Evening star., 1909-04-18

lew evidence produced about her. the
fresh deductions drawn from certain OF
her actions. increasing her human i'm
portance. She had to be judged as wom-
an and as warrier before being passed
upon as spirit and as saint; and all who
take an interest, however. prOfane. In one
Of the most wonderful epfcs in the history
of civilization. should be grateful to the
Roman see for the historical work done In
claiming for Joan her rightful rank.
The facts OF her life az def1nitely es-
tablished will be set forth in the papai
brief. still unwritten. which will be read
at st. Peters April 1S. and will be made
known in still greater richness Of detail
at the ceremony OF canonization, which is
expected in time for the 500th anniversary
of her birth, the feast of the Epiphany.
January @, 1912. but already very nota-
BILE one may be singled out.
1t was known that when Joan first went
to Charles VII at Chinon he hesitated
about intrusting his fate to her hands.
though she had revealed to him the Sc
cret which caused his vacillation and
which he had never whispered to any
mortal-that, being the son Of the noto-
rious Isabeau de Baviere, he was not
sure. that he was the son Of Charles VI
OF France, and so did not see why he
should struggle against overwhelming
odds for throne which might not be his
by right. Joan told him OF his misgiv-
ings in order to reassure him that he was
the rightful and only King of. France.
But while this convinced him Of her su-
pernatural gifts, Charles VII still could
not accept her as captain OF his forces
and SO he ordered an ecclesiastical trial
to be held In Poitiers to decide II her
mission was divine. ae she pretended
Now, although the fact is chronicled and
certain papers exist, its crucial tmpor-
tance has been strangely neglected by
historians and commentators. who prefer
to treat at length Of the final irregular
trial ordered in Rouen by Warwick and
the Duke Of Bedford. And yet the first
trial-the only regularly constituted one
before which she was called-was as tri-
umphant justification Of her as the last
and much-advertised one in its shameful
condemnation was travesty of truth
and justice based on deception and per-
jury.
X
or course what was used most against
Joan In the Rouen trial. which led to her
martyrdom, was her claim to be divinely
counseled by her voices" her pretension
that her male attire was commanded by
God as protection In camp life and that
she must neither let her hair grow nor
put on skirts until directly ordered by
her voices to do 80. And the judges
in the ecclesiastical court summoned by
Bedford to try her. having declared all
this false. she was pronounced rebellious
against the church and q blasphemer. and
given over to the civil authorities to be
put to DEATH Irregularities in this trial
were only too evident at her own period
and became more and more conspicuous
afterward 1t was known that Bishop
Cauchon. chosen by the English to con-
duct the trial, had been driven out Of his
French see Of Beauvais before selling
himself to the invaders, and SO had no
right to preside over an ecclesiastical
trial about which Rome was never even
consulted. 1t was known that the priests
drawn around Cauchon were all either
black sheep like himself or else were CO.
creed into compliance and one-third OF
the entire number withdrew after the
first sitting. in spite of threats. because
they saw the manifest injustice with
which the proceedings were directed. 1t
was known that the full act of accusation
was never read to Joan; that when the
time came for abjuration to be extorted
one document was read aloud to her since
she could not read. and another far graver
one was submitted for her signature. so
that whereas she thought she was merely
submitting to the supreme authority Of
the church. which she combated only In
Cauchon's infamous person. she was in
reality signing away the principles for