tty as with important matters of family history. As
far as his marriage was concerned, he named the persons who were
present at the nuptials, those who dined with them, their different
dresses, the priest who performed the ceremony, all the little
circumstances that happened that day and the next, and even named the
people who presided at the bedding. And, as if the official
interrogatory were not sufficiently complete, he spoke, of his own
accord, of his son Sanxi, and of the day he was born; of his own
departure, of the persons he met on the road, of the towns he had
passed through in France and Spain, and of people with whom he had
become acquainted in both kingdoms.

Nearly a hundred and fifty witnesses were examined in the cause, and
of these between thirty and forty deposed that the accused really was
Martin Guerre; that they had known him and had spoken to him from his
infancy; that they were perfectly acquainted with his person, manner,
and tone of voice; and that, moreover, they were convinced of his
identity by certain scars and marks on his person.

On the other hand, a greater number of persons asserted as positively
that the man before them was one Arnold du Tilh, of Sagais, and was
commonly called Pansette; while nearly sixty of the witnesses--who had
known both men--declared that there was so strong a resemblance
between these two persons that it was impossible for them to declare
positively whether the accused was Martin Guerre or Arnold du Tilh.

In this dilemma the judge ordered two inquiries--one with regard to
the likeness or unlikeness of Sanxi Guerre to the accused, and the
other as to the resemblance existing between the child and the sisters
of Martin Guerre. It was reported that the boy bore no resemblance to
the prisoner, but that he was very like his father's sisters, and upon
this evidence the judge pronounced the prisoner guilty, and sentenced
him to be beheaded and quartered.

But the public of the neighbourhood not being so easily satisfied as
the criminal judge of Rieux, and unable to comprehend the grounds of
the decision, became clamorous, and an appeal was made on behalf of
the convict to the Parliament of Toulouse. That Assembly ordered the
wife (Bertrande de Rols) and the uncle (Peter Guerre) to be confronted
separately with the man whom they accused of being an impostor, and
when the parties were thus placed face to face, the so-called Arnold
du Tilh maintained a calm demeanour,