Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1873-12-17
AGNES SOREL. sTHE LADY OF
BEAUTY"
from London Society.l

: from ner own time 10 ours, aIteI lapse
i of more than four centuries, the dis
g tinctive sobriquet of "the beautiful
Agnes"-was the daughter of NJ. Soreau
(vulgarly called Sorel, according to De
Mezerai), the Seigneur de st. Geran, a
: noble gentleman of Touraine.
She was born in 1409, and in l431,
when in her two-and-twentieth year,
, received the appointment of attendant
: or lady of honor to Isabella, Queen of
Naples and Sicily, from whose court
and service she passed into that of
, Mary, daughter of Louis IL, Duke of
Anjou, afterwards Queen of Charles
VII. where her rank. education, and,
, more than these, her marvellous beauty,
, all conspired to win her the perilous
attention of O king who was younger
than herself. Agnes was not seventeen,
as the fair authOress of the "Histoire
: des Favorites" asserts she was, at this
time; but had attained the more mature
age of at least twenty eight-perhaps
thirty, as Oliver de la Marche, con-
which took place in 1444, tells us that
''the King had just elevated a poor
lady, a pretty woman, called Agnes
Sorel, and placed her in such triumph
and power that her state was compare
BILE to that of the great princess of the
realm"
Her features were beautiful and ex-
pressive of extreme gentleness her
skin has been described as being of the
hue of alabaster, and her hair was mar
velously golden in its brightness. She
was then in the full bloom and beauty
of womanhood, and possessed a vivacity
of manner which "spread an air full of
charm on the least of her actions, so
that the most insensible souls could not
resist her" ("Histoire des Favorites'0.
Heaven" says this authoress, "had
not only endowed Agnes with the
charms of face she had an air full of
grace, an admirable figure, more wit
than any other woman in the world, and
the most delicate and finely turned,
with certain greatness of soul which
led her naturally to generosity all her
inclinations were noble she was atten-
tive, compassionate, ardent in friend
ship, discreet, sincere, and, in short,
altogether fitted to make herself beloved
to distraction"
De Mezerai writes of her as every
agreeable and generous lady, who, by
setting herself up as the equal of the
greatest princesses, became the envy of
the Court and the scandal of France"
With all her errors, Agnes was admitted
to be lavish to the poor, to be pious,
generally humble, and always patriotic
and full of public spirit. The majority
of historians have written most favora-
bly, of her, and never did the mistress
of king, especially a king who was
her junior, make SO wise a use of her
perilous power, which she ever en-
ployed, only for the good of others.
Pride and an extreme love of dress are
the chief errors alleged against her
but to her influence over Charles VII. |
must be attributed all the good that
ever appeared in him, and the effort to
which he was reused that essay by
which, at last, the invading English
for he had been a lover Of pleasure,
land of the fair sex, which never can
be vice." adds Voltaire, ''save when
it leads to vicious actions"
Charles was neither warlike nor a
high h-spirited king. The influence of
England in France after the death of
its conqueror, Henry v, was so nobly !
sustained by his brother, the Duke of
Bedford, that after the demise of
Charles VI, his successor had been |
crowned at Poictiers, Rheims being |
then in possession of the foe; and he |
was but the monarch of a nominal
kingdom, France having greatly aided
the English invaders, as she was rent
by two rival factions, one led by the |
Duke of Burgundy and the other by
the Duke of Orleans. Charles vi. had
been alternately the prisoner Of each,
and the Dauphin was the scoff OF both |
often fugitive, and always in danger |
of destruction.
When the latter became Charles VII. |
aided by an alliance with Scotland-the
usual "cats-paw" of the French in their
English wars-and by body of Scot
tish troops under the Earl of Buchan,
who was constable of France, he made
some show of resistance, when all hope
seemed at an end, and to this unwonted
activity he was reused by Agnes Sorel.
He had already conceived the feeble
idea of retiring into Languedoc or
Dauphiry, and contenting himself with !
the defence of these minor provinces,
which must, eventually, have been
wrested from him. Mary of Anjou, a
princess of great prudence and merit,
vehemently opposed this measure,
which she saw would lead to a general
desertion Of his cause by the French
people.
"The fair Agnes Sorel," says Hume,
"who lived in entire amity with the
Queen, seconded all her remonstrances,
and threatened that if he (Charles) thus
pusillanimously threw away the sceptre
of France, she would seek at the court
of England fortune that vas cores
pondent to her wishes" Thus, the
love of her on one hand, and dread of
losing her on the other, reused in the
breast of Charles VII. a glow of courage
which neither just ambition nor pure
patriotism could kindle, and he resolved
to dispute every inch of French soil
with his imperiOus enemies, rather than
yield ingloriously to an evil fortune and
to the loss of his crown and mistress.
And thus, in urging him to the field,
Mary of Anjou was forced to seek the
assistance of that fair rival who had
supplanted her and she seems at all
times to have borne with singular
sweetness of temper-with a resignation
that some might think savored OF indif-
ference or stupidity-the alienation of
the Kings love for herself and neither
by action or word does she seem ever to
have reproached the reigning fayorite.
But now o new ally came in the per-
son of Joan Of Arc; victory attended
her banners, and in two months Charles
VII. was crowned again, a step consid-
cred necessary after the double corona
ton of young Henry of England at
Westminster and Paris. The loss of
the latter city soon followed. The Maid
of Orleans perished at the stake; but
her mission was accomplished-France
was free, and England was glad to sign
the treaty of Arras.
After this consummation Charles