book entitled _La cordonniere de Loudun_, in which he attacked Richelieu,
and aroused the undying hatred of the great Cardinal. Richelieu was at
that time in the zenith of his power, and when offended he was not very
scrupulous as to the means he employed to carry out his vengeance, as the
fate of our author abundantly testifies.

In the town of Loudun was a famous convent of Ursuline nuns, and Grandier
solicited the office of director of the nunnery, but happily he was
prevented by circumstances from undertaking that duty. A short time
afterwards the nuns were attacked with a curious and contagious frenzy,
imagining themselves tormented by evil spirits, of whom the chief was
Asmodeus. [Footnote: This was the demon mentioned in Tobit iii. 8, 17, who
attacked Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, and killed her seven husbands.
Rabbinical writers consider him as the chief of evil spirits, and recount
his marvellous deeds. He is regarded as the fire of impure love.] They
pretended that they were possessed by the demon, and accused the unhappy
Grandier of casting the spells of witchcraft upon them. He indignantly
refuted the calumny, and appealed to the Archbishop of Bordeaux, Charles
de Sourdis. This wise prelate succeeded in calming the troubled minds of
the nuns, and settled the affair.

In the meantime the vengeful eye of Richelieu was watching for an
opportunity. He sent his emissary, Councillor Laubardemont, to Loudun, who
renewed the accusation against Grandier. The amiable cleric, who had led a
pious and regular life, was declared guilty of adultery, sacrilege, magic,
witchcraft, demoniacal possession, and condemned to be burned alive after
receiving an application of the torture. In the market-place of Loudun in
1643 this terrible sentence was carried into execution, and together with
his book, _Contra Caelibatum Clericorum_, poor Grandier was committed to
the flames. When he ascended his funeral pile, a fly was observed to buzz