How did M.Hamel bid farewell to these students and the town's people?

M. Hamel loved French deeply. He did not like it when people claimed to be Frenchmen without even knowing how to read and write French. He considered French to be the most beautiful and logical language in the world. When the church bell struck twelve, he wrote on the blackboard with a choked throat, "Vive La France" and dismissed the school.