BERANGER 547 which, owing to his father's prejudice, re- mained prefixed to his patronymic, he never missed an opportunity of proclaiming his ple- beian birth. Je suu vilain, et tres vilain, is the burden of one of his earliest songs. In 1789 he was sent to a school in the faubourg St. Antoine; and from the roof of the house he witnessed the taking of the Bastile by the people, which made a deep impression upon his mind, as appears from a song, Le quatorze juillet, written 40 years later. Ilia father, un- able to pay his board at school, sent him, with- out previous notice, to a sister, a widow with- out children, who kept a small inn near Pe- ronne, in Picardy. Under the guidance of this worthy woman, Pierre received lessons intended to make him a good man and a thorough re- publican. His republicanism was also devel- oped by the training to which he was submitted at a school established by M. Ballue de Bel- langlise, who had been formerly a member of the legislative assembly, and who was, accord- ing to Beranger himself, a sort of republican Fenelon, and a true philanthropist. In this school the boys were formed into a kind of democratic association, and elected officers, such as mayor, councillors, and justices of the peace. They debated political questions; on important occasions speeches were publicly delivered by the young politicians, and more than once they sent up addresses to the con- vention and to Robespierre. Beranger distin- guished himself as a clear and cogent speaker. Patriotism, which, as he says, was the great if not the only passion of his life, was already burning in the heart of the boy, and he feel- ingly narrates his emotions when he heard of the victories or the reverses of the French armies. When the time came for him to learn a trade, he entered the printing office of Lainez, a bookseller, and was treated with great kind- ness by him. Beranger did not acquire marked proficiency as a printer, but showed an incli- nation to poetry, and made at that time some rough attempts at rhyme. Toward the end of 1796 he was called back to Paris by his father, who was then engaged in stockjobbing and financiering speculations, as well as in Bourbon conspiracies, and was known as the "banker of the royalists." Young Beranger became the assistant of his father, and evinced much tact and ability in the business. But in 1798 the firm failed, and the young man found him- self in very straitened circumstances. "My poverty," he says, "was not barren of plea- sure. I lived in an attic on the boulevard St. Martin, and the most magnificent sight opened before my eyes. I had no money, no hope, no prospect of fortune, it is true ; but I was free from all the trouble and disgust connected with the business in which I had been engaged against my taste and feelings. To live alone and make verses at my ease, I considered to be true happiness." Friendship and love con- tributed to embellish his life ; and, as far as his slender means would allow, he heartily joined in popular amusements. Graceful remem- brances of that time are to be traced in several of his pieces, such as Le grenier and Man habit. This careless life lasted several years, during which he sketched the projects of many great works, and wrote some poems and several com- edies, two of which were five-act plays. At the end of 1803 starvation stared him in the face ; his watch and other valuables had been pawned long ago; his clothing was in the poorest condition, and none of his friends were well enough off to offer him relief. In this ex- tremity he wrote a letter to Lucien Bonaparte, brother of the first consul, sending him, as specimens of his literary attainments, two poems, Le retablissement du culte and Le deluge. It was the only instance of solicitation in a long life of independence. Lucien an- swered him kindly, invited him to an inter- view, and when he was compelled to leave France authorized the young poet to receive his pension as a member of the French in- stitute, amounting to nearly $200. The next year, 1805, Beranger was engaged by the painter Landon to write the notices for the Annales du mwee, an illustrated publication, giving outline engravings of the great paintings in the Louvre gallery. This added for two years $350 to his annual income, and enabled him to help his father and contribute to the comfort of his grandmother, who had been en- tirely ruined. In 1809, being introduced to Fontanes, the grand master of the imperial university, by his friend Arnault, he was ap- pointed to an office worth about $200, which salary was gradually increased to $400. Be- ranger's life now began to take a more regular shape, and his talent to flow in its proper channel. He had occasionally written songs, mostly of a gay turn, as they were designed to enliven his joyous meetings with his friends whom he visited at Peronne ; but he was not conscious that the writing of songs was his true calling, and would ultimately secure him dura- ble fame. At this time, however, he began to pay more attention to lyrical poetry, and to feel that it might be made to take rank as one of the higher branches of literature. Some of the pieces which he wrote during the following years, being circulated in manuscript, created a sensation Le senateur, Le petit homme grig, Les gueux, Le roi d'Yvetot, among the num- ber. This success procured for him the ac- quaintance of Desaugiers, the well known song writer of the time, and a very kind-heart- ed man. Desaugiers took a decided fancy for his young competitor, and prevailed upon him to become a member of the celebrated club Le caveau, which had been reestablished about 1811. The disasters of 1814 and 1815, and the two invasions of France by European armies, caused a bitter pang to the patriotic heart of Beranger, and contributed to give a new and higher direction to his poetical vein. He be- came the popular, or rather the truly national bard of France. His shafts were chiefly directed
