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+Project Gutenberg's Victor Hugo: His Life and Works, by G. Barnett Smith
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Victor Hugo: His Life and Works
+
+Author: G. Barnett Smith
+
+Release Date: October 5, 2011 [EBook #37635]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VICTOR HUGO: HIS LIFE AND WORKS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Martin Pettit and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+VICTOR HUGO
+
+_HIS LIFE AND WORK_
+
+BY G. BARNETT SMITH,
+
+AUTHOR OF
+'SHELLEY: A CRITICAL BIOGRAPHY,' 'POETS AND NOVELISTS,' ETC.
+
+_WITH A PORTRAIT OF VICTOR HUGO._
+
+LONDON:
+WARD AND DOWNEY,
+12, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
+1885.
+
+[_All Rights Reserved._]
+
+
+[Illustration: Victor Hugo]
+
+
+I INSCRIBE THIS VOLUME TO ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE,
+REJOICING THUS TO CONNECT THE GREAT BARD AND PROPHET OF FRANCE
+WITH THE ENGLISH SINGER OF A YOUNGER DAY,
+WHO HAS DRUNK DEEPLY OF THE MASTER'S SPIRIT.
+
+_G. B. S._
+
+
+
+
+PRELIMINARY NOTE.
+
+
+I began this study of Victor Hugo in December last, and arrangements
+were made for its early publication. The great poet has now passed away,
+and this melancholy event gives the biographical portion of the present
+volume a completeness not originally anticipated. Notwithstanding the
+multitude of criticisms which have appeared in our own and other
+languages upon Hugo's works, this is the only book which relates the
+full story of his life, and now traces to its close his literary career.
+More than twenty years have elapsed since the publication of Madame
+Hugo's memorials of the earlier portion of the poet's history, and since
+that time M. Barbou's work (excellently translated by Miss Frewer) is
+the only narrative of a biographical character which has appeared. The
+writings of various French and English critics, the two works I have
+named, and those valuable chroniclers, the journals of London and Paris,
+have been of considerable service to me in the preparation of the
+biography now offered to the public.
+
+The writings of Victor Hugo are so varied and multifarious, and many of
+them are so well known to English readers, that I have not deemed it
+necessary to subject them to a detailed analysis. At the same time, the
+reader unfamiliar with these powerful works will, I trust, be able to
+gather something of their purport and scope from the ensuing pages. As
+they have impressed all minds, moreover, by their striking originality,
+I thought that it would not be without its value if, while venturing to
+record my own impressions, I gave at the same time a representation of
+critical contemporary opinion upon them. Finally, it has been my object
+to present to the reader, within reasonable compass, a complete survey
+of the life and work of the most celebrated Frenchman of the nineteenth
+century.
+
+G. BARNETT SMITH.
+
+HIGHGATE, LONDON, N.,
+_June 3rd, 1885_.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER                                           PAGE
+
+    I. EARLY YEARS                                   1
+
+   II. DAWNINGS OF GENIUS                           18
+
+  III. VICTOR HUGO'S HUMANITARIANISM                37
+
+   IV. THE TRIUMPH OF ROMANTICISM                   49
+
+    V. 'NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS'                        65
+
+   VI. 'MARION DE LORME' AND OTHER DRAMAS           77
+
+  VII. LAST DRAMATIC WRITINGS                       92
+
+ VIII. THE FRENCH ACADEMY                          110
+
+   IX. PERSONAL AND POLITICAL                      121
+
+    X. THE POET IN EXILE                           141
+
+   XI. IN GUERNSEY.--'LES MISERABLES'              152
+
+  XII. LITERARY AND DRAMATIC                       169
+
+ XIII. PARIS AND THE SIEGE                         186
+
+  XIV. 'QUATRE-VINGT-TREIZE.'--POLITICS, ETC.      201
+
+   XV. POEMS ON RELIGION                           217
+
+  XVI. PUBLIC ADDRESSES, ETC.                      223
+
+ XVII. 'LA LEGENDE DES SIECLES,' ETC.              237
+
+XVIII. HONOURS TO VICTOR HUGO                      248
+
+  XIX. PERSONAL AND MISCELLANEOUS                  261
+
+   XX. THE POET'S DEATH AND BURIAL                 274
+
+  XXI. GENIUS AND CHARACTERISTICS                  304
+
+
+
+
+VICTOR HUGO:
+
+HIS LIFE AND WORK.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+EARLY YEARS.
