138
NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. m. FEB. 17, 1917.
In relation to PREBENDARY DEEDES'S
very interesting article on St. Barbara, it
may be worth stating that the third bell
of the tiny moorland church of Stoke Pero,
in West Somerset, bears the following in-
scription: a cross, " Sancta",acrown, "Bar-
bara," a Gothic " S," and the initials of
the bell-founder (I believe unidentified),
't. g." F. HANCOCK.
Dunster Priory, Taunton.
GENERAL BOULANGER : BIBLIOGRAPHY (12 S. ii. 261, 491 ; iii. 33). May I be allowed to express my thanks to M. HENRI VIARD for the valuable additions to the bibliography of this subject under the two latter references, and also for the delightful anecdote about the ' Reflexions et Pensees ' ? In M. VIARD' s list Pierre Denis's ' Memorial de Saint- Brelade ' is the same item as No. 9 in mine, whilst ' Les Amants d'lxelles ' is apparently a later edition (1904) of ' Georges et Mar- guerite,' 1893 (No. 8 in my list). My copy of ' Georges et Marguerite ' is stated to be the " fourth edition," and I purchased it on May 23, 1893. It was published by Paul Ollendorff. M. VIARD'S lists, I think, bear out my statement that " no adequate biography of the general, or history of the movement to which he gave his name, has yet appeared."
I wonder whether any record has been kept of the ephemeral Boulangist press of the late eighties of the last century. I am not referring to such newspapers as La Presse, La Cocarde, L 1 Intransigeant, and Le Drapeau, but to the short-lived sheets which sprang up during the heyday of the movement. One of these is before me. It is called La Bombe, and is dated " 14 juillet, 1889." The directeur was Paul de Semant, and the offices of the paper were at 1 rue Malus, Paris. As this particular copy is No. 18, " first year," and as the paper appeared only on Sundays, it follows that it first appeared on Marcli 17, 1889, that is, a fortnight before the general's flight from France. The front page of La Bombe for July 14 is occupied with a coloured cartoon representing General Boulanger and his sup- porters taking by storm the Parliamentary Bastille. Probably this journal did not survive the general election of September, 1889.
There is before me also a " newspaper " of another type, which falls into the same category as ' Reflexions et Pensees,' mentioned by M. VIARD. In appearance it is like an ordinary paper of four pages, and is called Le Boulangiste. It is dated "19 aout, 1886 " (i.e., when Boulanger was at the height of his
first popularity as Minister of War), and is
" Premiere Annee, No. 1." On the first
page the editor sets out " Our Programme ""
as follows :
" La plus haute personnalit^ de France, et la plus en vue par consequent tout le peuple en conviendra c'est le General Boulanger. On a reproche a ce beau militaire d'etre un d^cor encombrant. C'est une infamie clont le bon sens public a fait justice. Une modestie exage>e a toujours empeche le general de se mettre en Evidence. 11 estime, en effet, (]ue la bravqure et 1'intelligence suffisent & un General francais pour obtenir I'aftectiqn du pays. La reclame lui est extrdmement desagreable. C'est & son insu que- nous publions ce journal des hauls faits boulan- gistes. Pour attirer la foule, nous savons, nous, que les coups de tam-tam ne sont pas inutiles. Nous frappons done fort, dans son int6ret superieur. Vive Boulanger ! "
Then follow four pages of excellent fooling, consisting of a series of portraits of the- general in eighteen poses, and a list of ' Ephemerides Boulangistes,' in which " les actes du grand ministre " are set out day by day from Jan. 8, 1886, when he assumed office, to Aug. 16. Under date Feb. 29 we read :
" Le general, surcharge de besogne, decide que,, par exception, le mois de F^vrier comptera vingt- neuf jours, bien que I'ann^e ne soit pas ^bissextile."
The advertisements are very funny. Here is one of them :
" CEuvres du General. Notes decisions cir- culaires instructions discours politiques allocu- tions. 15 volumes in-quarto. Prix net : 60 francs . Edition de Propagande Morceaux choisis 3 volumes: Un franc."
This amusing production was printed at the " Imprimerie des Arts et Manufactures, 12, rue Paul-Lelong, J. Dejey, directeur." I presume there was never a No. 2.
I believe the first direct reference to General Boulanger in Punch was on July 24 r 1886 (vol. xci. p. 37), where the following occurs :
"General Boulanger fired in the air in his duel with Baron de Lareinty. Had swords been chosen a similar result might have been expected. The French War Minister seems just the man to stick at nothing."
In the issue for July 31 is a large drawing by Linley Sambourne suggested by the Boulanger-Lareinty duel, called ' Une Affaire d'Honneur,' but the military gentleman (who fires in the air with a popgun) does not bear the features of Boulanger. The cartoon is a fancy picture. Boulanger first figures in Punch's portrait gallery on May 28, 1887, in a drawing by Linley Sambourne, and he attained to the distinction of a double-page cartoon by Tenniel on April 28, 1888 (' L'Audace '). Others of Tenniel's cartoons
