ly, 1840.

{3} In the preface to the poem, which was published in 1845, the editor
observes:--"This little drama begins in 1798, at Laffitte, a pretty
market-town on the banks of the Lot, near Clairac, and ends in 1802.
When Martha became an idiot, she ran away from the town to which she
belonged, and went to Agen. When seen in the streets of that town she
became an object of commiseration to many, but the children pursued
her, calling out, 'Martha, a soldier!' Sometimes she disappeared for two
weeks at a time, and the people would then observe, 'Martha has hidden
herself; she must now be very hungry!' More than once Jasmin, in his
childhood, pursued Martha with the usual cry of 'A soldier.' He little
thought that at a future time he should make some compensation for his
sarcasms, by writing the touching poem of Martha the Innocent; but this
merely revealed the goodness of his heart and his exquisite sensibility.
Martha died at Agen in 1834."

{4} 'Causeries du Lundi,' iv. 241, edit. 1852.

CHAPTER XVI. THE PRIEST WITHOUT A CHURCH.

The Abbe Masson, priest of Vergt in Perigord, found the church in which
he officiated so decayed and crumbling, that he was obliged to close
it. It had long been in a ruinous condition. The walls were cracked,
and pieces of plaster and even brick fell down upon the heads of the
congregation; and for their sake as well as for his own, the Abbe Masson
was obliged to discontinue the services. At length he resolved to pull
down the ruined building, and erect another church in its place.

Vergt is not a town of any considerable importance. It contains the
ruins of a fortress built by the English while this part of France was
in their possession. At a later period a bloody battle was fought in the
neighbourhood between the Catholics and the Huguenots. Indeed, the whole
of the South of France was for a long period disturbed by the civil
war which raged between these sections of Christians. Though both Roman
Catholics and Protestants still exist at Vergt, they now live together
in peace and harmony.

Vergt is the chief town of the Canton, and contains about 1800
inhabitants. It is a small but picturesque town, the buildings being
half concealed by foliage and chestnut trees. Not far off, by the river
Candou, the scenery reminds one of the wooded valley at Bolton Priory in
Yorkshire.

Though the Abbe Masson was a man of power and vigour, he found it very
difficult to obtain funds from the