Barber, Poet, Philanthropistt

S >> Samuel Smiles >> Barber, Poet, Philanthropistt

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Tacitus has said that renown is not always deserved, it chooses
its due time--Non semper errat fama, aliquando eligit
("Fame is not always mistaken; she sometimes chooses the right").
We have proof of it to-day. The enthusiastic approbation of the
great provinces of France for a popular poet cannot be a
surprise. They single out the last, and I may add, the greatest
poet of the Troubadours!

M. Villemain proceeded to comment upon the poetical works of
Jasmin--especially his Blind Girl of Castel-Cuille;, his
Franconnette, and the noble works he had done for the poor and
the suffering; his self-sacrificing labours for the building of
schools, orphanages, and churches. "Everywhere," he said,
"his elevated and generous soul has laboured for the benefit of
the world about him; and now he would, by the aid of the Academy,
embellish his coronet with a privileged donation to the poet and
philanthropist." He concluded by saying that the especial prize
for literary morality and virtuous actions would be awarded to
him, and that a gold medal would be struck in his honour with
the inscription: "Au Jasmin, Poete moral et populaire!"

M. Ancelo communicated to Jasmin the decision of the Academy.
"I have great pleasure," he said, "in transmitting to you the
genuine sympathy, the sincere admiration, and the unanimous
esteem, which your name and your works have evoked at this
meeting of the Academy. The legitimate applause which you
everywhere receive in your beautiful country finds its echo on
this side of the Loire; and if the spontaneous adoption of you
by the French Academy adds nothing to your glory, it will at
least serve to enhance our own."

The prize unanimously awarded to Jasmin on the 19th of August,
1852, was 3000 francs, which was made up to 5000 by the number
of copies of the "Papillotos" purchased by the Academy for
distribution amongst the members. Jasmin devoted part of the
money to repairing his little house on the Gravier: and the rest
was ready for his future charitable missions.

On receiving the intimation of the prizes awarded to him, he
made another journey to Paris to pay his respects to his devoted
friends of the Academy. He was received with welcome by the most
eminent persons in the metropolis. He was feted as usual.
At the salon of the Marquis de Barthelemy he met the Duc de
Levis, the Duc des Cars, MM. Berryer, de Salvandy, de Vatismenil,
Hyde de Neuville, and other distinguished noblemen and gentlemen.
Monsigneur Sibour, Archbishop of Paris, was desirous of seeing
and hearing this remarkable poet of the South. The Archbishop
invited him to his palace for the purpose of hearing a
recitation of his poems; and there he met the Pope's Nuncio,
several bishops, and the principal members of the Parisian
clergy. After the recitation, the Archbishop presented Jasmin
with a golden branch with this device: "To Jasmin! the greatest
of the Troubadours, past, present, or to come."

The chief authors of Paris, the journalists, and the artists,
had a special meeting in honour of Jasmin. A banquet was
organised by the journalists of the Deux Mondes, at the instance
of Meissonier, Lireux, Lalandelle, C. Reynaud, L. Pichat,
and others. M. Jules Janin presided, and complimented Jasmin in
the name of the Parisian press. The people of Agen, resident in
Paris, also gave him a banquet, at which Jasmin recited a poem
composed for the occasion.

One of his evenings was spent at the house of Madame la Marquise
de Barthelemy. An interesting account of the soiree is given by
a correspondent of Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, who was present
on the occasion.[2] The salons of Madame la Marquise were filled
to overflowing. Many of the old nobility of France were present.

"It was a St. Germain's night," as she herself expressed it.
High-sounding names were there--much intellect and beauty; all
were assembled to do honour to the coiffeur from the banks of
the Garonne. France honours intellect, no matter to what class
of society it belongs: it is an affectionate kind of social
democracy. Indeed, among many virtues in French society, none is
so delightful, none so cheering, none so mutually improving,
and none more Christian, than the kindly intercourse, almost the
equality, of all ranks of society, and the comparatively small
importance attached to wealth or condition, wherever there is
intellect and power.

At half-past nine. Jasmin made his appearance--a short, stout,
dark-haired man, with large bright eyes, and a mobile animated
face, his button-hole decorated with the red ribbon of the
Legion of Honour. He made his way through the richly attired
ladies sparkling with jewels, to a small table at the upper end
of the salon, whereon were books, his own "Curl-papers,"
two candles, a carafe of fresh water, and a vase of flowers.

