e by this gracious reception. The King
and the Duchess united in desiring him to recite some of his poetry.
He at once complied with their request, and recited his Caritat
and L'Abuglo ('The Blind Girl'). After this the party engaged in
conversation. Jasmin, by no means a courtier, spoke of the past, of
Henry IV., and especially of Napoleon--"L'Ampereur," as he described
him. Jasmin had, in the first volume of his 'Papillotos,' written some
satirical pieces on the court and ministers of Louis Philippe. His
friends wished him to omit these pieces from the new edition of his
works, which was about to be published; but he would not consent to do
so. "I must give my works," he said, "just as they were composed; their
suppression would be a negation of myself, and an act of adulation
unworthy of any true-minded man." Accordingly they remained in the
'Papillotos.'

Before he left the royal party, the Duchess of Orleans presented Jasmin
with a golden pin, ornamented with pearls and diamonds; and the
King afterwards sent him, as a souvenir of his visit to the Court, a
beautiful gold watch, ornamented with diamonds. Notwithstanding the
pleasure of this visit, Jasmin, as with a prophetic eye, saw the marks
of sorrow upon the countenance of the King, who was already experiencing
the emptiness of human glory. Scarcely had Jasmin left the palace when
he wrote to his friend Madame de Virens, at Agen: "On that noble face
I could see, beneath the smile, the expression of sadness; so that from
to-day I can no longer say: 'Happy as a King.'"

Another entertainment, quite in contrast with his visit to the King, was
the banquet which Jasmin received from the barbers and hair-dressers of
Paris. He there recited the verses which he had written in their honour.
M. Boisjoslin{1} says that half the barbers of Paris are Iberiens. For
the last three centuries, in all the legends and anecdotes, the barber
is always a Gascon. The actor, the singer, often came from Provence, but
much oftener from Gascony: that is the country of la parole.

During Jasmin's month at Paris he had been unable to visit many of
the leading literary men; but he was especially anxious to see M.
Chateaubriand, the father of modern French literature. Jasmin was
fortunate in finding Chateaubriand at home, at 112 Rue du Bac. He
received Jasmin with cordiality. "I know you intimately already," said
the author of the 'Genius of Christianity;' "my friends Ampere and
Fauriel hav