A Legacy to the Friends of Free Discussion Part 9

But to return more immediately to the power given to Peter. A power so undefined as was given to Peter, at a time when he did not even comprehend the final destiny of Jesus, cannot be admitted to have been given. But as this part of Christ's history was written long after his leaving this earth, the writer, whoever he was, wrote from hearsay; and there being no one to question its truth, it became, like many other sayings, reputed as coming from Jesus. Inconsistent as it was, it became one of the doctrines of the church; and the successors of Peter retain it in the Catholic Church at the present day. This original power given unto Peter is still invested in the person of the Pope of Rome, and through him down to the rest of the clergy. This power, said to have been given by Jesus to the church, has been productive of discord. The Popes have held and acted upon it as a divine prerogative bequeathed by Christ to his church, which has been denied by other sects, so that quarrels have been the consequence. And hence both rich and poor, learned and unlearned, have, and do still, confess to the priest their sins, and receive pardon.

All the evils that have resulted from such foolery, sprang from the authority said to have been by Jesus given to Peter. What a rich harvest have the priests reaped from this delegated power! Can men, possessing one grain of common sense, believe that such power was ever given to mortal man? But the different sects will say, that Jesus never intended that it should be thus understood. This does not mend the matter at all; for G.o.d must have foreseen what use would be made of it. The consequences, therefore, rest with Him. But are we prepared to admit that Infinite Wisdom would have left unguarded, doctrines of such vast importance to the peace and harmony of his church?

Again, the shocking consequences which have followed the inst.i.tution of the Sacrament, or Lord's Supper. Jesus, according as Christians believe, inst.i.tuted the breaking of bread and drinking of wine, as an emblem of his body being broken, and his blood being poured out as a sacrifice for sin. But this doctrine or ordinance, being undefined, the different sects of Christians have practised it under the impression of its sacredness, taking its literal meaning instead of regarding it as a token of remembrance. The Catholic believes, or professes so to do, that after the descendants of Peter have prayed over, and consecrated, the bread and wine, its nature is changed into the real body and blood of the Saviour. One horrible consequence which has resulted from such tomfoolery, has been, the burning of hundreds of human beings at the stake, for not admitting so important a truth. This evil, and many others, has arisen from the obscure doctrines taught by Jesus, whom the scriptures describe as being the light of the world. Jesus, before being taken into heaven, told his disciples that it was for their good that he should leave them; for, to make up for his absence, _he would send the Holy Ghost, who would be a comforter, and would lead them into all truth_. How far this promise has been fulfilled, we have the evidence of eighteen hundred years; for, immediately after Jesus had left his church, they became divided, and ever since they have butchered each other without mercy. This is the comfort, then, that Christians have received by the coming of the Holy Ghost.

Another fruitful field of slaughter and blood has been thrown open in consequence of Jesus withholding from the Christian church the real nature of his being. So confused was he on this subject, that, even now, Christians do not agree. Some contend for his manhood alone, and that, like all other men, he had an earthly father,-the Unitarians, for instance, and other sects. But the real Orthodox contend that Jesus was born of a pure virgin, who, though a mother was yet a virgin. These contradictory views are supported by the life and history of Jesus. Does it require any thing more than common sense to repudiate the divinity of a Book containing such opposite statements of the same accounts, or facts? It is the uncertainty of what Christianity really is, which has caused so much evil in the world; and this has arisen from the dark and obscure mode of teaching attributed to the Son of G.o.d. Those Christians who have embraced views so opposite to each other, but who have taken them from the same Word of G.o.d, have, in every age, been the most implacable enemies, and have seldom failed, when power has been in their hands, to inflict the most cruel torments on those who differed from them. Indeed, the history of the Christian Church is one continued record of persecution and cruelty.