+
+
+The glory of France touched its zenith at the period when our narrative
+opens. Europe virtually lay at the feet of Napoleon, who had risen to a
+height of authority and power which might well have satisfied the most
+vaulting ambition. Nations whose records extended back into the ages of
+antiquity trembled before him; and only one people, that of this
+sea-girt isle of Britain, declined to bend the knee to the
+all-conquering First Consul. Yet the philosophic mind, reflecting that
+the stability of a nation or a throne must be measured by its growth,
+must surely have distrusted the permanence of a grandeur and a greatness
+thus rapidly achieved. And speedily would such prevision have been
+justified, for in little more than one brief decade the sun of Napoleon
+set as suddenly as it arose.
+
+But while as yet the fame and the splendour of the conqueror were in
+their noonday, there was born at Besancon another child of genius, whose
+triumphs were to be won in a different and a nobler sphere. He was
+destined to touch, as with Ithuriel's spear, the sleeping spirit of
+French poesy, and to animate it with new life, vigour, and enthusiasm;
+he was to recall the divine muse from the drear region of classicism,
+and, by revivifying almost every branch of imaginative literature, he
+was himself to gain the triple crown of poet, romancist, and dramatist.
+And not alone for this was the child Victor Hugo to grow into manhood
+and venerable age. He was to become a great apostle of liberty, and as
+his life opened with the triumphs of the first Napoleon, so before its
+close he was destined to behold the last of that name pass away in the
+whirlwind, and France recover much of her prosperity and her power under
+the aegis of the Republic, of which the poet sang and for which he
+laboured.
+
+The ancestry of Victor Hugo were not undistinguished. Documents
+concerning them before the fifteenth century were lost in the pillage of
+Nancy, but since that time a clear genealogy is claimed. There was one
+Hugo, a soldier, who obtained in 1535 letters patent of nobility for
+himself and his descendants from Cardinal Jean de Lorraine, Archbishop
+of Rheims, which letters were subsequently confirmed by the Cardinal's
+brother, Antoine, Duke of Lorraine. The fifth descendant from this
+warrior-noble, Charles Hyacinthe Hugo, obtained new letters patent; and
+his grandson, Joseph Leopold Sigisbert, was the father of the poet. In
+the seventeenth century, a member of the Hugo family was known both in
+the Church and in literature, and became Abbe of Estival and Bishop of
+Ptolemais. Another who lived in the eighteenth century, Louis Antoine
+Hugo, was a member of the Convention, and was executed for moderatism.
+Thus in career, as in character, there was much variety in the Hugo
+family.
+
+Sigisbert Hugo, who entered the army as a cadet in 1788, ultimately
+attained the rank of General under the First Empire. Although the
+hereditary title of Count was the appanage of this rank, he never took
+it up. While brave and fearless in war, he is represented as being
+devotion and goodness personified, and humane to a fault. 'He set his
+children a fine example of duty, being ever their instructor in the
+paths of honour.' During a period of military service at Nantes, he
+became acquainted with Sophie Trebuchet, the daughter of a wealthy
+shipowner. An attachment soon sprang up between them, and they were
+married in Paris, Hugo having been summoned thither as reporter to the
+first council of war on the Seine.
