Dan d toit tee ET SN aaa ote te see fie ‘Swi tenet eg Po pr BAR RS ES RER DS PRINCETON - NEW JERSEY Library of The Theological Seminary a Ce) PURCHASED BY THE MRS. ROBERT LENOX KENNEDY CHURCH HISTORY FUND De a as Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2022 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/mysteryofjoanofa00deni THE MYSTERY OF JOAN OF ARC JOAN From the sculptured head in the Musée du Trocadero, Paris. par OF Q NO 23 1925 a are Pa THE MYSTERY JOAN OF ARC SOL agro, se BY LEON DENIS AUTHOR OF “APRES LA MORT” “LA GRANDE ENIGME,” ETC. TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, M.D., LL.D. PRESIDENT D’HONNEUR DU COMITE EXECUTIF DE LA FEDERATION SPIRITE NEW YORK E. P.. DUTTON AND COMPANY First EDITION. > N'HNTO2S Printed in Great Britain by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury. TRANSLATOR’S. PREFACE Uxriz one has experienced it one can hardly realise the difficulty which lies in the adequate translation of a French book, dealing with a subtle and delicate subject. Only then does one understand that not only the words, but the whole method of thought and expression are different. A literal translation becomes impossibly jerky and staccato, while a para- phrase has to be very carefully done, if one has a respect for the original. M. Leon Denis has given me an entirely free hand in the matter, but I love and admire his book so much, that I earnestly desire to reproduce the text as closely as possible. I should not have attempted the task were it not that, apart from the literary and historical aspects of the work, the psychic side is expounded by a profound student of such things, and calls therefore for some equivalent psychic knowledge upon the part of the translator. It is to be hoped, however, that the reader who is ignorant of psychic matters, or out of sympathy with them, will still be able to recognise the beauty of this picture done by one who had such love TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE for his subject that he followed the maid every inch of the way from Domremy to Rouen. M. Denis actually lives in Tours, and is familiar with Orleans, so that he has mastered the local colour in a most unusual way. His treatment of his heroine is so complete that there is no need for me to say anything save to express my personal conviction that, next to the Christ, the highest spiritual being of whom we have any exact record upon this earth is the girl Joan. One would kneel rather than stand in her presence. We are particularly fortunate in the fact that we have fuller and more certain details of her life and character than of any celebrity in medizval or, perhaps, in modern history. The glorious life was so short and so public, that there was no time or place for shadows or misunder- standings. It was spent under the very eyes of the world, and is recorded in the verbatim accounts of the most searching cross-examina- tion that ever a woman endured, supplemented by an equally close enquiry when her character was rehabilitated a generation after her death. On that occasion over a hundred witnesses who had known her were put upon oath. Apart from the question of Christ’s divinity, and com- paring the two characters upon a purely human plane, there was much analogy between them. TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE Each was sprung from the labouring class. Each proclaimed an inspired mission. Each was martyred while still young. Each was ac- claimed by the common people and betrayed or disregarded by the great. Each excited the bitter hatred of the church of their time, the high priests of which in each case conspired for their death. Finally, each spoke with the same simple definite phrases, short and strong, clear and concise. Joan’s mission was on the surface warlike, but it really had the effect of ending a century of war, and her love and charity were so broad, that they could only be matched by Him who prayed for His murderers. The text will show that M. Denis is an earnest student of psychic matters, with a depth of experience which forbids us to set his opinions easily aside. His other works, especially ‘ Après la Mort,” show how extensive have been his studies and how deep his con- victions. There are portions of this work which bear traces of psychic influence, and he has even felt that at times he had some direct inspiration. This is a point which will seem absurd to some, and will cause even those who are sympathetic to suspend their judgment until they know more clearly what was the exact evidence which led M. Denis to such a conclusion. But if we omit or discount this TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE personal claim there still remains a general statement which links Joan up with our modern psychic knowledge, finds a definite place for her therein, and succeeds for the first time—where Anatole France and others have failed—in giving us some intelligible reason for the obvious miracle that a girl of nineteen, who could neither read nor write, and knew nothing of military affairs, was able in a few months to turn the tide of a hundred years’ war, and to save France from becoming a vassal of England. Her achievement was attributed by herself (and she was the soul of truth) to her voices and her visions. It is M. Denis’ task to show how these voices and visions fit into our present knowledge, and what were their most probable origin and meaning. I have omitted those continual footnotes and references to authorities which prove M. Denis’ accuracy and diligence but which break the narrative by drawing the reader’s eyes for ever to the bottom of the page. The serious student will find them in the original, and it will suffice in this version if it be stated that the main sources of information are to be found in the ‘‘ Procès de Condamnation,” the ‘ Procès de Réhabilitation,’ Henri Martin’s ‘ Histoire de France,” Delanne’s ‘“ Fantômes TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE des Vivants,” Denis’ “‘ Après la Mort” and ‘ Dans JlInvisible,’ Cagny’s ‘“ Chronicles,” ‘ Chronique de la Pucelle,” Quicherat’s works, Anatole France’s ‘‘ Vie de Jeanne,” Richers’ ‘ Histoire de la Pucelle,” ‘ Registres du Parle- ment,’ and other documents. The beautiful literary touch of M. Denis would have won him fame, whatever topic engaged his pen, but he had very peculiar qualifications for this particular work, and though his views may be somewhat ahead of the present state of public knowledge and opinion, I am convinced that in the end his contribution to the discussion regarding Joan will prove to be the most important and the truest ever made. A great crisis of world thought and experience is at hand, and when it is past such views as those of M. Denis may form the basis upon which the reformed philosophies of the future will be based. ARTHUR Conan Dovyte. April, 1924. Aa: tro ‘val whe ‘i "D TR VIII. XIII. XV. CONTENTS TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE ; : INTRODUCTION . i À : DOMREMY . ; ; + 2 THE SITUATION IN 1429 A ; THE INFANCY OF JOAN OF ARC ‘ VAUCOULEURS . à : é CHINON, POITIERS AND TOURS : ORLEANS . ‘ 3 ; ; REIMS s : : : : COMPIEGNE ; : : à ROUEN—-THE PRISON. 1 : ROUEN—THE TRIAL À ; : ROUEN—THE PUNISHMENT . : JOAN’S SECRET POWER . ‘ ; WHAT WERE HER VOICES? . : ANALOGOUS POWERS, ANCIENT AND MODERN. à : : à JOAN OF ARC AND THE MODERN PSYCHIC MOVEMENT À : A MESSAGE. i = . à TRANSLATOR’S NOTE . M : 222 ILLUSTRATIONS JOAN. : : à Frontispiece From the sculptured head in the Musée du Trocadéro, Paris FACING PAGE THE HOME OF JOAN AT DOMREMY . . 20 THE VISION OF JOAN OF ARC ° . 