ir allies, the English,
of her shameful trial and cruel death, are facts so well known that
they may well be passed over here as briefly as possible. Suffice it
to say, that, except for a time, even the triumph of this
maiden-patriot did little to rouse the indolent king, who speedily
returned to his selfish life in Touraine. War, pillage, and anarchy
again devastated France. But gradually a change came over Charles. He
seemed to awake as from a stupor. Dissolute and self-seeking
favourites were dismissed, and the king was surrounded by able and
high-minded men. He bestirred himself to make a final peace with
Burgundy and Brittany, and to take part in the war which was still
smouldering, though there were signs of its approaching end.

What was the secret of such a change? That it was due, in the first
instance, partly to the wise influence of his mother-in-law, Yolande
of Aragon, and partly also to that of his wife, Marie of Anjou, sister
of the good Duke Rene, seems almost certain, but that it was
intensified when Agnes Sorel came into his life, there can be no
doubt. When we consider the king's earlier life, and what it was
whilst he was under the influence of Agnes, and his relapse into
indolence and debauchery after her death, we can only attribute much
of this change to her sympathetic and wise guidance. Joan of Arc had
represented the popular element, Agnes Sorel represented the
aristocratic. Joan of Arc aroused the people to united action by her
enthusiasm and success, Agnes Sorel, in her time, helped to complete
the consolidation of the kingdom, by inspiring and sustaining the
king. Perhaps no one man could have accomplished such a revolution. It
took two women to do this, and what they did was not of mere passing
worth. Phoenix-like, France arose from the ashes of the Hundred Years'
War, and it was Agnes Sorel, as priestess, who stirred the embers
which hid the new life.

Voltaire, generally more ready to scoff than to approve, wrote thus of
Agnes Sorel:

Le bon roi Charles, au printemps de ses jours,

* * * * *

Avait trouve, _pour le bien de la France_,
Une beaute, nommee Agnes Sorel.

Was it for the good of France? Let us disregard prejudices, and
examine facts. Even then, if all that is known of her were written, it
could only bear to this rare personality the resemblance which a faint
reflection does to reality.

Agnes Sorel was probably born about 1420