第101章 RE-EXAMINATION.MARCH-MAY,(3)

After this there came a long pause,full of much business to the judges,councillors,and clerks who had to reduce the seventy articles to twelve,in order to forward a summary of the case to the University of Paris for their judgment.Jeanne in the meantime had been left,but not neglected,in her prison.The great Feast of Easter had passed without any sacred consolation of the Church;but Monseigneur de Beauvais,in his kindness,sent her a carp to keep the feast withal,if not any spiritual food.It was quite congenial to the spirit of the time to imagine that the carp had been poisoned,and such a thought seems to have crossed the mind of Jeanne,who was very ill after eating of it,and like to die.But it was not thus,poisoned in prison,that it would have suited any of her persecutors to let her die.As a matter of fact,as soon as it was known that she was ill,the best doctors procurable were sent to the prison with peremptory orders to prolong her life and cure her at any cost.But for a little time we lose sight of the sick-bed on which the unfortunate Maid lay fully dressed,never relinquishing the garb which was her protection,with her feet chained to her uneasy couch.Even at the moment when her life hung in the balance we read of no indulgence granted in this respect,no unlocking of the infamous chain,nor substitution of a gentler nurse for the attendant /houspillers/,who were her guards night and day.

When the Bishop and his court had completed their business and sent off to Paris the important document on which so much depended,they found themselves at leisure to return to Jeanne,to inquire after her health and to make her "a charitable admonition."It was on the 18th of April,after the silence of more than a fortnight,that their visit was made with this benevolent purpose.Seven of her judges attended the Bishop into the sick-chamber.They had come,he assured her,charitably and familiarly,to visit her in her sickness and to carry her comfort and consolation.Most of these men were indeed familiar enough:she had seen their faces already through many a dreadful day,though there were one or two which were new and strange,come to stare at her in the depths of her distress.Cauchon reminded her how much and how carefully she had been questioned by the most wise and learned men;and that those there present were ready to do anything for the salvation of her soul and body in every possible way,by instructing or advising her.He added,however,that if she still refused to accept advice,and to act according to the counsel of the Church,she was in the greatest danger--to which she replied:

"It seems to me,being so ill as I am,that I am in great danger of death.And if it is thus that God pleases to decide for me,I ask of you to be allowed to confess and receive my Saviour,and to be laid in holy ground.""If you desire to have the rites and sacraments of the Church,"said Cauchon,"you must do as good Catholics ought to do,submit to Holy Church."She answered,"I can say no other thing to you."She was then told that if she was in fear of death through sickness she ought all the more to amend her life;but that she could not have the privileges of the Church as a Catholic,if she did not submit to the Church.She answered:"If my body dies in prison,I hope that you will bury me in consecrated ground:yet if not,I still hope in our Lord."She was then reminded that she had said in her trial--if anything had been said or done by her against our Christian faith ordained by our Lord,that she would not stand by it.She answered,"I refer to the answer I made,and to our Lord."It was then asked of her,since she believed herself to have had many revelations from God by St.Michael,St.Catherine,and St.Margaret,whether if there should appear some good creature (/sic/)who professed to have had a revelation from God in respect to her,she would believe that?She answered that there was no Christian in the world who could come to her professing to have had a revelation,of whom she should not know whether he spoke the truth or not:she would know it through St.Catherine and St.Margaret.

Asked,if she could not imagine that God might reveal something to a good creature who might be unknown to her,she answered:"Yes;but Iwould not believe either man or woman without a sign."Asked,if she believed that the Holy Scripture was revealed by God,she answered,"You know that I do,and it is good to know."The last answer she made in respect to submission to Holy Church was this,"Whatever may happen to me I will neither do nor say anything else,for I have answered before,during the trial."She was then "exhorted powerfully by the venerable doctors present"(four are mentioned by name)to submit to our Mother the Church,with many authorities and examples drawn from the Holy Scriptures;and finally,Magister Nicolas Midi made her an exhortation from Matthew xviii."If your brother trespass against you,"and what follows,"If he will not hear the Church,let him be to you as a heathen man and a publican."This was expounded to Jeanne in the French tongue and,finally,she was told that if she would not obey and submit to the Church she must be given up as if she was a Saracen.To which Jeanne replied that she was a good Christian and well baptised,and that she desired to die as a Christian.She was then asked whether,since she begged leave of the Church to receive her Saviour,she would submit to the Church if it were promised to her that she should receive.She answered that she would say no more than she had said;that she loved God,served Him,and was a good Christian,and would aid and uphold the Holy Church with all her power.Asked if she wished that a beautiful procession should be made for her to restore her to health,she answered that she would be glad if the Church and the Catholics would pray for her.