34. From the painting by J. E. Lenepveu THE CATHEDRAL AT REIMS . : ‘ 66 JOAN AT THE CORONATION OF CHARLES VII 72 From the painting by Ingres JOAN TAKEN PRISONER . . ° ° 82 From a XVth Century MS. THE TOWER AT ROUEN CASTLE WHEREIN JOAN WAS THREATENED WITH TORTURE I I4 After a drawing by E. H. Langlois CHARLES VII : h ; 3 ez From the Portrait at the Louvre THE MYSTERY OF JOAN OF ARC INTRODUCTION THE memory of Joan of Arc has never aroused such ardent and passionate controversies as have raged for the last few years around this great historical figure. One party, while exalting her memory, tries to monopolise her and to confine her personality within the limits of Catholic doctrine. A second, by means of tactics which are sometimes brutal, as in the case of Thalamas and Henri Bérenger, sometimes clever and _ learned, as in the case of M. Anatole France, tries to lessen her prestige and to reduce her mission to the proportions of an ordinary historical episode. Where shall we find the truth as to the part played by Joan in history ? As we read it, it is to be found neither in the mystic reveries of the men of faith nor in the material arguments of the positivist critic. Neither the one nor I INTRODUCTION the other seems to hold the thread which would lead them through the facts which form the mystery of this extraordinary life. To penetrate the mystery of Joan of Arc it seems to us necessary to study, and have practical knowledge of, psychic science. It is necessary to have sounded the depths of this invisible world, this ocean of life which envelops us, from which we all come at birth and into which we are replunged at death. How can writers understand Joan if their thoughts have never risen above terrestrial facts, looked beyond the narrow horizon of an inferior material world, nor caught one glimpse of the life beyond ? During the last fifty years a whole series of manifestations and of discoveries have thrown a new light upon certain important aspects of life, of which we have had only vague and un- certain knowledge. By close observation and by methodical experiment in psychic phenomena a far-reaching science is gradually being built up. The universe appears to us now as a reservoir of unknown forces of incalculable energy. An infinite vista dawns before our thoughts filled with forms and vital powers which escape our normal senses, though some mani- festations of them have been measured with 2 VERDICT OF THE HISTORIANS great precision by the aid of registering apparatus.’ The idea of the supernatural fades away, and we see Nature herself rolling back for ever the horizon of her domain. The possibility of an invisible organised life, more rich and more intense than that of humanity, but regulated by tremendous laws, begins to intrude itself. ‘This life in many cases impinges on our own and influences us for good or for evil. Most of the phenomena of the past which have been asserted in the name of faith and denied in the name of reason can now receive a logical and scientific explanation. The extraordinary incidents scattered over the story of the Maid of Orleans are of this order. Their comprehension is rendered the more easy by our knowledge of similar phenomena observed, classified and registered in our own time. These can explain to us the nature of the forces which acted in and around her, guiding her life towards its noble end. The historians of the nineteenth century, Michelet, Wallon, Quicherat, Henri Martin, Siméon Luce, Joseph Fabre, Vallet de Viri- 1 Annales des Sciences psychiques, August, September, October 1907, February 1909. B 3 INTRODUCTION ville, Lanéry d’Arc, have all agreed to exalt Joan as a marvellous heroine, and a sort of national Messiah. It is only in the twentieth century that the critical note has been heard. This has sometimes been bitter. M. Thalamas, Professor of the University, has even been accused by certain Catholic critics of treating this heroine as a wanton. He defends himself from this charge, and in his work “ Joan of Arc, History and Legend,” he does not go beyond the limits of honest and courteous criticism. His point of view, however, is that of the materialist : ‘ It is not for us,” he says, ‘“‘ who look on all genius as an affair of the nerves, to reproach Joan for having magnified into saints what was really the voice of her own conscience.” But sometimes in his lectures he was more severe. At Tours on April 29th, 1905, he reminded us of the opinion of Professor Robin on Joan of Arc. She had never existed, he believed, and her whole story was a myth. M. Thalamas would not go so far as this, and recognised the reality of her life, but he attacked the deductions which her admirers had drawn from it. He exerted all his in- genuity to minimise what she had done with- out attacking her personal character. She 4 ANATOLE FRANCE had done nothing herself, or at least very little; for example, he held that it was the inhabitants of Orleans who had wrought their own deliverance. Henri Bérenger and other writers have followed in the same sense, and the official view of the question seemed to be coloured by their theories. In the history books of the primary schools they have taken from the story of Joan everything which could have a psychic meaning. It is no longer a ques- tion of voices; it is always the voice of con- science which guides her. The difference is a very real one. Anatole France in his artistic volumes does not go so far as this. He cannot get past the evidence as to the objective reality of the visions and of the voices. He is too well acquainted with the documentary evidence to deny that. His work is a faithful reconstruc- tion of the epoch. The appearances of the towns, of the countryside, and of the men of that epoch are painted with the hand of a master and with a fineness of touch which recalls Renan. Yet reading him leaves one cold and disappointed. His judgments are often falsi- fied by prejudice, and one is conscious, all through his pages, of a subtle and penetrating irony which is out of place in history. 5 INTRODUCTION In truth, an impartial judge may state that as Joan is exalted by the Catholics, she is at- tacked by the freethinkers less out of dislike for her than through a spirit of contradiction and of opposition. The heroine, dragged this way and that, becomes an object of contention to these rival parties. ‘There is exaggerated statement on both sides, and the truth, as so often happens, is between the two extremes. The vital question is the existence of occult forces, which the materialists ignore, of in- visible powers which are not supernatural and miraculous, but which belong to those domains of Nature which have not yet been fully ex- plored. Hence comes the inability to under- stand the work of Joan and the means by which it was possible for her to carry it out. Her critics have never realised the immensity of the obstacles which the heroine had to sur- mount. A poor girl, eighteen years old, the daughter of humble peasants, without educa- tion, ‘‘ knowing neither A nor B,” says the Chronicle, she had against her her own family, public opinion, and all the world. What could she have accomplished without that inspiration, that vision of the world beyond, which sus- tained her ? Imagine this child of the fields in the presence of great lords, ladies, and prelates; in the 6 DIFFICULTIES AND SUFFERINGS court and in the camps. She was a simple rustic from the depths of the country, ignorant of warlike things, and speaking a provincial dialect! She had to meet the prejudices of rank and birth, and the pride of caste. Later she encountered the mockeries and the bru- talities of soldiers accustomed to despise women, and unwilling to admit that a girl could com- mand and direct them. In addition there was the hatred of the men of the Church, who in those days saw in everything which was unusual the intervention of the devil. They never par- doned her for acting independently of their authority, and indeed that was the main Cause; Ole iter Tuin, Picture to yourself the prying curiosity of those debauched men amongst whom she had to live constantly. She had to endure fatigue, long hours on horseback, and the crushing weight of iron armour. She had also to lie on the ground during weary nights in the camp, harassed by all the worries and responsibilities of her arduous task. During her short career she surmounted all these obstacles, and out of a divided people split into a thousand factions, decimated by famine, and demoralised by all the miseries of a hundred years of war, she built up a victorious nation. 