I was, for some few months, called on by an Orthodox deacon, who earnestly requested me to reflect on the dangerous situation I was in as an unbeliever, being totally unprepared for a future state. I asked, if I were in a worse state than an Unitarian? You admit, said I, that they, many of them, are good men, and will not be excluded from heaven. He replied, that, morally speaking, they might be good; but, he added, that my claim to heaven stood on equal, if not superior ground to theirs, as they did not believe in the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus for sin; consequently, they had neither part nor lot in the matter.

All the intolerance and persecution which have deluged the earth with blood, have arisen from Christianity not having ever been defined.

Hundreds of different creeds have been founded on the sayings and doings of Jesus and his apostles, as found in the New Testament; and there are yet materials for many more. Each sect regards all other sects as being wickedly obstinate, and resisting the truth. All this misery and destruction, arising from the different construction of the doctrines said to have been delivered by Jesus, would never have taken place, if the all-wise Ruler of the Universe had dictated them; but the evils they have brought on the world can never be reconciled as coming from a Being of infinite wisdom, power, and goodness. If such a Being had ever given a revelation to the human race, there is no doubt but that it would have been adapted to man's reasoning powers; that mistakes would not have opposed its progress; thousands of books would not have been required to explain what Infinite Wisdom had proclaimed; no fires of martyrdom would have been lighted, to compel men to believe what none could understand.

If G.o.d had been the author of the Christian religion, it would, like all his works, have been so arranged, and the means so wisely adapted, that the intention or end would be fully answered. But the religion of the Bible, both the Old and New Testament, is a continual trial of experiments on man. And what has religion made of him? Is he generally fit to be trusted, in word or action? Is he generally humane and tender-hearted? No! very far from it. Society is, in its best state, very defective in humanity. The acc.u.mulation of riches is the Christian's object. Gold is the G.o.d he adores.

It is impossible for Christians to deny that the persecutions and burnings, the cruel torture, and every infliction of cruelty practised by one sect towards others, who honestly differed from the most powerful, were all in consequence of the different sects embracing and maintaining opposite doctrines; all of which were founded on the teaching of Jesus. Can we, then, believe that the Almighty Ruler of all worlds would have sent his Son to teach mankind something that should involve the human race in a never-ending quarrel, by teaching so obscurely that two persons, equally honest and intelligent, should form opposite opinions; knowing, as the Almighty must, that such teaching would engender hatred and malice, and be the cause of producing unheard of cruelty and torture?

How dreadful it is to reflect on the mad fury of religious zeal, when the persecutor and the persecuted are equally sincere! The first, believing he ought to put to death those who differ from him, for the glory of G.o.d; and the latter, considering that his crown of glory can be obtained only by sufferings death the most horrid to bear! Poor, unfortunate creatures! Both parties are objects of pity. The evils resulting from the different doctrines collected from the teaching of Jesus, have, for eighteen hundred years, converted the otherwise happy world into a pious mad-house. The doctrine of human depravity, although it may not have been so productive of evil as some others, is a libel on human nature. It is taught by Jesus; the preachers repeat it weekly from the pulpit; and the necessity of a new birth results from it. A thousand pulpits thunder forth vengeance against man because of the hardness of his heart. We are told that he has rebelled against his G.o.d; that he is at enmity with him, and that he has turned his back to his Maker.

All this is done to humble man, and to bring about his conversion. The Scriptures also represent the Almighty as angry with poor, feeble man, and that he will eventually pour out his wrath in never-ending torments!

These doctrines, so earnestly taught, and so fully credited, const.i.tute a princ.i.p.al part of what comes from ten thousand preachers; and if we examine the truth of them, none can we find. As it respects man's rebelling, and turning his back on his Creator, man's error and misfortune has ever been in trying to find out something about his Maker.