The ladies arranged themselves in a series of brilliant
semicircles before him. The men blocked up the doorway, peering
over each other's shoulders. Jasmin waved his hand like the
leader of an orchestra, and a general silence sealed all the
fresh noisy lips. One haughty little brunette, not long
emancipated from her convent, giggled audibly; but Jasmin's eye
transfixed her, and the poor child sat thereafter rebuked and
dumb. The hero of the evening again waved his hands, tossed back
his hair, struck an attitude, and began his poem. The first he
recited was "The Priest without a Church" (Le Preste sans
gleyzo). He pleaded for the church as if it were about to be
built. He clasped his hands, looked up to heaven, and tears were
in his eyes. Some sought for the silver and gold in their
purses; but no collection was made, as the church had already
been built, and was free of debt.

After an interval, he recited La Semaine d'un Fils; and he
recited it very beautifully. There were some men who wept;
and many women who exclaimed, "Charmant! Tout-a-fait charmant!"
but who did not weep. Jasmin next recited Ma Bigno, which has
been already described. The contributor to Chambers's Journal
proceeds: "It was all very amusing to a proud, stiff, reserved
Britisher like myself, to see how grey-headed men with stars and
ribbons could cry at Jasmin's reading; and how Jasmin, himself a
man, could sob and wipe his eyes, and weep so violently,
and display such excessive emotion. This surpassed my
understanding--probably clouded by the chill atmosphere of the
fogs, in which every Frenchman believes we live.... After the
recitations had concluded, Jasmin's social ovation began. Ladies
surrounded him, and men admired him. A ring was presented, and a
pretty speech spoken by a pretty mouth, accompanied the
presentation; and the man of the people was flattered out of all
proportion by the brave, haughty old noblesse.

"To do Jasmin justice, although naturally enough spoiled by the
absurd amount of adulation he has met with, he has not been made
cold-hearted or worldly. He is vain, but true and loyal to his
class. He does not seek to disguise or belie his profession.
In fact, he always dwells upon his past more or less, and never
misses an opportunity of reminding his audience that he is but a
plebeian, after all.

"He wears a white apron, and shaves and frizzes hair to this
day, when at Agen; and though a Chevalier of the Legion of
Honour, member of Academies and Institutes without number, feted,
praised, flattered beyond anything we can imagine in England,
crowned by the king and the then heir to the throne with gilt
and silver crowns, decked with flowers and oak-leaves, and all
conceivable species of coronets, he does not ape the gentleman,
but clips, curls, and chatters as simply as heretofore, and as
professionally. There is no little merit in this steady
attachment to his native place, and no little good sense in this
adherence to his old profession... It is far manlier and nobler
than that weak form of vanity shown in a slavish imitation of the
great, and a cowardly shame of one's native condition.

"Without going so far as his eulogistic admirers in the press,
yet we honour in him a true poet, and a true man, brave,
affectionate, mobile, loving, whose very faults are all amiable,
and whose vanity takes the form of nature. And if we of the cold
North can scarcely comprehend the childish passionateness and
emotional unreserve of the more sensitive South, at least we can
profoundly respect the good common to us all the good which lies
underneath that many-coloured robe of manners which changes with
every hamlet; the good which speaks from heart to heart,
and quickens the pulses of the blood; the good which binds us
all as brothers, and makes but one family of universal man;
and this good we lovingly recognise in Jasmin; and while rallying
him for his foibles, respectfully love him for his virtues,
and tender him a hand of sympathy and admiration as a fine;
poet, a good citizen, and a true-hearted man."

Before leaving Paris it was necessary for Jasmin to acknowledge
his gratitude to the French Academy. The members had done him
much honour by the gold medal and the handsome donation they had
awarded him. On the 24th of August, 1852, he addressed the Forty
of the Academy in a poem which he entitled 'Langue Francaise,
Langue Gasconne,' or, as he styled it in Gascon, 'Lengo Gascouno,
Lengo Francezo.' In this poem, which was decorated with the most
fragrant flowers of poetry with which he could clothe his words,
Jasmin endeavoured to disclose the characteristics of the two
languages. At the beginning, he said:

"O my birth-place, what a concert delights my ear! Nightingales,
sing aloud; bees, hum together; Garonne, make music on your pure
and laughing stream; the elms of Gravier, tower above me; not
for glory, but for gladness."[3]

After the recitation of the poem, M. Laurentie said that it
abounded in patriotic sentiments and fine appreciation, to say
nothing of the charming style of the falling strophes, at
intervals, in their sonorous and lyrical refrain. M. Villemain
added his acclamation. "In truth, said he, "once more our
Academy is indebted to Jasmin!" The poet, though delighted by
these ovations, declared that it was he who was indebted to the
members of the Academy, not they to him. M. de Salvandy
reassured him: "Do not trouble yourself, Jasmin; you have
accomplished everything we could have wished; you have given us
ten for one, and still we are your debtors."

