and if God will not perform them, so surely will some one be
at hand to invent them. Still further, the miracle must be a
miracle pertaining to the Virgin. La Madonna! the mind, the heart,
the tongue of the Italians are full of these two words.

It was in the Church of the Cordeliers that this miracle occurred.
The crowd rushed there. It was much that the Virgin should weep;
but a rumor spread at the same time that brought the excitement
to a climax. A large coffer, tightly sealed, had been carried
through the city; this chest had excited the curiosity of all
Avignon. What did it contain? Two hours later it was no longer
a coffer; but eighteen trunks had been seen going toward the
Rhone. As for their contents, a porter had revealed that; they
contained articles from the Mont-de-Piete that the French party
were taking with them into exile. Articles from the Mont-de-Piete,
that is to say, the spoils of the poor! The poorer the city the
richer its pawn-shops. Few could boast such wealth as those of
Avignon. It was no longer a factional affair, it was a theft,
an infamous theft. Whites and Reds rushed to the Church of the
Cordeliers, shouting that the municipality must render them an
accounting.

Lescuyer was the secretary of the municipality. His name was thrown
to the crowd, not for having torn down the pontifical decrees--from
that moment he would have had defenders--but for having signed the
order to the keeper of the Mont-de-Piete permitting the removal of
the articles in pawn.

Four men were sent to seize Lescuyer and bring him to the church.
They found him in the street on his way to the municipality. The