This curiosity, no doubt, originated in a state of ignorance. And even in the present day, man has yet to learn the inutility of every attempt to discover any thing as to the being and nature of a Supreme Power that is supposed to govern the universe. We are lost in wonder and admiration when we contemplate the mighty universe! but of the Grand Regulator of all, we are, and no doubt shall ever remain, in total ignorance. It is a libel on man, then, to teach that human beings are at enmity against G.o.d. I ask my readers, both male and female, whether they ever had those feelings of hatred against the unknown Governor of the grand and sublime universe? But Christian priests proclaim it; and to those who believe it, it is a source of lamentation; and being under the belief that man is the natural enemy of G.o.d, the minds of such persons become prostrated, and then this otherwise happy world is despised and neglected for a future state of supposed bliss.

Let any one attend a Protracted Meeting, where there may be some hundreds of persons, and among the number, many youths of both s.e.xes; both young and old are appealed to by the speakers, who describe them as enemies of G.o.d, and as having turned their backs on the G.o.d of goodness.

They become alarmed, not having before conceived that they could have been so wicked. I have seen upwards of fifty, at one time, sobbing and crying and imploring mercy, who, poor, weak mortals, until this foolishness of being at enmity with G.o.d was preached to them, had no conception of their dreadful enormities and danger. By exciting the feelings with falsehood, this process is called conversion and the work of the Holy Ghost. At the same time that the most virtuous females are denounced as deserving d.a.m.nation for their wickedness, and told that, without repentance, their future state will be wretched to all eternity, should one word derogatory to the character of these females, thus represented by the priests, be spoken by any body else, an action for slander would be inst.i.tuted.

But as long as people will give up their reason, and be hoodwinked with the nonsense that G.o.d is angry, and that they are every moment in danger of falling into h.e.l.l, so long will the Christian priesthood riot in profusion and plenty, by dealing out d.a.m.nation to those whose only crime is enmity against G.o.d. So completely hoodwinked is man, that he attends weekly, and pays well into the bargain, to hear the priest deal out endless d.a.m.nation to nine-tenths of the human race; and it is ten chances to one that he also is included among the subjects of the Devil!

Should an Orthodox preacher, for a few Sundays, preach on moral subjects, and consider that morality was the one thing needful in the Christian Church, the congregation would complain that their souls required more substantial nourishment. The preacher must return to the old mode of teaching, and again shake them over the lake of fire! And hence it follows, that, as the people, are not satisfied without having the wrath of G.o.d the constant theme, the preacher gives it as they wish to have it. An angry G.o.d; a cunning, crafty and tempting Devil; and the enmity of man's wicked heart: this is the set of tools by which the Christian teacher carries on his theological trade. The discordancy of religious opinions, and all of them taken from the doctrines as taught by Jesus and the apostles, each preacher referring to the favorite pa.s.sages which support his views, is and will be, a never-ending theme of disputation; and at some future period, may renew the practice of burning each other alive for G.o.d's glory.

Nothing but the spread of Infidelity can completely stop this dreadful evil. We have only to suppose, that, at some future time, the savages who have been what is called converted by preachers of opposite sects, such as the Calvinist and the Universalist, or the Trinitarians and Unitarians, should, by some cause not now foreseen, be left by the missionaries to support the Christian church; then the savage converts of different sects would be very likely to fall on each other, and the fires of Smithfield, which Infidelity, the companion of humanity, has extinguished, may again blaze on the Islands of the Pacific Ocean. This is a very probable case; for, in the present day, the same Bible is the text book of all denominations, and all of them would persecute if they had but the power. Christianity is now what it ever has been, and what it ever will be, a persecuting religion; and, although the fires of martyrdom cease to torment the human race, the embers are still emitting smoke, and may again be rekindled. Nothing short of _unbelief in all divine revelation_, openly and fearlessly avowed, can guarantee the human family against a renewal of the religious butchery of past ages.

CHAPTER V.

