第19章 MISCELLANEOUS VERSES--BERANGER--'MES SOUVENIRS'--P

During the next four years Jasmin composed no work of special importance.He occasionally wrote poetry,but chiefly on local subjects.In 1828he wrote an impromptu to M.Pradel,who had improvised a Gascon song in honour of the poet.The Gascon painter,Champmas,had compared Jasmin to a ray of sunshine,and in 1829the poet sent him a charming piece of verse in return for his compliment.

In 1830Jasmin composed The Third of May,which was translated into French by M.Duvigneau.It appears that the Count of Dijon had presented to the town of Nerac,near Agen,a bronze statue of Henry IV.executed by the sculptor Raggi--of the same character as the statue erected to the same monarch at Pau.

But though Henry IV.was born at Pau,Nerac was perhaps more identified with him,for there he had his strong castle,though only its ruins now remain.

Nerac was at one time almost the centre of the Reformation in France.Clement Marot,the poet of the Reformed faith,lived there;and the house of Theodore de Beze,who emigrated to Geneva,still exists.The Protestant faith extended to Agen and the neighbouring towns.When the Roman Catholics obtained the upper hand,persecutions began.Vindocin,the pastor,was burned alive at Agen.J.J.Scaliger was an eye-witness of the burning,and he records the fact that not less than 300victims perished for their faith.

At a later time Nerac,which had been a prosperous town,was ruined by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes;for the Protestant population,who had been the most diligent and industrious in the town and neighbourhood,were all either "converted,"hanged,sent to the galleys,or forced to emigrate to England,Holland,or Prussia.Nevertheless,the people of Nerac continued to be proud of their old monarch.

The bronze statue of Henry IV.was unveiled in 1829.On one side of the marble pedestal supporting the statue were the words "Alumno,mox patri nostro,Henrico quarto,"and on the reverse side was a verse in the Gascon dialect:

"Brabes Gascons!

A moun amou per bous aou dibes creyre;

Benes!Benes!ey plaze de bous beyre!

Approucha-bous!"

The words were assumed to be those of;Henry IV.and may be thus translated into English:

"Brave Gascons!

You may well trust my love for you;

Come!come!I leave to you my glory!

Come near!Approach!"[1]

It is necessary to explain how the verse in Gascon came to be engraved on the pedestal of the statue.The Society of Agriculture,Sciences,and Arts,of Agen,offered a prize of 300francs for the best Ode to the memory of Henry the Great.Many poems were accordingly sent in to the Society;and,after some consideration,it was thought that the prize should be awarded to M.Jude Patissie.But amongst the thirty-nine poems which had been presented for examination,it was found that two had been written in the Gascon dialect.The committee were at first of opinion that they could not award the prize to the author of any poem written in the vulgar tongue.At the same time they reported that one of the poems written in Gascon possessed such real merit,that the committee decided by a unanimous vote that a prize should be awarded to the author of the best poem written in the Gascon dialect.Many poems were accordingly sent in and examined.Lou Tres de May was selected as the best;and on the letter attached to the poem being opened,the president proclaimed the author to be "Jasmin,Coiffeur."After the decision of the Society at Agen,the people of Nerac desired to set their seal upon their judgment,and they accordingly caused the above words to be engraved on the reverse side of the pedestal supporting the statue of Henry IV.Jasmin's poem was crowned by the Academy of Agen;and though it contained many fine verses,it had the same merits and the same defects as the Charivari,published a few years before.

M.Rodiere,Professor of Law at Toulouse,was of opinion that during the four years during which Jasmin produced no work of any special importance,he was carefully studying Gascon;for it ought to be known that the language in which Godolin wrote his fine poems is not without its literature."The fact,"says Rodiere,"that Jasmin used some of his time in studying the works of Godolin is,that while in Lou Charibari there are some French words ill-disguised in a Gascon dress,on the other hand,from the year 1830,there are none;and the language of Jasmin is the same as the language of Godolin,except for a few trifling differences,due to the different dialects of Agen and Toulouse."Besides studying Gascon,Jasmin had some military duties to perform.He was corporal of the third company of the National Guard of Agen;and in 1830he addressed his comrades in a series of verses.One of these was a song entitled 'The Flag of Liberty'(Lou Drapeou de la Libertat);another,'The Good All-merciful God!'(Lou Boun Diou liberal);and the third was Lou Seromen.

Two years later,in 1832,Jasmin composed The Gascons,which he improvised at a banquet given to the non-commissioned officers of the 14th Chasseurs.Of course,the improvisation was carefully prepared;and it was composed in French,as the non-commissioned officers did not understand the Gascon dialect.

Jasmin extolled the valour of the French,and especially of the Gascons.The last lines of his eulogy ran as follows:--"O Liberty!mother of victory,Thy flag always brings us success!

Though as Gascons we sing of thy glory,We chastise our foes with the French!"In the same year Jasmin addressed the poet Beranger in a pleasant poetical letter written in classical French.Beranger replied in prose;his answer was dated the 12th of July,1832.

He thanked Jasmin for his fervent eulogy.While he thought that the Gascon poet's praise of his works was exaggerated,he believed in his sincerity.