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JOAN OF ARC,

MODEL IN PLASTER, BY GOIS THE YOUNGER.

JOAN OF ARC, surnamed the Maid of Orleans, was born in 1412 at Dom-remi, near Vancouleurs in Lorraine; her father was a common peasant, called James d Arc. At the age of 17, while servant at an inn, she believed that the angel St. Michael, the protector of France, had ordered her to succour the city of Orleans, then closely pressed by the English, under the great Duke of Bedford, and predicted that, one day or other, she should procure the coronation of the king, Charles VII. at Rheims. This vision, while it elevated her mind, naturally strong and courageous, determined her to present herself to the king, who was then at Chinon. The valour and extraordinary enthusiasm that seemed to inspire this young girl astonished the king, and surprised the whole court. He resolved to avail himself of this unexpected, and almost supernatural aid, for the relief of Orleans, the last place capable of opposing the invasion of the English.

Joan of Arc communicated to the army the confidence and heroic valour with which she was animated. Clothed in the habit of a man, armed as a soldier, led by skilful officers, she undertook to relieve the place. She then approached the town, threw in provisions, and entered it in triumph. In the attack of one of the forts, she was wounded by an arrow; but it did not prevent her advancing. "It will cost me", she said, " a little blood, but

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