TAKING the Orthodox views of Christianity, there are four personages connected with divine revelation, and each has a different department to act out. The first three are the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Leaving, for the present, the first three, our attention will, in this chapter, be directed to the fourth and last, namely, the Devil. And so much consequence do Christian sects attach to the existence of the Devil, that, to deny it, or even to doubt it, would be enough to separate a member from the church. Religious people must have a Devil; for, as the Devil, by his incessant cunning and temptation, is the indirect author of men's sins, so, on the other hand, the Saviour stands ready to ransom the guilty. It then follows, that the sinner, after all, stands on pretty good ground; for, if the Devil tempts him to commit one-half of his crimes, and the Saviour pardons the other half, man is not in much danger of being condemned.

In this chapter, it will be seen, what an amount of evil has arisen to the peace and happiness of the human race, not from what the Devil really has done, but from what mortals have believed he has done, by supposing him to have almost unlimited power. And here we can perceive, what evil has transpired from what never has, nor ever could have taken place, but from what has been believed to have really happened. This has been in consequence of the credulity of the human mind when reason is departed from, and man becomes the creature of imagination. It is then that man can give credit to the most glaring absurdities, and honestly reject the plain dictates of common sense. It is then that he leaves the solid earth on which he treads, and launches into the region of airy nothings; and, by the ductility of his mind, creates beings of so terrific a nature, that, at the thought of them, the stoutest hearts have been made to quail. This is strictly true as to the existence and influence of the Devil.

That the New Testament sanctions the existence of the Devil, there remains not a doubt. The temptation of Christ is proof positive. But that alone should not suffice. The case of Mary Magdalene, and also the expulsion of devils by Jesus and his disciples, put all doubt out of the question. When we consider the terrible consequences of this belief on the peace and happiness of the human race, we can but pity the deluded creatures, who, in different ages of Christianity, have been sufferers for the supposed commission of a crime that never was, nor ever will be committed. All nations, in all ages, have credited, to a lesser or a greater extent, the existence of a being, or beings, of a malignant nature, possessing power beyond man's conception; who, from some cause unknown, delighted in doing mischief to the human family. And ever since the introduction of the Christian religion, it has been credited that such wicked spirits could delegate power to human beings equally wicked as themselves; by which power, they, for a time, could vent their malice, and do wonders by selling themselves, or by some infernal contract could do harm to, or among those of, their neighbors who were so unfortunate as to fall under their displeasure.

This sin, which never was, and never can be committed, has ever been thought the worst of crimes; and less mercy shown to the supposed guilty person than if guilty of murder itself. And so extensively has it been credited, and so great has been its influence, that laws have, in most nations, been pa.s.sed for its punishment; and thousands, and tens of thousands have been put to death under circ.u.mstances of torture at which the human heart sickens. Surely, if our minds are not entirely darkened by the ignorance of past ages, we must be able to see that the Bible has been the most destructive book that was ever written; and is unworthy to claim infinite power, wisdom, and goodness for its author. If the belief in witchcraft and sorcery had been confined to the ignorant and unlearned of all nations, its evil would have been so limited that not much misery would have followed, because men of good sense and talent would have stood in the way of its progress. But, unfortunately, this has not so happened. Its evil influence has ascended to the highest cla.s.ses in society. The king on his throne, and the learned judge seated in the chair of impartial justice, have partaken of its deadly contagion. The reader will now be presented with facts of the most undoubted authority, showing what wretchedness has occurred from believing in the existence and malignity of the Devil-a doctrine supported by divine revelation.

The first fact that is brought forward, took place at Bury, St. Edmonds, in the County of Suffolk, (England,) in the year 1664. Amy Duny and Rose Callender, two poor women, who were ignorant, and of the coa.r.s.est materials, had, for eight years previous, the reputation of being witches. So horrid were they considered, that the fishermen would not sell them fish, and the boys in the streets were taught to fly from them with horror. The princ.i.p.al charges against them were, that the children of two families had been many times seized with fits in which they exclaimed that they saw Amy Duny and Rose Callender coming to torment them. They vomited, and in their vomit were often found pins, and once or twice a two-penny nail.

