ArCADE I
Arcangis. ent and uniform judgment respecting the actions and address of this personage cannot be made by posterity. That she gave herself up to the influence of a heated fancy, and that she was confident in the idea of her divine inspiration, and that this notion was so improved by certain favourites of Charles, as to excite the emotions of the public, seems to be the most probable supposition. That the appearance of the Maid of Orleans tended to give a decisive turn to the contest between the English and the French, has never in the least been questioned.
The praise and exploits of this noble heroine have formed the subject of various works both in prose and verse. In verse, that of Voltaire is very licentious and burlesque, and is an injury to her memory; but it has in a great degree been repaired by that most spirited and sublime poem of Southey, in English, which represents her in the most lively and striking colours of heroism and virtue; and by that of Chaplain, although it did not meet with such success. (Gen. Biog.)