JASMIN, JACQUES (1798-1864), Provençal poet, was born at Agen on the 6th of March 1798, his family name being Boé. His father, who was a tailor, had a certain facility for making doggerel verses, which he sang or recited at fairs and such-like popular gatherings; and Jacques, who used generally to accompany him, was thus early familiarized with the part which he afterwards so successfully filled himself. When sixteen years of age he found employment at a hairdresser's shop, and subsequently started a similar business of his own on the Gravier at Agen. In 1825 he published his first volume of _Papillotos_ ("Curl Papers"), containing poems in French (a language he used with a certain sense of restraint), and in the familiar Agen _patois_--the popular speech of the working classes--in which he was to achieve all his literary triumphs. Jasmin was the most famous forerunner in Provençal literature (q.v.) of Mistral and the _Félibrige_. His influence in rehabilitating, for literary purposes, his native dialect, was particularly exercised in the public recitals of his poems to which he devoted himself. His poetic gift, and his flexible voice and action, fitted him admirably for this double rôle of troubadour and jongleur. In 1835 he recited his "Blind Girl of Castel-Cuillé" at Bordeaux, in 1836 at Toulouse; and he met with an enthusiastic reception in both those important cities. Most of his public recitations were given for benevolent purposes, the proceeds being contributed by him to the restoration of the church of Vergt and other good works. Four successive volumes of _Papillotos_ were published during his lifetime, and contained amongst others the following remarkable poems, quoted in order: "The Charivari," "My Recollections" (supplemented after an interval of many years), "The Blind Girl," "Françounetto," "Martha the Simple," and "The Twin Brothers." With the exception of "The Charivari," these are all touching pictures of humble life--in most cases real episodes--carefully elaborated by the poet till the graphic descriptions, full of light and colour, and the admirably varied and melodious verse, seem too spontaneous and easy to have cost an effort. Jasmin was not a prolific writer, and, in spite of his impetuous nature, would work a long time at one poem, striving to realize every feeling he wished to describe, and give it its most lucid and natural expression. A verse from his spirited poem, "The Third of May," written in honour of Henry IV., and published in the first volume of _Papillotos_, is engraved on the base of the statue erected to that king at Nérac. In 1852 Jasmin's works were crowned by the Académie Française, and a pension was awarded him. The medal struck on the occasion bore the inscription: _Au poëte moral et populaire_. His title of "Maistre ès Jeux" is a distinction only conferred by the academy of Toulouse on illustrious writers. Pius IX. sent him the insignia of a