rings of others. But,
amidst the gloom which gathered around her, she looked, with the eye
of faith, to the brighter prospects which unfolded of the future. And,
when she resigned her last breath, it was with the tears and universal
lamentations of her people. It is in this undying, unabated attachment
of the nation, indeed, that we see the most unequivocal testimony to
the virtues of Isabella. Her own subjects extol her as 'the most
brilliant exemplar of every virtue,' and mourn over the day of her
death as 'the last of the prosperity and happiness of the country;'
while those who had nearer access to her person are unbounded in their
admiration of those amiable qualities whose full power is revealed
only in the unrestrained intimacies of domestic life."

JOAN OF ARC.

This interesting and extraordinary girl, surnamed the "Maid of
Orleans," from her heroic defence of that city, was born about the
year 1410, or '11, in the little hamlet of Domremy, near the Meuse,
and about three leagues south of Vaucouleurs, on the borders of
Champagne. Her parents were humble and honest peasants. The district
was remarkable for the devout simplicity of its inhabitants, as
well as for those romantic superstitions, which, in a rude age,
are so often allied with religion. It appears from the copious
depositions of witnesses from Domremy, examined at Joan's trial, that
she was unremitting in her prayers and other religious exercises, and
was strongly imbued, at a very early age, with the prevailing
superstitions of her native place.

During that period of anarchy in France, when the supreme power, which
had fallen from the hands of a monarch deprived of his reason, was
contended for by the rival houses of Orleans and Burgundy, the
conflicting parties carried on war more by murder and massacre than by
regular battles. When an army was wanted, both had recourse to the
English; and these conquering strangers made the unfortunate French
feel still deeper the horrors and ravages of war. At first, the
popular feeling was undecided; but when, on the death of Charles VI.,
the crown fell to a young prince, who adopted the Armagnac side,
whilst the house of Burgundy had sworn allegiance to a foreigner,
Henry V., as king of France,--then, indeed, the wishes and interests
of all the French were in favor of the Armagnacs, or the truly
patriotic party. Remote as was the village of Domremy, it was still
interested in the issue of the struggl