Choirs and Cantatas

Freedom of the Press

TOGETHER

We do not invoke in vain
The law of eighty-one:
It is a brake
Salutary,
Be calm, fear nothing!...
A brake against arbitrariness.
All in chorus,
In his honor,
Journalists, my colleagues.
Let us sing a victorious song!

Successors of Renaudot,
Emulators of Renaudel,
It is always a new pleasure
It is always a new pleasure,
To compose libels,
To write in the newspapers,
Thanks to this law so beautiful
Which keeps us from dungeons,
From the rigors of the courts,
From impartial juries,
From correctional;
Let us speak of his glory and his los,
Emulators of Renaudel,
Successors of Renaudot!

A JOURNALIST

What a magnificent article to write,

I dipped in the inkwell
My tempered steel pen,
What a magnificent article to write
On this broad liberal spirit,
(For the spirit, it is unequaled),
Which animates the ministry:
Course on paper,
My tempered steel pen,
Peace of hearts, peace of consciences,
Long live France!
I begin…

THE GOVERNMENT

Stop it! Anything, but not that! Peace,
It seems Ironic,
And your irony has features.
Who could
Compromise the Republic!…

2nd JOURNALIST

Here is an article
Where I indicate,
Where I indicate the prices
Of the day:
What the pound sterling is worth,
What the pound of bread is worth,
(Or, if you prefer, of ping,
To rhyme better with sterlain...)
Figures in hand,
Here I indicate,
I also indicate, in this article,
That the rating
Is more or less high,
And I note
That the four,
That the four, or the three percent,
Goes up, if it goes up, or, if it goes down,
Goes down (it goes without saying...)

THE GOVERNMENT

Serious imprudence!
Stop there! It is
It is harming the credit of France!
Not another word, enough!
You are harming,
Sir, French interests!

3° JOURNALIST

Aurillac is in Cantal;
The Capital of France
Is Paris, watered by the Seine,
As the Maine
Waters Angers,
(Bishopric, Court of Appeal and prefecture),
Maine-et-Loire, sub-prefectures:
Saumur,
Cholet, Segré, and Baugé.

THE GOVERNMENT

Without danger,
I cannot let you continue,
Because the foreigner,
On the alert,
Would learn in your newspaper,
Indiscreet, indiscreet press,
Too many things that interest
National defense!…

4 JOURNALIST

What a magnificent article to write,
I dipped in the inkwell
My tempered steel pen,
What a magnificent article to write:
On the speed of the wind,
Which blows from the west,
I have moving details;
The sea
Is calm at the Sanguinaires Islands;
Run on the paper,
My pen
In steel:
The moon
Is in its first quarter…

THE GOVERNMENT

Beware,
Beware, be quiet!
By showing yourself so talkative,
You hinder, at the same time,
Our effective action.
The moon, the moon especially...
Stop it!
Everything, but not that:
These are state secrets!…

ENSEMBLE

With these necessary reservations,
Writing everything is finally possible:
The press is free, free, free,
The press is free as the air!

FRANC-NOHAIN.