e with which his masterly defence was received out-of-doors. Even
those who knew the Surintendant best were astonished at his courage and
his presence of mind. He seemed greater in his adversity than in his
magnificence. Some of the judges began to waver. Renard, J., said,--"I
must confess that this man is incomparable. He never spoke so well when
he was _Procureur_; he never showed so much self-possession." Another,
one Nesmond, died during the trial, and regretted openly on his
death-bed that he had lent himself to this persecution. The King ordered
that this dying speech and confession should not be repeated, but it
circulated only the more widely.

"No public man," Voltaire says, "ever had so many personal friends"; and
no friends were ever more faithful and energetic. They repeated his
happy answers in all quarters, praised his behavior, pitied his
sufferings, and reviled and ridiculed his enemies. They managed to meet
him, as he walked to and from the Arsenal, where the Commission sat, and
cheered him with kind looks. Madame de Sevigne tells us how she and
other ladies of the same faith took post at a window to see "_notre
pauvre ami_" go by. "M. d'Artagnau walked by his side, followed by a
guard of fifty _mousquetaires_. He seemed sad. D'Artagnau touched him to
let him know that we were there. He saluted us with that quiet smile we
all knew so well." She says that her heart beat and her knees trembled.
The lively lady was still grateful for that compliment.

The animosity which the King did not conceal made an acquittal almost
hopeless, but great efforts were made to save the life of the
Surintendant. Money was used skilfully and abundantly. Several judges
yielded to the force of this argument; others were known to incline to
mercy. Fouquet himself thought the result doubtful. He begged his
friends to let him know the verdict by signal, that he might have half
an hour to prepare himself to receive his sentence with firmness.

The Commission deliberated for one week,--an anxious period for
Fouquet's friends, who trembled lest they had not secured judges enough
to resist the pressure from above. At last the court was reopened.
D'Ormesson, a man of excellent family and social position, who had
favored the accused throughout the trial, delivered his opinion at
length. He concluded for banishment. The next judge voted for
decapitation, but with a recommendation to mercy. Next, one Pussort, a
malignant tool of the Ch