His second volume of poems was published in 1842,and in a few months it reached its third edition.About 20,000copies of his poems had by this time been issued.The sale of these made him comparatively easy in his circumstances;and it was mainly by their profits that he was enabled to buy his little vineyard near Verona.
It may also be mentioned that Jasmin received a further increase of his means from the Government of Louis Philippe.Many of his friends in the South of France were of opinion that his philanthropic labours should be publicly recognised.While Jasmin had made numerous gifts to the poor from the collections made at his recitations;while he had helped to build schools,orphanages,asylums,and even churches,it was thought that some recompense should be awarded to him by the State for his self-sacrificing labours.
In 1843the Duchess of Orleans had a golden medal struck in his honour;and M.Dumon,when presenting it to Jasmin,announced that the Minister of Instruction had inscribed his name amongst the men of letters whose works the Government was desirous of encouraging;and that consequently a pension had been awarded to him of 1,000francs per annum.This welcome news was shortly after confirmed by the Minister of Instruction himself.
"I am happy,"said M.Villemain,"to bear witness to the merit of your writings,and the originality of your poetry,as well as to the loyalty of your sentiments."The minister was not,however,satisfied with conferring this favour.It was ordered that Jasmin should be made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour,at the same time that Balzac,Frederick Soulie,and Alfred de Musset,were advanced to the same role of honour.The minister,in conveying the insignia to Jasmin,said:
"Your actions are equal to your works;you build churches;you succour indigence;you are a powerful benefactor;and your muse is the sister of Charity."
These unexpected honours made no difference in the poet's daily life.He shaved and curled hair as before.He lived in the same humble shop on the Gravier.He was not in the least puffed up.
His additional income merely enabled him to defray his expenses while on his charitable journeys on behalf of his poorer neighbours.He had no desire to be rich;and he was now more than comfortable in his position of life.
When the news arrived at Agen that Jasmin had been made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour,his salon was crowded with sympathetic admirers.In the evening,a serenade was performed before his door on the Gravier by the Philharmonic Society of Agen.Indeed,the whole town was filled with joy at the acknowledged celebrity of their poet.A few years later Pope Pius IX.conferred upon Jasmin the honour of Chevalier of the Order of St.Gregory the Great.The insignia of the Order was handed to the poet by Monseigneur de Vezins,Bishop of Agen,in Sept.1850.Who could have thought that the barber-poet would have been so honoured by his King,and by the Head of his Church?
Jasmin's next important poem,after the production of Franconnette was Martha the Innocent.--[In Gascon,Maltro l'Innoucento;French,Marthe la Folle].It is like The Blind Girl,a touching story of disappointment in love.Martha was an orphan living at Laffitte,on the banks of the Lot.She was betrothed to a young fellow,but the conion forbade their union.The con was sent to the wars of the first Napoleon,which were then raging.The orphan sold her little cottage in the hope of buying him off,or providing him with a substitute.
But it was all in vain.He was compelled to follow his regiment.
She was a good and pious girl,beloved by all.She was also beautiful,--tall,fair,and handsome,with eyes of blue--"the blue of heaven,"according to Jasmin:
"With grace so fine,and air so sweet,She was a lady amongst peasants."The war came to an end for a time.The soldier was discharged,and returned home.
Martha went out to meet him;but alas!like many other fickle men,he had met and married another.It was his wife who accompanied him homewards.Martha could not bear the terrible calamity of her blighted love.She became crazy--almost an idiot.
She ran away from her home at Laffitte,and wandered about the country.Jasmin,when a boy,had often seen the crazy woman wandering about the streets of Agen with a basket on her arm,begging for bread.Even in her rags she had the remains of beauty.The children ran after her,and cried,"Martha,a soldier!"then she ran off,and concealed herself.
Like other children of his age Jasmin teased her;and now,after more than thirty years,he proposed to atone for his childish folly by converting her sad story into a still sadder poem.
Martha the Innocent is a charming poem,full of grace,harmony,and beauty.Jasmin often recited it,and drew tears from many eyes.In the introduction he related his own part in her history."It all came back upon him,"he said,"and now he recited the story of this martyr of love."[3]
After the completion of Martha,new triumphs awaited Jasmin in the South of France.In 1846he again went to Toulouse on a labour of love.He recited his new poem in the Room of the Illustrious at the Capitol.A brilliant assembly was present.
Flowers perfumed the air.The entire audience rose and applauded the poet.The ladies smiled and wept by turns.Jasmin seemed to possess an electric influence.His clear,harmonious,and flexible voice,gave emphasis by its rich sympathetic tones to the artistic elements of his story.
The man who thus evoked such rapture from his audience was not arrayed in gorgeous costume.He was a little dark-eyed man of the working class,clothed in a quiet suit of black.