JOAN OF ARC. 349 bonfires were built in the streets into which men threw their cards and dice and tables, and women their ornaments and frippery. Over this man Joan obtained so complete a mastery that he de- voted himself to her and followed her in her campaigns, using his eloquence to convert the people, not from their sins, but from their disloyalty to Charles. When the good Parisians heard of this they resumed their cards and dice to spite him. Even a tin medal with the name of Jesus which he had given them to wear was cast aside for the red cross of Burgundy. In the passion of the hour on both sides religion was but the handmaid of partisan- ship.'" After this the march to Reims was a triumphant progress. Chalons-sur-Marne sent half a day's journey in advance to sub- mit and took the oath of allegiance. At Septsaux the garrison fled and the people welcomed their king, while the Dukes of Lor- raine and Bar came to join him with a heavy force. Reims was held for Burgundy by the Seigneur de Saveuse, one of the doughti- est warriors of the day, but the citizens were so frightened by the coming of the Pucelle, whose reported wonders had impressed their imaginations, that they declared for Charles, and Saveuse was obliged to fly. Charles entered the town on July 16, and was joyfully received. The next day, Sunday, July 17, he was crowned King of France. During the ceremony Joan stood by the altar with the standard : her judges on her trial seemed to imagine that she held it there for some occult influence which it was supposed to exercise, and inquired curiously as to her motive ; when she answered simply, " It had been in the strife, it had a right to be in the honor." f Joan might well claim that her mission was accomplished. In little more than three months she had made the intending fugi- tive of Chinon a conquering king, to whom his flatterers gave the title of the Victorious. A few months more of such success would establish him firmly on the throne of a reunited France, and no one could doubt that success would grow more rapid if only with its own momentum. Negotiations were on foot with the Duke of Burgundy, which were expected to result in detaching
- Proems, p. 479.— Journal cTun Bourgeois de Paris, an 1429, 1431.
t Chronique, p. 446.— Monstrelet, II. 64.— Buchon, p. 524.— Proces, p. 494.
