登陆注册
27059400000119

第119章 AFTER.(3)

Twenty years after the martyrdom of Jeanne,long after he had,according to her prophecy,regained Paris and all that had been lost,it became a danger to the King of France that it should be possible to imagine that his kingdom had been recovered for him by means of sorcery;and accordingly a great new trial was appointed to revise the decisions of the old.In the same palace of the Archbishop at Rouen,which had witnessed so many scenes of the previous tragedy,the depositions of witnesses collected with the minutest care,and which it had taken a long time to gather from all quarters,were submitted for judgment,and a full and complete reversal of the condemnation was given.The /procès/was a civil one,instituted (nominally)by the mother and brothers of Jeanne,one of the latter being now a knight,Pierre de Lys,a gentleman of coat armour--against the heirs and representatives of Cauchon,Bishop of Beauvais,and Lema?tre,the Deputy Inquisitor--with other persons chiefly concerned in the judgment.Some of these men were dead,some,wisely,not to be found.

The result was such a mass of testimony as put every incident of the life of the Maid in the fullest light from her childhood to her death,and in consequence secured a triumphant and full acquittal of herself and her name from every reproach.This remarkable and indeed unique occurrence does not seem,however,to have roused any enthusiasm.

Perhaps France felt herself too guilty:perhaps the extraordinary calm of contemporary opinion which was still too near the catastrophe to see it fully:perhaps that difficulty in the diffusion of news which hindered the common knowledge of a trial--a thing too heavy to be blown upon the winds,--while it promulgated the legend,a thing so much more light to carry:may be the cause of this.But it is an extraordinary fact that Jeanne's name remained in abeyance for many ages,and that only in this century has it come to any sort of glory,in the country of which Jeanne is the first and greatest of patriots and champions,a country,too,to which national glory is more dear than daily bread.

In the new and wonderful spring of life that succeeded the revolution of 1830,the martyr of the fifteenth century came to light as by a revelation.The episode of the Pucelle in Michelet's /History of France/touched the heart of the world,and remains one of the finest efforts of history and the most popular picture of the saint.And perhaps,though so much less important in point of art,the maiden work of another maiden of Orleans--the little statue of Jeanne,so pure,so ******,so spiritual,made by the Princess Marie of that house,the daughter of the race which the Maid held in visionary love,and which thus only has ever attempted any return of that devotion--had its part in reawakening her name and memory.It fell again,however,after the great work of Quicherat had finally given to the country the means of fully forming its opinion on the subject which Fabre's translation,though unfortunately not literal and adorned with modern decorations,was calculated to render popular.A great crop of statues and some pictures not of any great artistic merit have since been dedicated to the memory of the Maid:but yet the public enthusiasm has never risen above the tide mark of literary applause.

There has been,however,a great movement of enthusiasm lately to gain for Jeanne the honour of canonisation[2];but it seems to have failed,or at least to have sunk again for the moment into silence.Perhaps these honours are out of date in our time.One of the most recent writers on the subject,M.Henri Blaze de Bury,suggests that one reason which retards this final consecration is "England,certainly not a negligible quantity to a Pope of our time."Let no such illusion move any mind,French or ecclesiastical.Canonisation means to us,Ipresume,and even to a great number of Catholics,simply the highest honour that can be paid to a holy and spotless name.In that sense there is no distinction of nation,and the English as warmly as the French,both being guilty towards her,and before God on her account--would welcome all honour that could be paid to one who,more truly than any princess of the blood,is Jeanne of France,the Maid,alone in her lofty humility and valour,and in everlasting fragrance of modesty and youth.

[1]The writer must add that personally,as a Scot,she has no right to use this pronoun.Scotland is entirely guiltless of this crime.

The Scots were fighting on the side of France through all these wars,a little perhaps for love of France,but much more out of natural hostility to the English.Yet at this time of day,except to state that fact,it is scarcely necessary to throw off the responsibility.The English side is now our side,though it was not so in the fifteenth century:and a writer of the English tongue must naturally desire that there should at least be fair play.