One or two of the children died. To support these allegations, a wagoner appeared, whose wagon had been twice overturned in one morning in consequence of the curses of one of these witches. Sir Matthew Hale presided at the trial, a.s.sisted by Sir Thomas Brown, two of the most able and learned Judges then in England. Those two poor women were by the jury found guilty, and hanged on the seventeenth day of March, 1664, one week after their trial.

Sir Matthew Hale refused to sum up the evidence, but left it to the jury, to whom he said, "That the Scriptures left no doubt that there was such a thing as witchcraft; and instructed them that all they had to do, was, first, to consider whether the children were really bewitched; and, secondly, whether the witchcraft was sufficiently brought home to the prisoners at the bar." The Jury found them guilty, and they were hanged as before stated.

Here we have a shocking account of the credulity of the human mind. The whole English nation were laboring under a mental delusion. Here it was not to be said, "_O, ye of little faith!_" but, "_O, ye religious madmen! your faith has changed your nature from kindness and pity, to perform acts of cruelty which the savage cannibal would shudder to put into practice._" I would here remind the reader, that Judge Hale was considered a just and humane Judge. What a dreadful state a nation must be in, when such laws as have been referred to, were in full force, and the jurisprudence of England was, as it were, under the influence of a Being the supposed enemy of man! And it may in truth be said, that an unknown and invisible world governed one that was known and visible.

Now, in the case of those two poor women, who were really murdered, the question arises, who were their murderers? Was it Judge Hale, or the Jury? It was neither. It was the Bible--a book which records the existence of a Devil, the sworn enemy of G.o.d and men. Reader! can you withhold pity from two poor creatures in such circ.u.mstances, and can you still praise to the skies a Book that has made the best and wisest of men cruel brutes,-who, at the same time, were happy to have a chance to make war against the Devil, by destroying two helpless beings whose only crime, in all probability, was poverty and ignorance? Every humane unbeliever must exclaim, "O G.o.d! O Nature! what havoc have ignorance and superst.i.tion made among your works!"

Nothing could be better calculated to give importance to the credibility of the activity and influence of the Devil's employing and entering into a league with wicked and ill-disposed persons, after Christianity became established, than the Scripture account of the Devil's tempting Jesus, and endeavoring to make a contract with him to obey and submit to his proposals. But as the Devil was non-suited by the Saviour of mankind, it might be expected that after Jesus had left this world, the Devil would endeavor to enlist into his service many of those who had embraced the religion of that Saviour whom he had tried to seduce.

In the course of time, in the middle or dark ages, when' men's imaginations were active, and reason was nearly banished from among Christians, it became a matter of faith and certainty, that persons in different towns and villages had really entered into a contract, for a certain number of years, with the Devil himself; and to carry out and complete this supposed covenant with the enemy of G.o.d and man, a motion was started of the Devil's Sabbath, on which, a place being appointed, wicked men and women could meet and contract with Old Lucifer himself; and books were printed to show the nature of the contract After this strange opinion became fully credited, and witchcraft was made a crime punishable by law, those persons who were accused of witchcraft were tortured, in order to compel them to own that they had attended the Sabbath of the Devil.

Another fact will now be stated, to show what ideas of the Devil's influence prevailed in England and Scotland, in the days of Elizabeth.

James the First, of England, who, succeeding Elizabeth, was born in 1566, was the only direct heir to the Crown of Scotland, and had a prospect of succeeding Elizabeth in England, which he did on the death of the Queen. James had witnessed a great number of prosecutions for witchcraft, in Scotland, in the reign of Mary; and he, as might be expected, most firmly believed that the Devil was very active in the country of his birth; so that, when he came to the Crown of England, his mind was di-rected to put a stop to the prevailing crime of witchcraft and to break up the Devil's Sabbath, he believing that numbers of his English subjects were visitors to those unholy meetings. A circ.u.mstance will now be mentioned which will fully prove what views the people of England and Scotland had of the activity of the Devil in drawing persons into his service and kingdom; for it is impossible to evade the truth, that the existence and opposition of the Devil against the progress of the Gospel, was strengthened by what had been recorded of the Devil in the New Testament.

