Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1857-06-25
Joan Of Arc.


poor peasant in the province of Lorraine She
was taught to sow and spin, but not to read
and write, and to the last of her career she
could not sign her own immortal nome She
was gentle, beautiful, bashful child, deeply
imbued with religious feelings Her religion
was the concrete Romanism of the time, and
was learned at her mothers knee The re-
ligious teaching instilled into her soul, became
the life of her whole being. She lived in an
internal world with saints and angels and
this inward life became deaIer and nearer than
her outward existence. She was a poet, as
we'll as devOtee, and the greatest that France
ever had She was Indifferent to the pastimes
of youth, and spent much time in prayer to ST.
Catharine and st. Margaret The disturbed
state of her country kindl ed her devotion into
fame of selfdevoted patriotism. Her inter-
nal world became endowed with external ex-
istence, and her visions pushed themselves into
voices, and shapes, visible to her entranced
eyes. The sense saw what the soul wished
At l3 years, walking in her fathers gar
den, she heard the voice of the Archangel Mi
chael calling upon her to 60 to the succor of
the king. Then came voices naming her the
deliverer of France No historian doubts her
faith in the reality of what she saw The
ed long this inward impulse The news of
the seige of Orleans at last decided her. Then
commenced that course of entreaty with the
governor which at last forced his common sense
to yield to the persistency of that sense which
is not common. She was permitted to go to
the dauphin at Chalons $50 leagues through
a country occupied by the enemy. She de-
tected the disguised dauphin, told him lie was
| 4 III, Ill
sent her to see him crowned in the city of
Rheims. After much hesitation her aid was
accepted Her work now was to relieve Or
leans and to see the dauphin crowned in the
city of Rheims, then in the hands of the Eng
lish. Her inspired earnestness spread enthu-
sasm around, and many believed in her pow
ers. She was hailed as saint She reform
ed the army-converting the soldiers from ma
rauders into crusaders, and changing the camp
into camp-meeting.
Her name went before her, and fought her
battles in the armies of the English. 1t was
a superstitious age, and they said, if she is Of
God, it is impious to fight against her-f of
the Devil how can we prevail against all France
backed by Satanic powers With 200 men
she entered the city, without opposition from
the English. Great was the Joy of the be-
seiged. Religious ceremonies were performed
and then came the attack Her military skill
consisted only in resolution and audacity.-
She mounted the walls of the English forts,
and though struck down by an arrow, she
again ascended, and struck terror into the Eng
Iish who thought her dead They began to
see visions in their turn, and declared that st.
Michael appeared in the air cheering on the
French. In seven days the English burned
their forts, raised the seige and retreated.-
Two months after Rheims opened its gates,
and the king was crowned. Joan's task was
done-her vision accomplished. She asked to
be allowed to return to her mother and the
care of her focks. Policy dictated a refusal,
and she was still retained to sustain the cause
she had saved. The only reward she asked
was that her native village might not be tax
ed, which it was not for 800 years,
But she no longer felt that she was doing
the work of God, and her heart was not in
| the work The saint was sinking into the sol
dier, when she was saved by captivity. She
| was taken prisoner by Burgundan soldier,
and sold to the English for 100000 lyres.-
| Their JOY knew no bounds The hated witch"
was at last in their hands, and they prepared
! to glut their vengeance, Charged with here
sy and sorcery, she fell into the hands of theo
! logical wolves and foxes who eXerted all the
malice and ingenuity of their mean natures to
entrap her, without success Her simplicity
and truthfunesS eyaded all their snares. Hav-
ing prosecuted her from hereto to a Catho-
lie, these Infamous creatures prosecuted her
from Catholic to a hereto, that they might
condemn her to a stake. She was burned in
the city of Rouen on the 10th of May, l431.
| Tins was cOnSummated one of the darkest
crimes recorded on the page of history, which,
as il blazons on the eye, across the interval of
four centuries, throws lurid glare of infamy
on the names of those who perpetrated it
Such beautiful simplicity, such angelic devo-
ton, was never before, nor never hereafter
will be witnessed on earth. Victorious over
persecution, peerless among women, the name
of Joan of Arc will perish not so long as beau
ty, devotion and goodness shall be cherished
among men.