nockburn, these poets issued a call "to the nobles, lords,
friends, and comrades, familiar with the science that gives
birth to joy, pleasure, good sense, worth, and courtesy,"
and invited all the poets to meet the following May un-
der the shady trees of their garden--" marvellous and
beautiful."

So was founded the Collège du Gay, Sçavoir ²² : and this
institution, with occasional suspensions and changes of
name, has now lived nearly six hundred years, while the
seven poets have grown to an élite body of forty patrons
(Mainteneurs)--the French Academy of the Midi--and
the funds of the society from a poet's hope to a substantial
endowment. Every May a poetic tournament is held in
Toulouse under its auspices--the famous Jeux Floraux--
and flowers of silver and gold are awarded as prizes for
the best verse. It is the great event of the year in the
Rosy City; and poetry, music, and eloquence, lovely faces
and captivating smiles, keep alive and in honor still the
art of the troubadours.

An account of my arrest at Pamiers and of a celebration of the
Jeux Floraux may be found at the end of the Notes on this
Chapter.

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