+
+Though the grandfather of Victor Hugo on the maternal side was engaged
+in commerce, he belonged to an old family, and one famous in La Vendee
+for its devotion to the Royalist cause. A cousin of Madame Hugo was the
+Count de Chasseboeuf, better known as Volney, the author of _Les
+Ruines_; and another cousin was Count Cornet, who was very prominent in
+political matters both before and during the First Empire. Two sons were
+born to Major Hugo and his wife, and then they looked forward with hope
+to the birth of a daughter, whom it was decided to name Victorine.
+Another son, however, came instead, and one so weakly and diminutive
+that the accoucheur declared strongly against his chances of life. The
+babe was taken to the mairie at Besancon, and registered as having been
+born on the 26th of February, 1802. He received the names of Victor
+Marie Hugo, and his godfather was Major Hugo's intimate friend, General
+Lahorie, chief of the staff to General Moreau. It has been pointed out
+that the word Hugo in old German was the equivalent of the Latin word
+_spiritus_, and this fact, combined with the Christian name of Victor,
+caused Dumas the elder to say that 'the name of Victor Hugo stands forth
+as the conquering spirit, the triumphant soul, the breath of victory.'
+
+But for some time there could be little presage of triumph or victory in
+connection with Victor Hugo. Languid and ailing in body, he became
+unusually sad for a child of such tender years, and 'was sometimes
+discovered in a corner, weeping silently without any reason.' He
+afterwards described his untoward childhood in the opening lines of the
+_Feuilles d'Automne_. For some time the Hugo family accompanied its head
+in his military journeyings; but when Major Hugo was ultimately ordered
+to join the army of Italy, he settled his wife and their three young
+children in Paris, in the Rue de Clichy. That the youngest scion of the
+house could not really have been as feeble and frail as he looked, and
+that he must have had the basis of a good, sound constitution, is proved
+by his long life; but we must not forget also in this regard the great
+care and assiduous attention lavished upon him by his mother. His career
+furnishes another illustration of the truth that while the most glorious
+promise sometimes sets in gloom and premature death, on the other hand
+genius also not infrequently advances from the wavering spark to a noble
+flame, and out of weakness is made strength.
+
+Major (afterwards General) Hugo rendered conspicuous service in Italy by
+the capture of the notorious bandit chief, Fra Diavolo, and the
+pacification of Naples. For these acts he was made Colonel of Royal
+Corsica and Governor of Avellino. When not quite five years old Victor
+was taken by his mother, with his brothers, Abel and Eugene, to
+Avellino, and the journey to Italy is associated with his first
+observations of natural scenery. Though so young, his imagination was
+fired by all he saw, and the impressions he formed were very
+distinct--so much so that in after life he would discuss with Alexandre
+Dumas the aspects of the country through which he had travelled in his
+childhood.
+
+In 1808 Colonel Hugo was sent to Madrid in the train of Joseph
+Bonaparte; but, as Spain was disturbed by war, he would not hazard the
+presence of his wife and children in that country. Madame Hugo
+accordingly went to Paris, and established herself at the house No. 12,
+in the Impasse des Feuillantines, where she now devoted herself to the
+education of her children. Late in life, Victor Hugo described the
+household in the Feuillantines. Near by there was an aged priest, who
+acted as tutor to the boys, teaching them a good deal of Latin, a
+smattering of Greek, and the barest outlines of history. In the gardens,
+and amid the ruins of an old convent in the grounds, the Hugo boys
+passed many happy days. 'Together in their work and in their play,
+rough-hewing their lives regardless of destiny, they passed their time
+as children of the spring, mindful only of their books, of the trees,
+and of the clouds, listening to the tumultuous chorus of the birds, but
+watched over incessantly by one sweet and loving smile.' 'Blessings on
+thee, O my mother!' was the invocation of the poet in his later years.
