Charles, though he desired, still feared, the proffered aid. After due consultation, however, it was concluded to grant Joan’s request, and she received the rank of a military commander. A suit of armor was made for her, and she sent to Fierbois for a sword which, she said, would be found buried in a certain spot in the church. It was found there, and conveyed to her. The circumstance became afterwards one of the alleged proofs of her sorcery or imposture. Her having passed some time at Fierbois among the ecclesiastics of the place, must have led, in some way or other, to her knowledge of the deposit. Strong in the conviction of her mission, it was Joan’s desire to 352 enter Orleans from the north, and through all the fortifications of the English. Dunois, however, and the other leaders at length overruled her, and induced her to abandon the little company of pious companions which she had raised, and to enter the beleaguered city by water, as the least perilous path. She succeeded in carrying with her a convoy of provisions to the besieged.
The entry of Joan of Arc into Orleans, at the end of April, was itself a triumph. The hearts of the besieged were raised from despair to a fanatical confidence of success; and the English, who in every encounter had defeated the French, felt their courage paralyzed by the coming of this simple girl. We cannot give the details of the wonderful events that followed; it must suffice to say, that the French were inspired with the utmost courage, and after a series of great achievements, in which the wonderful maiden took the lead, the siege was raised. Thus, in one week after her arrival, the beleaguered city was relieved. The most incredible of her promises was now fulfilled, and she henceforth received the title of “Maid of Orleans.”
The French now carried all before them, under the guidance of this maiden leader; and, in three months after she came to the relief of Charles, he was crowned at Rheims, which had surrendered to his arms. After a series of successes, she was in one instance defeated, and finally was captured in a sally against the enemy, May, 1430. She was now handed over to the English partisans in France, brought to trial on the charge of sorcery, and condemned to death. A pile of wood was prepared in the market-place at Rouen, and, encircled by a body of judges and ecclesiastics, she was then burned to death, and her ashes thrown into the Seine. This took place in May, 1431. Thus perished one of the most pure, lovely, and exalted beings that ever lived. In 1454, a revision of her sentence took place, and a monument was erected to her honor, on the spot where she had been inhumanly put to death.
For summoning juries.
President Adams survived his excellent lady several years, and died on the 4th of July, 1826, aged ninety-one. On the morning of the jubilee, he was roused by the ringing of bells and the firing of cannon. Being asked if he knew what day it was, he replied, “O yes, it is the glorious 4th of July—God bless it! God bless you all!” Just before he expired, he said, “Jefferson survives;” but at one o’clock that very day, Jefferson rendered up his spirit to his Maker. The family residence of John Adams at Quincy is the residence of his distinguished son, John Quincy Adams.
American Portrait Gallery.