the palaces of kings; she has associated herself with your triumphs
throughout; now the hour of recognising your merits has arrived, and she
honours herself in crowning you.

"But it is not merely the Poet whom we recognise to-day; you have a much
greater claim to our homage. In an age in which egoism and the eager
thirst for riches prevails, you have, in the noble work which you have
performed, displayed the virtues of benevolence and self-sacrifice. You
yourself have put them into practice. Ardent in the work of charity, you
have gone wherever misery and poverty had to be relieved, and all that
you yourself have received was merely the blessings of the unfortunate.
Each of your days has been celebrated for its good works, and your whole
life has been a hymn to benevolence and charity.

"Accept, then, Jasmin, this crown! Great poet, good citizen, you have
nobly earned it! Give it an honoured place in that glorious museum of
yours, which the towns and cities of the South have enriched by their
gifts. May it remain there in testimony of your poetical triumphs, and
attest the welcome recognition of your merits by your fellow-citizens.

"For myself, I cannot but be proud of the mission which has been
entrusted to me. I only owe it, I know, to the position of deputy in
which you have placed me by popular election. I am proud, nevertheless,
of having the honour of crowning you, and I shall ever regard this event
as the most glorious recollection of my life."

After this address, during which M. Noubel was greatly moved, he
took the crown of gold and placed it on the head of the poet. It is
impossible to describe the enthusiasm of the meeting at this supreme
moment. The people were almost beside themselves. Their exclamations of
sympathy and applause were almost frantic. Jasmin wept with happiness.
After the emotion hard subsided, with his eyes full of tears, he recited
his piece of poetry entitled: The Crown of my Birthplace.{2}

In this poem, Jasmin took occasion to recite the state of poverty in
which he was born, yet with the star of poetry in his breast; his dear
mother, and her anxieties about his education and up-bringing; his
growth; his first efforts in poetical composition, and his final
triumph; and at last his crown of gold conferred upon him by the people
of Agen--the crown of his birthplace.

"I feel that if my birthplace crowns me,
In place of singing. . . I should weep!"

After Jasmin had recited his