right shall the crown of glory be,
When we have borne the cross.

Keen was the trial once,
Bitter the cup of woe,
When martyred saints, baptized in blood,
Christ's sufferings shared below.

Bright is their glory now,
Boundless their joy above,
Where, on the bosom of their God,
They rest in perfect love.

Lord! may that grace be ours,
Like them in faith to bear
All that of sorrow, grief, or pain,
May be our portion here!

CHAPTER XIV.

FIRST FOREIGN MISSIONS.

"They are gone where Love is frozen, and Faith grown calm and cold,
Where the world is all triumphant, and the sheep have left the fold,
Where His children scorn His blessings, and His sacred shrine
despise."

It was about the time of the first chapter that Francis began to feel
drawn to foreign fields. The Franciscans had now spread all over
Italy, and there was a general desire shown by the brethren to extend
their ministrations outside that country. It would appear that at its
close, a small number of the brethren were sent out to evangelize the
various countries of Europe, Portugal, Hungary, Germany, etc.

For himself Francis had a larger and more daring scheme.

It was the time of the Crusades. All Christian Europe was bending its
energies to wrest the tomb of our Saviour out of the hands of the
Saracens. Band after band of Crusaders had marched into the Sultan's
territory--to suffer defeat and death. Francis was too much of a
soldier and knight not be stirred by the tales of bravery and daring
which were rife everywhere. But he had his own opinions.

"Is there not," he asked himself, "a more beautiful way of gaining the
desired end? Why all this bloodshed? why this wholesale hurrying of
men to perdition? why all this strife between the children of one
Father? Why has no one ever tried to gain these infidels over on
Christ's side? How many lives might be spared, and what an increase
there would be for His Church if they succeeded!"

It was a noble thought, and one worthy of Francis. The more he
pondered these matters the more convinced he became that it was his
duty to put his ideas into practice. He told some of the brethren his
purpose, and they, convinced that God led him, made no objection, and
in a very short time he was ready to begin his difficult and dangerous
undertaking. Peter of Cantani was appointed to take the gov