7 INTRODUCTION It is this wonderful episode which clever but blind writers have tried to explain by purely material and terrestrial means, lame explana- tions which go to pieces when one realises the facts! Poor blind souls—souls of the night, dazzled and dazed by the lights of the Beyond ! It is to them that the words of a thinker apply : | ‘That which they know is nothing, but from what they do not know one could create a universe.” It is a deplorable thing that certain critics of our time feel impelled to minimise and drag down in a frenzy of dislike everything which rises above their own moral incapacity. Wherever a light shines, or a flame burns, one sees them running to pour water upon that which might give an illumination to humanity. Joan, ignorant of human forces, but with profound psychic vision, gave them a mag- nificent lesson in the words which she addressed to the examiners at Poitiers, which are equally applicable to the modern sceptics, the little narrow minds of our generation : ‘I read in a book where there are more things than are found in yours.” Learn to read there, also, you sceptics, and THE ESSENTIAL COMMUNION to understand these problems; then you may speak with a little more authority about Joan and her work. When one studies the great scenes of history, one has to realise and reconstruct the souls of nations and of heroes. If you know how to love them they will come to you, these souls, and they will inspire you. It is the secret of the genius of history. That is what great writers like Michelet, Henri Martin, and others have done. They have gone out in sympathy to the genius of the race and of the era of which they wrote, and the breath of the Beyond runs through their pages. Others, like Anatole France, Lavisse, and his colla- borators, remain dry and cold in spite of their cleverness, because they have no grasp of that personal intimate communion where soul reacts upon soul. This communion is the secret of all great artists, thinkers and poets. Without it there is no imperishable work. A constant stream of inspiration flows down from the invisible world upon mankind. There are intimate ties between the living and the dead. All souls are united by invisible threads, and the more sensitive of us down here vibrate to the rhythm of the universal life. So was it with our heroine. 9 INTRODUCTION The critic may attack her memory; his efforts will never prevail. The story of the maid of Lorraine, like that of all the great agents of Providence, is graven on the eternal granite of history. Nothing can wipe out that record. It is one which indicates most clearly amid all the mixed tumult of life that sovereign hand which guides the world, To understand this life, and to realise the power which guided it, one must raise one’s mind to those great vital laws which govern the destiny of nations. Higher than all worldly events, and independent of the confused results of human action, one may trace an unswerving will which surmounts the resistance of individuals and works straight to the predestined end. Instead of losing itself in the confusion of life it seems rather to organise it, and to be the secret thread which leads through the maze. Gradually there appear a method and a system, which harmonise all things. Their inter-relation becomes more defined, while their contradictions fade away until one vast plan stands revealed. One realises, then, that there is a latent invisible energy, reacting upon all of us, leaving to each a certain measure of initiative, but enveloping 10 THE SUPREME LAW all of us and sweeping us towards a fixed goal, The apparent incoherences of life and of history depend upon the delicate equilibrium between the liberty of the individual and the authority of the Supreme Law. The deeper workings of these forces dawn gradually upon the man who can penetrate into the inner meaning of things. If it were not for this profound law, there would be nothing but disorder and chaos in that infinite jumble of efforts and of individual ambitions which make up the workings of the human race. From the days of Domremy to those of Reims the action of this law could be traced in the whole episode of the Maid. During that period man was working for the most part in harmony with the higher Law. After the incident of the consecration at Reims, ingratitude, wickedness, the intrigues of courtiers and of clerics, and the bad conduct of the King obscured the issue. To quote the expression of Joan, ‘‘ Men refused to do the will of God.” Selfishness, disorder and rapacity stood in the way of the higher action, which was at- tempted by Joan and her invisible helpers. The work of deliverance became more un- certain and was chequered by ill-fortune and II INTRODUCTION reverses. She followed out her mission none the less, but for its full accomplishment there would have been needed a greater length of time and ever harder exertions, with less disturbance from the forces of evil. As I have said, it is entirely from the point of view of our new scientific knowledge that I undertake this work. I repeat it so that none may misunderstand my intention. In trying to throw a little light on the life of Joan of Arc I am not actuated by any selfish motive or by any political or religious prejudice. My views are as far from those of the anarchists as from those of the ‘reactionaries! » [feam neither among the blind fanatics, nor among those who are ever incredulous. It is in the name of truth and of moral beauty, and out of love for our French Fatherland that I try to clear the noble figure of the inspired Maid from those shadows which have gathered round her. Under the pretext of analysis and of free criticism there has been, as I have already re- marked, a most regrettable tendency in our days to drag down everything which has been ad- mired in the past, and to alter and to tarnish what has been spotless and perfect up to now. 12 DUTY AND TRADITION It is a duty for any man, who can by pen or by voice exercise an influence on his fellows, to maintain and to defend whatever makes for the greatness of our country, and emphasises the noble examples that she has given to the world, and the scenes of beauty which enrich her past and shed a glory on her history. It is, on the other hand, an evil action to endeavour in any way to enfeeble our moral inheritance, the historical tradition of the people. Is it not the very thing which should give us strength in difficult hours? Is it not that which helps us to higher virility in mo- ments of danger? The tradition of a people and its history are the poetry of its life, its solace in trouble, its hope in the future. It is by the common ties which it creates between all our citizens that we feel ourselves to be the children of the one mother and members of a common fatherland. It is well that we should often recall the great scenes of our national history. It is full of striking lessons, and rich in wonderful examples. It is possibly superior in that respect to the history of any other nation. Wherever we explore the past of our race, everywhere and in every age we see great shadows hovering, and those shadows speak to us, and exhort us. From far-off centuries voices come down to us 13 INTRODUCTION recalling great memories, memories which, if they were always present in our souls, would suffice to inspire and to brighten our lives. But there comes the chill wind of scepticism, of forgetfulness, and of indif- ference. The preoccupations of our material life absorb us, and we end by losing touch with all that has been most great and most eloquent in the teaching of the past. Among these traditions there is nothing more touching and more glorious than that which deals with this extraordinary young girl who illuminates the darkness of the Middle Ages by her radiant presence, and of whom Henri Martin has said, ‘ Nothing like her has ever happened in the history of the world.” In the name of the past as well as of the future of our race, in the name of the work which still waits to be done, let us endeavour to keep in its entirety our moral inheritance. Let us try to keep from the soul of the people the intellectual poison which threatens it, and so to preserve for France that beauty and that strength which will make her great in hours of peril and restore to her all that prestige and self-respect which have been weakened by so many evil and sophistical theories. 