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to be put into the hands of a public magistrate, another into those of a man of credit, and a third to remain with the Jew himself. But as the canon law, seconded by the municipal, permitted no Christian to take interest, all transac

tions of this kind must, after the banishment of the Jews, have become more secret and clandestine; and the lender, of consequence, be paid both for the use of his money, and for the infamy and danger he incurred by lending it."

THE MAID OF ORLEANS.

HER BRAVE PEEDS-HER MARTYRDOM.

[graphic]

NDER Henry VI. the English, continuing the work carried on by

Henry V., made an almost complete conquest of France. The Duke of Bedford, of Bedford, brother of the late king, made an alliance with the Duke of Britanny, and married the married the sister of the Duke of Burgundy. This gave him a complete hold of a large portion of France. The French were not able to resist. Charles the Dauphin was an amiable man, but infirm of purpose. The English moved on from victory to victory. At Verneuil a third of the French knighthood were left on the field, and four years after Orleans was invested by a force of (it is said) only three thousand English. In this dark epoch of French history the heroism of a young girl effected a wondrous change.

"In the village of Domremi, near Vaucouleurs, on the borders of Lorraine, there lived a country girl of twentyseven years of age, called Joan d'Arc, who was servant in a small inn, and who in that station had been accustomed to tend the horses of the guests, to ride them without a saddle to the wateringplace, and to perform other offices, which, in well-frequented inns, commonly fall to the share of the men-servants.

This girl was of an irreproachable life, and had not hitherto been remarked for any singularity; whether that she had met with no occasion to excite her genius, or that the unskilful eyes of those who conversed with her, had not been able to discern her uncommon merit. It is easy to imagine, that the present situation of France was an interesting object even to persons of the lowest rank, and would become the frequent subject of conversation. A young prince expelled his throne by the sedition of native subjects and by the arms of strangers, could not fail to move the compassion of all his people whose hearts were uncorrupted by faction; and the peculiar character of Charles, so strongly inclined to friendship and the tender passions, naturally rendered him the hero of that sex whose generous minds know no bounds in their affections. The siege of Orleans, the progress of the English before that place, the great distress of the garrison and inhabitants, the importance of saving this city and its brave defenders, had turned thither the public eye; and Joan, inflamed by the general sentiment, was seized with a wild desire of bringing relief to her sovereign in his present distresses. Her unexperienced mind, working day and night on this favourite object, mistook the impulses of passion for heavenly inspirations; and she fancied that she saw visions, and heard voices exhorting

her to re-establish the throne of France, and to expel the foreign invaders. An uncommon intrepidity of temper made her overlook all the dangers which might attend her in such a path; and thinking herself destined by Heaven to this office, she threw aside all that bashfulness and timidity, so natural to her sex, her years, and her low station. She went to Vaucouleurs; procured admission to Baudricourt, the governor; informed him of her inspirations and intentions; and conjured him not to neglect the voice of God, who spoke through her, but to second those heavenly revelations, which impelled her to this glorious enterprise. Baudricourt treated her at first with some neglect; but on her frequent returns to him, and importunate solicitations, he began to remark something extraordinary in the maid, and was inclined, at all hazards, to make so easy an experiment. It is uncertain whether this gentleman had discernment enough to perceive that great use might be made with the vulgar of so uncommon an engine; or, what is more likely, in that credulous age, was himself a convert to this visionary; but he adopted at last the schemes of Joan; and he gave her some attendants, who conducted her to the French court, which at that time resided at Chinon.

Here her earnest eloquence made such an impression on the Dauphin that her request to be allowed to fight for France was complied with. She was armed cap-à-pie, mounted on horseback, and sent to Blois, where a large convoy was prepared for the supply of Orleans, and an army of ten thousand men, under the command of St. Severe, assembled to escort it. She ordered all the soldiers to confess themselves before they set out on the enterprise. She banished from the camp all people of bad fame. She displayed in her hands a consecrated banner, where the Supreme Being was represented grasping the globe of earth,

and surrounded with flower-de-luces; and she insisted in right of her prophetic mission, that the convoy should enter Orleans by the direct road from the side of Beausse; but the Count of Dunois, unwilling to submit the rules of the military art to her inspirations, ordered it to approach by the other side of the river, where, he knew, the weakest part of the English army was stationed.

Previous to this attempt, the maid had written to the regent, and to the English generals before Orleans, commanding them, in the name of the omnipotent Creator, by whom she was commissioned, immediately to raise the siege, and to evacuate France; and menacing them with Divine vengeance in case of their disobedience. All the English affected to speak with derision of the maid, and of her heavenly commission; and said, that the French king was now indeed reduced to a sorry pass, when he had recourse to such ridiculous expedients; but they felt their imagination. secretly struck with the vehement persuasion which prevailed in all around. them; and they waited with an anxious. expectation, not unmixed with horror, for the issue of these extraordinary preparations.

As the convoy approached the river, a sally was made by the garrison on the side of Beausse, to prevent the English general from sending any detachment to the other side. The provisions were peaceably embarked in boats, which the inhabitants of Orleans had sent to receive them. The maid covered with her troops the embarkation. Suffolk did not venture to attack her; and the French general carried back the army in safety to Blois; an alteration of affairs which was already visible to all the world, and which had a proportional effect on the minds of both parties.

The maid entered the city of Orleans arrayed in her military garb, and displaying her consecrated standard; and

was received as a celestial deliverer by all the inhabitants. They now believed themselves invincible under her influence; and Dunois himself, perceiving such a mighty alteration both in friends and foes, consented that the next convoy, which was expected in a few days, should enter by the side of Beausse. The convoy approached; no sign of resistance appeared in the besiegers. The waggons and troops passed without interruption between the redoubts of the English. A dead silence and astonishment reigned among those troops, formerly so elated with victory, and so fierce for the combat.

