N° 72. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28.

Hâc sævit rabie imbelle et inutile vulgus.

Such rage inflam'd an useless coward crew.

JUVENAL.

"REGARDLESS of the interpretations which good sense might have given to their proceedings, and of the infamy they were accumulating upon their names and their order, the enemies of Grandier were pursuing with stedfast malignity their plan of revenge, when they received a blow from an unexpected quarter, which confounded them for a while, and checked the career of their malice. The archbishop of Bourdeaux, metropolitan of that district, paid a visit about this time to his Abbey of St. Jouin, in the neighbourhood of Loudun. As soon as he was acquainted with the affairs of that town, he sent his physician to examine the possessed. All was in a moment as quiet as the grave, and no vestige of possession could any longer be discovered.

"In the mean time Grandier, confiding no more in the gross complexion and self-evident absurdity of the whole contrivance, laid before the archbishop a clear and manly account of the proceeding, with a particular exposition of the motives which urged his enemies to so devilish a conspiracy. The archbishop, touched with the representations of Grandier,

deputed unbiassed persons to examine fairly and dispassionately the circumstances of this extraordinary affair; and to this end, to separate the afflicted persons, so as effectually to prevent the possibility of collusion. Such was the virtue of this decree, that the whole legion of spirits were instantly put to flight. Barré withdrew himself to Chinon, and all was restored to perfect tranquillity. No reasonable man after this could doubt but that the business shrunk from the test of a fair inquiry; and the name of the bishop of Poitiers fell very low in the public esteem, while all extolled the candour of his metropolitan. This bad success of the conspiracy brought the convent into so great disesteem, that parents withdrew their children from its school, and the nuns became the fable and the jest of the whole neighbourhood. In the midst of these cross accidents, however, Mignon relaxed nothing of his horrid purpose, and his hate was only the more exasperated by disappointment.

"While things were in this train, an event as unexpected as it was decisive, drove the current of adversity with such fatal violence against the unhappy Grandier, that neither patronage, talents, nor the justice of his cause, could avail to protect him. It happened that just about this time there went an order from the council to dismantle all the fortresses throughout the interior part of the kingdom, and M. de Laubardemont was commissioned to destroy that of Loudun. This man was entirely devoted to cardinal Richelieu, the ordinary instrument of his oppressions, and, when any subject was to be sacrificed without the formalities of justice, the most dexterous agent on those sanguinary occasions. An old connection had subsisted between him and the perse

cutors of Grandier; and no sooner did he make his appearance at Loudun, but the cabal recovered their spirits, and rallied round him with an exultation which they took but little pains to conceal.

"Some time before these events, a woman, named La Hamon, belonging to the town of Loudun, had accidentally recommended herself to the notice of the queen, in whose service she now was employed. As she had manifested abilities much above the common rate, and no despicable vein of wit and irony, a suspicion fell upon her, supported by other circumstances, of having written a most unmerciful satire upon the cardinal, entitled La belle Cordonnière. In this piece were contained reflections the most galling upon his birth, his person, and his character, but more particularly a ludicrous account of his eminence's passion for a female cobbler. The ruling propensity of Richelieu's heart was that of revenge; and the smart that followed from this lampoon excited such a storm of this passion in his mind as the world saw plainly was not to be appeased without some victim or other.

"As Grandier was well acquainted with La Hamon, who had been one of his parishioners, it occurred to the conspirators that they could not by any contrivance more effectually promote their object, than by attributing to this unfortunate man a correspondence with the supposed authoress, and a particular concern in this perilous satire. Other schemes were also adopted for exasperating the cardinal against the unhappy ecclesiastic, and things were in this posture when M. de Laubardemont returned to Paris. He there made a report of the condition of the nuns, whom he represented to be really possessed with devils, after having given them, as he

declared, a full and unprejudiced examination. It is true, that since the arrival of Laubardemont a numerous reinforcement had been added to the list of the possessed, and the ladies had somewhat improved themselves in the parts they were to play.

The cardinal trusted entirely to M. de Laubardemont the execution of his vengeance, who returned to Loudun with a full commission to bring Grandier to his trial, and to decide finally on each article of the accusation. The first step of this minister was to order Grandier to prison, without waiting for any information against him, who, though forewarned of this intention in time to make his escape, disdained to confess himself a culprit by flying the face of justice. He was seized the next morning before it was light, as he walked to his church to assist at matins, and was immediately conveyed to the castle at Angers, where he lay in a dungeon for three months. Here he composed a volume of prayers and meditations, which breathed nothing but piety, forgiveness, and resignation; a composition of great elegance both for diction and sentiment, and which looked very little like the production of a magician's brain. This work, which was exhibited on his trial, operated as little in his favour as the testimony of his confessor, who visited him in prison. His enemies were sworn to destroy him. Some feeble struggles were made for the poor ecclesiastic by his aged mother, who presented several appeals in vain. He was tried on the 19th of December, 1633, on the grounds of the supposed possessions; and Grandier, though surrounded with bitter enemies, and with a miserable death staring him in the face, wore a countenance serene and unmoved, while the villainous artifices of this monstrous conspiracy were played off before him.

"The bishop of Poitiers deputed as principal exorcist, Demorans, one of the most declared of Grandier's enemies; and from this moment all the world saw clearly that the ruin of the man was a thing resolved upon. He was now thrown into a prison at Loudun, with only such necessaries as nature demanded. From this mansion of misery he wrote a christian-like letter to his mother, betraying no symptoms of mental perturbation or sorrow, requesting her to send him a bed and a bible, and to be comforted. No one was permitted to have the smallest concern with the prisoner, but either his bitter enemies, or their immediate dependents; and the surgeons and apothecaries, whose reports were to certify the state of the convent, were all chosen from among the most ignorant and prejudiced of the profession.

"It was in vain that Daniel Roger, the physician of the town, and a man of considerable merit, endeavoured to resist such a confederacy of ignorance: it was in vain that the devoted Grandier exclaimed against such an open injustice! M. de Laubardemont had now thrown off all regard to appearances, and hardly affected a colour of equity in any of his proceedings. It was proposed to this cruel agent, by those who yet hoped that the truth could interest him, to adopt a contrivance of St. Athanasius, who, when accused at the council of Tyre of violating the innocence of a maid whom he had never seen, and by whom he was entirely unknown, put on a look of unconsciousness, and answered his accuser not a word. Timotheus, however, one of his friends, who had previously concerted this measure with him, took the accusation to himself, and turning to the woman, What," cried he, "have you the audacity to say that I am your seducer?" "The same," cried she,

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