I. 28. Un peu cT eau pure, ' The pure water of my song

II. 35-36. Crut aux Bourbons faire adopter pour file la Liberté. In 1 8 15, when Chateaubriand accompanied Louis XVIII back from Ghent, he published a pamphlet entitled La Monarchie selon la Charte, a rather incoherent mixture of

monarchic and liberal principles, on account of which he incurred temporary disgrace.

11. 42-43. Les insensés dirent : Le ciel est beau. Chassons cet homme. In 1824, Chateaubriand having refused to support the bill for the conversion of the national debt, Villèle had no difficulty in inducing Louis XVIII, who never liked Chateaubriand, to relieve him of his portfolio. It was then that Chateaubriand went into opposition and became popular with the Liberals. He first came into frequent contact with Béranger in 1829, and urged the poet to become a candidate for a seat in the 'Académie ' (cf. Ma Biographie, p. 202).

1. 51. vainqueur aux barricades. Refers to ' Ce peuple,' not to Chateaubriand. On the 29th of July, 1830, the Peers had assembled at the Luxembourg ; among them was ' le poète de toutes les ruines, le vicomte de Chateaubriand. Il était arrivé dans ce palais ... au milieu des acclamations et porté sur les bras d'une jeunesse enthousiaste. Pourtant, il ne venait là que pour sauver d'une atteinte dernière la majesté des choses qui ont longtemps vécu. Assis à l'écart, mélancolique et triomphant, il resta quelque temps muet . . . Mais bientôt sortant de sa rêverie et s'animant, il exhorta ses collègues à une fidélité intrépide. " Protestons, s'écriait-il, en faveur de la monarchie mourante. S'il le faut, sortons de Paris ; mais, en quelque lieu que la force nous pousse, sauvons le roi, Messieurs, et confions-nous à toutes les bonnes chances du courage."' (Louis Blanc, Histoire de Dix Ans, I, p. 314.)

On the 24th of September, 1831, Chateaubriand wrote to Béranger a long and complimentary letter in defence of the Bourbons, which was given the same publicity as Béranger's song itself, and in which he intimated that Béranger's muse had conquered, and that he was ready to return.

Le Refus. (Page 118.)

Written in 1831. Béranger had been offered a civil list pension of 600 francs as a ' condamné politique ' of the Restoration. The song in which he refuses it is prettily written, and contains a number of lines worthy of La Fontaine.

General Sébastiani (1772-185 1) served with distinction under Napoleon. He was ambassador at Constantinople when the British fleet forced the Dardanelles in January, 1807, and it was he who in a few days put the city into such thorough defence that the fleet had to retire. He was minister of war in 1830, then minister of foreign affairs until 1832, and ambassador in London from 1835 to 1840.

1. 2. gauchir, to turn aside from the straight road. Compare German ivanken, with which gauchir is cognate.

1. 3. au Moniteur. The Moniteur Universel, which came into existence in 1789, and was the official organ of every government until January 1, 1869, since when it has existed as an independent paper. From its inception it published in extenso all the proceedings, laws, decrees, etc., of the various forms of government which have succeeded each other in France, and it is the fountain-head of information for all students of modern French history.