not even consulted; but Jeanne was hurried away to death, invoking the name of the Almighty, and frequently exclaiming: "Ah! Rouen, Rouen! seras-tu ma dernière demeure? - Ah! Rouen, Rouen! wilt thou be my last residence?"

At the foot of the stake the mitre of the Inquisition was placed upon her brows, whereon were written these words: "HERETIC, RELAPSE, APOSTATE, IDOLATRESS;" and on a tablet in front of the scaffold the following lines were traced in large characters :—

JEHANNE, QUI SE FAIT NOMMER LA PUCELLE, MEURTERESSE, PERNICIEUSE, ABUSERESSE DE PEUPLE, DEVINERESSE, SUPERSTITIEUSE, BLASPHEMERESSE DE DIEU, MALCREANT DE LA FOI DE JESUS CHRIST, VENTERESSE, IDOLATRE,

take notice of the iniquity of this proceeding, alleging that the judgment of the secular power had not been duly pronounced: an assertion incontestably well founded; for an order to put any person to death without examining the ground of accusation, or any deliberation on the part of the king's officers, in whose hand is the sword of justice, the fiat of life and death, can only be considered as an act of tyranny and no judgment. But does it not at the same time prove that these witnesses had never seen a similar plan adopted, that they had no idea that such conduct could be tolerated, and that consequently the exercise of this pretended right was not customary in France? This observation is important, inasmuch as it tends to prove, that if France had been guilty of the fault of admitting the tribunal of the Inquisition into her realm, the government at least had wisely excluded one of its most flagrant abuses.

CRUELLE, DISSOLUE, INVOCATRICE DE DIABLES, SCISMATIQUE, ET HERETIQUE.

Many of the crowd, whose feelings forbade them to view the consummation of this cruel spectacle, hurried away from the scene of horror. As soon as the wretched Jeanne was fastened to the stake, the executioner set fire to the faggots. On witnessing the approach of the flames, Jeanne cried out in a loud voice, "6 JESUS!" Brother Martin L'Advenu was so anxiously engaged in preparing the unhappy sufferer to meet her fate with Christian resignation, that he did not perceive the fire rapidly gaining on his own person; Jeanne, however, grateful for his charity, watched over his safety, and had still sufficient presence of mind and courage to give him notice of his danger, and request him to withdraw. She then entreated that he would station himself at the foot of the scaffold, and elevate the crucifix of the Lord before her, in order that she might contemplate the same in her dying moments; and also that he would continue his exhortations in a tone of voice sufficiently loud for her to hear him; with all which that ecclesiastic faithfully complied. While he was fulfilling this most pious duty, and preaching to Jeanne on the subject of her salvation, the bishop of Beauvais and some priests of the church of Rouen approached to view the unfortunate girl. On beholding the prelate near her, Jeanne reminded him that he was the cause of her sufferings and her death;

and said, "Si vous m'eussiez mise dans les prisons de l'église, je ne serois pas ici- If you had placed me in the prisons of the church, I should not have been here." She persisted to the very last moment in affirming that she had done nothing but by the command of God, and that she did not believe herself deceived in the voices she had heard. Firm in the protestation of her innocence and of the iniquity of her judges, casting around a look fraught with the most agonizing expression, she exclaimed: "Ha, Rouen! j'ai grand peur que tu n'ayes à souffrir de ma mort! Ah, Rouen! I am much afraid that thou wilt have to suffer for my death!"

The executioner, however, sought to shorten her agonies by increasing the fierceness of the flames. Enveloped on all sides by smoke and fire, Jeanne nevertheless continued to call upon Almighty God and the male and female saints of Paradise, and with the last parting sigh of life, as her head dropped upon her bosom, she mentioned the name of Jesus.

When the unfortunate girl was no more, the English, fearful lest it might be said she had escaped, commanded the executioner to withdraw the fire a little, that those who assisted might view the body. After this the corpse was again placed in the flames; and in order that no vestige of it might remain, cardinal Beaufort directed that her bones and ashes should be cast into the river Seine.

Thus perished, through the perfidious machina

tions of a few designing priests, who had been bought over to the English cause, this most extraordinary young woman, who had rescued the Gallic monarchy from impending destruction, and had levelled so dreadful a blow at the power of Britain, that the armies of the latter, experiencing defeat after defeat, were ultimately compelled entirely to abandon the French territories. Jeanne was executed on the 30th May, 1431, in the twenty-third year of her age, after enduring for a year the most rigid captivity.

Immediately after the death of Jeanne, the executioner sought out the two ecclesiastics who had officiated during her last moments, and said, with tears in his eyes, that he did not believe God would forgive him for putting the young woman to death; and that he had never before felt so much repugnance at fulfiling the duties of his office.

Jean Tressart, secretary of the king of England, on returning from the place of execution, was heard to exclaim aloud, "We are all lost and dishonoured! a great crime has this day been perpetrated, for a saintly person has been burnt."

The punishment of Jeanne d'Arc was an outrage committed against religion, virtue, humanity, and the law of nations, which, even at the dark period when it transpired, considered as sacred the persons of warriors taken with arms in their hands. But what endeavours did Charles VII. make to rescue from the power of her enemies the heroine who had pre

served his crown and his kingdom; or what steps did he take to avenge her cruel death? History is altogether silent upon this subject. It is truly painful to suppose that either the supineness of the monarch, or the jealousy of the great, should have been the cause of the total abandonment of Jeanne d'Arc from the time when she was taken prisoner before Compiegne. In vain have several authors, and M. Laverdy* among the rest, sought to adduce,

M. de Laverdy was the first who undertook to justify Charles VII., but all his reasonings are founded upon mere conjecture. For instance: he pretends, that the king could not propose the ransom or exchange of the prisoner, because Henry VI., as principal leader of the war, possessed the exclusive right of retaining any captive whom he had purchased for ten thousand francs, &c. Suppose we admit this right as well authenticated, (which is not the fact, however positive this author's assertion,) is it very certain that Luxembourg, after having purchased Jeanne, would not have refused to sell her to him who should offer the highest price? And would this Luxembourg, as a subject of the duke of Burgundy, have been restrained by any motives of giving umbrage to Henry of England, who at that period was obliged to show every sentiment of consideration to the Burgundians? The very reverse of this conjecture results from the procrastinated negotiations. As early as the 14th of July, Pierre Cauchon, bishop of Beauvais, had offered ten thousand livres, and it was not until after the 3d of January, six months afterwards, that the bargain was concluded. In short, until it was terminated, Charles had the power of entering into a negotiation for the purchase of Jeanne d'Arc, without imposing upon Luxembourg the necessity of violating, in any degree, this pretended right of Henry VI.; and yet seven months