The Executioner's Knife; Or, Joan of Arc

Joan Darc – "Yes; if they did not return to their own country, and if they persisted in heaping trials upon trials on the poor people of France, in ravaging the country, in burning the villages."

Bishop Cauchon – "Was not that letter written by you under the invocation of our Lord Jesus Christ and of His immaculate Mother, the holy Virgin?"

Joan Darc – "I ordered the words 'Jesus and Mary' to be placed in the form of a prayer at the head of the letters that I dictated. Was that wrong?"

Bishop Cauchon (does not answer; looks askance at the judges; several of these enter on their tablets the last answer of the accused, an answer that seems to be of extreme gravity judging from their hurry to note it) – "How did you sign the letters that you dictated?"

Joan Darc – "I do not know how to write. I placed my cross in God as a signature at the foot of the parchment."

This second answer, no less dangerous than the first, is likewise noted down with great zest by the priests. A profound silence follows. The Bishop seems to interrogate the registrars with his looks, and to ask them whether they have finished writing down the words of the accused.

Bishop Cauchon – "After several battles you forced the English to raise the siege of Orleans?"

Joan Darc – "My voices advised me. I fought – and God gave us the victory."

A Judge – "If those voices are of St. Marguerite and St. Catherine, these saints must hate the English."

Joan Darc – "What God hates they hate; what He loves they love."

Another Judge – "Come, now; God loves the English, seeing He has so long rendered them victorious and they conquered a part of France."

Joan Darc – "He undoubtedly left them to the punishment of their cruelty."

Another Judge – "Why should God have chosen a girl of your station rather than some other person to vanquish them?"

Joan Darc – "Because it pleased the Lord to have the English routed by a poor girl like myself."

The Same Judge – "How much money did your King pay you to serve him?"

Joan Darc (proudly) – "I never asked aught of the King but good arms, good horses, and the payment of my soldiers."

Bishop Cauchon – "When your King put you to the work of war, you ordered a standard to be made for you. What was its material?"

Joan Darc – "It was of white satin." (She drops her head sadly at the recollection of the past glories of her banner, that was so terrible a device to the English, whose prisoner she now is. She smothers a sob.)

Bishop Cauchon – "What figures were painted on it?"

Joan Darc – "Two angels holding a lily stalk. Two symbols; God and the King."

These words are likewise noted down with great zest by the members of the tribunal.

A Judge – "Was your standard frequently renewed?"

Joan Darc – "It was renewed as often as its staff was broken in battle. That happened frequently."

Another Judge – "Did not some of those who followed you have standards made similar to yours?"

Joan Darc – "Some did; others did not."

The Same Judge – "Were those who bore a standard similar to yours lucky in war? Did they rout the English?"

Joan Darc – "Yes, if they were brave, they then triumphed over the English."

Another Judge – "Did your people follow you to battle because they considered you inspired?"

Joan Darc – "I said to them: 'Let us fall bravely upon the English!' I was the first to fall to – they followed me."

The Judge – "In short, your people took you to be inspired of God?"

Joan Darc – "Whether they believed me to be inspired or not, they trusted in my courage."

Bishop Cauchon – "Did you not, when your King was consecrated at Rheims, proudly wave your banner over the prince's head?"

Joan Darc – "No; but alone of all the captains, I accompanied the King into the cathedral with my standard in my hand."

A Judge (angrily) – "Accordingly, while the other captains did not bring their standards to the solemnity, you brought yours!"

Joan Darc – "It had been at the pain – it was entitled to be at the honor."

This sublime answer, of such legitimate and touching pride and bearing the stamp of antique simplicity, strikes the assembled ecclesiastical executioners with admiration. They pause despite their bitter malice towards their victim. These were heroic and scathing words. They told of the price of perils and above all of disenchantment that Joan had paid for her triumph. Aye, she and her glorious standard had been cruelly in pain, poor martyr that she was. Her virginal body was broken by the rude trials of war. She had shed her generous blood on the fields of battle. She had struggled with admirable stubbornness, with mortal anxieties born of the most sacred patriotism, against the treasonable plots of the captains who finally brought on her downfall. She had struggled against the sloth of Charles VII, the poltroon whom with so much pain she dragged from victory to victory as far as Rheims, where she had him consecrated King. Her only recompense was to see her standard "at the honor" of that solemn consecration, from which she expected the salvation of Gaul. Her standard had been at the pain – it was entitled to be at the honor. The astonishment of the ecclesiastics at these sublime words is profound. Deep silence ensues. Bishop Cauchon is the first to break it. Addressing himself to the accused in measured words, an ordinary symptom with him of some lurking perfidy, he asks:

Bishop Cauchon – "Joan, when you entered a town, did not the inhabitants kiss your hands, your feet, your clothes?"

Joan Darc – "Many wished to; and when poor people, women and children, came to me, I feared to grieve them if I repelled them."

This answer is to be used against her; several of the judges note it down, while a sinister smile plays around the lips of Bishop Cauchon; he proceeds:

Bishop Cauchon – "Did you ever hold a child at the baptismal font?"

Joan Darc – "Yes; I held a child at the holy font of Soissons, and two others at St. Denis. These are the only ones to whom I have been god-mother."

Bishop Cauchon – "What names did you give them?"

Joan Darc – "To the boy the name of Charles, in honor of the King of France; to the girls the name of Joan, because the mothers so wished it."

These words, that charmingly depict the enthusiasm which the martial maid inspired among the people, and the generosity that she showed towards Charles, are to be a further charge against her. Several judges note them down.

Bishop Cauchon – "A mother at Lagny asked you to visit her dying child, did she not?"

Joan Darc – "Yes, but the child had been brought to the Church of Notre-Dame. Young girls of the town were on their knees at the door and prayed for the child. I knelt down among them, and I also prayed to God for His blessing upon the child."

Canon Loyseleur (from under his completely lowered hood and disguising his voice) – "Which of the two Popes is the real Pope?"

Joan Darc (stupefied) – "Are there, then, two Popes, sir? I did not know that."

Bishop Cauchon – "You claim to be inspired by God. He must have instructed you as to which of the two Popes you should render obedience to."

Joan Darc – "I know nothing about that. It is for the Pope to know whether he obeys God, and for me to obey him who submits to God."