James the First, of England, is here cited to show what was then the prevailing opinion of the existence of witchcraft in that kingdom. And although it is painful to reflect on the sufferings of thousands, it may, by its recital, a.s.sist those who are still somewhat in darkness, to discover how the human race have been deluded. James the First had fixed his mind on a daughter of the King of Denmark. A splendid emba.s.sy was sent from England to conclude the treaty of marriage, and to bring home James's royal consort; but the s.h.i.+ps met with violent storms, and instead of arriving at the capital of Scotland, the news came that the s.h.i.+p in which the Princess had taken pa.s.sage, was driven back on the coast of Norway; nothing uncommon m these seas at that, season of the year. The King, being disappointed, sailed to the place where the shattered s.h.i.+ps lay, and the marriage was consummated; and the King and Queen remained at Copenhagen, and did not arrive at Edinburgh until the first of May, 1590. The storm was, after their return, considered to be the result of some supernatural interference.

The King, after his return, suspecting that witchcraft had something to do in raising the storm which drove his intended wife on the coast of Norway, set to work to make discoveries; and two of his female servants were suspected of causing the storm before alluded to. Their names were Geillis Duncan and Agnes Sampson. Both of them were put to the torture to extort confession. These poor young women, broken down and exhausted by so dreadful an operation, became willing to answer such questions as this royal blockhead had prepared to put to them. Agnes Sampson told the King, that she, in company with two hundred other witches, had sailed in sieves from Leith to North Berwick Church; how they had there encountered the Devil in person; how they had feasted with him, and what obscenities had been; practised. She related, that in this voyage they had drowned a cat, having first baptized it; and that immediately a dreadful storm arose, and in this very storm the King's s.h.i.+p had been separated from the rest of the fleet. Inconsequence of this confession, Agnes Sampson was condemned to the flames. The system of torture resorted to under cir-circ.u.mstances of suspicion, compelled poor suffering creatures to answer any questions put to them to satisfy their cruel tormentors and in many cases, after all, they were put to death.

King James the First published his Dialogues on Demonology in three books. But many years after he renounced his belief in the real existence of Witchcraft altogether; and in the latter part of his reign, declared that all he had done was the effect of delusion.

These were dreadful times for humanity. Thousands and tens of thousands of victims suffered every kind of torture that savage, ingenuity could devise; and what made it the more to be deplored, the ignorant creatures who inflicted the torments were honest in their abhorrence of those unfortunate persons, who suffered for what was, in those dark ages, considered the worst of crimes. In what horror, then, were persons held who could be so wicked as to have dealings with the devil? The case of James is here recorded, to show the reader that the belief in witchcraft was not confined to the ignorant: and unlettered portion of society; but that England, and Scotland, and, it may be said, every Christian nation with its government, and the army also, were all laboring under this delusion. And the truth of its existence was then, and is now, supported by the New Testament, and fully confirmed by the Devil's temptation of Jesus, the Christian's _Son of G.o.d_; for the desire manifested by the Devil to entice Jesus to enter into his service, did, in those dark ages, strengthen persons in the conclusion that the Devil, although he failed to seduce the Redeemer, would continue to enlist, if possible, great numbers into his service. The firm belief of his attempts on the _Son of G.o.d_ would dispose persons to credit the fact that people of abandoned characters would hire themselves to the Devil. In the days of Oliver Cromwell, a story is recorded by Echard, the historian, as shockingly ill.u.s.trative of the credulity of the age in which he lived.

