Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 1.djvu/471

 9 th S. I. JUKE 11, '98.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

463

Sur les Anglois par Jeanne d'Arc,

Dite la Pucelle d'Orleans, A e'te' r^tabli dans sa premiere forme, Du voeu des Habitans, et les soins de M. Jacque du Coudray, Maire.

f Isambert de Bagnaux, J

. n onseillers.

,

TV/TA/T J Vandebergue de Villeboure, I ^ , MM -lBollevedeDomcy, pchevms.

iDeloynes de Gautray, J

IDesfriches, "\

Chaubert, Colas de Malmusse, 1 n

Arnault de Noblevllle, [C

Boilleve, Lhuillier de Planchevilliers, J

L'an M.DCC.LXXI.

" The inscription on the other face is remarkable for its noble simplicity:

D. q. M.

Pietatis in Deum,

Reverentise in Dei-Param [sic],

Fidelitatis in Regem,

Amoris in Patriam,

Grati animi in Puellam,

Monumentum

Instauravere Gives Anreliani, Anno Domini M.DCC.LXXI.

" The drawings of the pedestal and of the simple and elegant iron rails which enclose it are by M. Soyer, engineer of the river-banks and moles ; and the whole of this monument is due to M. Desfriches.

" It is by mistake that the inscriptions in letters of gold on the restored monument nave been attri- buted to M. Jacques Ducoudray, then Mayor of Orleans ; the author is M. Colas, of Guienne, priest and canon of the royal church of St. Aignan.

"The monument erected in 1771 differs much from that of 1458. It has, moreover, neither the same dispositions, nor the same costumes, nor the same armour. A single lance is laid upon the ground at the foot of the monument. The Maid, instead of having her hair floating, has it tied near the neck-stock. The helmets appear in full front, whilst they are in profile in the first monument. In the space which separates them is placed an escutcheon of the arms of France. The two statues are kneeling upon cushions. As for the rest, there is not any resemblance between the armour of the king and of the Maid in the two monuments. The swords particularly have a different appearance ; they are hung upon a hook at the sword-belt with- out the intermediary of a shoulder-belt, and are found thus suspended at the top of the thigh.*

"The restored monument by Desfriches remained standing until 1792. On the 23rd of August the members of the section of St. Victor addressed to the Administrators composing the permanent Council of the Loiret a petition to have the monu- ment of Charles VII. demolished, as insulting to the liberty of the French people. They proposed to convert it into cannon, f The municipal authority


 * "Appreciation of M. Jollois."

f" Petition: 'Administrators, having justified the confidence of the permanent section of St. Victor by the zeal that you have brought to do right to the petitions presented by your citizens, this is directed to you for an important object that they submit to your discussion. The National Assembly has issued a decree for arming with

came to a courageous resolution. It declared that the monument of the Maid, far from being able to be regarded as a sign of feudality insulting to the liberty of the French people, was on the contrary announced as an act of gratitude towards the Supreme Being, and a glorious testimony of the valour of our ancestors, who delivered the French nation from the yoke that the English wished to impose on them, and it was its opinion that the monument ought not to be destroyed. But on 27 September, at an evening sitting, the Council- General of the Commune resolved unanimously that the figures in bronze forming the monument of the Maid should be employed in the making of cannon and that, in order to preserve the memory of it, one of these cannon should bear the name of Joan of Arc. Such was the outrage that the influence of Leonard Bournard made oiir heroine undergo. She preserved at least, after this profanation, the noble destiny of overthrowing the enemies of France. At last, by decree of the 20th of July, 1793, the iron rails which enclosed the pedestal of the monument of the late Maid were converted into pikes."

Upon reference to the original authorities quoted above, and considerable further re- search, I fail to find, notwithstanding the statements of our author and the Abbe Dubois, any engraving, drawing, or painting which represents, or purports to represent, the monument in question, either in its original or its first restored state, except the picture in the Mairie at Orleans, which (having, like so many other ancient pictures of the kind, apparently been executed from memory) is incorrect in detail and unreliable, and, as regards the original monument, practically contradicts the evidence of contemporary witnesses of high authority. The engraved title of Gautier alluded to is not intended to represent the monument, although certain figures delineated therein, as also those on the reverse of the gold medal engraved in the 'France Metallique,' and the engraving in De Serres's ' Histoire de France,' as above mentioned, were no doubt suggested by such monument. In any case they only serve to support my conclusions in this matter.

pikes all the citizens who cannot pay for muskets : these citizens thus armed will be 01 little defence

not belonging to it and not being able to serve as pieces for ramparts. It would then be essential to find means to augment our artillery. In order to obtain it, the section of St. Victor proposes to you to have the monument of Charles VII. demolished, a monument which is insulting to the liberty of the French people, and which is only adapted to irritate men who have too long groaned under the servitude of kings. The bronzes that will be taken off will give, from the artists, two or three pieces of four pounds shot : these are now the only monument which ought to exist amongst a free nation, to make tyrants tremble ! ' "