ABSTRACT
The history of Joan of Arc is one of those problems thatb render investigation fruitless.c That she believed herself inspired, few will deny; that she was inspired, 201no one will venture to assert; and who cana believe that she was herself imposed on b by Charles and Dunois? That she discovered the King when he disguised himself among the Courtiers to deceive her, and that, as a proof of her mission, she demanded a sword from a tomb in the church of St. Catherine, are facts in which all historians agree. If this had been done by collusion, the Maid must have known herself an imposter, and with that knowledge could not have performed the enterprize she undertook. Enthusiasm, and that of no common kind, was necessary, to enable a young Maiden at once to assume the profession of arms, to lead her troops to battle, to fight among the foremost, and to subdue with an 202inferiour force an enemy then believed invincible. It is not possible that one who felt herself the puppet of a party, could have performed these things. The artifices of a court could not have persuaded her that she discovered Charles in disguise; nor could they have prompted her to demand the sword which they might have hidden, without discovering the deceit. The Maid then was not knowingly an imposter; nor could she have been the instrument of the court; and to say that she believed herself inspired, will neither account for her singling out the King, or prophetically claiming the sword. After crowning Charles, she declared that her mission was accomplished, and demanded leave to retire. Enthusiasm would not have ceased here; and if they who imposed on her, could persuade her still to go with their armies, they could still have continued her delusion.
