The first in rank of the _chansonniers_. The chanson in his hands took on a breadth, a meaning, and a seriousness that it had never before possessed, and that make him secure of a place in the literature of his country. He used the song largely as a vehicle for his political opinions, even as a political weapon. The object of his attack was the monarchy of the restoration and the pre-revolutionary ideas which it tried to revive, and his weapon was formidable because it was so well fitted to be caught up and wielded by the masses of the people. Béranger was popular in the more original sense of the word. He appealed to the masses by his ideas, which were those of the average man, and by the form which he gave them and the efficient aid of the current airs to which he wedded them, so that his words not only reached the ears of an audience far wider than that of the readers of books, but found a lodgment in their memories. Works: The successive collections of _Chansons_ appeared in 1815, 1821, 1825, 1828, 1833; _Oevres posthumes_, and _Oeuvres complètes_, 2 vols., 1857. For reference: Saint-Beuve, _Portraits contemporains_, vol. i; _Causeries du lundi_, vols, ii, xv; _Nouveaux lundis_, vol. i; E. Caro, _Poètes et romanciers_, 1888; C. Coquelin in _The Century_, vol. xxiv, with portraits. 43. LE ROI D'YVETOT (May, 1813) is perhaps the most famous of his songs. Yvetot is a small town in Normandy, near Havre. The lords of Yvetot were given the title of king in the fifteenth century. The reference of the song to Napoleon is clear. 44. 11. BAN; _lever le ban_ means to call out one's vassals or subjects. 13. TIRER AU BLANC, to shoot at a target. 45. LE VILAIN. 30.LE LÉOPARD; the French heralds describe the device of the English coat of arms as a _lion léopardé_; so the French often use the leopard as a symbol for the English. 46. 3. LA LIGUE, the Catholic League, a union of Catholics between 1576 and 1596, principally to secure the supremacy of their religion; it became the partisan of the Duc de Guise against Henry I. and Henry IV., fomented civil strife, allied itself with Spain, and became guilty of cruel excesses. MON HABIT 20. Socrate: the poverty of Socrates is notorious. 27. FÊTE: a person's _fête_ is the day of the saint whose name he bears. 47. 17. DES RUBANS; little bits of ribbon are worn in the buttonhole by members of the Legion of Honor, established by Napoleon in 1802. Membership in it is a purely honorary distinction, conferred by the government for conspicuous services of any kind, civil as well as military, and usually much coveted. Béranger refused all such favors from the government. 26. METTRE POUR JAMAIS HABIT BAS, i.e. _mourir_. 48. LES ÉTOILES QUI FILENT, "shooting stars" (Jan., 1820). This poem is based upon the popular superstition that connects human destinies with the stars, and interprets a shooting star as the passing of a human life.