Page:Daughters of Genius.djvu/457

 THE TRIAL OF JEANNE DARC. 445 to her parents. She was a well-grown girl, robust, strong, and vigorous. Of the numerous portraits known to have been taken of her during the two years of her glory, I know not if any one has been preserved. Probably not ; else why do not Martin, Guizot, and the other French historians give some authority for the radiant beauty of the pictures they present to us of the Maid ? Beautiful she probably was. Pitiful and devout we know she was from the testimony of all her village, as well as from that of her pastors, who heard her in confession, and witnessed her life from day to day and from hour to hour. We know, also, that her heart was wrung with sorrow for her desolated country, and her careless, self-indulgent King, whom she ignorantly thought a peerless hero and a Christian knight without reproach. Such traits as these, subdued by Catholic habits, impart to youth and beauty, untutored though it be, an assured serenity of demeanor which impresses and charms. By Catholic habits I mean such as the habit of remaining still and silent in one attitude for a long time, the habit of walking at a measured pace with the hands in a pre- scribed position, the habit of pausing several times a day and collecting the soul in meditation on themes remote from the day's toil and trouble. The effect of these habits upon the nervous system, and consequently upon the demeanor, is such as to give convent schools an obvious advantage, which keeps them full of pupils all over the world. Granting that the effect is chiefly phys- ical, and that it is often overvalued, we must still admit that it often confers personal power and personal charm. The story of this village maiden is incomprehensi- ble, unless we allow her the might and majesty of such a presence as we still see in pure-minded and nobly purposed women. Many of those who executed her will at critical moments could only explain their