After Jasmin had paid his compliments to the French Academy,
he was about to set out for Agen--being fatigued and almost
broken down by his numerous entertainments in Paris--when he
was invited by General Fleury to visit the President of the
French Republic at Saint-Cloud. This interview did not please
him so much as the gracious reception which he had received in
the same palace some years before from Louis Philippe and the
Duchess of Orleans; yet Jasmin was a man who respected the law,
and as France had elected Louis Napoleon as President, he was
not unwilling to render him his homage.

Jasmin had already seen the President when passing through Agen
a few years before, on his visit to Bordeaux, Toulouse, and
Toulon; but they had no personal interview. M. Edmond Texier,
however, visited Jasmin, and asked him whether he had not
composed a hymn for the fete of the day. No! he had composed
nothing; yet he had voted for Louis Napoleon, believing him to
be the saviour of France. "But," said M. Texier, "if the Prince
appeals to you, you will eulogise him in a poem?" "Certainly,"
replied Jasmin, "and this is what I would say: 'Sir, in the
name of our country, restore to us our noble friend M. Baze.
He was your adversary, but he is now conquered, disarmed, and
most unhappy. Restore him to his mother, now eighty years old;
to his weeping family; and to all his household, who deplore his
absence; restore him also to our townsmen, who love and honour
him, and bear no hostility towards the President, His recall will
be an admirable political act, and will give our country more
happiness that the highest act of benevolence.'"

This conversation between Jasmin and Texier immediately appeared
in the columns of the Siecle, accompanied with a stirring
sympathetic article by the editor. It may be mentioned that
M. Baze was one of Jasmin's best friends. He had introduced the
poet to the public, and written the charming preface to the
first volume of the 'Papillotos,' issued in 1835. M. Baze was an
advocate of the Royal Court of Agen--a man of fine character,
and a true patriot. He was Mayor of Agen, commander of the
National Guard, and afterwards member of the Legislative Assembly
and the Senate. But he was opposed to Prince Louis Napoleon,
and was one of the authors of the motion entitled de Questeurs.
He was arrested on the night of the 2nd December, 1851,
imprisoned for a month in the Mazas, and then expelled from the
territory of France. During his exile he practised at Liege as
an advocate.

Jasmin again went to Paris in May 1853, and this time on his
mission of mercy. The editor of the Siecle announced his
arrival. He was again feted, and the salons rejoiced in his
recitations. After a few days he was invited to Saint-Cloud.
Louis Napoleon was now Emperor of France, and the Empress
Eugenie sat by his side. The appearance of Jasmin was welcomed,
and he was soon made thoroughly at ease by the Emperor's
interesting conversation. A company had been assembled,
and Jasmin was requested to recite some of his poems. As usual,
he evoked smiles and tears by turns. When the audience were in
one of their fits of weeping, and Jasmin had finished his
declamation, the Emperor exclaimed, "Why; poet, this is a genuine
display of handkerchiefs"--(Mais, poete, c'est un veritable scene
de mouchoirs).

Jasmin seized this moment for revealing to the Emperor the
desire which he had long entertained, for recalling from exile
his dear friend M. Baze. He had prepared a charming piece of
verse addressed to the Empress Eugenie, requesting his return to
France through the grand door of honour. "Restore him to us,"
he said; "Agen cries aloud. The young Empress, as good as
beautiful, beloved of Heaven, will pray with her sympathetic
soul, and save two children and an unhappy mother--she, who
will be soon blessed as a happy mother herself."[4] Jasmin
concluded his poem with the following words in Gascon: Esperi!
Lou angels nou se troumpon jamay.'

The result of this appeal to the Empress was that Jasmin's
prayer was immediately granted by the Emperor. M. Baze returned
to France at once, without any conditions whatever. The parents
of the quondam exile wrote to Jasmin thanking him most cordially
for his exertions in their favour. Four days after the soiree at

Saint-Cloud, the Prefect of the Indre-et-Loire, head of the Baze
family, wrote to Jasmin, saying: "Your muse is accustomed to
triumphs; but this one ought to rejoice your heart, and should
yield you more honour than all the others. For my part, I feel
myself under the necessity of thanking you cordially for your
beautiful and noble action; and in saying so, I interpret the
sentiments of the whole family." Madame Baze addressed the
Emperor in a letter of grateful thanks, which she wrote at the
dictation of Jasmin. The Siecle also gave an account of Jasmin's
interview with the Emperor and Empress at Saint-Cloud, and the
whole proceeding redounded to the honour of the Gascon poet.

