"THE MENTOR 1916.01.01, No. 98," Joan of Arc LEARN ONE THING EVERY DAY JANUARY 1 1916 SERIAL NO. 98 THE MENTOR [Illustration: The Statue by Ray Rivoire] JOAN OF ARC By IDA M. TARBELL Author and Editor DEPARTMENT OF VOLUME 3 BIOGRAPHY NUMBER 22 FIFTEEN CENTS A COPY The Maid of Orleans [Illustration] What is to be thought of _her_? What is to be thought of the poor shepherd girl from the hills and forests of Lorraine, that--like the Hebrew shepherd boy from the hills and forests of Judea--rose suddenly out of the quiet, out of the safety, out of the religious inspiration, rooted in deep pastoral solitudes, to a station in the van of armies, and to the more perilous station at the right hand of kings? * * * * * The boy rose to a splendor and a noonday prosperity, both personal and public, that rang through the records of his people, and became a by-word amongst his posterity for a thousand years, until the sceptre was departing from Judah. The poor, forsaken girl, on the contrary, drank not herself from that cup of rest which she had secured for France. * * * * * Pure, innocent, noble-hearted girl!... This was amongst the strongest pledges for _thy_ truth, that never once didst thou revel in the vision of coronets and honor from man.... To suffer and to do, that was thy portion in this life; that was thy destiny; and not for a moment was it hidden from thyself. * * * * * Great was the throne of France even in those days, and great was he that sat upon it: but well Joanna knew that not the throne, nor he that sat upon it, was for _her_; but, on the contrary, that she was for _them_; not she by them, but they by her, should rise from the dust. Gorgeous were the lilies of France, and for centuries had the privilege to spread their beauty over land and sea; ... but well Joanna knew, early at Domrémy she had read that bitter truth, that the lilies of France would decorate no garland for _her_. Flower nor bud, bell nor blossom, would ever bloom for _her_! THOMAS DE QUINCEY [Illustration: IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART NEW YORK JOAN OF ARC, BY JULES BASTIEN-LEPAGE] THE YOUTH OF THE MAID Monograph Number One in The Mentor Reading Course Joan of Arc, whose name more properly was Jeanneton Darc, and who is now known in France as Jeanne d'Arc, was one of the most wonderful women that ever lived. It is hard to believe some of the strange things that happened to her before she was twenty years old.