of the whole age of chivalry. John of Orleans was the natural son of
the Duke of Orleans, and, as Fabre says of him, he 'glorified the
appellation of Bastard.' Indeed, the Bastard's name deserves to be
handed down in his country's annals with as much glory as that of his
great English rival and foe, Talbot, in those of the English. He was a
consummate soldier, who even at the early age of twenty-three had
brilliantly distinguished himself, and he lived to liberate Normandy
and Guyenne from the English.

Well may M. Fabre, in his book on the rehabilitation of Joan of Arc,
express his regret that Dunois' evidence was not set forth in the
language in which it was delivered, and that it has come down to us
weakened by translation into Latin. What is worse is that we have only
the translation of a translation.

Dunois had, besides his high military reputation, that of being
skilled in oratory. There is, however, in the translation more than a
trace of the enthusiasm with which Dunois speaks of the deeds of the
heroic maiden. Dunois, Bastard of Orleans as he is always called, bore
the following titles, as recited by the chronicler: 'l'illustrieuse
prince Jean Comte de Dunois et de Longueville, lieutenant-general de
notre seigneur le roi.' He was fifty-one years old in the month of
February, 1456. His deposition extends over the entire period of the
life of Joan of Arc between the time of her arrival before Orleans and
the period of the King's coronation.

Dunois' evidence closes thus:--'To conclude, it was habitual to Joan
to speak playfully on matters relating to war, in order to cheer the
soldiers, and she may have alluded to many military events which never
were to take place. But I declare that, when she spoke seriously about
the war, of her deeds, and of her vocation, she said her work was
limited to raising the siege of Orleans, to succouring the unhappy
people shut up in that town and in its suburbs, and to leading the
King to Rheims for his coronation and anointing.'

Next we have the testimony of the noble knight, Raoul de Gaucourt, who
had so stoutly defended Orleans during its long siege. De Gaucourt was
eighty-five years old. This fine old warrior's evidence confirms all
that Dunois had said in praise of Joan of Arc.

The next to appear was the heroine's page, Louis de Contes, aged
fifteen when appointed to attend on Joan of Arc: at the time of the
trial of her rehabilitation he was forty-two.

Next came a