[2]I am informed,however,that she is already "Venerable,"not a very appropriate title--the same,I presume,as Bienheureuse,which is prettier,--and may therefore be addressed by the faithful in prayer,though her rank is only,as it were,brevet rank,and her elevation incomplete.

End

同类推荐
  • 丛林校定清规总要

    丛林校定清规总要

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 余墨偶谈

    余墨偶谈

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 饮水词

    饮水词

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 诸佛心印陀罗尼经

    诸佛心印陀罗尼经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 云溪友议

    云溪友议

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 屠九终余一

    屠九终余一

    “你们都想要这个位面?”屠愈左手负背,右手虚握着七彩闪烁的光球,喃喃说道。“是,又怎样?你还敢灭了我们?”一道声音从光球传来。“有何不敢?!”言毕,便是猛然将手一握,七彩光球瞬间消散,只余金光与紫光。二者分立与屠愈手掌,紫光传出声音:“你敢灭我们?你会受到九大位面的惩罚的!”“就凭你?还不至于。”说话间,一弹指,紫光化气散于天地间。
  • 梦啼

    梦啼

    茫茫荒古,被野兽尽占,人类的最后一片净土也将面临着覆灭的危机。在一个被封印的古界中,一位被逼走上强者之路的少年面对着凶残的兽族和阴险的人类,他将如何选择……
  • 海洋之门

    海洋之门

    这个世界变了,没有从前的风光,富饶。这个世界似乎有些黑暗,当现实幻想成真的时候,当黑暗降临在这个世界以后,黑暗的脚步永不会停止,黑暗吞并一切,吞并整个陆地,海洋!甚至是整个宇宙!这个世界有了黑暗,将支离破碎,没有光,一切处于黑暗之中。自从这个世界有了毛神经,将焕发光彩,无限宇宙中,无限生机!
  • 繁星若梦

    繁星若梦

    我的短篇小说集,献给正处于花季中的你们,清新、唯美、治愈,你若盛开,蝴蝶自来。
  • 灭仙之路

    灭仙之路

    妖将重生,一场腥风血雨即将到来,乱世之中,命运将被谁掌握?
  • 从末世到现在

    从末世到现在

    一个人,如果每日都和普通人一样,和普通人有什么不同?她一颗热血的心无法释放。她渴望真正的自由的心在逐渐回归平静。被淹没,被拘束。真实的灾难发生在她身边,她才知道,自由,是要用命来拥有的。重回到和平的现代,她才知道平凡是她所渴望的。..................................................................................................就是一个女的从末世回到了以前的生活,努力阻止末世,而放弃了她以前想要拥有的自由。
  • 邂逅,相逢,重生

    邂逅,相逢,重生

    一次转校之间的碰撞,数年的牵绊由此而生偶然的相遇,意外的相逢,一切的一切来的总是那么的猝不及防,下一刻你永远无法预料会发生什么,能做的,也只是珍惜现在,活在当下!只努力把此刻发生的此时经历的过的有意义!
  • 逍遥仙宗

    逍遥仙宗

    拥有世间第一无二的能力,神兽与他相伴,美女是他的侍女,仙子也被他所折服,他是谁?他曾经只是一个普通人而已。逆天之路何其难,却也无法难倒他。
  • 钱祸

    钱祸

    为钱生,为钱死,为钱辗转千百次!十次转生,万年不死。第一世我是黑帮老大为兄弟复仇走上黑暗之路。第二世我是上古九黎之主,我以为命运可以改写。第三世........
  • 俗语中的人生智慧

    俗语中的人生智慧

    本书精心收集了俗语100多条,对其内涵及来源加以诠释和探求。主要内容包括:品德修养、社交处世、珍惜时间、人间真情、生活智慧、生存法则、人生感捂。