14 WORLD-WIDE SYMPATHY It is only fair to recognise that the Catholic world—of recent years, at any rate—has done solemn homage to Joan. The orthodox have praised her, have glorified her, and have raised statues and temples in her honour. On the other hand, the Republican freethinkers have discussed a project of founding a national féte in her honour, which should be dedicated to the cult of patriotism. But neither party has really understood the true character of our heroine, nor grasped the inner meaning of her life. There are few men who have been in a position to analyse this great figure who stands so high above the days in which she lived, and seems more and more majestic as the years roll by. | There is in this wonderful life a depth which cannot be plumbed by minds which are not prepared beforehand for such a study. There are factors which must cause uncertainty and confusion in the thoughts of those who have not the necessary gifts to solve this great problem. Hence the sterile discussions and the vain polemics. But for the man who has lifted the veil of the invisible world the life of Joan is brilliantly clear. Her whole story becomes at once rational and intelligible. Observe how many different points of view 15 INTRODUCTION and contradictory ideas there are among those who praise the heroine! Some try to find in her some argument for their particular party. Others strive to draw some secular moral from her fate. Some again only wish to see in the triumph of Joan the exaltation of popular and patriotic sentiment. One may well ask if in this devotion which rises from all France there is not blended much which is egotistical and much which is mixed with self-interest. No doubt they think of Joan, and no doubt they love Joan, but at the same time, are they not thinking more of themselves and of their parties? Do they not search in that glorious life only for that which may flatter their own personal feelings, their own political opinions, or their own unavowed ambitions? ‘There are not many, I fear, who raise themselves above prejudice and above the interests of caste or of class. Few, indeed, try to penetrate the secret of this life, and among those who have penetrated, no one up to now, save in a most guarded way, has dared to speak out and to tell that which he saw and understood. As for me, if my claims for speaking of Joan of Arc are modest ones, there is at least one which I can confidently make. It is that I am free from every prejudice and from all desire either to please or to displease. With thoughts 16 SEARCH FOR THE CLUE free, and conscience independent, searching and wishing for nothing but truth, thus is it that I approach this great subject, and search for that mysterious clue which is the secret of her incomparable career. a7 CHA PAE Ral DoMREMY I am a son of Lorraine, born like Joan in the valley of the Meuse, and my infancy was full of the memories which she had left in that country. During my youth I often visited the place where she lived. I loved to wander under the great vaults of our Lorraine woods, which are the remains of the ancient forests of the Gauls. Like her, I have many times listened to the harmonies of the fields and of the waste places, and I can claim that I too know the mysterious voices of space, those voices which, when one is alone, convey inspiration to the thinker and bring him in touch with the eternal verities. In my manhood I have followed across France the traces of her footsteps. I have made almost stage by stage the same tragic journey. I have seen the castle of Chinon where she was received by Charles VII, al- though it is now but a ruin. I have seen deep in Touraine the little Church of Fierbois whence she recovered the sword of Charles 18 DOMREMY Martel, and the caves of Courtineau in which she took refuge during the storm. ‘Then, too, I have seen Orleans and Reims and Compiégne where she was taken. There is not one place that she has passed where I have not meditated, prayed and mourned. Later, in this city of Rouen, above which her great presence seems still to hover, I terminated my pilgrimage. Like those Christians who walk step by step along the path which leads to Calvary I have fol- lowed the melancholy road which led the great martyr to her doom. More recently I returned to Domremy. I saw once again the humble cottage where she was born, the chamber with its narrow window where her virginal body, destined to so tragic a fate, has brushed the walls, the rustic press where she kept her belongings and the place where, in her ecstasy, she heard the voices. Then, too, I saw the church where she so often prayed. Thence, by the road which climbs the hill, I made my way to the holy place where she loved to dream. I saw the vine which belonged to her father, the Fairy tree, and the sweetly murmuring fountain. The cuckoo sang in the hoary wood. ‘The scent of the pine trees floated in the air. The breeze shook the foliage and murmured in the depths of the thickets. At my feet were spread c 19 DOMREMY the laughing fields covered with flowers and watered by the windings of the Meuse. Opposite, the hill of Julien rose abruptly, reminding one of the Roman period and of the apostate Cesar; in the distance, wooded hills and deep valleys alternated to the hazy horizon. A deep sweetness, a peaceful serenity brooded over the whole of this country. It was truly a blessed place conducive to thought, a place where the vague harmonies of heaven seemed to mix with the gentle and distant murmurs of human life. Oh, dreaming soul of Joan, I tried hard to share the feelings which came to you, and I found them deep and real. They surged into my own spirit ; they filled me with a poignant rapture. And your whole life, that dazzling record, unrolled itself before my thoughts like a glorious panorama ending in an apotheosis of fire. For one moment I seemed to have actually lived this life, and that which my heart felt no human pen can describe. Behind me, an obtrusive monument and a discordant note in the symphony of subtle impressions, there rose the church and the theatrical group where Joan is seen on her knees at the feet of S. Michael and of two gilded Saints. The statue of Joan alone, rich in expression, touches one, interests one, and holds 20 ‘KWAYWOdG LV NVOf JO ANOH AHL THE CHAPEL OF BERMONT one’s attention. A name is carved on the pedestal, that of Allar—himself a mystic. At some distance from Domremy, on a steep slope in the midst of the woods, lies the modest chapel of Bermont. Joan used to come here every week. She would follow the path which from Greux winds on to the plateau, passes under the trees and leads to the fountain of Thiébault. She would climb the hill in order to kneel before the ancient Madonna whose statue, dating from the eighth century, is still held in veneration. I walked, heavy with thought, along this picturesque path, and I traversed these tangled woods where the birds sing. The whole country is full of Celtic reminiscences. Our fathers