indecke,
_passim_. Fauche-Prunelle, _Lettres tirees des archives de Grenoble_
in _Bull. Acad. delph._, vol. ii, 1847, 1849, pp. 459, 460. Letter
written by deputies, agents of a German town, in _Trial_, vol. v, p.
347. Letter from Jean Desch, Secretary of the town of Metz, _ibid._,
pp. 352, 355.]

At the age of seven Jeanne kept sheep; the wolves did not molest her
flock; the birds of the field, when she called them, came and ate
bread from her lap. The wicked had no power over her. No one beneath
her roof need fear man's fraud or ill-will.[1568]

[Footnote 1568: Letters from Perceval de Boulainvilliers to the Duke
of Milan, in _Trial_, vol. v, pp. 114, 116.]

When it is a Latin poet who is writing, the miracles attending
Jeanne's birth assume a Roman majesty and are clothed with the august
dignity of ancient myths. Thus it is curious to find a humanist of
1429 summoning the Italian muse to the cradle of Zabillet Romee's
daughter.

"The thunder rolled, the ocean shuddered, the earth shook, the heavens
were on fire, the universe rejoiced visibly; a strange transport
mingled with fear moved the enraptured nations. They sing sweet verses
and dance in harmonious motion at the sign of the salvation prepared
for the French people by this celestial birth."[1569]

[Footnote 1569: Anonymous poem on the coming of the Maid and the
Deliverance of Orleans, _Trial_, vol. v, p. 27, line 70 _et seq._]

Moreover an attempt was made to represent the wonders that had
heralded the nativity of Jesus as having been repeated on the birth of
Jeanne. It was imagined that she was born on the night of the
Epiphany. The shepherds of her village, moved by an indescribable joy,
the cause of which was unknown to them, hastened through the darkness
towards the marvellous mystery. The cocks, heralds of this new joy,
sing at an unusual season and, flapping their wings, seem to prophesy
for two hours. Thus the child in her cradle had her adoration of the
shepherds.[1570]

[Footnote 1570: "_In nocte Epiphaniarum_," says the letter from
Perceval de Boulainvilliers (_Trial_, vol. v, p. 116), that is, Jan.
6. For centuries, even after the fourth century, the birth of our Lord
was celebrated on that day. In France it was the Feast of Kings and
then was sung the anthem: _Magi videntes stellam_.]

Of her coming into France there was much to tell. It was related that
in the Chateau of Chinon she had recognised the King, whom she had
never seen before,