The North-Carolinian., 1854-12-09
AH Of ATes


Jean Of Are.
The interest attaching to the history Of this
extraordinary female to whom France was so
largely indebted for the preservation of her
honor, and perhaps her nationality bnt who
hraliy received at the hands of her ungratefuI
countrymeD, rs consummation of her glory, a
martyrs crown, prompts to copy this char
aeteristlc passage, descriptive of her youn.. :
| life:
'"The pensive and retiring beauty Of joan.
while it attracted the attention of men, repel-
led hmiliarity. Several, nevertheless, pleased
With her grace and modestv, solicited her hand
from her. parents. She persevered in remaining
single and free, possibly through some obscure
presentinient which warned her that she would
Sns Sns haxa te gise birth sos 4a fa!!y
fsAt lad the boidness to claim her love as Of
right swearing before court of justice that
she was betrothed to him. The poor girl, abtsh-
ed bnt Indignant, appeared before the judges
at Toul and contradicted by oath this calunny
of passion. The judges saw through the plot,
and sent her home free.
While her beauty thus charmed the eye, the
composure of her face, the thoughtfuness of
her features, the solitude and silence of her life
astonished her father, her mother, and her bro
thers The possessed only the grace and at
traction of her sex-she had none of its weak
ness Her face exhibited neither her feelings
concentrated in her eyes, seemed rather that of
meditation than of feeling, yet she compass
sionate and tender; but her pity and tenderness
extended to something greater and more dis
tant than her immediate horizon. She prayed
increasingly, spoke little, and avoided the com
pany of her equals in age. She generally re-
tired alone; and piled her needle in secluded
nook under a hedge behind the house, from
which she could only the blue sky, the tow
er of the charch, and the distant crest of the
mountains. She seemed to hear voices within
her which the noise Of the world would have
stiled
She was scarcely eight years of age when
these signs Of inspiration began to appear in
her. In this she resembled the Sybis of old,
marked from their infancy with the fatal seal
Of sadness, beauty, and solitude, among the
daughters of men-instruments of inspiration
reserved for oracles, and to whom every other
employment of mind prohibited. She loved
everything that suffered; particularly animals
| those intelligent beings gifted with love for
u.s. but deprived of words to convey their feel
| ings Her companions say that she was mild
| and merciful to birds. She considered them as
| creatures condemned by 6 cd to live near men,
| in state of transition between soul and matter
and having in their nature nothing yet com
paete but the painful faculties of suffering and
| love. All that WAS melancholy and indefinite
in the sounds of nature attracted and absorbed
| her She fond Of the sound of bells
says the Old Chroncler that she promised the
! ringer hanks Of wool for the autumn gathering
| if he would sound the Angelus longer in the
mornings
But her pity was most strongly excited fo,
the kingdom of France, and for the young dau
phn-motherless, without a country, and with
out a throne. The tales she daily heard from
monks, soldiers, pilgrims, and beggars-th,
| cottage newsmen of the time-flled her hear
| with compassion for the young prince Hi
image was associated in her mind with the Gala
mites of her fatherlund 1t was in him tla
she saw it perish; it was through him that sh,
prayed to God for it's deliyernnce Her spiri
was ceaselessly occupied with this anxiety ant
sadness "--Lanartsne