Gabrielle was the first who (in 1736) demanded what was called the succor of the swords.  Montgeron says,—­“She was prompted by the supernatural instinct which guided her to select the strongest and sharpest sword she could find among those worn by the spectators.  Then setting herself with her back against a wall, she placed the point of the sword just above her stomach, and called upon him who seemed the strongest man to push it with all his force; and though the sword bent into the form of a bow from the violence with which it was pushed, so that they had to press against the middle of the blade to keep it straight, still the convulsionist cried out, ‘Stronger! stronger!’ After a time she applied the point of the sword to her throat, and required it to be pushed with the same violence as before.  The point caused the skin to sink into the throat to the depth of four finger-breadths, but it never pierced the flesh, let them push as violently as they would.  Nevertheless, the point of the sword seemed to attach itself to the skin; for, when drawn back, it drew the skin with it, and left a trifling redness, such as would be caused by the prick of a pin.  For the rest, the convulsionist suffered no pain whatever."[36]

Similar is the testimony of an Advocate of the Parliament of Paris, extracts from whose certificate in regard to the succors rendered to the Sister Madeleine are given by Montgeron.  Here is one of these:—­

“One day, extended on the ground, she caused a spit to be placed upright, with the point on her bare throat.  Then a stout man mounted on a chair, and suspended his whole body from the head of the spit, pressing with all his force, as if to transfix the throat and pierce the floor beneath.  But the flesh merely sank in with the point of the spit, without being in the least injured.

“Another day, she placed the point of a very sharp sword against the hollow of the throat, just below the epiglottis, and, standing with her back against the wall, called on them to push the sword.  A vigorous man did so, till the blade bent, though not so much as to form a complete arc.  The point sank into the flesh about an inch.  I was curious to measure the exact depth, and found that the flesh rose so far around the sword-point that I could sink a finger in beyond the first joint.  She received this succor twice.  The sword was one of the sharpest I have ever seen.  We tried it against a portfolio containing the paper intended for the minutes which on such occasions I always make out.  It perforated the pasteboard and a considerable part of the papers within."[37]

The Sister Madeleine carried her temerity in this matter still farther.  Here is a portion of the certificate of an ecclesiastic, for whose uprightness and truthfulness Montgeron vouches in strong terms, and who relates what he alleges he saw on the thirty-first of May, 1744.