‘Some indeed have doubted whether the subject may not withdraw his allegiance from the sovereign on a refusal of justice and equity. May it please thee, therefore, sire, to consider this well, for thou wilt not have any thing to fear in doing justice, as I shall hereafter demonstrate; and in conclusion of this my first reason, I shall quote the words of the third chapter of Job: ‘Cum justitia indutus sum, et vestivi me vestimento et diademate in coronatione mea;’ that is to say, I am clothed with justice, and have invested myself with it, as the robe and diadem of my coronation.
‘Consequently, most noble prince, I say that fraternal love ought greatly to urge thee to do justice; for I do not believe that greater love ever existed between two brothers than what you both felt. Be then the true friend to thy brother in justice and judgment; for it will be the greatest disgrace to thee and to the crown of France, throughout the world, if justice and reparation be not made for the infamous and cruel murder of thy brother. It is now time for thee to show thy brotherly affection; and be not like to those friends spoken of by the wise man, in the 8th chapter of Ecclesiasticus, as follows: ‘Est amicus socius mensæ et non permanebit in die necessitatis.’ That is, There are friends who are companions at table, and in prosperity, but who are no longer such in the day of adversity.
‘At this moment, necessity and affection united call upon thee to prove thyself such a friend that the world may not call thee a faint hearted friend, of whom Aristotle speaks, in his 9th chapter of ethics: ‘Qui, inquit, fingit se esse amicum, et non est; pejor est eo qui facit falsam monetam.’ A faint friend is worse than a coiner of base money. Should some tell thee, that our opponent is of thy blood, and thy relation, thou oughtest, nevertheless, to abominate his crime, and do strict justice between two friends, according to what Aristotle says, in his second book of ethics: ‘Duobus existentibus amicis, sanctum est præhonorare virtutem.’—That is, It is praiseworthy to give the preference to virtue between two friends.
‘Thou rememberest the strong love that subsisted between thee and thy brother; not that I wish to obtain any favour by that remembrance, but solely to exhort thee to justice and truth. Alas! it would be of little value the being son or brother to a king, if such a cruel murder were passed over without any punishment inflicted on the guilty, nor any reparation made for it,—more especially as he who caused his death ought to have loved him as a brother; for in the holy Scriptures nephews and cousins-german are called brothers, as appears from the book of Genesis, where Abraham says to his nephew Lot, ‘Ne sit jurgium inter te et me, fratres enim sumus.’ Let there be no strife between thee and me, for we are brothers.
‘Saint James is also called the brother of our Lord, when they were only cousins-german. Thou mayest repeat to our adversary the words which God said to Cain, after he had murdered his brother, ‘Vox sanguinis fratris tui clamat ad me de terra.’ The voice of thy brother’s blood cries to me from the earth; and certainly in our case the earth and blood do cry.
‘There cannot be a man of common feelings who has not compassion for such a death as that of my late lord of Orleans; and it must not be wondered at if I compare our adversary to Cain, for in them I see many features of resemblance. Cain, moved by envy, slew his brother, because the Lord had accepted of his brother’s offerings, and had not received his sacrifice, because he was practising in his heart how he could kill his brother. In like manner, the duke of Burgundy, because my lord of Orleans was the more agreeable to the king, in his heart meditated his death, and in the end had him treacherously and infamously murdered, as shall be fully proven. As Cain, instigated by covetousness, committed his crime, so our adversary, urged on by similar passions, did the act we complain of, as shall be demonstrated from his conduct previous to and after the death of the late duke of Orleans. I find, likewise, that the word Cain, by interpretation, signifies, ‘acquired’ or ‘acquisition.’ By the same name our adverse party may be called, for vengeance is acquired by the king in body and goods; but let justice take its course, and events will happen according to the good pleasure of God. It therefore seems very reasonable that I compare the duke of Burgundy to Cain.
‘Sire, remember, I pray thee, the words addressed to Cain, namely, ‘Vox sanguinis:’ The voice of thy brother’s blood. It is the voice of the lady of Orleans, and of her children, crying to thee, and demanding justice. Alas! my lord king, to whom wouldst thou wish to do justice, if thou refusest to do it for the love of thy own brother? If thou be not a friend to thy blood, to whom wouldst thou be a friend, seeing we ask no more than justice? O, most noble prince, consider that thy brother has been torn from thee for ever! Thou wilt never again see him, for the duke of Burgundy has cruelly caused him to be put to death.
‘Recollect he was thy brother, and thou wilt find how greatly he is to be compassioned. He, like thee, was equally fond of the queen and thy children, and, from his natural good sense, honoured all the royal blood of France; and few could be found more eloquent than he was when addressing nobles, clergy or laymen.
‘Our Lord had given him what king Solomon had demanded, prudence and wisdom; for every one knows, that he was adorned with an excellent understanding,—and of him may be said as of David, in the chapter of the Acts of the Apostles,—‘Sapiebat sicut angelus Domini.’ He was endowed with wisdom like to an angel of God.
‘Were I to speak of the beauty of his person, I could only say, that he was thy image and resemblance, with this good quality that he was perfectly courteous to all, and never caused any one to be beaten, or put to death, nor did he ever procure the death of any one. He possessed, however, the power of so doing, even to his enemies, who were notoriously defaming him, and attributing to him evils which he never thought of: he could, more especially, have had our adversary put to death several times, had he so pleased,—for no great power is requisite to have any one treacherously murdered.