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Article STORY OF URBAIN GRANDIER. ← Page 2 of 7 →
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Story Of Urbain Grandier.
possessed , and the ladies had somewhat improved themselves in the parts they were to play . _ Tneeardinal trusted entirely to M . de Laubardemtfht 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 articleof the accusation . The first step of this ministe to order
r was 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 li ght , as he walked to his church to assist at matins , and was immediately conveyed to the castle at Angerswhere he lay in adungeon for three monthsHere
, . . 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 to
. sworn destroy him . Some feeble struggles were made for the poor ecclesiastic b y his aged mother , who presented several appeals in vain . He was tried on the 19 th of December 16 33 , 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 villanous artifices of this monstrous conspiracy were played off before him .
The bishop of Poitiers deputed as principal exorcist Demorahs , 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 christianlike 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 certif y the state of the convent , were all chosen from among the most ignorant and prejudiced of the profession' ' r
. , , 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 of his It
any proceedings . 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 I yre of violating the innocence of a maid whom he had never seen and b y whom he was entirely unknown , put on a look of unconsciousness and answered his accuser not a word . Timotheus , how-, VOL . IV . ' T t
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Story Of Urbain Grandier.
possessed , and the ladies had somewhat improved themselves in the parts they were to play . _ Tneeardinal trusted entirely to M . de Laubardemtfht 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 articleof the accusation . The first step of this ministe to order
r was 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 li ght , as he walked to his church to assist at matins , and was immediately conveyed to the castle at Angerswhere he lay in adungeon for three monthsHere
, . . 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 to
. sworn destroy him . Some feeble struggles were made for the poor ecclesiastic b y his aged mother , who presented several appeals in vain . He was tried on the 19 th of December 16 33 , 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 villanous artifices of this monstrous conspiracy were played off before him .
The bishop of Poitiers deputed as principal exorcist Demorahs , 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 christianlike 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 certif y the state of the convent , were all chosen from among the most ignorant and prejudiced of the profession' ' r
. , , 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 of his It
any proceedings . 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 I yre of violating the innocence of a maid whom he had never seen and b y whom he was entirely unknown , put on a look of unconsciousness and answered his accuser not a word . Timotheus , how-, VOL . IV . ' T t