Numberless other proofs might be adduced of the high esteem in which Bonaventure's works have always been held, but these will suffice. As an instance, however, of the widespread popularity they enjoyed it is curious to note that amongst the depredations of his book-borrowing friends which Charles Lamb, the genial author of the "Essays of Elia," deplores, [Footnote 8] is the abstraction of his "Opera Bonaventurae". "That foul gap in the bottom of the shelf facing you, like a great eye-tooth knocked out, with the huge Switzer-like tomes on each side (like the Guildhall giants in their reformed posture, guardant of nothing) once held the tallest of my folios, 'Opera Bonaventurae,' choice and massy divinity, to which its two supporters (school divinity also, but of a lesser calibre--Bellarmine and Holy Thomas), showed but as dwarfs--itself an Ascapart!" [Footnote 8: "The Two Races of Men".] The fundamental characteristic underlying the fervour and the love of the Seraphic Doctor's writings, is his ever-conscious realization of God's {16} presence. This with Bonaventure was not a feature of passing or variable devotion; it rested upon the basis of philosophical conviction, and of vivid childlike faith. To Bonaventure, in his system of thought as in his spiritual ideals, God is constantly and emphatically the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Source and Centre, by Whom and in Whom and from Whom all things are. Throughout the whole of his writings God is ever the central idea round which all converges. As in his writings so in his life. In this continual and abiding presence of God--the very spirit as it is also the ideal of monastic solitude--his soul, his entire being, grew and blossomed, turning ever to the light and warmth of the Divine Beauty as the sunflower to the sun. Not only was this the source of his light and unction, it was also the guiding principle of his spiritual and mental life. Hence sprang that moderation of tone--the calm balancing of evidence as in the presence of an impartial Judge. Hence that humility--his simultaneous knowledge of God and himself--to which all arrogance and pretension are so alien. Hence, too, that directness of aim--fastening on the essence of facts, rather than on their accidental surroundings--which ensured at once a love of truth for truth's sake, and limpid, simple utterance as its worthiest channel. In God's sight all men are brothers, so it became our Saint to communicate his lights in the spirit of deference {17} and self-effacement. Hence, finally, came that unflinching loyalty to His Lord's revelations which implies aversion to curious searchings, singular views, and novel innovations--which, when not the result, are often the occasion of heretical betrayal of the trust committed to our care. CHAPTER III. THE MENDICANT ORDERS ASSAILED.