It is said that Charles Sumner was more
scholarly, and that Stephen A. Douglas was a better organizer, and that
John J. Crittenden was more eloquent; but calling up my memory of Henry
Wilson, I have come to the conclusion that that life is grandly eloquent
whose peroration is heaven.--DR. TALMADGE, _in The Sunday Magazine_.
* * * * *
XLIV.
JOAN OF ARC
(BORN 1412--DIED 1431.)
THE PEASANT MAIDEN WHO DELIVERED HER COUNTRY AND BECAME A MARTYR IN ITS
CAUSE.
No story of heroism has greater attractions for youthful readers than
that of Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans. It would be long to tell how
for hundreds of years the greatest jealousy and mistrust existed between
England and France, and how constant disputes between their several
sovereigns led to wars and tumults; how, in the time of Henry the Fifth,
of England, a state of wild confusion existed on the continent, and how
that king also claimed to be king of France; how this fifth Henry was
married to Catherine, daughter of King Charles, and how they were
crowned king and queen of France; how, in the midst of his triumphs,
Henry died, and his son, an infant less than a year old, was declared
king in his stead; how wars broke out, and how, at last, a simple maiden
saved her country from the grasp of ambitious men. Hardly anything in
history is more wonderful than, the way in which she was raised up to
serve her country's need, and, having served it, died a martyr in its
cause.
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