STORY OF ST. LOUIS.
“St. Louis was one of the best men that ever sat on a throne. But he was influenced by the superstitions of the times in which he lived.
“His mother was a most noble and pious woman, and he was a dutiful and affectionate son.
“It was regarded as very pious at this time for a prince to go on a crusade. St. Louis was taken sick, and he made a vow that, if he recovered, he would become a crusader. On his recovery, he appointed his mother regent, and sailed with forty thousand men for Cyprus, where he proceeded against Egypt, thinking by the conquest of that country to open a triumphant way to Palestine. He was defeated, and returned to France.
“He was a model prince among his own people. He used to spend a portion of each day in charity, and to feed an hundred or more paupers every time he went to walk. He visited his own domestics when they were sick; he founded charities, which have multiplied, and to-day cause his name to be remembered with gratitude almost everywhere in France. He made it the aim of his life to relieve suffering wherever it might be found.
“It is related of him, among a multitude of stories, that he was once accosted by a poor woman standing at the door of her cottage, who held in her hand a loaf, and said,—
“‘Good king, it is of this bread that comes of thine alms that my poor, sick husband is sustained.’
“The king took the loaf and examined it.
“‘It is rather hard bread,’ said he; and he then visited the sick man himself and gave the case his personal sympathy.