Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc — Volume 1

Name: Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc — Volume 1
Author: Mark Twain

by Mark Twain

Pages: about 287
Category: Literature & Fiction
Language: English
Reading time: 5.3 h at 250 wpm

Start readingThe whole book, as cards or one word at a time. 2.9 h at 450 wpm in Read mode.

From the opening

Freely translated out of the ancient French into modern English from the original unpublished manuscript in the National Archives of France
J. E. J. QUICHERAT, Condamnation et Rehabilitation de Jeanne d’Arc. J. FABRE, Proces de Condamnation de Jeanne d’Arc. H. A. WALLON, Jeanne d’Arc. M. SEPET, Jeanne d’Arc. J. MICHELET, Jeanne d’Arc. BERRIAT DE SAINT-PRIX, La Famille de Jeanne d’Arc. La Comtesse A. DE CHABANNES, La Vierge Lorraine. Monseigneur RICARD, Jeanne d’Arc la Venerable. Lord RONALD GOWER, F.S.A., Joan of Arc. JOHN O’HAGAN, Joan of Arc. JANET TUCKEY, Joan of Arc the Maid.
To arrive at a just estimate of a renowned man’s character one must judge it by the standards of his time, not ours. Judged by the standards of one century, the noblest characters of an earlier one lose much of their luster; judged by the standards of to-day, there is probably no illustrious man of four or five centuries ago whose character could meet the test at all points. But the character of Joan of Arc is unique. It can be measured by the standards of all times without misgiving or apprehension as to the result. Judged by any of them, it is still flawless, it is still ideally perfect; it still occupies the loftiest place possible to human attainment, a loftier one than has been reached by any other mere mortal.
When we reflect that her century was the brutalest, the wickedest, the rottenest in history since the darkest ages, we are lost in wonder at the miracle of such a product from such a soil. The contrast between her and her century is the contrast between day and night.

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Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc — Volume 1

From the opening

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