rescue of France through the efforts of a poor village girl. All France, north of the Loire, was in the hands of the English, and Bedford was closely besieging Orleans. The French people were nearly hopeless, and it seemed but a matter of a few days when Orleans must yield, and with its surrender all hope of saving France from complete conquest would vanish. In a little village in Lorraine lived a young girl of eighteen, Jeanne Darc, the daughter of a labourer. She was very ignorant, and knowing little of courts and camps, but pure and pious. She saw the misery of the land and was filled with a great pity for her country. In visions, she seemed to be told to go to Charles, the son of the French king, and to offer to crown him at Rheims. Her parents and friends tried to prevent her from going; but her ‘‘voices” left her no choice. Guided by a knight, she made her way to the French camp, and told Charles her mission. It was his last hope and he gave her her way. Clad in white armour, and mounted astride of her horse like a man, with the French banner waving over her, she led the rude French soldiery to the relief of Orleans, now on the point of surrendering. The effect was magical. Once more hope burned in the hearts of the French; and the English soldiers looked on in surprise and awe while Jeanne led her troops through their ranks, and entered Orleans. Soon the siege was raised. The English thought her a witch, who put fear in the hearts of their soldiers; while the French hailed her as a messenger from God come to deliver them from their enemies. Jeanne led her soldiers from victory to victory, until her mission was accomplished, and Charles was crowned at Rheims. Then she asked permission to go home; her “voices” had left her, and her work was done. But Charles would not let her go; he feared his soldiers would not fight well under any other leader. Some of the French generals were jealous of her, and at the siege of Compiégne, in 1430, let her fall into the hands of the English. Charles made no effort to save her, and she was taken to Rouen, where she was tried for witchcraft. Condemned in 1431 to be burnt alive, her courage and faith never forsook her. Her last word at the stake, while the flames raged fiercely around her, was ‘‘Jesus.” Her name yet lives green in the memory of the French people.
8. End of Hundred Years’ War.—The war lasted some time
