en pronounced at the Carmelite
convent, he was taken by the grand provost's officer, with two of his
archers, accompanied by the provosts of Loudun and Chinon, to the
town hall, where several ladies of quality, among them Madame de
Laubardemont, led by curiosity, were sitting beside the judges, waiting
to hear the sentence read. M. de Laubardemont was in the seat usually
occupied by the clerk, and the clerk was standing before him. All the
approaches were lined with soldiers.

Before the accused was brought in, Pere Lactance and another Franciscan
who had come with him exorcised him to oblige the devils to leave him;
then entering the judgment hall, they exorcised the earth, the air, "and
the other elements." Not till that was done was Grandier led in.

At first he was kept at the far end of the hall, to allow time for the
exorcisms to have their full effect, then he was brought forward to the
bar and ordered to kneel down. Grandier obeyed, but could remove neither
his hat nor his skull-cap, as his hands were bound behind his back,
whereupon the clerk seized on the one and the provost's officer on the
other, and flung them at de Laubardemont's feet. Seeing that the accused
fixed his eyes on the commissioner as if waiting to see what he was
about to do, the clerk said:

"Turn your head, unhappy man, and adore the crucifix above the bench."

Grandier obeyed without a murmur and with great humility, and remained
sunk in silent prayer for about ten minutes; he then resumed his former
attitude.

The clerk then began to read the sentence in a trembling voice, while
Grandier listened with unshaken firmness and wonderful tranquillity,
although it was the most terrible sentence that could be passed,
condemning the accused to be burnt alive the same day, after the
infliction of ordinary and extraordinary torture. When the clerk had
ended, Grandier said, with a voice unmoved from its usual calm--

"Messeigneurs, I aver in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost, and the Blessed Virgin, my only hope, that I have never been a
magician, that I have never committed sacrilege, that I know no other
magic than that of the Holy Scriptures, which I have always preached,
and that I have never held any other belief than that of our Holy Mother
the Catholic Apostolic Church of Rome; I renounce the devil and all his
works; I confess my Redeemer, and I pray to be saved through the blood
of the Cross; and I beseech you, messeig