The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1870-11-24
NUMBER 43.
JOAN OF ARC.


Miss Anna Dickinson's 8 lecture on the
historical Joan is of interest. The fol-
lowing is synopsis Of the lecture
'' Miss Anna Dickinson commenced
by speaking of women in France from
the fifteenth to the nineteenth century.
and their disabilities. legal, social and
otherwise. Passing from this. she said
that among the many names which would
pass down TO eternity was that of Joan
Of Arc, who ended strife and won vIcto~
~ for France, the nation that had
brought untold misery upon itself by ex-
cluding women from the throne. In 1916,
when a young woman was sole heir to
the throne, many believed then, as since,
that "a women had not the power to en-
force the law, she should have no voice in
making it. and the young girl. the right
tul heir, was thrust aside and man
placed on the throne Little did the
1 people then think of the revolutions that
were to ensue. and that great victories
would be won and peace established by
another young girl. In 1922, at tbe death
I of Charles the Sixth, France had been
stripped and barred to the skin. The
! peasants were impoverished and famine
followed. Charles the successor was
weakling, while Bedford, vino represent
! ed England, was the most powerful mon
arch of his time. II was tiIe power of
weakness against strength. The nation
stripped herself in her poverty, and the
/ gay young French mobiles threw them
selves into the struggle to win or die.
! Here was the last stand to be taken for
French nationality, but the teeth of huns
/ ger and cold gnaw through the strongest
| resolutions, and Orleans stretched out
her hands TO the King for belp. Sud-
denly, through the dark light came,
/ and a voice like a tempest was heard
, saying: " am come from God TO save
! you
s. The speaker then proceeded to give
biography of the celebrated subject of
! her lecture. Joan of Arc was born ia
/ l4ll, in Domemy, little village of Lor-
raine. Her father WAS poor but indie
/ pendent peasant, man whose inGepen-
! dence came from actual ownership of the
soil. Her mother was an industrious and
! pious woman, and skilled workwoman.
/ Joan as a child was tender, benevolent,
.
! not content in being at church simply at
! mathis and vespers, and she was so inn
/ pressed with church bells that she gave
! her scanty earnings to the bell ringer to
! prolong their melodies. While her eonl-
! panions played she prayed, and in the
| great forest of the Vosges, near her ia
ther's house, she often strayed, gathering
vague inspiration from the solemn under
+ tone of the trees. Her home stood at
I the crossing of two great roads, where
many travellers passed, and the tales of
/ France they told grew sadder and sadder
! as years passed by. The girl was in
tensely loyal. Her sentiment for France
was not sentiment, it was divine pas
sion. She loved France, believed in
France, and was entirely devoted to her
country. As she hears the proverb that
France, lest through a woman, shall be
restored through girl of the marshes of
Lorraine, solitude, nature, prayer and
faith feed the awful hope, and she be-
lieves she is destined through God to re-
lieve France of her enemies. In vision,
she tells us, St. Michael appeared, and
told her God had chosen her TO crown
the King, Henry VII, and drive out the
armies of the victorious English.
" Miss Dickinson then gave a glowing
portrayal of the visions of the deliverance
of France, which fastened themselves
ppon the mind of the young girl. But
the parents of Joan of Are did not be-
lieve in her visions, and finally an uncle.
who loved her, took her to his house. and
{ Il, h..- kl 4
ernor to saY that his niece was sent by
God to raise the siege of Orleans and
crown the King The Governor derides
both uncle and niece, bot 6nally the
King sends for her 10 come into his pres
ence. Armed and equipped she traverses
one hundred and four leagues of territory,
every fortress of which is in the hands of
the enemy, and crossing eight rivers
which have no bridges, is finally received
by the King, who disguises himself, and
appears among his courtiers. She at
once recognizes him, and as last hope
he listens to her plans, and she is paced
in command with the title of general.
1.-The details of the famous siege OF
Orleans, the terrible attack on Paris, in
which Joan was W ounded, and the crown
ing of the King at Rheims were then
given. ard after thrilling and feeling
account of Joan's betrayal, Imprisonment
: and death at the stake, the fair lecturer
: closed with an appeal to women to live
in such manner as to he worthy to be.
long to the sex of which Joan of Are
was the spotless. innocent and modes
representative, and to keep her in recol.
: lection with that remembrance which il
more than fame"