And if all this could not move him, I told him not to involve me in his business, for, with his permission, I was not at all inclined to get into any tangle with legions of monks and a whole faculty of theology.

But I did not succeed in convincing him; whilst I argued in so many ways to deter him from his design, I did nothing but excite his courage." Not only did Berquin turn a deaf ear to the wise counsels of Erasmus, but his protectress, Marguerite, being moved by his courage, and herself also as imprudent as she was generous, persuaded herself that he was in the right, and supported him in his undertaking.

She wrote to the king her brother, "Poor Berquin, who, through your goodness, holds that God has twice preserved his life, throws himself upon you, having no longer any one to whom he can have recourse, for to give you to understand his innocence; and whereas, Monseigneur, I know the esteem in which you hold him and the desire he hath always had to do you service, I do not fear to entreat you, by letter instead of speech, to be pleased to have pity on him.

And if it please you to show signs of taking his matter to heart, I hope that the truth, which he will make to appear, will convict the forgers of heretics of being slanderers and disobedient towards you rather than zealots for the faith." In his complaisance and indifference Francis I.attended to his sister's wishes, and appeared to support Berquin in his appeal for a fresh and definite investigation of his case.

On the other hand, Parliament, to whom the matter was referred, showed a disposition to take into account the king's good will towards Berquin, lately convicted, but now become in his turn plaintiff and accuser.