‘Let pity move thy breast; for as Saint James the apostle says, ‘Religio munda et immaculata est visitare pupillos et viduas in tribulatione eorum.’ To visit orphans and widows in their distress is the duty of a pure and undefiled religion. It is melancholy that so great a lady should suffer thus undeservedly; and she may be compared to her whom Valerius speaks of in the sixth book. A widow had a son who had been unjustly slain: she went to the emperor Octavian to demand justice, and said, ‘Sire, do me justice for the cruel death of my son.’ The emperor had already mounted his horse, to perform a long journey, but replied, ‘Woman, wait until I be returned, when I will do thee justice.’ The woman answered instantly, ‘Alas! my lord, thou knowest not if ever thou shalt return, and I wish not justice to be delayed.’ The emperor said, ‘Should I not return, my successor will see thee righted;’ but the widow replied, ‘Sire, thou knowest not if thy successor would wish to see me righted: he may, perhaps, have something to prevent it like to thee; and supposing that he should do me justice, what honour would it be to thee, or what merit canst thou claim for it from the gods? Thou art bound to do me justice: wherefore then seekest thou to throw the burden on others?’ ‘The emperor, observing the firmness of the woman and the reasonableness of her arguments, dismounted, and, without more delay, did her ample justice. It was for this meritorious conduct, that when the emperor died, five years after, in the pagan faith, he was brought to life again by the prayers of St Gregory, then pope, and baptised, as the histories relate. ‘The example of this emperor, O king of France! thou oughtest to follow in regard to the disconsolate widow of the late duke of Orleans, who is now a supplicant to thee, and has formerly demanded, and now again demands justice, for the inhuman and barbarous murder of her lord and husband, who was thy brother. Delays, or reference to thy successors, will have no avail; for thou, as king, art singularly obliged to do this, considering the rank of the supplicants, the duchess of Orleans and her children. ‘This lady is like to the widow of whom St Jerome speaks, in his second book against Jovinian, wherein he relates, that the daughter of Cato, after the death of her husband, was in the deepest sorrow, uttering nothing but groans and lamentations. Her relations and neighbours asked her how long this grief was to last,—when she replied, that her life and her sorrow would end together. Such, without doubt, is the state of my lady the duchess,—for she can have no remedy for her loss but by means of the justice she is soliciting. In truth, she does not require any hostile measures,—for were that the case, she and her children, with their allies, are so much more powerful than the duke of Burgundy that they are well able to avenge themselves.