au préfet. It was under the Consulate that the

NOTES. PAGES 25-27 l8l

administration of each ' département ' was put under a 'préfet.' There were numerous complaints on the part of the 'préfets' that the lately returned 'émigrés' refused to conform to the law, particularly in the matter of taxation.

1. 52. la dime. The tithes were of course among the taxes and privileges which had been abolished in the night of August 4, 1789.

1. 56. tendrons, literally the young shoots of a plant or tree ; often used familiarly with the meaning of 'jeunes filles.'

L 58. droit du seigneur. Certain rights which the nobles of France are said to have had over the wives of their vassals.

1. 61. Curé, fais ton devoir. Before 1789 the nobility had the right to have incense burnt before them at mass ; the number of swings of the censer which they had a right to was a delicate question of precedence, and the source of many unseemly disputes.

It is worthy of notice that this song is written entirely in masculine rimes, like the Chanson du roi Dagobert, to the tune of which it was sung.

With this portrait of the ' émigré ' may be compared that which Jules Sandeau drew with a more kindly and more impartial pen in Mademoiselle de la Seiglière.

Mon Âme. (Page 26.)

Written in 1816.

I. 14. L'aimable paix, que la terre a proscrite. Though in 1 8 16 peace prevailed in international politics, the constant attempts of the ' Chambre Introuvable ' and of the old nobility to annul the constitutional Charter were keeping France in that state of ferment which is characteristic of the whole Restoration period.

II. 21-22. l'autel de la Victoire . . . l'autel de la Liberté. Béranger always frankly acknowledged that Napoleon's rergn had been one of despotism.

11. 23-24. de Tbersite . . . le char injurieux. It is difficult to tell whom Béranger refers to under the name of Thersites, that ' most hateful and most impudent of all the Greeks.' We are not aware, moreover, that Thersites ever boasted a chariot.

L 28. au-dessus de: orages, ' in heaven.'

1. 29. morts à propos, who died in time not to witness our present shame.

1. 33. tous ces demi-dieux. This is perhaps the first note of that fervid admiration of Napoleon's armies which was soon to become so prominent in Béranger's songs.

l82 CHANSONS CHOISIES DE BÉRANGER

1. 40. de pénibles fers. Béranger refers more than once to his modest post at the University as a chain to which he is riveted, and which he painfully drags through life.

1. 50. L'ai, a sparkling champagne manufactured at Aï in the department of Marne, and which once enjoyed a great reputation.

à défaut d'eau bénite. In Roman Catholic countries a dish of consecrated water is often placed in the mortuary chamber ; beside it is a sprig of boxwood or an olive branch, with which visitors besprinkle the corpse.

Le Juge de Charenton. (Page 28.)

Written in November, 1816.

1 Un discours au moins étrange prononcé par M. le premier président Séguier, à la rentrée des tribunaux (en 1816), donna naissance à cette chanson, qui eut une vogue prodigieuse. Depuis, M. Séguier . . . montra tant d'humanité et d'amour de la justice, que Béranger eût voulu pouvoir faire disparaître ces couplets. ... Ce qui devait le porter à n'en rien faire, c'est que, le dernier couplet attaquant M. Bellart, qui était encore tout-puissant lorsque parut l'édition de 1821, Béranger eût semblé reculer devant cette terrible puissance, à laquelle il prévoyait bien qu'il aurait affaire avant peu.' (Note by Béranger. )

1. 1. Un maître fou. ' Fou ' means both 'fool' and 'mad,' or ' madman,' and is often used, as here, with something of both meanings. ' Maître ' denotes literally one who has achieved his ' chef-d'œuvre ' or masterpiece, to the satisfaction of his guild, and earned the right to be called a master, and to form apprentices. Hence its meaning of ' perfect/ as here : a perfect fool, or an arch-madman.

The reference is to Antoine Jean Matthieu, baron Séguier (1 768-1 848), who from 1802 was president of the Court of Appeal of Paris. Created baron in 1808, he made himself conspicuous by the fulsome adulation which he poured, first on the Emperor, and later on Louis XVIII and the Comte d'Artois. In November, 1816, his 'discours de rentrée,' or presidential speech at the meeting of the law-courts, took the form of a somewhat puerile tirade against the liberal tendencies of the age, the Revolution, the ' Code Napoléon,' and such abuses and innovations as the ' mania for wrapping oneself up in oriental stuffs.' This speech, extracts of which will be found in the Moniteur of 181 6, inspired Béranger with one of his wittiest satires. Séguier's fervid royalism gradually cooled, and his attitude in several law-suits against the Press earned

him the goodwill of the Liberals, and of Béranger, as is apparent from the latter's note.

1. 3. Des loges de Cbarenton. Charenton, eight kilometres from Paris, on the right bank of the Seine, is noted for its asylum for the insane, founded in 1642. The ' loges * are the cells in which the insane are secluded.

1. 6. simarre, 2l long black raiment which certain judges wear under their gown.

1. 8. Precbi ! prêcha ! ' Un prechi-precha ' is a long-winded and wearisome moralizer. The expression is also used as an interjection, to imply that one is listening to a tedious and sanctimonious discourse. Here : ' Listen to my preachifying ! '

L 11. V ] Esprit-Saint. At the opening of any public session, such as that of the law-courts, it was the custom to attend a 1 Messe du Saint-Esprit.'

1. 15. un impudent. Napoleon, under whose reign was composed the code which bears his name, and which still forms the basis of French law.

1. 21. Galimafrè. This famous clown (1791-1871) enjoyed with the equally famous Bobèche great popularity at one of the small theatres of the Boulevard du Temple, between the years 1809 and 182 1.