The Executioner's Knife; Or, Joan of ArcSue, Eugène
General
The Executioner's Knife; Or, Joan of Arc
Sue, Eugène
Biographical fiction; Christian fiction; Christian women saints -- Fiction; Joan, of Arc, Saint, 1412-1431 -- Fiction
"'Upon this point, and considering the aim and final object of these
revelations and apparitions, the nature of the matters revealed, and the
quality of your person, the Church pronounces your revelations and
visions to be fraudulent, seductive, pernicious, and proceeding from the
evil spirit of the devil.'"
Canon Maurice stops for a moment in order that the gravity of the first
charge be properly weighed and appreciated by Joan Darc. But the words
that she has just heard carry her back to the days of her childhood,
days of peace that flowed in the midst of the sweet enjoyments of her
family. She forgets the present and becomes absorbed in the recollection
of her infancy, a recollection at once sweet and bitter to her.
CANON MAURICE (proceeds to read)--"'Secondly: Joan, you said that your
King, having recognized you by your signs as truly sent by God, gave you
men of arms to do battle with. You said that St. Marguerite and St.
Catherine accompanied you to Chinon and other places, where they guided
you with their advice.
"'The Church pronounces this declaration mendacious and derogatory to
the dignity of the saints and the angels.
"'Thirdly: Joan, you said that you recognized the angels and the saints
by the advice that they gave you. You said that you believed the
apparitions to be good, and that you believe that as firmly as you do in
the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is an outrage to the Divinity.
"'The Church declares that those are not determining signs to recognize
the saints by; that your belief is temerarious, your claim braggard,
and that you err in the faith. You are outside of the pale of the
communion of the faithful.'"
Recalled from her revery, Joan Darc listens to this new accusation
without understanding it. In what did she brag? In what was she
temerarious? In what did she lie? She recognized the saints by the
wisdom of their counsel when they said to her: "Joan, be pious, behave
as a wise girl; heaven will support you in driving the foreigners from
Gaul." The promise of her saints is verified. She has won brilliant
victories over the enemy of France. Where is the lie, the
temerariousness, the bragging?
CANON MAURICE (reads)--"'Fourthly: Joan, you said you were endowed with
the faculty of knowing certain things that lay in the future, and that
you recognized your King without ever having seen him before.
"'The Church pronounces you convicted of presumption, arrogance and
witchcraft.'"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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