have raised there an altar of stone. These sacred fountains and these gloomy shadows were once the witnesses of the Druidical ceremonies. The soul of Gaul lives and vibrates in such places. With- out doubt it spoke to the heart of Joan, even as she speaks to-day to the heart of her fellow- countrymen and of those who understand her. I went further. I wished to see every- thing which had to do with the life of Joan and everything which recalled her memory. There is Vouthon where her mother was born, and the little village of Beurey, which still contains 21 DOMREMY the dwelling of her uncle, Durand Lexart, he who helped her on her mission by leading her to Vaucouleurs and into the presence of the Lord of Baudricourt. The humble house is still there, with the carving of lilies decorating the threshold, but it has been changed into a stable. A rude chain holds the door. I undid it, and as I looked in a goat huddled in the shadows of the corner uttered its thin and plaintive bleating. I wandered all over this country, lost in my dreams, as I stood by the places which meant so much in the infancy of Joan. I traversed the narrow valleys, hemmed in by dark forests which open out from the Meuse. I stood lost in thought in the solitude at evening time, at the hour when the nightingale sings and when the stars first gleam in the depths of the heavens. I listened to all the vague sounds and the mysterious voices of Nature. In these places I felt myself far from man with an invisible | world close beside me. Then it was that a prayer came from the depth of my being; then it was that I evoked the spirit of Joan. Immediately I seemed to feel the strength and the sweetness of her presence. The air vibrated. There was a sense of brightness around me. Invisible wings seemed to be beating in the dusk. An unknown 22 THE MISSION OF JOAN melody floated down from above, lulled my senses and drew tears to my eyes. And the Angel of France inspired me with words which I here piously repeat, even as I received them : ‘ Your soul rises up and is conscious at this moment of the protection which God throws over you. May your heart take courage, you who love and desire to serve our dear France, that France which I look down upon always as a protector and a mother with love and devotion. I was a simple Christian upon earth. I feel here in the Beyond the same emotions, the same need for prayer, but it is my wish that my memory be free and detached from all earth interests. I only give my heart and my remembrance to those who see in me the humble daughter of God, loving all those who live in this land of France and striving to inspire them with sentiments of love, of justice and of courage.” 23 CHAPTER II THE SITUATION IN 1429 Wuat was the situation of France in the fifteenth century, at the moment when Joan of Arc appeared on the great stage of history ? The war against England had lasted for a hundred years. In four successive defeats the French nobility had been crushed and almost annihilated. From Cressy to Poitiers, and from the field of Agincourt to that of Verneuil, our chivalry had strewn the ground with its dead. The survivors had split into two rival parties whose quarrels enfeebled and desolated France.” The “Duke "of Orléans “had Steen assassinated by the retainers of the Duke of Burgundy, who in turn met his death a little later at the hands of the Armagnacs. All this went on under the very eyes of the enemy, who advanced step by step, invading the Northern Provinces. He had already for many years occupied La Guyenne. After a desperate resistance, in the course of a siege which sur- passed in horror anything that the imagination could conceive, Rouen had been compelled to surrender. Paris, the population of which had 24 NATIONAL MISERY been decimated by sickness and famine, was in the hands of the English. The Loire saw the enemy upon its banks. Orleans, the capture of which would mean that the stranger had seized the very heart of France, still held out, but for how long? Vast stretches of our country had been turned into desert. Cultivation had ceased. The villages were abandoned. One only saw weeds and thistles in the fields and the charred ruins of burnt houses. Everywhere were the traces of the ravages of war, death and desolation. The inhabitants of the country, in despera- tion, concealed themselves in caves, Others took refuge in the hills of the Loire, or sought protection in the towns, where they died of famine. Often to escape the soldiers these wretched people sought safety in the woods, organised themselves into bands and became as cruel as the brigands from whom they had fled. Wolves wandered round the outskirts of the towns, penetrated into them at night and devoured the corpses which had been left without burial. Such was “‘ La grande pitié qui est au royaume de France,” as her voices described it to Joan. Poor Charles VI in his madness had signed the Treaty of Troyes which disinherited his son 25 THE SITUATION IN 1429 and made Henry of England heir to the throne. And so in the Cathedral of St. Denis, over the grave of the mad King, a herald proclaimed Henry of Lancaster to be King both of France and of England. The bodies of our Kings lying under the heavy slabs of their tombs may well have pal- pitated with shame and grief. The Dauphin Charles, dispossessed and called in derision ‘ King of Bourges,” sank into a state of dis- couragement and lethargy. He lacked both resources and bravery. His courtiers treated in secret with the enemy. He himself planned to fly to Scotland or to Spain, renouncing the throne to which he thought that possibly he was not entitled, for he had his own doubts as to the legitimacy of his birth. One heard on all sides the lamentable plaint, the cry of agony from a people who were being thrust by the conquerors into their grave. France felt herself to be lost, and she was struck to the heart. A few more blows and she would descend into the great silence of death. What help could possibly come to her ? No earthly power could accomplish such a miracle as the resurrection of a people who had lost all hope. But it is another power, an invisible one, which watches over the destiny of nations. At the moment when everything seemed to have 26 “SHE IS COMING” crumbled it was this power which brought to a despairing people its redemption. Certain signs seemed to announce its coming. Among these signs a visionary, Marie of Avignon, had forced herself into the presence of the King. She had seen, she said, in her trances a suit of armour which Heaven was reserving for a young girl destined to save the Kingdom. On all sides one heard the ancient prophecy of Merlin which announced that a virgin liberator would come from a chestnut wood. And then, like a ray from Heaven in the midst of this night of desolation and of misery, Joan appeared. Hark! hark! from the depths of the fields and the forests of Lorraine, one hears the gallop of her horse. She is coming! She is coming to reanimate this despairing people, to renew their lost courage, to direct their resistance, to save France from death. 27 CHAPTER III THE INFANCY OF JOAN OF ARC Art the foot of the hills at the side of the Meuse a few cottages were grouped round a modest church. Green meadows, rising and falling, stretched away from them and the little river with its clear waters ran past them. On the slopes above them lay cultivated fields and vineyards, stretching up to the deep forest which rose like a wall across the summit of the hills, a forest full of mysterious murmurs and the singing of the birds. Out of it came suddenly, from time to time, wolves, the terror of the flocks; or soldiers, brigands and robbers, more dangerous than the wild beasts. This was Domremy, a village hitherto un- known, but which was to be famous throughout the whole world, on account of the child born there in 1412. To recall the history of this young girl is ever the best means of refuting the argu- ments of her enemies, That I will now do— bringing out, I hope, certain facts which have remained in the shadow, some of which have been revealed to me by psychic means. 