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Show TODAY IN HISTORY I I SATURDAY, MARCH 26. Trial of the Maid of Orleans. One of ihc most ramous trials In all history began at Houcii, France, on March 2. l l.t 1 , when Joan of Arc. called The Mnhl of Oilcans," who had been captured nearly a year before, was called boiorc an English tribunal to nnswer the clVirgo ?f boll,P a witch and heretic. The head of this hateful trlbunnl, composed of members of the Inquisition arid convened at. the instigation of the Lnlvorfdty of J 'aria, was tho cruel and bigoted bishop of Boauvais The girl, who stood beforo him In nmlo attire, which was one of the chief offenses charged against her, was of medium height, splendidly built, but not beautiful. beauti-ful. "Grand, melancholy eyes." and what Victor Hugo calls "a certain fragrance of purity." were probably the utmost of her personal charms, but she had tho magnetism of the born lender, and the contagious sincerity of the religious zealot. Joan rvas born in 1412 at Domrcm.v. France, and named Jchanne. which in bngllsh Is Joan and in modern French Jeanne. "The Maid" became known for her filial devotion, her over-abounding physical energy, and her skill with the needle, in which It was reported that the court ladles themselves could not. excel her. But )ier maiden heart were not In these tilings. There was a French legend that . female fe-male deliverer should conic out of the Doniromy region, ami France was greatly great-ly in n"cd of a deliverer. Joan believed she heard angelic voices telling her she was the heaven-appointed Inntrumont. She went to iho stake affirming her unfaltering un-faltering faith that she had hoard and seen, and not Imagined, those heavenly manifestations. Whnt Is more, she was able lo make others believe; in thein her parents, and at 11 rat rough and incredulous in-credulous Bandlcourl, governor of Van-couleurs. Van-couleurs. who ended by Introducing her to Charles, the dauphin, and finally Charles himself, whom flic is said to have been able to. by her marvelous intuition, in-tuition, pick out. though In disguise, from a crowd of courtiers. Joan's two great ends were the raising of the siege of Orleans and tho coronation corona-tion of t ho young king at Rhelms. She achieved both and had she been allowed then to depart without reward, as she besought for her native village, she might have escaped the stak. Charles gave her. for the relief of Orleans, an army of 1000 men, under experienced generals, to whose skill tho technical side of her military success Is probably due. .Toon, riding at the head in her suit, of man's mall. In ono hand an ancient sword whirl) she had divined to be hidden hid-den near the altar of St. Flerbols, and In the other a white slandnrd embroidered em-broidered with her own designs of lilies aud sacred symbols. Inspired tho army with such wild enthusiasm that the English Eng-lish believed her to be a witch. She finally passed into their hands, being be-ing sold to them for 111, 000 francs by some Biirgundiaiis, who had captured her in an unsuccessful attack on Com-plegne. Com-plegne. and she was tried at Rouen, without an advocate and without a protest pro-test from the unworthy king, to whom she had devoted her young life. The trial consumed a number of days, and she was sentenced to death as a witch and heretic and was burned at the public stake in Rouen. May 30. 1431. A curious incident was the appearance. In 1136. of a false Joan, who claimed to bo the Maid of Orleans, escaped from the flames, but whoso imposture was speedily unmasked. It was on March 20 that the first embargo em-bargo act was passed In 1701. It Is the birlhdav of Mather Bylcs. the Tory clergyman (1706). Benjamin Cleveland, the "Hero of King's Mountain" (17:IS). Count Rumford. the scientist (1753). Moses Stuarlc the noted philologist and theologian (17S0): John R- Thomas, the composer ami singer (1820). and the day on which Ludwlg von Beethoven died In 1S27. |