these wretches shall not escape the vengeance of Heaven," and immediately mounted upon the enemies trenches, and with her own hand planted there the standard of France. The siege of Orleans was soon after raised. The first object of her mission being fulfilled she was desirous of accomplishing the second. She marched towards Rheims, and caused the king to be crowned on the 17th of July, 1429, assisting at the ceremony with the standard in her hand. Charles, sensible of the eminent services of this heroine, ennobled her family, gave it the name of du Lys, and added to it a considerable domain to support the distinction. But the good fortune of Joan of Arc soon forsook her. She was wounded at the attack on Paris, and taken in a sortie at the siege of Compeigne. This reverse immediately removed the astonishment and veneration with which her countrymen and her enemies even were penetrated. Excited to jealousy by the terror she had inspired, they sought a pretext to destroy her; and following the superstitious ideas generally prevalent in the fifteenth century, and in direct violation of the rights of war, condemned her to death, in 1431, as a sorceress, impostor, and idolater, desirous of the effusion of human blood. This extraordinary female appeared at the stake with the same intrepidity she displayed on the walls of Orleans, and was burnt at Rouen, on the 30th of May, in the same year. From a medal that was struck in honour of this heroine, after the coronation of the king at Rheims, we learn that she took for her device a hand bearing a sword, with the words, Consilio firmata Dei. Her exploits have given birth to two poems, one by Chapelain, the other by Vol taire. JOAN OF ARC, The model in plaster of the statue of Joan of Arc, by M. Gois the younger, met with considerable applause during its exhibition. The attitude is admirable, and the costume is well preserved: the plinth is ornamented with three basso relievos, representing the heroine armed by Charles VII. the coronation of the prince, and her memorable but unmerited death. |