28 CHILDHOOD Many works—masterpieces of research and of learning—have been written on the Maid of Lorraine. Far be it from me to pretend to equal them! But this book is distinguished by one characteristic trait. It is illuminated here and there by the very thoughts of the heroine. Thanks to messages obtained from her, the authenticity of which is absolutely satisfying, these pages become in part an echo of her own voice, and of the voices of the Beyond. It is for this reason that it has a claim upon the attention of the reader. Joan was not of high birth. The daughter of poor labourers, she spun wool by the side of her mother, or shepherded the flock in the fields of the Meuse when she was not accom- panying her father to the plough. She did not know how to read or write. She was absolutely ignorant of everything con- nected with war. She was a sweet and good child, loved by all, especially by the poor and the wretched, whom she was for ever helping and consoling. ‘To illustrate this there are some touching anecdotes. She willingly gave up her bed to some weary pilgrim, and passed the night on a bundle of straw in order to give repose to old folk tired by a long journey. 29 THE INFANCY OF JOAN OF ARC She nursed the sick, as in the case of Simon Musnier, her neighbour, who was prostrated with fever, laying him on her couch, and watching over him during the night. She was a dreamer, and loved in the evenings to watch the stars break out in the skies, or to follow during the day the changes of light and shade. The sound of the wind in the branches and in the thickets, the murmur of the springs, and all the harmonies of Nature, enchanted her. But most of all, she loved the sound of bells. It was to her like a greeting from Heaven to earth, and when in the peaceful eventide, far from the village in some little valley where her flock was gathered, she heard their silvery notes, their slow and calm vibra- tions marking the hour of her return, she would fall into a sort of ecstasy, into a long prayer in which her whole soul reached out towards Heaven. In spite of her poverty, she found the means of giving little gifts to the bell-ringer of the village, in order that he might continue the peal of his bells longer than usual. Full of the intuition that her coming on earth was for some great object, her thoughts plunged into the depths of the invisible, trying to trace the path on which she should go. 30 “VIVE LABEUR” ‘ She searched her own mind,” Henri Martin tells us. Whilst the souls of her companions were im- prisoned in their fleshly garb, her whole being _ lay open to high influences. In the hour of sleep her spirit, freed from material ties, flowed out into the etheric spaces. There it strengthened itself in the powerful currents of life and of love, and on awakening preserved some intuition of its experience. ‘Thus, little by little, her psychic faculties awoke and grew. Soon they were to be brought into action. Meanwhile these impressions and these dreams did not lessen her love for work. Assiduous in her tasks, she did all that was possible to satisfy her parents and everyone else with whom she had to do. ‘‘ There is no blessing like work,” said she later, for she had experience that work is the best friend of man, his helper, his counsellor in life, his consoler in adversity, and that there is no true happiness without it. ‘Vive labeur,” is the motto which her family adopted and inscribed on her shield when the King included her in the ranks of the nobility. | Even in the little details of life Joan showed a keen sense of duty, a sure judgment and a clear vison, which rendered her superior to all 31 THE INFANCY OF JOAN OF ARC those around her. One could already see in her a wonderful soul, one of those deep and passion- ate spirits which come down upon earth to carry out a great mission. A mysterious in- fluence surrounded her. Voices spoke in her ears and in her heart. Invisible beings in- spired her, directed her acts, and guided her steps. What was it that these voices com- manded ? Imperious orders were given to her from the Beyond. She was to give up this life of peace. This poor child, seventeen years of age, was to dare the tumult of the camps, at a time when too often soldiers were mere bandits. She was to quit all—her village, her father and her mother, her flock, everything that she loved—to hasten to the help of agonised France. To the good people of Vaucouleurs who pitied her lot, she answered, “‘ It is for this that I was born.” The first vision came in the summer-time at mid-day. The sky was cloudless, and the sun poured down upon the widespread fields. Joan was praying in the garden which stretched from her father’s house down to the church. She heard a voice which said to her, “ Joan, daughter of God, be good and wise. Frequent 32 THE FIRST VISION the Church.1 Put your confidence in the Lord.” She was terrified, but raising her eyes she saw in a dazzling light an angelic figure full of strength and sweetness surrounded by other radiant forms. On another day the Archangel, $. Michael, and the Saints who accompanied him spoke of the state of the country and revealed to her her mission. ‘€ It is necessary that you go to the help of the Dauphin, so that through you he may recover his Kingdom.” Joan, taken aback, excused herself. ‘ ['am only a poor girl and I know neither how to write nor how to fight.” ‘ Daughter of God, go. I will be your help,” the voice replied to her. Little by little her interviews with the spirits became more frequent. They were never of long duration. Counsels from on high are always brief, to the point, and luminous. That is clearly shown by her replies to those who questioned her at Rouen: “ What 1 At this epoch the Catholic religion was the most wide- spread religious form, and almost the only one which could unite souls to God. That is why the spirit who called himself S. Michael conformed with the views of that particular time, in order the better to attain his end. Autuor’s Note. 33 THE INFANCY OF JOAN OF ARC doctrine did S. Michael teach you?” they asked her. ‘“* He always said, ‘ Be a good child, and God will help you. ” This is both simple and sublime and sums up all the law of life. High spirits do not dissipate their energy in long speeches. Even to-day those who can communicate with the higher realms of the Beyond only receive teaching which is condensed and marked with high wisdom. Joan added: ‘*S. Michael has told me to be good and to frequent the Church.” So it is in the case of every soul who aspires to good. Rectitude and prayer are the first conditions of a true and pure life. One day S. Michael said to her, “ Daughter of God, you will lead the Dauphin to Reims, so that ihe may receive his Consecration.” S. Catherine and S. Margaret said to her continually, Go! go! we will help you.” Thus there was established between Joan and her guides close relations. From her ‘ Brothers of Paradise ”’ she drew the necessary courage to carry out her work. She was filled with the idea. France awaited her. She must go. In the early dawn of a winter day Joan rose. She had prepared her light baggage—a small 34 THE VISION OF JOAN OF ARC From the painting by J. E. Lenepveu. AP yet 1g tp ke i “vce r) j rab > we Ae Cee a Ai J , re \ % a) AN \ 7 } pi al Ae A ie Hevea Wi ii J Pe i 14 ”, uw LL n 1 ih, \ Kaa? I } ‘ 119 1 hs (RO > Ne 17 Us Le: NT +, Ù ; LL L 4 i a *»¥ 7 1178 AA es = Le A i 1) r yh rat aa Tent { i , -0, À "à AC A (1 [EN | Ad 4 . i ? 