Durango semi-weekly herald., 1907-06-27


churches and have never been sur
passed either in ancient or modern
times.
We are reminded of Joan Of Arc by
a statue in bronze; by a wide. busy
street that bears her name; a tablet
in the wall OF the market house Civ
ing brief account of her career;
a cross in the pavement below It to
mark the spot where she was burned:
the dungeon cell in which she awaited
her trial and the room in which she
was tried.
The tower of Joan of Arc Is said
to be the most perfect example OF mill
tary architecture of the thirteenth CEN
tury. and two-thirds of it remains in
It's original masonry. 1t was held by
an English garrison when Joan OF
Arc was brought 10 Rouen a prison
er in 1880 and is the last visible
relic of the royal chateaus of Rouen,
which at one time were the grandest
and the most impregnable in France
The tower stands alone on COM
manding site surrounded by lovely
garden. The cell Joan Of Arc occupied
Is triangular closet, lighted from n
slit in the wall higher than man
can reach. The old soldier who acts
as custodian tells a very interesting
story, although it is inaccurate in
some of his most important state
ments. He told us, for example, that
Joan OF Arc had been canonized by
the pope and was now one of the
saints of the Roman Catholic church.
md he stubbornly insisted upon it. An
earnest effort has been made for years
TO secure the canonization OF this re-
markable woman and upon the latest
anniversary of her death a petition
signed by millions of women, faithful.
pious, members of the church, wa,
presented to the pope. The question
has been before the sacred congrega
tons of the Curia at Rome for nearly
century and is revived at intervals.
1t came up again on the anniversary
referred to, but a final decision was
again postponed. Convincing evidence
has been presented to prove that the
Maid of Orleans was a pure. chaste.
| and pious woman, actuated by mo
| tlves of patriotism and religious zeal,
but the cardinals have not yet been
able to reconcile the fact that she
went around in mems clothing with
| their ideas of sanity habits.
Joan of Arc was brought to Rouen
a prisoner in May, 1890. and the vicar
general of the inquisition and the
University Of Paris demanded that she
| should he delivered over to the JUS
tice of the church and tried by an
| ecclesiastical court for being witch.
| She was locked up In an iron cage
| In one of the strongest rooms of the
castle while the bishop of Beauvais
proceeded to pack jury with able and
uncompromising theologlans. One
| Englishman was a member of the
| court, the bishop of Bedford. They
were so afraid that she would escape
| that they kept her feet chained to a
log of wood, and the iron cage guarded
| night and day by four soldiers. On
| the 9th of January. 1431, she was
summoned before the court. and when
she was commanded to answer truly
upon oath all the questions that might
be put to her, she replied with childish
Eaivete:
Il do not know what questions
you are going to ask me. You might
ask me things that | will not tell you"
The examination. questions and an
swers, was written down verbatim by
the clerks, and the record is preserved
| to this day. She said that her name
| was jeanette; that she was l9 years
old. that she was skilled in needle
| work, that she heard the voices of
the saints" in her sleep. and in her
| waking hourse; she refused to promise
not to escape; she could repeat the
Lords prayer; she had more fear of
God than of the court, and when asked
II she was sure of the favor OF God"
she replied:
IF am not, may God help me to
1t; II am, may God preserve me in
it,"
The learned theologians who made
ZIP the court, archbishops, university
professors. experienced inquisitors
and controversialists, were completely
hafTled by the innocent faith and can.
dor of this country girl and were un.
able to find anything heretical or treas.
enable In her replies. Her piety and
her patriotism appeared clearer and
more clear as the examination pro
eeeded She was perfectly natural and
frank throughout. Without the advice
o. her counsel or anyone to assist her,
deprived of every friend and sympathy
from every source, brought from her
iron cage before the court daily after
tasting FOR months upon her prison
. 1NA