JOAN OF ARC.
[To TEE EDITOR Or TEE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Mr. Kipling, in his pcem in connexion with the French- President's visit, speaks of " that undying sin we shared in- Rouen market-place." This seems rather hard upon the French, who were at war with us at the time, and could hardly• be deemed jointly responsible for the cruel death of the- captured Maid. It is true that the French Government had treated her badly by forcing her to continue warring when she declared that her mission was ended with the coronation at Rheims. But the evidence, which is very full, shows that. her death was entirely due to the will of the English Govern- ment. That Government worked certainly through an ecclesi- astical tribunal mainly composed of servile French divines in the conquered territory, who depended upon the English king for their appointments and promotions, but the dominant will was that of English statesmen. If they did not get the poor Maid convicted of heresy, witchcraft, and diabolical. inspiration they were left with a painful alternative. Either.. she was, as she said, inspired by God and the Saints, in which case the English cause was unjust and condemned by heaven, or the English had been defeated by a mere peasant girl. To the mind of the English of that day to admit either alternative was unthinkable.—I am, Sir, &c., BERNARD HOLLAND.
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