24
The king, struck with such a collection of
circumstantial evidence against Macaire, de-
termined to refer the decision to the chance
of battle; in other words, he gave orders for
a combat between the chevalier and the dog.
The lists were appointed in the Isle of Notre
Dame, then an unenclosed, uninhabited place;
Macaire's weapon being a great cudgel.
The dog had an empty cask allowed for
his retreat, to enable him to recover breath.
Every thing beinig prepared, the dog no
sooner found himself at liberty, than he ran
round his adversary, avoiding his blows, and
menacing him on every side, till his strength
was exhausted; then springing forward, he
griped him by the throat, threw him on the
ground, and obliged him to confess his guilt
in the presence of the king and the whole
court. In consequence of which the chevalier,
after a few days, was convicted upon his own
acknowledgement, and beheaded on a scaf-
fold in the Isle of Notre Dame.
The above curious recital is translated
from the Memoires sur les Duels, and
is confirmed by many judicious critical
writers; particularly Julius Scaliger and
Montfaucon, neither of whom have ever been
regarded as fabricators of idle stories. On
this narrative the melo-drame of the Forest
of Bondi is founded.
