Very interesting, and of considerable importance, is the fact that this Prayer speaks of Christ being crucified with three nails only. Whether St Francis wrote the prayer or not, we may take this to have been his opinion, for it seems to have been the common opinion of the thirteenth century. And bearing in mind this opinion of his, it becomes impossible to attribute the phenomena of his Stigmata to subjective causes, or to that which is loosely called hysteria. The Stigmata of St Francis were not merely open wounds, but showed nails of a black fleshy substance, one in each hand and one in each foot. If these Stigmata had been the result of intense meditation on the Passion, then, seeing what his opinion was, the singular phenomena which were developed in him, would have shown one nail only for the feet, and not a nail in either foot. The point is of capital importance to investigators of a remarkable occurrence which, while proved beyond a doubt as a matter of fact, has hitherto found no scientific explanation. APPENDIX II. PARADISE--CANTO XI. LINES 28-123 _Dean Plumptre’s Translation_ It is probable that Dante knew the “Sacrum Commercium”; it is certain that he knew the Prayer to obtain Poverty. Therefore it may be convenient to give _in extenso_ that part of the Divine Canto which sings of the Mystic loves of Francis and the Lady Poverty. The Providence,--which all things doth dispose 28 With such deep counsels that all mortal gaze Is baffled ere to that great depth it goes-- That unto Him she loves might bend her ways, 31 The Bride of Him Who, with a bitter cry, Espoused her with the blood we bless and praise, In fuller peace, more steadfast loyalty, 34 Her, for her good, with two high chiefs endowed, That they on either side her guides might be. The soul of one with love seraphic glowed; 37 The other by his wisdom on our earth A splendour of cherubic glory showed. Of one I’ll speak; for, if we tell the worth 40 Of one, ’tis true of both, whiche’er we take, For to one end each laboured from his birth. Between Tupino and the streams that break 43 From the hill chosen by Ubaldo blest, A lofty mount a fertile slope doth make; Perugia’s Sun-gate from that lofty crest 46 Feels heat and cold; Nocer’ and Gualdo pine Behind it, by their heavy yoke opprest. On this slope, where less steeply doth incline 49 The hill, was born into this world a sun, Bright as this orb doth oft o’er Ganges shine. Whence, naming this spot, let not any one 52 Call it Ascesi--that were tame in sense-- As Orient doth its proper title run. Such was his rise, nor was he far from thence, 55 When he began to make the wide earth share