4 | , 4 Wal À “5 \ 74 aie BR ' NAT 0 h gy Bie ae } vt i ny , ‘4 . " ‘ >| \ THE DEPARTURE packet—and her staff. Then she went to kneel at the foot of the bed where her father and mother were still lying. Weeping silently she murmured a farewell. At this sad moment _ she may well have recalled the kindness and the cares of her mother and the troubles of her father, whose brow was already wrinkled with age. She may have thought of the gap which her departure would cause, and the grief of all those whose life and joys and troubles she had always shared. But duty called her. She must not fail in her task. Adieu, poor parents, adieu, you who have had so many uneasy thoughts as to the fate of your daughter, whom in your dreams you have seen in the company of men-at-arms. She will not conduct herself as you have feared, for she is pure, pure as the spotless lily. Her heart only knows one love—that of her country. “Good-bye, I am going to Vaucouleurs,”’ she said as she passed before the cottage of the labourer, Gerard, whose family was related to her own. “Good-bye, Mengette,” said she to her companion. ‘ Good-bye, you, too, with whom up to now I have lived so happily.” ‘There was only one friend whom she avoided D 35 THE INFANCY OF JOAN OF ARC at this moment of farewell, that was her dear Hauviette. Leaving her would have been too trying. Joan, no doubt, already felt herself somewhat shaken, and she had need of all her courage. She left for Beurey, where one of her uncles lived, intending to go thence to Vaucouleurs, and so on to the Court. At seventeen years of age one pictures her travelling alone under the vast vault of Heaven, along a road sown with dangers. And Domremy never saw her more. 36 CHAPTER IV VAUCOULEURS From that day onwards difficulty after diffi- culty had to be surmounted, and these diffi- culties were the more cruel, because they were raised by those from whom she might well have expected sympathy, affection and help. One may apply to her the words, ‘‘ She has come among her own, and her own knew her Hot”? Joan was faced with painful alternatives from the beginning to the end of her mission. At the outset she, who was so submissive to the authority of her parents and so attached to her duty, was compelled, in spite of the love which she bore her father and her mother, to disregard their orders, and secretly to fly from the house in which she had been born. Her father had had in a dream the revelation of her plans. One night he dreamed that his daughter was quitting her country and her family, and riding off with men-at-arms.1 He was much troubled over this and spoke 1 This veridical dream seems to show that Joan’s psychic power was to some extent hereditary.—Transtator’s Note. 37 VAUCOULEURS to his sons about it, ordering them, rather than allow such a thing, to drown their sister in the Meuse. ‘If you won’t do it,” he added, “I will ! ? Joan had to dissimulate, being resolved that she would obey God rather than man. At Rouen her judges put painful and search- ing questions to her over this. ‘ Do you think it was right,” they asked her, ‘to leave your father and your mother with- out a word of farewell ? ” | ‘ [ have obeyed my father and my mother in everything else. Since I left them I have had letters written to them and they have pardoned me.” In this she showed her deference and her submission to those who brought her up. None the less, the judges insisted : ‘When you left your father and your mother, did you not feel that you were com- mitting a sin?” Joan laid her whole thoughts bare in this beautiful reply : ‘ Since God commanded it, I had to do it. If I had had a hundred fathers and a hundred mothers, and if I had been the daughter of the King, I should, none the less, have left them.” She was accompanied by one of her uncles, 38 ROBERT DE BAUDRICOURT Durand Lexart, whom she had picked up in passing through Beurey. He was the only member of her family who knew of her inten- tions, and the only one who had encouraged her in her plans. She then presented herself to Robert de Baudricourt, who held Vaucouleurs for the Dauphin. Her first reception was brutal. Joan was not discouraged. She had been warned of it by her Voices. Her reso- lution was adamant. Nothing could turn her from her object. She stated it in the strongest terms to the good people of Vaucouleurs. ‘ Before mid-Lent I must be with the King, even though I wear my legs down to the knees in getting there.” And little by little the rude soldier was led by her insistence to pay more attention to that which she proposed. Like all those who approached her, Robert de Baudricourt felt the power of this young girl. After having had her exorcised by Jean Tournier, Curé of Vaucouleurs, and being convinced that there was no evil in her, he dared no longer deny her mission, or throw obstacles in her way, but gave her a horse and an escort. The knight, Jean de Metz, carried away by the ardour of Joan, had already promised to take her to the King. 39 VAUCOULEURS ‘“ When shall I do it?” he asked her. She replied eagerly, ‘“ Better to-day than to-morrow, better to-morrow than later.” She left at last, and the final order of the Captain of Vaucouleurs was, ‘‘Go, and we will see what comes of it,” a half-hearted and discouraging farewell. What did it matter to Joan? It was not the voices of the earth that she hearkened to, it was to those from on high, the voices which strengthened and sustained her. In her soul, strength and confidence in- creased amid the uncertainties and perils which each day brought. Often she repeated the proverb of her country: ‘ Aid yourself and God will aid you.” Her future was threatening. Everywhere around her there was cause for alarm, but within was the Divine driving force. Surely here is an example which she has given to all the pilgrims of life. The road of mankind is lined with the ambushes of Fate. Everywhere are traps and pitfalls. To help us in our difficulties God has implanted in us latent energies which we can use by drawing to us these mysterious powers, these helpers from on high who increase a hundredfold our personal strength and assure us of success in 40 THE VOICES the struggle. ‘ Aïd yourself and God will aid you.” She started, accompanied only by a few brave men, She journeyed day and night. She had to pass a hundred and fifty leagues through hostile provinces to reach Chinon, where the Dauphin Charles was in residence, he whom they named in contempt, “‘ King of Bourges,” since he only reigned now over a little slip of his own Kingdom. Charles, forever trying to forget his evil fortune by devoting himself to pleasure, was surrounded by courtiers who betrayed him and treated in secret with the enemy. She had to pass the country of Burgundy, the ally of England, and to make her way in rainy weather by secret paths across the fords of flooded rivers, lying at night on the cold and wet earth. Joan never hesitated. Her Voices said to her continually, “‘ Go, Daughter of God, go. We will come to your aid.” And she went. She went in spite of obstacles, in spite of dangers. She was flying to the help of her prince, who was himself without either hope or courage. But what a marvellous situation! Here is a child coming to draw France out of the abyss. What does she bring with her for the task? Is it military aid? Is it an army ? No, nothing 41 VAUCOULEURS of the sort! What she brings is simply faith in herself, faith in the future of France, that faith which exalts the soul and which can move mountains. What did Joan herself say to all those who met her on her journey? “ I come from the King of Heaven and I will bring you the help of Heaven.” 