There is no more eloquent description of the effect of music on an impressionable nature than du Maurier gives of the impression made upon Little Billee by the singing of Adam's "Cantique de Noël" at the Madeleine on Christmas Eve.
Cantique de Noël
| Minuit, Chrétiens, c'est l'heure solennelle, |
| Où l'homme Dieu descendit jusqu'à nous, |
| Pour effacer la tache originelle |
| Et de son Père arrêter le courroux. |
| Le monde entier tressaille d'espérance |
| A cette nuit qui lui donne un sauveur. |
| Peuple à genoux! attends la délivrance! |
| Noël, Noël, voici le Rédempteur! |
A Search for Sources
To the Editors of The Critic:—
The liquid name, "Trilby," of du Maurier's heroine having been duly run down to its source, will a slight excursus be amiss as to the origin of the affectionate title applied by the novelist on his charming little hero—"Little Billee"? Evidently the name, together with certain descriptive touches, has been taken from Thackeray's ballad, "Little Billee." This racy skit, as many doubtless know, is in the best vein of the great humorist's inimitable burlesque. It narrates the tragic cruise of
| "Three sailors of Bristol city |
| Who took a boat and went to sea," |
the second stanza running thus:—
| "There was gorging Jack, and guzzling Jimmy |
| And the youngest, he was Little Billee. |
| Now when they got as far as the Equator |
| They'd nothing left, but one split pea." |