priest, and was appointed her confessor. This execrable monster then abused the confidence thus obtained under the mask of religion, not only by detailing to the bishop of Beauvais all that the prisoner confided to him, but by suggesting to her beforehand dangerous replies to those questions he thought fit to propose.

Estivet the proctor was desirous of acting a part quite as infamous as that of Loiseleur. He also introduced himself into the prison to deceive Jeanne d'Arc, but it appears that he was not fortunate enough to acquire her confidence. Nothing could equal the baseness of this dastardly wretch, who had slavishly devoted himself to the English cause, except the gross and brutal language he adopted. During the whole trial of La Pucelle, Estivet unceasingly calumniated the notaries, who were anxious to follow the regular course prescribed by justice and probity; and he loaded the unfortunate girl with reproaches, disgusting abuse, and continued menaces.

All the documents required for the direction of the interrogatories were at length procured, and there only remained one difficulty to surmount prior to the opening of the process, which was the non-acquiescence of the vice-inquisitor, who pertinaciously refused to take any part in the business. Further remonstrances were then made to him, but he refused to interfere,

alleging that his jurisdiction extended only to the diocese of Rouen, and not to that of Beauvais. At length, however, the vice-inquisitor consented that the trial should be entered upon, and the opening of the process was fixed for the 21st of February. Jean le Maître, on this occasion, officiated as assessor; and the bishop of Beauvais solicited the inquisitor of France to attend, or to delegate some person in his place.

The tribunal instituted, not for the judgment, but for the condemnation of the accused, (for her death had been predetermined,) was thus constituted. It is true, some judicial forms were resorted to; but this was only for the purpose of tarnishing her reputation, and publicly vilifying Charles VII. for accepting her assistance. It was obvious that she had been bought by the English; and it is now incontrovertibly shown that the judges were paid to condemn her. This last iniquity is proved from some curious documents preserved in the priory of Saint Martin des Champs, authentic copies of which are to be found in the Public Library at Orleans.* These proofs are handed down in letters-patent and ordinances of Henry VI., styling himself king of France and England, relating to payments made to

* See the work entitled, Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque d'Orléans, by A. Septier, Orleans, 1820.

the doctors who assisted at the process, (whose names agree with those transmitted to us by history,) and likewise containing the receipts for the sums that were paid to them.

The deliberative voice was vested in only two judges, Pierre Cauchon, bishop of Beauvais, a licentiate of civil law, installed in his bishopric in 1420 by the Burgundian faction, one of the English king's privycounsellors in France; and Jean le Maître, of the fraternity of preachers, a bachelor in theology, vicar of Jacques Graverand, and bearing the title of inquisitor-general of the faith in France.

Jean de la Fontaine, a licentiate of the canon law, had the charge of counsellor and examining commissary.

Jean, Joseph, or Guillaume d'Estivet, canon of Beauvais and Bayeux, was constituted proctor.

The notaries were, Guillaume Manchon, a priest, public notary of the archiepiscopal court of Rouen ; Guillaume Colles or Coles, a priest, surnamed Bos Guillaume or Boys Guillaume, also a public notary of the same court; and Nicolas Vasquel, filling a similar office.

Jean Massieu, priest, who in 1455 was one of the curates of the parochial church of Saint Candide at Rouen, was nominated the ecclesiastical beadle or verger. His duties consisted in issuing writs and summonses, conducting Jeanne

to the tribunal, escorting her back to prison, and giving notices to those assessors whose presence was required at the sittings.

Besides the judges assessors, or counsellors, there were many engaged who had merely a consulting voice; some of whom assisted at the first sittings, and not at the subsequent ones, and others attended the concluding assemblies, who had not presented themselves at the commencement of the process. It appears that this portion of the tribunal consisted of all the doctors who could be compelled by force to assist in this most iniquitous proceeding. The following are the names of the most conspicuous, either on account of their reputation, or of the parts which they performed during the process: Gilles, abbot of Fecamp; Nicolas de Vendères; Nicolas Loiseleur; Nicolas Midy; Pierre Morice; Thomas de Courcelles; Jean de Castillon; Jean Fabry; Guillaume Erard; Isambert de la Pierre ; Jean Beaupère; Jacques de Touraine; Martin Ladvenu; Jean Tiphaine; the abbé of Saint Ouen; Jean Lohier; and Gérard Feuillet.

On the day appointed for the commencement of the trial, the bishop of Beauvais, accompanied by forty counsellors or assessors, repaired by eight o'clock in the morning to the royal chapel of the castle at Rouen, where Jeanne was ordered. to attend. Thus even before the altar was innocence betrayed, covered with reproach, and legally assas

sinated, in the name and in honour of the Sovereign Judge of all mankind!

The bishop of Beauvais opened the sitting by causing the royal letters-patent to be read to the tribunal, in virtue of which La Pucelle was to be arraigned before him and the doctors whose opinions had been taken. The proctor Estivet then set forward, that Jeanne was cited to appear for the purpose of answering interrogatories of right, to which it was intended she should be subjected. These preliminary steps taken, the verger was sent to bring forward the persecuted prisoner. Jeanne d'Arc, as we have already hinted, had frequently demanded to have judges named on the French side; but as soon as she appeared before the tribunal, every precaution was taken not to mention that request. In order to divert the attention of the assisting doctors from the just demand preferred by the accused, the bishop of Beauvais, on the arrival of the prisoner, began a long harangue upon the subject of the process instituted against her.

At the commencement of the interrogatory, when Jeanne was ordered to make known her Christian and surname, and also to state if she was called La Pucelle, and whether she was in reality a maiden, her answer was: "Je puis bien dire que telle je suis, et si vous ne me croyez, faites moi visiter par des femmes: I can with truth avouch that such I am, and if you do not believe me, let me be visited by