y--two priests
(Martin Ladvenu and John Toutmouille) were sent by the Bishop's order
to the prisoner to tell her that her last day on earth had come.
Toutmouille describes, with some pathos, the manner in which Joan of
Arc received the terrible news. She, he tells us, at first wept
bitterly, and said she would sooner be beheaded seven times than
suffer such a death as that of burning. She recalled with pain the
promises made by Cauchon to her--that after she had abjured she would
be taken to the prison of the Church, for then, she said, this cruel
death would not have befallen her; and she called upon God, 'the
omnipotent and just Judge,' to take pity on her. While she thus
lamented her fate, Cauchon entered the dungeon. Turning on him, she
cried: 'I lay my death at your door; for had you placed me in the
prison of the Church, this cruel death would not have befallen me, and
I make you responsible to God for my death.'

Then, turning away from the Bishop, she appeared more calm, and,
addressing one of the judges who had followed Cauchon into the prison,
exclaimed: 'Master Peter'--the man's name was Peter Maurice--'where
shall I be this evening?'

'Have you not good hope in God's mercy?' he answered.

'Yes,' said Joan; 'and by His grace I hope to be in Paradise.'

Cauchon and the others having left her alone with Martin Ladvenu, she
made her confession to him, and when that was finished she begged that
the Sacrament might be administered to her. Without Cauchon's leave
Ladvenu did not dare to obtain this supreme consolation for the
martyr.

He despatched a messenger to the Bishop, who, after consulting with
some of the clergy, gave his permission. In the meanwhile, the city
had heard that the day of the Maid of Orleans' execution had come, and
the people crowded about the neighbourhood of the castle. In spite of
the English soldiery, the people did not conceal their grief and
dismay on learning that the heroine was so soon to perish. The
Eucharist was brought into the prison, but without the usual
accompaniments of candle, stole, and surplice. These 'maimed rights'
raised the indignation of the priest Martin, and he indignantly
refused to proceed with the ceremony until lights and stole were
brought. During the time in which Joan of Arc was receiving the
Sacrament, those persons who had been admitted within the castle
recited the litany for the departing soul, and never had the mournful
invocation for the dying, t