"And so, weeping, and with her cross to her lips, "she climbed up the cruel steps to the face of the "stake, with the friar Isambard at her side. Then "she was helped up to the top of the pile of wood that "was built around the lower third of the stake, and "stood upon it with her back against the stake, and "the world gazing up at her, breathless. The execu"tioner ascended to her side, and wound chains about "her slender body, and so fastened her to the stake. "Then he descended to finish his dreadful office; and "there she remained alone-she that had had so many "friends in the days when she was free, and had been "so loved and so dear" (Vol. II, p. 264).

"If any thought that now, in that solemn hour "when all transgressors repent and confess, she "would revoke her revocation and say her great "deeds had been evil deeds and Satan and his friends "their source, they erred. No such thought was in "her blameless mind. She was not thinking of her"self and her troubles, but of others and of woes that might befall them. And so, turning her grieving "eyes about her, where rose the towers and spires of "that fair city, she said :

"Oh, Rouen, Rouen! must I die here, and must "you be my tomb? Ah, Rouen, Rouen, I have great fear that you will suffer for my death!'

"A whiff of smoke swept upward past her face, and "for one moment terror seized her, and she cried out: "Water! Give me holy water!' But the next "moment her fears were gone, and they came no "more to torture her.

"She heard the flames crackling below her, and "immediately distress for a fellow creature who was "in danger took possession of her. It was the friar "Isambard. She had given him her cross, and

The Burning of Joan of Arc by the Officials

of the Roman Catholic Church.

When France was in a sea of trouble with the invaders on her shores, the most remarkable woman that ever appeared on this planet made her appearance at Rouen, and, strange as it may appear, she took command of the French army, drove the invaders out of France, and placed the king on his throne. For a time she was looked upon as a celestial deliverer. According to the Roman Catholic way of thinking, she did altogether too much for a human being, especially for a young girl; and they could account for it only on the supposition that she was assisted by the Devil himself.

The poor girl was bullied into signing a paper which she did not understand, confessing that she was in league with the Devil, a sorceress, a liar, a blasphemer of God, a lover of blood, a promoter of sedition, cruel, and, in fact, everything that was wicked and contemptible. For these invented crimes Joan of Arc, of inmortal memory, was burnt alive. No greater crime was ever committed by mankind on this earth.

Demonology-a belief in the existence of devils-is, without doubt, the most debasing form of superstition that has ever afflicted this world of ours. No other theological dogma has been able to make such ferocious and wicked monsters of mankind.

[This fine illustration is by Mr. George A. Stevens, a very able young English artist.]

To face p. 104.