Jasmin had been made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour at the
same time as Balzac, Frederick Soulie, and Alfred de Musset.
The minister bore witness to the worth of Jasmin, notwithstanding
the rusticity of his idiom; and he was classed amongst the men
who did honour to French literature. He was considered great,
not only in his poems, but in his benevolent works: "You build
churches; you help indigence; you possess the talent of a
powerful benefactor; and your muse is the sister of charity."

When the news of the honours conferred upon Jasmin reached Agen,
the people were most sympathetic in their demonstrations.
The shop of the barber-poet was crowded with visitors, and when
he himself reached the town he was received with the greatest
enthusiasm. The Philharmonic Society again treated him to a
serenade, and the whole town was full of joy at the honour done
to their beloved poet.

To return to the church of Vergt, which was not yet entirely
finished. A bell-tower had been erected, but what was a
bell-tower without bells? There was a little tinkling affair
which could scarcely be heard in the church, still less in the
neighbourhood. With his constant trust in Providence, the Abbe
did not hesitate to buy a clock and order two large bells.
The expense of both amounted to 7000 francs. How was this to
be paid? His funds were entirely exhausted. The priest first
applied to the inhabitants of Vergt, but they could not raise
half the necessary funds. There was Jasmin! He was the only
person that could enable the Abbe to defray his debt.

Accordingly, another appeal was made to the public outside of
Vergt. The poet and the priest set out on their fifth and last
pilgrimage; and this time they went as far as Lyons--a city
which Jasmin had never seen before. There he found himself face
to face with an immense audience, who knew next to nothing of
his Gascon patois. He was afraid of his success; but unwilling
to retreat, he resolved, he said, "to create a squadron in
reserve"; that is, after reciting some of the old inspirations
of his youth, to give them his Helene or 'Love and Poetry,'
in modern classical French. The result, we need scarcely say,
was eminently successful, and the Abbe; was doubly grateful in
having added so many more thousand francs to his purse.

During this journey another priest, the Abbe Cabanel, united his
forces with those of Jasmin and Masson. This Abbe was curate of
Port de Sainte-Foi-la-Grande. He had endeavoured to erect in his

parish a public school under the charge of religious teachers.
He now proposed to partake of the profits of the recitations for
the purpose of helping on his project; and Jasmin and Masson
willingly complied with his request. They accordingly appeared
at the town of Sainte-Foi, and the result was another excellent
collection.

After visiting other towns, sufficient subscriptions were
collected to enable the Abbe to pay off his debts. The clock and
bells were christened by Monseigneur de Sangalerie, who had
himself been a curate of the parish of Vergt; and the bells were
inscribed with the name of JASMIN, the chief founder and
rebuilder of the church. The bells were the last addition to
Jasmin's bell-tower, but the final result was reached long after
the beginning of the rebuilding of the church.

Footnotes for Chapter XVII.

[1] The Baron de Montyon bequeathed a large sum to the
Academie Francaise, the Academie des Sciences, and the Faculte
de Medecine, for the purpose of being awarded in prizes to men
of invention and discovery, or for any literary work likely to be
useful to society, and to rewarding acts of virtue among the
poor.
Jasmin was certainly entitled to a share in this benevolent fund.

[2] Chambers' Edinburgh Journal, July, 1853

[3] The following are the Gascon words of this part of the poem:

"O moun bres, d'un councer festejo moun aoureillo!
Rouseignol, canto fort! brounzino fort, Abeillo!
Garono, fay souna toun flot rizen et pur;
Des ourmes del Grabe floureji la cabeillo,
Non de glorio... mais de bounhur!"

[4] The editor of Vol. IV. of Jasmins Poems (1863) gives this
note:
"In this circumstance, Jasmin has realised the foresight which
the ancients afforded to their poets, of predicting, two years in
advance, the birth of the Prince Imperial."

CHAPTER XVIII.

JASMIN ENROLLED MAITRE-ES-JEUX AT TOULOUSE--CROWNED BY AGEN.

Shortly after the return of Jasmin from Paris, where he had the
honour of an interview with the Emperor and Empress, as well as
with the members of the French Academy, he was invited to
Toulouse for the purpose of being enrolled as Maitre-es-jeux in
the Academy of Jeux Floreaux.

