minutely described it, and also the place where it had long lain neglected.

Charles was induced by her earnestness, and the apparent proofs of her mission, to accept her services. He put under her command a troop of soldiers for the relief of Orleans, then on the point of surrendering for want of provisions. She rode at the head of her little band in gleaming white armour upon a snow-white steed. A banner of white satin, adorned with lilies of gold and a picture of the Saviour, was borne before her. The news of this heaven-sent deliverer spread fast and far. The hopes of the nation revived; men flocked from all parts to follow the standard of the holy maid.

Her first exploit was to carry provisions to the starving. inhabitants of Orleans. When she approached the city, the garrison made a vigorous sally,3 shouting, "The maid! the maid is come!" In that superstitious age, the presence of this feeble woman-sent as her friends believed by Heaven, and aided as her enemies feared by the powers of hell,was sufficient to inspire her countrymen with fresh courage, and her foes with dread and dismay. Joan's soldiers and her convoy of provisions got into the town a little after nightfall. The starving people received her as an angel from heaven. In nine days the English retired from the walls of a city protected, as they believed, by a witch and sorceress. This great achievement obtained for the heroic girl the title of the "Maid of Orleans."

Success still attended the French arms; and within two months Joan witnessed the coronation of Charles in the ancient church of Rheims. During the ceremony the maid, with her sacred banner unfurled, stood by the king's side; as soon as it was over, she threw herself on her knees, embraced his feet, declared her mission accomplished, and with tears solicited his leave to return to her former station.

Unfortunately for her, the king would not listen to this request. In the following year she was taken prisoner by

the English, and tried on a charge of witchcraft. Her fate is a foul blot upon the English name. She was burned as a sorceress in the market-place of Rouen, where her statue now stands. The English power in France continued rapidly to decline, and in the course of a few

was all that remained.

The Dauphin.-The heir to the French crown, like our Prince of Wales to the English.

To raise the siege.-To make the besiegers give up the siege.

Sally.-An onset made by the besieged upon the besiegers,

Superstitious age.-A time when people were very credulous, or easily im

years Calais 6

RELIEF OF ORLEANS.

LIKE two conflicting clouds,

Pregnant with thunder, moved the hostile hosts.
Then man met man, then on the batter'd shield
Rung the loud lance, and through the darken'd sky
Fast fell the arrowy storm.

The clang of arms
For the war

Reaches the walls of Orleans.

Prepared, and confident of victory,

Forth speed the troops.2 Not when, afar exhaled,
The hungry raven snuffs the steam of blood
That from some carcass-cover'd field of fame
Taints the pure air, flies he more eagerly
To feed upon the slain, than the Orleanites,
Impatient now, for many an ill endured
In the long siege, to wreak upon their foes
Due vengeance. Then more fearful grew the fray;
The swords that late flash'd to the evening sun

Now quenched in blood their radiance.

O'er the host

Howl'd a deep wind that, ominous3 of storms,
Roll'd on the lurid clouds. The blacken'd night
Frown'd, and the thunder from the troubled sky
Roar'd hollow. Javelins' clash'd and bucklers rang;
Shield press'd on shield; loud on the helmet jarr'd
The ponderous battle-axe; the frequent groan

Of death commingling with the storm was heard,
And the shrill shriek of fear. Then echoed loud
Around the sacred banner" of the Maid

The cry of conquest.

Swift as the affrighted herd
Scud o'er the plain, when rattling thunder-cracks
Upon the bolted lightning follow close,
'The English hasten to their sheltering forts,
Even there of safety doubtful, still appall'd
And trembling, as the pilgrim who by night
On his way wilder'd, to the wolf's deep howl
Hears the wood echo, when from close pursuit
Escaped, the topmost branch of some tall tree
He grasps close clinging, still of the wild beast
Fearful, his teeth ajar, and the cold sweat stands
Upon his clammy limbs.

Clamours of joy
Echo along the streets of Orleans, wont

Long time to hear the infant's feeble cry,
The mother's frantic shriek, or the dread sound
When from the cannon burst its stores of death.
Far flames the fire of joy on ruin'd piles

And high heap'd carcases, whence scared away
From his abhorred meal, on clattering wing
Rose the night-raven slow.

In the English forts
There all the livelong night

Sad was the scene.
Steal in the straggling fugitives; as when
Past is the storm, and o'er the azure sky
Serenely shines the sun, with every breeze
The waving branches drop their gather'd rain,
Renewing the remembrance of the storm.

'The hostile hosts.-The English outside the walls of Orleans, and the French army under Joan of Arc, marching to the relief of the city.

The troops.-The French soldiers within the city.

3 Ominous. - Foreboding, giving threatening signs.

SOUTHEY.

EXPANSION BY HEAT.

It has not yet been ascertained with any certainty what heat is,—whether it is a substance in itself, or only a condition or state of matter. If it is itself a substance it has no weight, -for a piece of iron weighs the same whether hot or cold, --and this, among other reasons, has led to the more general adoption of the second theory.

Hot and cold are what are called relative terms: that is, the same body, at the same moment, may feel hot to one person and cold to another, or even hot to one hand and cold to the other hand of the same person. Get a basin of cold water, and another of hot water. Place one hand in each basin, keeping them there till one hand is thoroughly warmed and the other cooled. Now quickly mix the contents of the two basins, and plunge both your hands into the mixture; and you will find that this mixture feels warm to the cold hand, but quite cold to the warm hand. This shows that "hot" and "cold" only describe certain sensations in the body, and that what we at one time call hot we should at another call cold.

In truth, "cold" is only the absence or withdrawal of heat, and therefore, properly speaking, there is no such thing as "cold," but only various degrees of heat; indeed, it is impossible, so far as we can tell, to deprive a body of all its heat.

Heat has one remarkable effect upon almost all bodies: it causes them to expand. Generally speaking, liquids expand more easily than solids, and gases more easily than liquids; or, in other words, the same amount of heat that causes a solid to expand a little, would cause a liquid to expand more, and a gas considerably more.

We will give a few simple experiments to prove this law of heat.

EXPANSION OF SOLIDS.-Take a brass stair-rod, and measure it carefully. The best way, perhaps, to do this will be to cut out of a narrow sheet of tin a notch just (and only just) large enough for the rod to slip through, thus,—

Now heat the rod to a red heat, and, taking it with a pair of tongs, attempt to pass it through the notch in the tin as before. You will find it has become too long.

Take a metallic ball and ring, the ball being just (and only just) of a size to slip through the ring. Upon the ball being heated it will no longer pass through, but will be sup

ported on the ring, as in the figure. Allow it to remain there a short time, and it will gradually impart some of its heat to the ring (which will thereupon expand a little), and will lose some in the surrounding air, until the ball and ring are both of the same temperature. Then the ball slips through the ring as at first.

EXPANSION OF LIQUIDS.-Fill a flask to the brim with water, and then insert a cork through which a glass tube has been passed. The water will then stand in the tube