‘Recollect, that on the ensuing Friday, at the hôtel of the duke of Berry, in his presence and in that of the king of Sicily, our adversary advanced towards the servants of the late duke of Orleans, entreating them to make every inquiry after the author of this murder, and begging them to recommend him to the duchess of Orleans and to her children: then the three noble persons having conferred together, the duke of Berry declared the request was proper, and that they would exert themselves as much as possible to discover the person who had committed this atrocious act.
‘O, duke of Burgundy! thou promisedst to do this, by the mouth of my lord of Berry, whereas thou didst the worst thou could; for, not satisfied with having caused the murder of his body, thou seekest to destroy the reputation of the defunct. Thou promisedst to seek most diligently after the murderer, while thou knewest it was thyself that wast the criminal.
‘Now, my lords, consider well, that after a resolution had been taken to seek after the author of this crime, our adversary, the duke of Burgundy, conscious of his guilt, confessed that it was he who had caused the death of the duke of Orleans. When he made this confession on his knees to the king and my lord the duke of Berry, he affirmed, that what he had done was by the instigation of the devil; and certainly in this instance he spoke the truth, for he was urged to it by jealousy and ambition.
‘O, my lords! weigh well this confession, and how our adversary contradicts himself,—for when he first confessed his guilt, he said he had been instigated to it by the devil; but afterward he commands it to be argued, that he committed so atrocious a deed legally and justifiably. If he feel no shame for his wickedness, he ought at least to be sensible of his thus meanly contradicting himself. Consider also, that he was desirous of concealing his crime; and God knows, that if his deed had been of that worth as has been advanced for him, he would have gloried in having so done, and not have wished to remain undiscovered as the perpetrator. And why did he own his guilt? Because it could no longer be concealed. That this was the cause is apparent; for when he perceived that it must be known, he fled most precipitately from Paris, like to one in despair. He might have said, with Judas the traitor, ‘Peccavi tradens sanguinem justum.’
‘O Philip, duke of Burgundy! wert thou now alive, thou wouldst not have approved the conduct of our adversary, but wouldst have said thy son had degenerated. Thou wert surnamed The Bold,—but he was always fearful and suspicious, consequently a traitor. Thou mightst have truly applied to him what is written in the fifth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, ‘Cur temptavit sathanas cor tuum mentiri te Spiritui Sancto? non es mentitus hominibus sed Deo.’
‘My fifth argument is grounded on the falsehood of the declarations of our opponent, that he had caused the death of the duke of Orleans with the purest intentions; for, on the contrary, he committed this crime through lust of power, and to gain greater authority over the kingdom, and also to possess himself of the royal treasury, that he might more largely gratify and increase his dependants. This is evident from the conduct of our adversary before and after the death of the duke of Orleans.
‘It is a truth, that shortly after the death of his father the duke of Burgundy, he exerted himself to the utmost to obtain similar power in this realm, and with the same pensions and authority as his late father had enjoyed. But this was not granted to him, because his father had been uncle to the king, and was a man of great prudence and understanding, qualities not possessed by our adversary.
‘Having been disappointed, he instantly began to practise how he could better obtain his object; and for this end, prior to the death of the duke of Orleans, he caused reports to be circulated throughout the kingdom of his affection to the public weal, and that he alone was the fittest person to govern it. When he perceived, that in spite of his fictions, the duke of Orleans still possessed the authority he was panting for, because he was the son of a king, and the only brother to the king, and more fit for the government than the duke of Burgundy,—seeing, therefore, all his plans frustrated, he conspired to take away the life of the duke of Orleans, expecting that when he should be made away with, no other person would dare to dispute his having the sole government of the kingdom.
‘This is the principal cause of so barbarous a murder, notwithstanding the arguments that have been urged in his excuse, as is well known to all. His conduct, likewise, after the death of my late lord of Orleans, confirms it; for instantly, on his return to Paris, he began to push forward those that were his dependants and supporters, by depriving many valiant and deserving men of places which they held under the king, without any other cause but that they had been appointed to them by my lord of Orleans, as others had been, and giving their offices to such as he pleased, in order to gain more authority and power. He also endeavoured to make all placemen, particularly those who had the management of the royal treasury, subservient to him, that they might not refuse him any thing.
‘Our adversary was most anxious to have the government of the treasury, and obtained from it the sum of two hundred thousand livres, by warrants thereon, or otherwise, great part of which he distributed among his people, as is well known to the clerks of the treasury; and this was his principal object in putting to death his rival in power, my late lord of Orleans, namely, covetousness of the king’s money, and to give it away and enrich his followers. It appears, therefore, that covetousness and pride have been the springs of his actions; but, please God, he shall not in this instance profit from them,—and the words of Job, in his seventh chapter, shall be verified, ‘Cum habuerit quod cupierit, possidere non poterit.’