The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-31
< NEW SAINT.

r The announcement that on the 18th of April next the Maid of Orleans will be canonized by the Roman Cath ollie Church and become Saint Joan of Arc calls renewed attention to one of the most romantic figures of the past. Says The New York World:
 All said, the Maid of Orleans Is the most romantic figure in history been made about her than about Mary Queen of Scots. The publication with in year of lives of the Maid by Ana. tOle France and Andrew Lang testifes ian.t Of her standing in popular fame an idea may be gained from the disci- plining of school instructor in France for speaking unbecomingly' of Joan in criticism of school
 Controversy oyer Joan has ragged through the centuries. She has been alternately as sorceress and &C., claimed a saint. Voltaire heaped ridf- cule on her. Michelet idealized her. Schiller glorified her. The embers of the strife have been stirred anew by M. France and Mir. Lang. How a mod ern allenfst would regard her visions. what verdict he would render on the
 NOiCES MHlCfi- lHEpiECQ anu kuE0CA her, It is unnecessary to say.
 But for the girl of seventeen in white armor who sacrificed herself on the altar of patriotism, the brave hearted peasant lass whose high cour- age and strong spirit saved France from her foes and gave the Dauphin a crown. the world af heart must al- ways cherish chiva1rous affection. To the historian. John Richard Green Joan was the one pure figure which rises out of the greed. the lust, the selfshness and unbelief of the time" And this is the judgment which dis eliminating modern opinion, irrespec- tive of church honors. is disposed to pass on her.
 Perhaps q brief account of this fam oas character of five centuries ago may not be out of place, Joan was the daughter of humble parents of the Province of vosges, France, where she was born in 1412. When little more than a child she claimed that she had received mysterious visions and heard strange voices from the unseen world. A little later she declared that she had been supernaturally called to aid the French Dauphin, then contend ing for the throne of France. She finally succeeded in reaching him and so impressed him that he acceded to her wishes and she put herself at the head of the army which she inspired by her example. On April 29, 142s she made her way with supplies and provisions into Orleans, then besieged by the English and through her help the enemy was driven off and forced to raise the seige. She saw the Dau- phln crowned at Rheims and then re- turned to the army. After various ad- ventures she was captured by the Bur gundian forces and conveyed to Rouen, the headquarters of the English army, and there she was tried and con demned as heretic and was burned at the stake on May 30, 1431. being then but nineteen years of age.
 Such in brief is the history of the Hl-fated French maid. one of the most romantic characters in that day of TO- nance, and one about whom there has been a vast dealkof discussion and dispute It has been argued on one side that the entire story Is myth and that no such being ever existed; while on the other side it is argued with equal posltlvity that she was a real parsonage, that she performed all that is recorded of her. and that her strange inspiration. her wonderful courage and devotion. and her cruel and untimely fate are matters of his- torical truth. Whatever may or may not be the exact facts she will live in romance through all time, and 1t is plain that the Catholic Church believes in the authenticity of her story, or she would not be placed among the lists of saints of that church.