pathizing multitude the story of her daugh ter's wrongs. Counsel pronounced panegyr ics on the Maid, and vehemently abused Cauchon and his satellites; witnesses in numerable were examined : princes of the blood, her old warrior comrades, royal coun selors, burghers and their wives, — who had known and loved her, — old friends and neighbors from Domremy, her attendants, the notaries at the first trial, even the wretch who had then been ready to stretch her on the rack. A year went past in taking evi dence and hearing argument, and then, on the /th of July, 1456, in the palace of the Archbishop at Rouen, judgment was pro nounced by these new judges, declaring that the articles set forth in the judgment pronounced against Joan were corruptly, deceitfully, calumniously, fraudulently and maliciously put together from her confes sions by supfiressio veri and suggestio falsi; and the articles and judgment were avoided and annulled, and ordered to be taken off the files and destroyed. They decreed and declared that the proceedings and judgment contained fraud, calumny, injustice, incon sistency and manifest error in law and fact, and pronounced that Joan and her kinsfolk had received no mark or stain of infamy by reason of such proceedings; and they or dered proclamation should be made of this new judgment, and sermons preached where she had suffered, and a cross erected to keep her in everlasting remembrance, and to provoke prayers for her salvation and that of other departed souls. Little this mattered to the Maid of Orleans, who had long been with the church-at-rest, awaiting patiently the days of the Church Trium phant. To return to De Rais. In 1433 he gave up the -camp and yielded himself up to ex travagance and voluptuousness. Soldiers and priests, actors and builders, cooks and feastcrs, were the outward and visible ob jects of his attention and wild lavish expend iture. But within the dark and lonely

recesses of his castles of Champtoce and Machecoul he abandoned himself to unnat ural lusts — his victims were children whom he quickly slew, finding his chief enjoyment in the death throes of these helpless ones, gloating over their sufferings as he skillfully mangled them, and drew out to fearful length their agonizing tortures. When death had come, this Herod would criticise the beauties of these innocents, and kiss those parts that pleased him most. Rachel wept for four score or more of her children. Still greater sins in the eyes of the Inqui sition were committed by De Rais. He sought long and earnestly, and ever hopeful of immediate success, for the philosopher's stone; and to his study and practice of al chemy he added that of necromancy, had dealings with devils and familiar demons, and summoned spirits from the vasty deep to help him in his search for gold — gold — gold. One Francisco Prelati was his chief magician. He had a familiar spirit yclept Barren, who always came when the Italian was alone, but was too shy when the knight was present. Once the demon spread countless ingots of gold around the room, but told Prelati not to let them be touched for some days. When Gilles heard this good news, he wanted at the very least to feast his eyes upon the treasure. Prelati took him to the door of the room to show him the sight, but on opening it he cried out that a great green serpent was coiled upon the floor, and, taking to his heels, Gilles fol lowed suit; the valiant knight seized a cru cifix in which was a piece of the true cross, and then he was brave enough to want to return, yet on being warned that these holy articles only made the danger greater, he desisted. In the end the mean devil turned the ingots into tinsel, which, when handled, became a tawny dust. Gilles tried to make agreements with the demon to obtain knowledge, wealth and power, signing them with his blood; he even offered through Prelati a child's hand, heart, eyes and blood.