enry VI., of England, was proclaimed king of both nations; while at the
same time the dauphin was hailed King of France by his few followers.
But his fortunes were at the lowest ebb, his small army, stationed at
Orleans, was in need of food. Four thousand of his men went out to
search for provisions, and encountered half that number of English
soldiers. A battle ensued, and five hundred of the bravest French
soldiers were left dead on the field of strife. Despite their bravery,
hunger and fatigue had unfitted them to combat with their well-fed
adversaries.

The dauphin had shut himself in the castle of Chinon, with fair women
and gay comrades, while the siege was raging before the walls of
Orleans. He was at that time a weak and vacillant youth, given over to
the same pleasures and vices which drove his father mad and caused his
brother's death. He had no pride in rescuing his crown from the English,
and it must be confessed that the treatment he had received from his own
mother and his own countrymen, who sold him to the enemy, was sufficient
to dishearten a stronger nature than his. Added to this, he was doubtful
of his legitimate right to the throne, owing to his mother's depraved
career. But when, in the midst of his orgies, the news was brought to
him, in the castle of Chinon, that his army was defeated before the
walls of Orleans, what little hope or courage he had left seemed to
desert him and he sank into a state of despair.

And far away on the frontier, in the little village of Domremy, a young
girl watched her flocks, and wept over the fate of her beloved country;
and weeping, prayed that God would save France from the oppressor. How
earnestly she prayed, and how well God listened, history has recorded in
a tale more wonderful than any story ever conceived by the imagination
of man, and sadder than any other save the story of the Nazarene upon
the Cross of Calvary.

The end of France as a nation seemed at hand. The nobility had been led
into captivity and sold to an invading enemy; the clergy had seen its
altars defamed by arrogant strangers. Industry had been ruined by civil
wars during the long imbecility of Charles VI., and the succeeding
ravages made by the English. Villages were depopulated, homes desolated,
and look where they might, the people of France saw no hope of aid, save
from on high.

Of this epoch Henry Martin says, "The people expected nothing from human
sources; but a sentiment of indest