Bellart. Cf. note to Le Juge de Charenton

L 41. Philomele. Cf. note to Si J'ÉTAIS PETIT OISEAU, 1. 10. Philomela was ravished on her way from Athens by King Tereus, who then cut out her tongue and hid her on Parnassus. In answer to her prayers the gods changed her into a nightingale.

L'Épitaphe de ma Muse. (Page 70.)

This is one of the numerous songs written by Béranger during his incarceration. They were immediately circulated in Paris by his friends.

1. 3. J'ai chanté V amoureux délire. Béranger's Muse is exaggerating a little, unless she refers to an early song entitled La Bacchante, which stands alone of its kind. Béranger is the poet of the ' amour bourgeois,' and of the free-and-easy life of the Quartier Latin, but his Muse has nothing in common with that of his contemporary, Alfred de Musset.

1. 13. N'avait jamais sucé le lait. Béranger knew neither Greek nor Latin. Cf. Introduction, § 26.

1. 15. je lui fis l'octroi. Faire Poctroi de (qqch. à qqn.) is equivalent to octroyer, to grant. Cf. La Fontaine {Le Chat, la Belette et le petit Lapin) :

. . . quelle loi En a pour toujours fait l'octroi A Jean . . . plutôt qu'à Paul.

1. 16. mandille, a short coat worn by people of the humbler classes.

1. 29. Marchangy. Louis Antoine François de Marchangy (1782-1826) was appointed Attorney-General in 1815. The

vigorous logic of his speeches for the Crown was much appreciated. He conducted the cases against the ' Four Sergeants of La Rochelle ' and against Béranger. He was also known as a writer. Marchangy seems to have remained obscure for many years before he made a name for himself, but * qui rampa vingt ans ' is perhaps intended to imply that he * grovelled ■ first at the feet of Napoleon and later at those of the Bourbons.

I. 38. Dupin. André Marie Dupin (1783 -1865) early achieved a reputation as an advocate. During the Restoration he undertook the defence of numerous political offenders, the best known of whom are Marshal Ney and Béranger. He took an active part in the revolution of 1830, became a member of the ' Académie Française' in 183 1, and was president of the Chamber of Deputies from 1832 to 1840.

II. 39-40. N'ayant pu mordre sur la lime, Le hideux serpent Pa-vala. A reference to La Fontaine's fable Le Serpent et la Lime (V. 16). Béranger probably means that Marchangy, having failed to secure a conviction on account of Le Vieux Drapeau, forced the hands of judges and jury and extorted a conviction on account of the songs against the clergy and the missionaries. Cf. Introd., § 11.

Les Conseils de Lise. (Page 71.)

Written in 1822. Béranger, released from prison, but now deprived of his post of ' expéditionnaire ' at the University, had been offered easy and pleasant employment by many of his friends, and in particular by Laffitte; he evidently was uncertain for some time as to how he should act, for on the 15th of June he writes to Lucien Paron, who was then in the île Bourbon : ' Je vais m'occuper de chercher un emploi, ne pouvant vivre sans cela. Je n'en veux qu'un modique, parce qu'il est nécessaire que je conserve ma liberté pour m'occuper de littérature.' He made arrangements, however, which assured him a moderate income from the sale of his Chansons, and preferred to remain independent.