. "There he comes at last!"
was the general cry. His arrival was greeted with enthusiastic cheers.
It was now quite dark. The poet and the priest entered Sarlat in
triumph, amidst the glare of torches and the joyful shouts of the
multitude. Then came the priest's address, Jasmin's recitations, and the
final collection of offerings.

It is unnecessary to repeat the scenes, however impressive, which
occurred during the journey of the poet and the priest. There was the
same amount of enthusiasm at Nontron, Bergerac, and the other towns
which they visited. At Nontron, M. A. de Calvimont, the sub-prefect,
welcomed Jasmin with the following lines:

"To Jasmin, our grand poet,
The painter of humanity;
For him, elect of heaven, life is a fete
Ending in immortality."

Jasmin replied to this with some impromptu lines, 'To Poetry,' dedicated
to the sub-prefect. At Bergerac he wrote his Adieu to Perigord, in which
he conveyed his thanks to the inhabitants of the department for the
kindness with which they had received him and his companion. This, their
first journey through Perigord, was brought to a close at the end of
February, 1843.

The result of this brilliant journey was very successful. The purse of
the Abbe was now sufficiently well filled to enable him to proceed
with the rebuilding of the church of Vergt; and the work was so well
advanced, that by the 23rd of the following month of July it was ready
for consecration. A solemn ceremony then took place. Six bishops,
including an archbishop, and three hundred priests were present, with
more than fifteen thousand people of all ranks and conditions of life.
Never had such a ceremony been seen before--at least in so small a town.

The Cardinal Gousset, Archbishop of Rheims, after consecrating
the church, turned to Jasmin, and said: "Poet, we cannot avoid the
recognition of your self-sacrificing labours in the rebuilding of this
church; and we shall be happy if you will consent to say a few words
before we part."

"Monseigneur," replied Jasmin, "can you believe that my muse has
laboured for fifteen days and fifteen nights, that I should interrupt
this day of the fete? Vergt keeps fete to-day for religion, but not for
poetry, though it welcomes and loves it. The church has six pontiffs;
the poet is only a subdeacon; but if I must sing my hymn officially, it
must be elsewhere."

The Archbishop--a man of intelligence who understood the feelings of
poets--promised, at