we have also already intimated, we feel sure
that the greater part of his phenomenal success resulted from this. In
his own mind he had the brethren carefully graded. There were three
divisions. First, the fervent; second, the troubled in spirit; and
thirdly, the tepid. The correctness with which he assigned everyone to
his proper place was well-nigh divine. At the time of writing the
fervent were numerous, but they were likely to be carried away by an
exaggerated zeal. Some of them wore chains, and were ruining their
health with over-watchings and fastings. Francis boldly forbade this.
He would have none of it. He spoke to such kindly and tenderly, but he
also spoke forcibly in commending that reason which must regulate
piety, as it regulates human life. By precise and detailed rules he
delivered the fervent from exhausting their strength before its time,
and thus preserved them for their work. But it was not an easy task
that of controlling the fervent, especially when there was a spice of
self-will in addition to the fervency.

In a large community, such as Francis now had on his hands, there is
always sure to be a large percentage of troubled ones. Francis well
knew this, he knew that the devil was always on the alert, that trials