It takes its date from the morning of the third of September, 1651, when Cromwell gained the battle of Worcester against Charles the Second. It is on the authority of Colonel Lindsey, who was senior captain in Cromwell's own regiment. The story recorded is, "That on the morning of the battle, Cromwell took with him Colonel Lindsey to the side of a wood, not far from the army, and bade him alight and follow him into the wood, and to take particular notice of what he saw and heard. And having secured their horses, and walked some little way into the wood, Lindsey began to turn pale, and to be seized with horror from some unknown cause. Cromwell asked him how he felt himself? He answered, that he was in such a trembling that he never felt the like in all the conflicts and battles he had ever been engaged in. 'How, now,' said Cromwell, 'what!

troubled with the vapors? Come forward, man.' They had not gone far, before Lindsey stood still, and said it was impossible for him to go one step further. Upon which, Cromwell called him a faint hearted fool, and bade him stand there and observe, or witness. And then the General, advancing to some distance from him, met a grave elderly man with a roll of parchment in his hand, who delivered it to Cromwell, and he eagerly perused it Lindsey, a little recovered from his fear, heard several loud words between them, particularly Cromwell said, 'this is but for seven years, I was to have it for one and twenty.' The grave elderly man told him positively, it could not be for more than seven. Cromwell cried with great fierceness, 'It shall, however, be for fourteen years.' Cromwell then took his parchment, and returning to Lindsey, 'Now, Lindsey,' said he, 'the battle is our own, I long to be engaged.' It did then commence.

After the first charge, Lindsey deserted his post and rode away with all speed to a friend's in the county of Suffolk, and never returned.

Cromwell offered a great reward for him, dead or alive. Cromwell died on that day seven years, September 3, 1658."

It is of no consequence whether this story is true or not It fully proves that at that time it was believed, that men sold themselves to the Devil.

CHAPTER VI.

TWO more remarkable cases will, in this chapter, be made known to the reader, to show that for hundreds of years the Devil, or rather the belief in his existence, was a source of terror to all Christians, and must have operated on almost every transaction in which society were engaged. In almost every town and village, to be surrounded with wicked beings who had entered into a contract with Satan to be empower-ed to perform deeds of darkness which no prudence could guard against, must have had an influence on the peace and safety of almost every family.

But now, that the delusion has nearly pa.s.sed away, and mankind are no longer subject to such terror, we may be happy to think that our lives are exempted from the evils which afflicted our forefathers. And nothing but an open avowal of our unbelief in all systems which in any way sanction the existence of a Being who has made a large portion of the human family crazy, can prevent a recurrence of past ignorance with all its baneful consequences.

Joan of Arc, called the Maid of Orleans, an unfortunate creature, demands our pity. Her tragical history ought to impel every humane person to do all in his power to prevent mortals from again witnessing scenes of so dreadful a nature.

Henry the Fifth, of England, won the decisive battle of Agincourt in the year 1415, and some time after concluded a treaty with the reigning King of France, by which he was recognized, in case of that King's death, as heir to the throne. Henry the Fifth died in the year 1422, and Charles the Sixth, of France, in less than two months after. Henry the Sixth was only nine months old, at the time of his father's death; but such was the deplorable state of France, that he was the same year proclaimed King in Paris, and for some years seemed to have every prospect of a fortunate reign. John, Duke of Bedford, the King's uncle, was declared Regent of France. The son of Charles the Sixth was reduced to the last extremity. Orleans was the last strong town in the heart of the kingdom which held out in his favor; and that place seemed on the point of surrendering to the conqueror.

"In this fearful crisis, appeared Joan of Arc, and, in the most incredible manner, turned the whole tide of affairs. She was a servant in a poor inn at Demremi, and was accustomed to perform the coa.r.s.est offices, and, in particular, to ride the horses to a neighboring stream of water. Of course, the situation of France and her hereditary King formed the universal subject of conversation, and Joan became deeply impressed with the lamentable state of her country, and the misfortunes of her King. By dint of perpetual meditation, and feeling in her breast the promptings of energy and enter-prize, she conceived the idea that she was destined by Heaven to be the deliverer of France. Agreeably to the state of intellectual knowledge at that period, she persuaded herself that she saw visions and held communications with the saints.