Toulouse is known as the city of Literary Fetes, and the
reception of Jasmin as Maitre-es-Jeux will long exist as a
permanent record in her annals. The Academy of Jeux Floreaux had
no prize of 5000 frs. to bestow, nor any crowns, nor any golden
laurels. She hides her poverty under her flowers, and although
she would willingly have given all her flowers to Jasmin,
yet her rules prevented her. She called Jasmin to her bosom,
and gave him the heartiest of welcomes. But the honour was
there--the honour of being invited to join a brotherhood of
illustrious men.

The title of Maitre-es-jeux is a rare distinction, awarded only
to the highest celebrities. The ceremony of installing Jasmin
took place on the 6th of February, 1854. The great Salle des
Illustres was crowded long before he made his appearance,
while the Place de Capitol was filled with a vast number of his
admirers. The archbishop, the prefect, the mayor, the
magistrates, and the principal citizens of Toulouse were present,
with the most beautiful women in the city. Many of the southern
bishops were present, having desired to enjoy the pleasure of
assisting at the ceremony.

After an address of congratulation, Jasmin was enrolled amongst
the members, and presented with his diploma of Maitre-es-jeux.
Though it was only a piece of parchment, he considered it the
rarest of distinctions. It connected the poet, through five
centuries, with the last of the Troubadours, whose language he
had so splendidly revived. Jasmin valued his bit of parchment
more highly than all the other gifts he had received. In answer
to his enrolment, he said:

"I have now enough! I want no more! All things smile upon me.
My muse went proudly from the forty of Toulouse to the forty of
Paris. She is more than proud to-day, she is completely happy;
for she sees my name, which Isaure blessed, come from the forty
of Paris to the forty of Toulouse,"

After his enrolment, the poet-barber left the salon. A large
crowd had assembled in the court, under the peristyle, in the
Place of the Capitol. Every head was uncovered as he passed
through their ranks, and those who accompanied him to his
lodging, called out, "Vive Jasmin! Vive Jasmin!" Never had such
a scene been witnessed before.

Although Jasmin had declared to the Academy of Jeux Floreaux
that he wanted nothing more than the diploma they had given him,
yet another triumph was waiting him. The citizens of Agen capped
all the previous honours of the poet. They awarded him a crown
of gold, which must have been the greatest recompense of all.
They had known him during almost his entire life--the son of a
humpbacked tailor and a crippled mother, of poor but honest
people, whose means had been helped by the grandfather, Boe, who
begged from door to door, the old man who closed his eyes in the
hospital, "where all the Jasmins die!"

They had known him by his boyish tricks, his expulsion from the
Academy, his setting up as a barber, his happy marriage, and his
laborious progress, until the "shower of silver" came running
into his shop. "Pau de labouro, pau de salouro," No work,
no bread. Though born in the lowest condition of life, he had,
by the help of his wife, and by his own energy and perseverance,
raised himself to the highest position as a man of character.
Before he reached the age of thirty [1] he began to show
evidences of his genius as a poet.

But still more important were his works of charity, which
endeared him to the people through the South of France. It was
right and reasonable that his fellow-citizens should desire to
take part in the honours conferred upon their beloved poet. He
had already experienced their profound sympathy during his
self-sacrificing work, but they now wished to testify their
public admiration, and to proclaim the fact by some offering of
intrinsic value.

The Society of Saint-Vincent de Paul--whom he had so often helped
in their charitable labours--first started the idea. They knew
what Jasmin had done to found schools, orphanages, and creches.
Indeed, this was their own mission, and no one had laboured so
willingly as he had done to help them in their noble work.
The idea, thus started by the society, immediately attracted
public attention, and was received with universal approval.

A committee was formed, consisting of De Bouy, mayor; H. Noubel,
deputy; Aunac, banker; Canon Deyche, arch-priest of the
cathedral; Dufort, imperial councillor; Guizot, receiver-general;
Labat, advocate-general; Maysonnade, president of the conference
of Saint-Vincent de Paul; Couturier, the engineer, and other
gentlemen. A subscription was at once opened and more than
four thousand persons answered the appeal.

When the subscriptions were collected, they were found so great
in amount, that the committee resolved to present Jasmin with a
crown of gold. Five hundred years before, Petrarch had been
crowned at Rome in the name of Italy, and now Jasmin was to be
crowned at Agen, in the name of Meridional France. To crown a
man, who, during his lifetime had been engaged in the trade of
barber and hair-dresser, seemed something extraordinary and
unique. To the cold-blooded people of the North there might
appear something theatrical in such a demonstration, but it was
quite in keeping with the warm-hearted children of the South.

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