The Earl of Suffolk was in a situation very unusual and extraordinary, and which might well confound the man of the greatest capacity and firmest temper. He saw his troops overawed, and strongly impressed with the idea of a Divine influence accompanying the maid. Instead of banishing these vain terrors by hurry, and action, and war, he waited till the soldiers should recover from the panic; and he thereby gave leisure for those prepossessions to sink still deeper into their minds. The military maxims, which are prudent in common cases, deceived him in these unaccountable events. The English felt their courage daunted and overwhelmed; and thence inferred a Divine vengeance hanging over them. The French drew the same inference from an inactivity so new and unexpected. Every circumstance was now reversed in the opinions of men, on which all depends. The spirit resulting from a long course of uninterrupted success was on a sudden transferred from the victors to the vanquished.

The maid demanded that the garrison should not remain longer on the defensive. The French sallied forth and defeated the English in several combats, till Suffolk was at length compelled to raise the siege and retreat with all the precaution imaginable. The French resolved to push their conquests, and to

allow the English no leisure to recover from their consternation. They attacked Jergeau, into which Suffolk had thrown himself, took the place, and made him prisoner. At Patay they again defeated the English. In both these actions the maid was conspicuous for valour and generalship.

The raising of the siege of Orleans was one part of the maid's promise to Charles; the crowning of him at Rheims was the other; and she now vehemently insisted that he should forthwith set out on that enterprise. A few weeks before, such a proposal would have appeared the most extravagant in the world. Rheims lay in a distant quarter of the kingdom; was then in the hands of a victorious enemy; the whole road which led to it was occupied by their garrisons, and no man could be so sanguine as to imagine that such an attempt could so soon come within the bounds of possibility. But as it was extremely the interest of Charles to maintain the belief of something extraordinary and Divine in these events, and to avail himself of the present consternation of the English, he resolved to follow the exhortations of his warlike prophetess, and to lead his army upon this promising adventure. Hitherto he had kept remote from the scene of war. As the safety of the state depended upon his person, he had been persuaded to restrain his military ardour; but observing this prosperous turn of affairs, he now determined to appear at the head of his armies, and to set the example of valour to all his soldiers. And the French nobility saw at once their young sovereign assuming a new and more brilliant character, seconded by fortune, and conducted by the hand of Heaven; and they caught fresh zeal to exert themselves in replacing him on the throne of his ancestors.

Charles set out for Rheims at the head of twelve thousand men. He passed by Troye, which opened its gates

to him. Chalons imitated the example. Rheims sent him a deputation with its keys, before his approach to it; and he scarcely perceived, as he passed along, that he was marching through an enemy's country. The ceremony of his coronation was here performed with the holy oil, which a pigeon had brought to King Clovis from heaven on the first establishment of the French monarchy. The Maid of Orleans stood by his side in complete armour, and displayed her sacred banner, which had so often dissipated and confounded his fiercest enemies; and the people shouted with the most unfeigned joy on viewing such a complication of wonders. After the completion of the ceremony, the maid threw herself at the king's feet, embraced his knees, and with a flood of tears, which pleasure and tenderness extorted from her, she congratulated him on this singular and marvellous

event.

Charles, thus crowned and anointed, became more respectable in the eyes of all his subjects, and seemed in a manner to receive anew, from a heavenly commission, his title to their allegiance. The inclinations of men swaying their belief, no one doubted of the inspirations and prophetic spirit of the maid. So many incidents which passed all human comprehension, left little room to question a superior influence; and the real and undoubted facts brought credit to every exaggeration which could scarcely be rendered more wonderful. Laon, Soissons, Château-Thierri, Provins, and many other towns and fortresses in that neighbourhood, immediately after king Charles's coronation, submitted to him on the first summons; and the whole nation was disposed to give him the most zealous testimonies of their duty and affection.

After the coronation the maid wished to return to her former state as a simple sant girl; but she was persuaded to

, till, by the final expulsion of

the English, she had brought all her prophecies to their full completion. In pursuance of this advice, she threw herself into the town of Compiegne, which was at that time besieged by the Duke of Burgundy, assisted by the earls of Arundel and Suffolk; and the garrison, on her appearance, believed themselves thenceforth invincible. But their joy was of short duration. The maid, next

day (A.D. 1430, May 24) after her arrival, headed a sally upon the quarters of John of Luxembourg; she twice drove the enemy from their entrenchments; finding their numbers to increase every moment, she ordered a retreat; when hard pressed by the pursuers, she turned upon them, and made them again recoil; but being here deserted by her friends, and surrounded by the enemy, she was at last, after exerting the utmost valour, taken prisoner by the Burgundians. The common opinion was, that the French officers, finding the merit of every victory ascribed to her, had, in envy to her renown, by which they themselves were so much eclipsed, willingly exposed her to this fatal accident.

The

The envy of her friends, on this occasion, was not a greater proof of her merit than the triumph of her enemies. A complete victory would not have given more joy to the English and their partisans. The service of Te Deum,' which has so often been profaned by princes, was publicly celebrated, on this fortunate event, at Paris. Duke of Bedford fancied that by the captivity of that extraordinary woman, who had blasted all his successes, he should again recover his former ascendant over France; and, to push further the present advantage, he purchased the captive from John of Luxembourg, and formed a prosecution against her, which, whether it proceeded from vengeance or policy, was equally barbarous and dishonourable.

There was no possible reason why

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