第88章 THE EXAMINATION IN PRISON.LENT,(1)

It must not be forgotten，in the history of this strange trial，that the prisoner was brought from the other side of France expressly that she might be among a people who were not of her own party，and who had no natural sympathies with her，but a hereditary connection with England，which engaged all its partialities on that side.For this purpose it was that the /venue/，the town expected the coming of the Witch，and all the dark revelations that might be extracted from her，her spells，and the details of that contract with the devil which was so entrancing to the popular imagination，with excitement and eagerness.Such a /Cause Célèbre/had never taken place among them before；and everybody no doubt looked forward to the pleasure of seeing it proved that it was not by the will of Heaven，but by some monstrous combination of black arts，that such an extraordinary result as the defeat of the invincible English soldiers had been brought about.The litigious and logical Normans no doubt looked forward to it as to the most interesting entertainment，ending in the complete vindication of their own side and the exposure of the nefarious arms used by their adversaries.

But when the proceedings had been opened，and in place of some dark-browed and termagant sorceress，with the mark of every evil passion in her face，there appeared before the spectators crowding into every available corner，the slim，youthful figure--was it boy or girl？--the serene and luminous countenance of the Maid，the flower of youth raising its whiteness and innocence in the midst of all those black-robed，subtle Doctors，it is impossible but that the very first glance must have given a shock and thrill of amazement and doubt to what may be called the lay spectators，those who had no especial bias more than common report，and whose credit or interest were not involved in bringing this unlikely criminal to condemnation."A girl！Like our own Jeanne at home，"might many a father have said，dismayed and confounded.She had，they all say，those eyes of innocence which it is so impossible not to believe，and that virginal voice，/assez femme/，which a sentimental Frenchman insists upon as belonging only to the spotless.At all events she had the bearing of honesty，purity，and truth.She was not afraid though all the powers of hell--or was it only of the Church and the Law？--were arrayed against her：no guilty mystery to be discovered，was in her countenance.But it must have been plain to the keen and not too charitable Normans that such semblances are not always to be trusted，and that the devil himself even，on occasion，can take upon himself the appearance of an angel of light；so that after the first shock of wonder they no doubt settled themselves to listen，believing that soon they would have their imaginations fed with tales of horror，and would discover the hoofs and the horns and unveil with triumph the lurking demon.The French historians never take into consideration the fact that it was the belief of Rouen and Normandy，as well as of any similar town or province in England，that the child Henry VI.was lawful king，and that whatever was on the other side was a hateful adversary，to be brought to such disaster and shame as was possible，without mercy and without delay.

But after a few days of the examination which we have just reported，public opinion was greatly staggered，and knew not how to turn.

Gradually the conviction must have been forced upon every mind which had any candour left，that Jeanne，at that dreadful bar，with the stake in sight，and all the learning of Paris--the entire power of one great national and half of another，all England and half France against--(many more than half France，for the other part had abandoned her cause)，--showed nothing of the demon，but all--if not of the angel，yet of the Maid，the emblem of perfection to that rude world，though often so barbarously handled.It might almost be said of the age，notwithstanding its immorality and rampant viciousness，that in its eyes a true virgin could do no harm.And hers was one if ever such a thing existed on earth.The talk in the streets began to take a very different tone.Massieu the clerical sheriff's officer saw nothing in her answers that was not good and right.Out of the midst of the crowd of listeners would burst an occasional cry of "Well said！"An Englishman，even a knight，overcome by his feelings，cried out："Why was not she English，this brave girl！"All these were ominous sounds.

Still more ominous was the utterance of Ma？tre Jean Lohier，a lawyer of Rouen，who declared loudly that the trial was not a legal trial for the reasons which follow：

"In the first place because it was not in the form of an ordinary trial；secondly，because it was not held in a public court，and those present had not full and complete freedom to say what was their full and unbiassed opinion；thirdly，because there was question of the honour of the King of France of whose party Jeanne was，without calling him，or any one for him；fourthly，because neither libel nor articles were produced，and this woman who was only an uninstructed girl，had no advocate to answer for her before so many Masters and Doctors，on such grave matters，and especially those which touched upon the revelations of which she spoke；therefore it seemed to him that the trial was worth nothing.For these things Monseigneur de Beauvais was very indignant against the said Ma？tre Lohier，saying：