In all, the group was fairly large: its membership radiated dimly as far as the "dandies" on the boulevard and into the obscurer depths of the Quartier Latin. But radiation was from a central nucleus--the original Bohemian brethren whose home was in the Impasse du Doyenné: Camille Rogier, Gérard de Nerval, Théophile Gautier, Arsène Houssaye, and Edmond Ourliac. The rest were visitors, but they alone were the true dwellers in _la Bohème galante_. Of their brotherhood and its life Gautier, Gérard, and Houssaye have all given glimpses, which compose a picture apt for pleasing and, occasionally, envious contemplation. Arsène Houssaye in his "Confessions" is the fullest source of reminiscence, and his words are delightfully illustrated by the poem, originally entitled "Vingt Ans," but in his complete works "La Bohème de Doyenné." The poem, addressed to Gautier, begins: _Théo, te souviens-tu de ces vertes saisons_ _Qui s'effeuillaient si vite en ces vieilles maisons_ _Dont le front s'abritait sous une aile du Louvre?_ _Levons avec Rogier le voile qui les couvre,_ _Reprenons dans nos cœurs les trésors enfouis,_ _Plongeons dans le passé nos regards éblouis._ _Chimères aux cils noirs, Espérances fanées,_ _Amis toujours chantants, Amantes profanées,_ _Songes venus du ciel, flottantes Visions,_ _Sortez de vos tombeaux, jeunes Illusions!_ _Et nous rebâtirons ce château périssable_ _Que les destins changeants ont jeté sur le sable:_ _Replaçons le sofa sous les tableaux flamands;_ _Dispersons à nos pieds gazettes et romans;_ _Ornons le vieux bahut de vieilles porcelaines,_ _Et faisons refleurir roses et marjolaines;_ _Qu'un rideau de damas ombrage encore ces lits_ _Où nos jeunes amours se sont ensevelis._ Gautier, Gérard, and Houssaye have already been introduced, but a word must be said of the other two. Camille Rogier, who was as old as Gérard, was in Houssaye's opinion the most charming man in the world. Already an artist of some repute, he alone of the brotherhood was earning a living by his art--even more than a living, for was he not rich enough to buy riding-boots and wear coats of pink velvet? It was his departure for Constantinople in 1836, where he remained eight years painting the Eastern scenes which won him his chief fame, that caused the disruption of this Bohemian colony. Besides his mastery of the brush he was a very agreeable singer of _chansons_ and ballads. Ourliac did not live in the Impasse du Doyenné, but with his parents in the Rue Saint Roch, and filled a small post in the office of the "Enfants Trouvés" which brought him £48 a year. But he never failed to call on his way to work in the morning, to recount a merry story, and on his way home he stayed with them many an hour. He, who in Houssaye's lines, _gai convive, arrivait en chantant_ _Ces chansons de Bagdad que Beauvoir aimait tant,_