Note 157 — BOOK XIII[1] (continued 2)
Alexander Teixeira de Mattos translation
In the Moniteur of 27 August 1829, I find:
"We hear from Pau, 20 August:
"'M. le Vicomte de Chateaubriand arrived at Pau yesterday. The illustrious author of the Génie du Christianisme visited part of the town, and long surveyed the castle of Henry IV. At nine o'clock, a serenade was given to the noble peer by the town band. A considerable crowd filled the court-yard of the Hôtel de France and the streets adjoining the Place Royale. A large number of citizens were admitted to the noble viscount's apartments. Among the pieces performed in this improvised serenade the delicious ballad, Combien j'ai douce souvenance! from the Dernier des Abencerrages, attracted particular attention. M. de Chateaubriand yielded to the assiduity of which he was the object and showed himself at one of the windows. He was received with cheers, to which he replied in these words:
"'"Gentlemen, I am extremely sensible to the honour which you have been pleased to do me; I will not own that I deserve it except for my love of my country. It is very natural that the town in which Henry IV. saw the light should have been pleased to remember my devotion to the descendants of that illustrious King."
"'Renewed cheers were raised, after which the crowd dispersed peacefully. M. de Chateaubriand left at nine o'clock this morning for Paris."—B.