Once more,however it is like a sudden fall from the open air and sunshine when the victorious army and its chiefs turned back to the Court where the King and his councillors sat idle,waiting for news of what was being done for them.A battle-field is no fine sight;the excitement of the conflict,the great end to be served by it,the sense of God's special protection,even the tremendous uproar of the fight,the intoxication of personal action,danger,and success have,we do not doubt a rapture and passion in them for the moment,which carry the mind away;but the bravest soldier holds his breath when he remembers the after scene,the dead and dying,the horrible injuries inflicted,the loss and misery.However,not even the miserable scene of the Chasse de Patay is so painful as the reverse of the dismal picture,the halls of the royal habitation where,while men died for him almost within hearing of the fiddling and the dances,the young King trifled away his useless days among his idle favourites,and the musicians played,the assemblies were held,and all went on as in the Tuileries.We feel as if we had fallen fathoms deep into the meannesses of mankind when we come back from the bloodshed and the horror outside,to the King's presence within.The troops which had gone out in uncertainty,on an enterprise which might well have proved too great for them,had returned in full flush of triumph,having at last fully broken the spell of the English superiority--which was the greatest victory that could have been achieved:besides gaining the substantial advantage of three important towns brought back to the King's allegiance--only to find themselves as little advanced as before,coming back to the self-same struggle with indolent complaining,indifference,and ingratitude.
Jeanne had given the signs that had been demanded from her.She had delivered Orleans,she cleared the King's road toward the north.She had filled the French forces with an enthusiasm and transport of valour which swept away all the traditions of ill fortune.From every point of view the instant march upon Rheims and the accomplishment of the great object of her mission had not only become practicable,but was the wisest and most prudent thing to do.
But this was not the opinion of the Chancellor of France,the Archbishop of Rheims,and La Tremouille,or of the indolent young King himself,who was very willing to rejoice in the relief from all immediate danger,the restoration of the surrounding country,and even the victory itself,if only they would have left him in quiet where he was,sufficiently comfortable,amused,and happy,without forcing necessary dangers.Jeanne's successes and her unseasonable zeal and the commotion that she and her train of captains made,pouring in,in all the excitement of their triumph,into the midst of the madrigals--seem to have been anything but welcome.Go to Rheims to be crowned?
Yes,some time when it was convenient,when it was safe.But in the meantime what was more important was to forbid Richemont,whom the Chancellor hated and the King did not love,to come into the presence or to have any share either in warfare or in pageant.This was not only in itself an extremely foolish thing to do,which is always a recommendation,but it was at the same time an excuse for wasting a little precious time.When this was at last accomplished,and Richemont,though deeply wounded and offended,proved himself so much a man of honour and a patriot,that though dismissed by the King he still upheld,if languidly,his cause--there was yet a great deal of resistance to be overcome.Paris though so far off was thrown into great excitement and alarm by the flight at Patay,and the whole city was in commotion fearing an immediate advance and attack.But in Loches,or wherever Charles may have been,it was all taken very easily.Fastolfe,the fugitive,had his Garter taken from him as the greatest disgrace that could be inflicted,for his shameful flight,about the time when Richemont,one of the victors,was being sent off and disgraced on the other side for the crime of having helped to inflict,without the consent of the King,the greatest blow which had yet been given to the English domination!So the Court held on its ridiculous and fatal course.
However the force of public feeling which must have been very frankly expressed by many important voices was too much for Charles and he was at length compelled to put himself in motion.The army had assembled at Gien,where he joined it,and the great wave of enthusiasm awakened by Jeanne,and on which he now moved forth as on the top of the wave,was for the time triumphant.No one dared say now that the Maid was a sorceress,or that it was by the aid of Beelzebub that she cast out devils;but a hundred jealousies and hatreds worked against her behind backs,among the courtiers,among the clergy,strange as that may sound,in sight of the absolute devotion of her mind,and the saintly life she led.So much was this the case still,notwithstanding the practical proofs she had given of her claims,that even persons of kindred mind,partially sharing her inspirations,such as the famous Brother Richard of Troyes,looked upon her with suspicion and alarm--fearing a delusion of Satan.It is more easy perhaps to understand why the archbishops and bishops should have been inclined against her,since,though perfectly orthodox and a good Catholic,Jeanne had been independent of all priestly guidance and had sought no sanction from the Church to her commission,which she believed to be given by Heaven."Give God the praise;but we know that this woman is a sinner."This was the best they could find to say of her in the moment of her greatest victories;but indeed it is no disparagement to Jeanne or to any saint that she should share with her Master the opprobrium of such words as these.