‘My sixth and last argument is founded on the conduct of our adversary, who, not satisfied with having murdered the late duke of Orleans, attempts, in conjunction with his followers, to deprive him of his good fame and renown, by defamatory libels, wherein he groundlessly and falsely charges him with the crimes of divine and human high treason, of which he was perfectly innocent, as has been, and shall be again demonstrated.
‘It may be said, that this justification is even more scandalous than the fact itself; for to fall into sin is the lot of humanity, but obstinately to persevere in it is diabolical. And this manner of justifying murder is the defence of his own sin, and daring to do what God hates: he follows not the example of David when he said, ‘Non declines cor meum in verba maliciæ ad excusandas excusationes in peccatis.’
‘I come now to my third division, in which I shall reply to the defamatory libel, and to the accusations therein, that were made by our adversary against the character of my late lord of Orleans. I may fairly quote the words of the Psalmist, on the part of my late lord, ‘Judica me Domine secundum justitiam meam, et secundum innocentiam meam super me.’ This request the Psalmist makes to God, and such a request, O king! does the duchess of Orleans now make to thee, as she requires nothing but judgment and justice. May it please thee to listen to the answers of my lady of Orleans to the six charges brought against her late lord, and thou wilt then judge whether he has not been unjustly accused.
‘The first charge brought against the late duke of Orleans by the advocate of the duke of Burgundy is, That during his lifetime he committed the crime of high treason in the highest degree, by his idolatrous conduct in witchcrafts and sorceries, contrary to the Christian faith and the honour of God. It is true, that in regard to this accusation, the advocate did not pursue it very far, saying, that the judgment of such crimes belonged to God, the sovereign Lord,—meaning, that no human judge was competent to it.
‘When making this charge, he spoke of an apostate monk and several sorcerers, in whom my late lord of Orleans put confidence, according to his allegations. I shall scarcely offer any reply to this accusation, but, in like manner as he has done, refer the whole to the judgment of God. It will be sufficient for me to show, in the first place, That my late lord of Orleans was a good and true Christian; that he never committed any sorceries or idolatries, nor ever departed from the faith of Jesus Christ.
‘I may likewise add, That from his youth upward, he was of a religious turn of mind,—for, notwithstanding his fondness for amusements, his reliance was in God, to whom he very often confessed himself. Nay, the very Saturday preceding his death, he had most devoutly confessed himself, with many signs of contrition, declaring he would not longer follow youthful pastimes, but solely devote himself to the service of God, and to that of the public welfare. That I may not be suspected of uttering falsehoods, many religious as well as others, are now alive, to whom he had made such declarations; and, without saying more, let his uncle the duke of Bourbon be heard, who knows what promises he made to God,—for a little before his decease, he assured him, that henceforward his conduct should be such as to merit the approbation of God and mankind, and that all the inhabitants of this kingdom should be bound to pray for him.
‘I know not if our adversary had heard of these wise declarations, or whether he was afraid of their being effected, as they were quite in opposition to his wish for the government; for he well knew that if my lord of Orleans should act as he had said he would, his authority in the kingdom would have been very small indeed. It may therefore be presumed, it was for this that he was so eager to have my lord of Orleans put to death.
‘O, Lord God! thou knowest how well he was inclined toward thee at the time of his being murdered, which gives me confidence in his salvation; for the holy Scripture says, ‘Justus si morte præoccupatus fuerit in refrigerio erit.’ It is, however, evident, that our adversary did all he could to destroy his soul, and afterward heard mass most devoutly in appearance, putting what had passed out of his thoughts, and daily saying his canonical prayers.
‘O, duke of Burgundy! why hast thou done all this through hypocrisy and fiction? Who has revealed to thee the secrets of hearts? and who has made thee the judge of men’s thoughts? Thou resemblest the Pharisees, who called Christ a deceiver and possest of a devil! Thou knowest, that even angels are ignorant of the secrets of our hearts, and yet thou pretendest to judge them! O! how well does the Psalmist exclaim, ‘Tu solus es scrutans renes et corda!’
‘It is notorious, that my late lord founded many masses and private chapels, doing much service to the church: let then his last will, so devoutly written, be considered with what I have before said, and any one may decide whether he was an idolater or sorcerer. It is true, indeed, that the advocate for our adversary refers to the judgment of God all that respects divine high treason, saying that he will not make this an especial charge against the late duke of Orleans.