42 CHAPTER V CHINON, POITIERS AND TOURS Most authors think that Joan entered Touraine at Amboise, following the Roman road which skirts the left bank of the Loire. In that case she would have come from Gien to Blois, passing through Sologne. Leaving Amboise she would have passed the Cher at St. Martin le Beau, and then would have halted at St. Catherine de Fierbois, where there was a sanctuary consecrated to one of her Saints, According to an old tradition, Charles Martel, having conquered the Saracens, and extermin- ated them in the wild woods in the midst of which this Chapel was built (Ferus Boscus Fierbois), left his sword in the oratory. Rebuilt in 1375, it was frequented by knights and men-at-arms who, in the hope of getting cured from their wounds, would vow to make a pilgrimage and to leave their swords _ there. On the road an ambush had been laid by a band of ruffians, who had probably been directed by the treacherous La Trémoille, and were charged to carry off Joan. But at the 43 CHINON, POITIERS AND TOURS sight of her these bandits seem to have stood helpless before her and to have let her pass. According to the evidence of Poulengy and of Novelonpont, each corroborating the other, the journey from Vaucouleurs to Chinon was performed in eleven days. ‘It follows,” says the Abbé Bossebceuf, ‘that she arrived on Wednesday, the 23rd February.” Wallon, Quicherat, and others put it as the 6th of March. At last she sighted the town with its three castles, all grouped together in one long grey mass of crenellated walls, towers and castle keeps. At her entry into Chinon the little caravan passed through the narrow streets between Gothic houses, their fronts faced with slates and decorated at each corner with wooden statues. One can imagine how marvellous stories at once began to circulate from mouth to mouth among the folk who gathered in the evenings, in the circle of light thrown by the torches above the doors, about this young girl who had come from the frontiers of Lorraine in order to carry out the prophecies and to put an end to the insolent victories of the English. Joan and her escort took up their SRE at the house ‘‘ of a good woman near the castle.” 44 “ DAUGHTER OF GOD ” No doubt this was the house of Signor Reignier dela Barre, whose widow and daughter received the Maid with joy. There she remained for two days without obtaining audience of the Prince. Later she lodged in the castle itself, in the tower of Coudray. This audience which she had so longed for was at last granted to her. It was evening. The glare of the torches, the sound of the trumpets, and all the pomp of the reception could not dazzle or intimidate her. She had come from a world more dazzling than ours. She had known of glories to which all that we could show her are pale indeed—farther away than Domremy, farther away than the earth. In ages which preceded her birth, she had been familiar with assemblies more glorious than the Court of France, and she had pre- served within her the intuition. Louder than the clash of arms and the blare of trumpets, she heard a voice which spoke within her, and which repeated, “‘ Go, Daughter of God, I am with you.” Among my readers some may find that what I say seems strange. Let me remind them that spirit existed before the body, that it has experienced before its last terrestrial birth vast periods of time during which it has filled many parts, and that it re-descends into this world 45 CHINON, POITIERS AND TOURS at each new incarnation with the whole accu- mulation of qualities, of faculties and of apti- tudes which were formed in that dim past which it has experienced, There is in each of us, deep down in the depths of our conscience, an accumulation of impressions and of memories springing from our former lives, whether led upon earth or in the Beyond. These remembrances slumber within us. The heavy mantle of flesh stifles them, and holds them down, but sometimes under the impulse of some external pressure, they suddenly awake and intuitions come to the surface. Faculties which we have ignored reappear, and for an instant we become a very different being from that which others have up to that moment known. You have seen, no doubt, those plants which float on the surface of the stagnant water of ponds. They form an image of the human soul. It floats over the dark depths of its own past. Its roots go back to unknown and distant attachments, whence it draws the vital sap and produces an ephemeral flower which can open, spread itself out and bloom for a time in the fields of our terrestrial life. In the immense hall of the castle to which Joan was led, there were assembled three 46 CHARLES VII hundred lords, knights and noble ladies in brilliant costumes. What an impression such an experience might be expected to produce on a humble _ shepherdess! What courage was needed to face all these licentious or critical eyes, and this crowd of courtiers whom she felt to be hostile to herself! There was present Regnault de Chartres, Chancellor of France and Archbishop of Reims, a prelate with a hard, perfidious and envious nature; there was La Trémoille, Court Chancellor, a dark, jealous man who dominated the King and plotted in secret with the English. There was the hard and arrogant Raoul de Gaucourt, Grand Master of the King’s household. ‘There was Marshal Gilles de Retz, the wicked magician, better known under the nickname of ‘* Bluebeard.” Then there were titled harlots and cunning, avaricious priests. Joan felt all around her an atmosphere of incredulity and hostility. Such was the Court in which Charles VII lived, weakened by his abuse of pleasure, far from the seat of war, and surrounded by his favourites and his mistresses. Suspicious and critical, the King, in order to test Joan, caused his throne to be occupied by one of his courtiers and concealed himself 47 CHINON, POITIERS AND TOURS in the crowd. But she went straight to him, knelt down before him and spoke to him for a long time in a low voice. She revealed to him his secret thoughts, his doubts as to his own birth, ‘ and the face of this sad monarch lit up with a ray of confidence and of faith,”’ This aroused interest and amazement, for all felt that an extraordinary phenomenon had been produced. But still there was no one there who could believe that the fate of the proudest kingdom of Christianity could lie in such hands as these, or that the feeble arm of a poor village girl could be ordained to carry out a task which had been unsuccessfully attempted by the counsels of the most wise and by the courage of the most brave. Sent on to Poitiers, Joan appeared there before a Commission of Enquiry composed of twenty theologians, including two bishops, those of Poitiers and of Maguelonne. ‘It was a wonderful sight,’ said Alain Chartier, writing under the immediate im- pression of the scene, “to see this woman disputing with so many men, ignorant among the learned and alone among her enemies.” 48 THE COMMISSION OF ENQUIRY All her answers showed great vivacity and extraordinary tact. She broke out continually into unforeseen and original remarks which made the pitiable objections of her examiners seem ridiculous. The actual record of the Interrogatory of Poitiers has been destroyed. Some historians lay the responsibility of this upon the agents of the Crown of France, who showed so much ingratitude and so much wicked indifference towards the Maid during her long captivity. There only remains to us a résumé of the conclusions at which these doctors arrived who were summoned to give their opinion of Joan. ‘ In her,” they said, ‘‘ we find no evil, but much good, humility, purity, devotion, honesty and simplicity.” We have also the witnesses who gave evidence in the Process of Rehabilitation. Brother Séquin of the Order of Preaching Friars expressed himself thus, with simplicity and good humour : ‘€ | asked Joan what dialect her voices spoke. ‘“< A better one than yours,’ she answered me. MAnd as a matter of fact, L speak a Limousin dialect. ‘ Going on with my questions, I said to her, ‘ Do you believe in God ? ? | 42 CHINON, POITIERS AND TOURS ‘€ A good deal more than you do,’ she answered.” Another of these Poitiers judges, William Amery, said to her, “‘ You say that God promised you victory and yet you are asking for soldiers. What is the good of soldiers if victory is already promised ? ” ‘