At Heaven's gate the porter demanded, 'Whence came ye ?' The Minorites replied 'From a monastery of St.Francis.' 'Oh!' said the porter, 'then St.Francis shall be your judge.' So that saint was summoned, and at sight of the friars and their burden demanded who they were, and why they had brought so many books with them.

'We are Minorites,' they humbly replied, 'and we have brought these few books with us as a solatium in the new Jerusalem.' 'And you, when on earth, practised the good they teach ?' sternly demanded the saint, who read their characters at a glance.

Their faltering reply was sufficient, and the blessed saint at once passed judgment as follows:--'Insomuch as, seduced by a foolish vanity, and against your vows of poverty, you have amassed this multitude of books and thereby and therefor have neglected the duties and broken the rules of your Order, you are now sentenced to read your books for ever and ever in the fires of Hell.' Immediately, a roaring noise filled the air, and a flaming chasm opened in which friars, and asses and books were suddenly engulphed.".