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Pacific Press Publishing Co. · New York · July 14, 1898

FromAmerican Sentinel, Vol. 13, No. 27

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Studies in French History—29.

By MRS. L. D. AVERY-STUTTLE.

“Who was the Duke of Bedford?” asked Charlie White, as the scholars took their places in the pleasant class room. “Rob and I both got a little mixed over that point.”
“Can any of my girls or boys help him out? if so, don’t be afraid to speak,” replied the teacher.
“I was a little uncertain on this very point, and so I asked Aunt Eunice,” said Julia March. “She said that the Duke of Bedford was the man whom the king of England—Henry Fifth—before he died, appointed to act as ruler in France till the baby king of England grew up big enough.”
“That is quite good, Julia. I’m glad you care enough about these lessons to ask questions about them. Now we will go on with our lesson about Jeanne Darc, or Joan of Arc, as she is sometimes called.
“Charles VII. was an extremely selfish and ungrateful fellow, for he made no effort to do anything for the poor creature who had done so much for him,—not even offering a ransom for the devoted maid, who had risked all for love of her country and her king. The English duke dared not put her to death, for he feared as well as hated her. So he did a contemptible thing; he set human blood-hounds,—the bishops of the church,—upon her track.”
“I don’t see what right the bishops had to meddle with the matter,” protested Joe Palmeter, indignantly.
“They ought not to have had anything to do with it, Joseph, but alas! they did,—they did; and they pretended to find some trouble with her religious belief. At least they did not agree with her in every particular, and this was sufficient to send her to the stake.”
“You don’t mean to say, professor, that this is the reason she was burned,” said Florence Ray.
“They made it an excuse, and over her head the cruel bishop wrote the words, ‘Heretic, Apostate, Idolator.’ The work of the Maid of Orleans, as she was also called, did not stop at her death,” continued the teacher, “but it was taken up by others,—the Count of Richmond taking a prominent part, until the country was all retaken from the English, and Charles the Victorious, as he was called, marched into Paris a proud conqueror.”
“Who was the Count of Richmond, professor?” asked Will Palmeter. “You say he acted a prominent part in the retaking of France from England.”
“He had been Constable of France, but on account of some jealousies had been banished. Charles finally sent for him and made him prime minister.”
“I can’t see how France could prosper enough to become free while the Burgundians and Armagnacs were quarreling among themselves,” commented Julia March.
“I’m glad you spoke of that point, Julia, I was forgetting to mention that these two factions had about become tired of fighting each other, so the Burgundians became reconciled to their own king, and Charles forgave them. However, it is almost doubtful whether France would have recovered herself, had it not been for the help given to Charles by a very rich merchant, who helped him to large sums of money. But as was his disposition always, he was very ungrateful to him.
“This, you must remember, was in the fifteenth century.
“It seems almost impossible that only about 400 years ago there could have been such dreadful crimes committed and left unpunished as these were. The most horrible crimes were tolerated, provided the actors were only of noble blood,—and yet we can see something of the same condition of things to-day, not only in this country, but all over the world. Juries and judges are bribed, and money frees the greatest villains very often, even to-day; it seems to me indeed that truth has fallen in the streets. History tells us of a man who puts his own brother in prison and starved him to death; of an inhuman son who forced his old father to walk through the snow a long way, only to be imprisoned in a loathsome dungeon at his journey’s end; and of a wretch who cruelly murdered 100 innocent children. Although this man was executed finally, yet he was shown some clemency on account of his noble blood.”
“Well, Professor Carman, I very much prefer a noble character to all the noble blood in the world,” said Julia March.
“Was King Charles always just as lazy and indolent as he was when Jeanne Darc had to coax him to go to Rheims to be crowned?” asked Jennie Jacobs.
“No; he seemed to become quite an energetic fellow along in middle life, and it was well for the country that he did. The year 1453 saw the entire country taken from the English, only Calais and a little bit of land around it. So at last the hundred years’ war was over, and poor bleeding France might again breathe freely.
“But Charles now began to have trouble of a serious nature right in his own family. His oldest son, the Dauphin, Louis, tormented him in many ways, till at last the king became demented like his ill-fated father, Charles VI., and imagined that the dauphin was trying to poison him; so he refused to eat, and after a few days of suffering, died.
“Now,” continued the professor, earnestly, “as examination day is approaching, I must speak a word of warning. I hope none of you are studying simply to pass. If this is your highest motive, it would be better to stop where you are. I trust your object is the more noble one of so improving the talents given you that you may be better fitted for usefulness.”
Charlie White glanced a little uneasily at his friend Rob, who blushed deeply; and on the road home, if you and I had followed them, we would have heard him say:
“Look here, Charlie, I’m afraid I’m thinking more about that trip to Paris than any higher motive.”
“That’s so,” replied Charlie. “Say, Rob, let’s try to forget all about going, till after examination.”
MRS. L. D. AVERY-STUTTLE.