She then had conversations with St. Margaret and St. Catherine of Fierbois. They told her that she was commissioned by G.o.d to raise the siege of Orleans. She then presented herself to Baudricourt, Governor of the neighboring town of Vaucouleurs, telling him her commission, and requiring him to send her to the King at Chinon. Baudricourt, at first, made light of her application; but her importunity, and the ardor she expressed, at length excited him. He put on her man's attire, gave her arms, and sent her, under an escort of two gentlemen and their attendants, to Chinon. Here she immediately addressed the King in person, who had purposely hid himself behind his courtiers, that she might not know him. She then delivered her message, and offered, in the name of the Most High, to raise the siege of Orleans, and conduct King Charles to Rheims to be anointed.

"Desperate as was then the state of affairs, Charles and his ministers immediately resolved to seize the occasion that offered, and put forward Joan as an instrument to revive the prostrate courage of his subjects.

He had no sooner determined on this, than he pretended to submit the truth of her mission to the most rigorous trial. He called together an a.s.sembly of theologians and doctors, who rigorously examined Joan, and p.r.o.nounced in her favor. He referred the question to the Parliament of Poictiers, and they who, previously to meeting, were persuaded that she was an impostor, became convinced of her inspiration. She was mounted on a highbred steed, furnished with a consecrated banner, and marched, escorted by a body of five thousand men, to the relief of Orleans. The French, strongly convinced by so plain an interposition of Heaven, resumed the courage to which they had long been strangers.

"Such a phenomenon was exactly suited to the superst.i.tion and credulity of the age. The English were staggered with the rumors that every where went before her, and struck with a degree of apprehension and terror that they could not shake off. The garrison, informed of her approach, made a sally on the other side of the town, and Joan and her convoy entered without opposition. She displayed her standard in the market place, and was received as a celestial deliverer. She appears to have been endowed with a prudence not inferior to her courage and spirit of enterprise. With great docility, she caught the hints of the commanders by whom she was surrounded, and, convinced of her own want of experience and skill, delivered them to the forces as the dictates of Heaven. Thus the knowledge and discernment of the Generals were brought into play at the same time that their suggestions acquired new weight when falling from the lips of the Heaven-instructed heroine. A second convoy arrived, the wagons and troops pa.s.sed between the redoubts of the English, while a dead, silence and astonishment reigned Among the forces so lately enterprising and irresistible. Joan now called on the garrison no longer to stand upon the defensive, but boldly to attack the army of the besiegers. She took one redoubt, and then another. The English, overwhelmed with amazement, scarcely dared to lift a hand against her.

Their veteran Generals became, spell-bound and powerless, and their soldiers were driven before the prophetess like a flock of sheep. The siege was raised. Joan followed the English to a fortified town which they fixed on as the place of their retreat, and all the English were made prisoners. The late victorious force now concentrated themselves at Patay, in Orleanois. Joan advanced to meet them. The battle lasted not a moment; it was rather a flight than a combat. Fastolfe, one of the bravest of the English Generals, threw down his arms, and ran for his life. Talbot and Scales, the other Generals, were made prisoners.

"The siege of Orleans was raised on the eighth of May, 1429; the battle of Patay was fought on the tenth of the following month. Joan was, at that time, twenty-two years of age. This extraordinary turn having been given to the affairs of the kingdom, Joan next insisted that the King should march to Rheims, in order to be crowned. Rheims lay in a direction expressly through the enemy's garrisons. But every thing yielded to the marvellous fortune that attended upon the heroine. Troyes opened its gates. Chalons followed the example. Rheims sent a deputation, with the keys of the city, which met Charles on his march.

The proposed solemnity took place amid the ecstasies and enthusiastic shouts of his people. It was no sooner over, than Joan stepped forward.