The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1855-03-21
JO2n of Arc.

Joan. Whlle II attracted the attcntlOn
of men, repelled familiarity. She per-
severed in remaining single and free,
possibly through some obscure pre-
sentiment which warned her that she
would one day have to give birth not to
a family, but kingdom. One of the
suitors, more violent, had the boldncss
to claim to her love as of.right, swear
ing before court of justice that she
was betrothcd to him. The poor girl, a.
Dashed but indignant, appeared bofore
the Judges Of Toul, and contradicted
by oath this calumny of passion. The
judges saw through the plot, and sent
her home free.
While her beauty thus charmed the
eve, the composure of her face, the
thoughtfulness of her features, the SOL
itudc aud silence of her life, astonish-
cd her father, her mother, and her bro.
Tiers. She possessed only the grace
and attraction of her sex she had
none Of It's weakness. Her face cX.
hibitcd neither her feelings nor the c.
motions of her heart. Its expression,
concentrated in her eyes, seemed rath-
cr that Of meditation than Of feeling
yet she was compassionate and tender;
but her pity and tenderness extended
to something greater and more distant
than her immediate horizon. She
prayed increasingly, spoke little, and
and avoided the company of her equals
in age. She generally retired alone,
and piled her needle in secluded
nook, under a hedge behind the house,
from which she could only see The blue
sky, the tower Of the church, and the
distant crest of the mountains. She
seemed to hear voices within her which
the noise Of the world would have
stilirl.
She was scarcely cisht years of age
when these signs Of inspiration began
TO appear in her. in this she rcscni-
blcd the Slbyls of old, marked from
their infancy with the fatal seal of sad
ness. beauty and solitude. among the
daughters Of mcn--instruments of in>
sriration reserved for oracles, and to
whom every other employment ofnind
was prohibited. : he loved every thing
that suffered, particularly animals
those intelligent beings gifted with love
for us. but deprived of words to convey
their feelings. Her companions say
that she was mild and merciful to
birds. She considered them as crea-
lures condemned by God to live near
men, in state of transition between
soul and matter, and having in their
nature nothing as vet complete, but
the painful faculties of suffering and
love. All that was melancholy and in
definite in the sounds of nature, ats
tractcd and absorbed her. "She was
80 fond Of the sound Of bells" says
the old Chronicler, "that she promised
the ringer hanks Of wool from the au-
tumn gathering, if he would sound the
Angclus longer in the mornings"
But her pity was most strongly cx>
cited for the kingdom of France, and
for the young dauphin-motherlcss
without country,and without throne.
The tales she daily heard from monks,
soldiers, pilgrims and bcggars-thc
cottage ncwsmcn of the time-fllcd
her Ecart with compassion forthe young
prince. His image was associated in
her mind with the calami,ics Of her
fathcrand. 1t was in him that she
saw it perish it was through him
that she prayed to God for its deliver
ance.-lIer spirit was ceasclessly oc-
cupicd with this anxiety and sadness.