_Vive_--why not?--everybody!
Called once, "_Monsieur le Président Faute-de-Mieux_"[2]
(By _Punch_, that foe of shoddy).
I fancy I have justified the name,
Ay, to the very letter.
I may not be a THIERS, but all the same,
France has not found a better.

Tall-talk is tedious, but one must not flinch
When asked the task to tackle;
And he's no Frenchman true who, at a pinch,
Cannot both crow and cackle.
Ah, _Vive_, once more, the Gallic Cock--and hen!
These Talking-Tours are trying,
But 'tis with windy flouts of tongue or pen,
We keep the French flag flying.

A sop for SAVOY neatly put, elicits
_Such_ "double rounds of cheering."
"_Vive CARNOT!_" To be sure! My annual visits,
France to the Flag endearing
By sweet-phrased flattery of the Fatherland,
Are sure to swell our legions.
"I wish, France, to be _thine_!" The effect was grand,
In "Allobrogian" regions.

_Vive_ Everything--especially _la Blague!_
(What _should_ we do without it?)
Fraternity! the Fatherland! the Flag!--
_I_ work them--never doubt it!