Generally, by the time his father finished his day's work, Adolphe had not begun his. He was still in bed--which I forgave him after he had assured me that he had worked at a little drama in two acts, called the _Pauvre Fille_, until two in the morning. The reader will recollect Soumet's charming elegy:-- "J'ai fui le pénible sommeil, Qu'aucun songe heureux n'accompagne; J'ai devancé sur la montagne Les premiers rayons du soleil. S'éveillant avec la nature, Le jeune oiseau chantait sur l'aubépine en fleurs; Sa mère lui portait la douce nourriture; Mes yeux se sont mouillés de pleurs. Oh! pourquoi n'ai-je plus de mère? Pourquoi ne suis-je pas semblable au jeune oiseau Dont le nid se balance aux branches de l'ormeau, Moi, malheureux enfant trouve sur une pierre, Devant l'église du hameau?" Short lines were much in vogue at that period. M. Guiraud had just made with his _Petits Savoyards_ a reputation almost equal to that M. Dennery has since made with his _Grâce de Dieu_, the only difference being that M. Guiraud's Savoyard only asked for a son, while M. Dennery's Savoyard asked for five. True, M. Dennery is a Jew. The first of Hugo's _Odes_ had made their appearance; Lamartine's _Méditations_ were out; but these were too strong and too substantial meat for the stomachs of 1823, which had been nourished on the refuse of Parny, of Bertin and of Millevoye. Adolphe was writing his _Pauvre Fille_ in collaboration with Ferdinand Langlé, and it was to be ready for a reading in a week's time. "Ah me! when shall I have reached that stage?" I thought to myself. While I waited, I questioned Adolphe as to the composition of the Ministry. You ask why I wanted to know about the composition of the Ministry, and what I had to do with ministers? Why, I wanted to know what the Duc de Bellune was. As ministers are but mortals, and quickly forgotten when they are dead, it gives me pleasure to draw this minister from his grave, and to acquaint the reader with the constitution of the Ministry of 1823 at the date of my arrival in Paris. Keeper of the Seals, Comte de Peyronnet. Foreign Minister, Vicomte de Montmorency. Minister for the Interior, Comte de Cubières. Minister for War, _le Maréchal Duc de Bellune_. Minister for the Navy, Marquis de Clermont-Tonnerre. Minister for Finance, Comte de Villèle. King's Chamberlain, M. de Lauriston. The Duc de Bellune was still War Minister. That was all I wanted to know.