Excerpt from The Maid of Orleans This translation was begun nearly seventeen years ago, but other pursuits interfered to prevent its completion at that time. An accident recently brought to my remembrance my early attempt, of which I had preserved no copy, and I began to write down as much as I could recollect, supplying vacancies as I proceeded. My aim has been merely to give the spirit of the original, and when I thought that this was gained, I took no great pains to make a strictly literal version. I believe, however, that there are few passages in which I have departed very widely from the original, unless in one or two, which I have purposely altered or omitted. I shall be satisfied, if the friends, for whom alone I have printed this volume, derive from its perusal only a small part of the gratification which I have found in its composition. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.