top at a pseudo Bede and a garbled Merlin. They were truly
indefatigable, and by a stroke of good luck we possess a piece of
their workmanship which has escaped the ravages of time. It is a short
Latin poem written in the obscure prophetic style, of which the
following is a translation through the old French.

"A virgin clothed in man's attire, with the body of a maid, at God's
behest goes forth to raise the downcast King, who bears the lilies,
and to drive out his accursed enemies, even those who now beleaguer
the city of Orleans and strike terror into the hearts of its
inhabitants. And if the people will take heart and go out to battle,
the treacherous English shall be struck down by death, at the hand of
the God of battles who fights for the Maid, and the French shall cause
them to fall, and then shall there be an end of the war; and the old
covenants and the old friendship shall return. Pity and righteousness
shall be restored. There shall be a treaty of peace, and all men shall
of their own accord return to the King, which King shall weigh justice
and administer it unto all men and preserve his subjects in beautiful
peace. Henceforth no English foe with the sign of the leopard shall
dare to call himself King of France [added by the translator] and
adopt the arms of France, which arms are borne by the holy Maid."[699]

[Footnote 699: Buchon, _Math. d'Escouchy_, etc., p. 537. G.
Lefevre-Pontalis, Eberhard Windecke, pp. 21-31. A Latin text of this
prophecy is to be found on the fly-leaf of the Cartulary of
Therouanne.]

These false prophecies give some idea of the means employed for the
setting to work of the inspired damsel. Such methods may be somewhat
too crafty for our liking. These clerks had but one object,--the peace
of the realm and of the church. The miraculous deliverance of the
people had to be prepared. We must not be too hasty to condemn those
pious frauds without which the Maid could not have worked her
miracles. Much art and some guile are necessary to contrive for
innocence a hearing.

Meanwhile, on a steep rock, on the bank of the Durance, in the remote
see of Saint-Marcellin, Jacques Gelu remained faithful to the King he
had served and careful for the interests of the house of Orleans and
of France. To the two churchmen, Jean Girard and Pierre l'Hermite, he
replied that, for the sake of the orphan and the oppressed, God would
doubtless manifest himself, and would frustrate the evil designs of
th