The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1903-05-28
Paper Read Before the Chautauqua Circle.

Paper Read Before the Cha,ttauqua Circle.
N IOONE familiar with the his
M tory of France will dispute
Y that she has produced num-
ber of great men. Not great
because they were the essence of truth
and honor, but because the force of
their mighty genius made them so.
Still the statecraft of Richelieu, the
military genius of Napoleon and the
philosophy of Voltaire have been
equaled, if not surpassed by men of
other nations. But France may boast
with pride that the world has produced
but one Joan of Arc. Her military
genius and statecraft, her romantic
career and tragic death, to say nothing
of the moral grandeur of her character,
would be sufficient cause for placing
her name at the head of great women.
Inasmuch as she accomplished some
thing that no other woman, before or
after her, accomplished, or even at
tempted to accomplish, she is unques-
tionably without parallel in the his
tory of the world.
Joan of. Arc was born 1412, just a
few years before the French dynasty
was on the eve of destruction. Like
Napoleon, she was rocked in the cradle
of agitation, and her prophetic young
soul looked heavenward for the pro-
lection and welfare of her country.
Ours is commercial age and faith has
become but word. If it has mean
ing it is epitomized by purchasing
power. But to realize that faith is not
a mere name, we have only to turn to
the life of Joan of Arc. 1t is not too
much to say that no one else but she
could have done what she did; for at
that time the church had lost its
authority and religion was but a mat
ter of forms and ceremonies. Joan of
Arc introduced to the people of France
the spirit of religion-the faith that
moves mountains. The simplicity of
her young life as peasant girl is beau
tiful to contemplate, but that simple
ity was. interrupted by the cruel hand
of Fate, and she awoke from her child
hood one day to hear a voice telling her
that she must rescue France. Whether
this voice came from above, or whether
it came from within is of no import;
to her it was message from God and
it never entered her mind to doubt it.
She was told that she must have the
Dauphin crowned king of France. How
this was to be accomplished she knew
not. All she knew was that she was
the instrument chosen to accomplish
it, and from the first she never doubted
that she would be successful. The faith
that possessed her was contagious. 1t
inspired her with a knowledge of the
world greater than that possessed by
the most subtle courtier and with a
wit as keen as that possessed by the
most learned judge. 1t was so bound
less that the mere coming in contact
with her awoke to enthusiasm lighting
men satiated with the brutalities of q
long warfare and for time implanted
in their breasts the faith and strong be-
lief of martyrs
Joan of Arc was the daughter of ont
Jacques d'Arc, a shepherd of Lorraine
From early childhood she tended hel
fathers sheep and spent a solitary lift
with her flocks amid her native hills
For days at time she would be off b.
herself and see no one from morning
until night, and at other times sh'
sought further quiet by kneeling TO
hours in the deserted village church
1t was here that she first thought sh
heard spirits talking to her; and as tn
people at that time had ardent faith il
ghosts and spirits, when Joan spoke o
her experiences, they believed hel
and never once thought Of ques
tioning her sanity. At first the gir
said nothing to her father of her visions
but finally she told him that St. Michea
had appeared to her and ordered her t
60 and help the sDauphin. She was a