+
+Once the family received an accession in the person of General Lahorie,
+who had been connected with Moreau's conspiracy, and was condemned to
+death for contumacy. Madame Hugo, in her secluded dwelling, and in a
+little chapel buried amongst the foliage, gave him a secure shelter for
+eighteen months. Young Victor did not then know that the stranger in
+whom he took so deep an interest, and in whom he begat an equal
+interest, was his godfather. Lahorie took kindly to the boy, and
+frequently conversed with him, saying to him on one occasion with great
+impressiveness, 'Child, everything must yield to liberty!' The
+precautions of Lahorie and his friends were in the end of no avail. In
+1811 he was arrested at the Feuillantines, tried and condemned by
+court-martial, and shot on the plain of Grenelle. Napoleon was
+implacable in his revenge; his wrath might sleep, but it was never
+allowed to die.
+
+Another visitor to the Feuillantines was General Louis Hugo, uncle to
+the youths. With that strong poetic imagery which characterized him,
+little Victor said that the entrance of his uncle into the salon 'had on
+us the effect of the Archangel Michael appearing on a beam of light.'
+The visitor came at the request of his brother to hasten the departure
+of the family for Spain. The boys Hugo were informed by their mother
+that they must learn Spanish, and just as they would have performed much
+more impossible feats under such a command, they acquired the language
+in the course of a few weeks.
+
+In the spring of 1811, Madame Hugo and her children began their journey
+into Spain. At Bayonne they had to await a convoy for Madrid. Here the
+travellers paid several visits to the theatre, which made a deep
+impression upon Victor, yet one which, while more lasting perhaps, was
+not so deep as that made by the little daughter of a widow, who seems to
+have quite captivated the boy. He afterwards referred to this attachment
+as bearing the same relation to love that the light of dawn bears to the
+full blaze of day. But he never saw again the youthful _inamorata_ who
+stirred 'the first cry of the awakening heart.'
+
+The dilatory progress of the convoy to Madrid, though irksome to Madame
+Hugo, was not so to her youngest son. He delighted in observing the
+features of the scenery and the towns through which they passed. With
+Ernani he was especially pleased, and subsequently gave to one of his
+dramas the name of this town. After a number of adventures, some of them
+of a trying character, the convoy entered Madrid, and Madame Hugo and
+her family were accommodated at the palace of Prince Masserano. Their
+rooms and all the appointments were very sumptuous, and there was a
+great display of Bohemian and Venetian glass and magnificent China
+vases. Concerning the latter, Victor Hugo said that he had 'never since
+met with any so remarkable.' Victor's eldest brother, Abel, was made a
+page to King Joseph, and it was intended that Victor himself should
+follow his example. Meanwhile Eugene and Victor were placed in the
+Seminary of Nobles, a proceeding which affected them deeply, and made
+them inexpressibly miserable after the happiness they had found in the
+Masserano Palace.
+
+But great and dire events were impending in Napoleonic history. By the
+beginning of the year 1812 the position of French affairs generally
+became so threatening that General Hugo decided to send his wife and the
+two younger children back to Paris. Not many months elapsed before his
+prescience was justified. Bonaparte's army was decimated by the
+inclement snows of Russia after the burning of Moscow, and the kings he
+had set up in the European capitals began to tremble for the stability
+of their thrones.
+
+Madame Hugo and her two sons safely reached Paris after a tedious
+journey, and once more established themselves in the Feuillantines. The
+biographical work written by the poet's wife shows that Madame Hugo had
+liberal ideas on the subject of education: that where religion was in
+question she was averse to forcing any particular persuasion on her
+sons, or to interfere with their natural tendencies; neither did she
+wish to tax their intelligence any more than their consciences. In the
+matter of reading she was equally liberal: the boys were allowed the
+greatest freedom, and read Rousseau, Voltaire, Diderot, and other
+authors; but the works of such writers paled in comparison with Captain
+Cook's travels, which had a great fascination for the young students.
+Madame Hugo judged that any errors her sons were likely to imbibe in
+their wide and catholic reading would be rendered innocuous by the
+influence of a good example and the purity of the home life. She
+restrained them by her authority, and, while attending to their mental
+and moral development, she did not neglect the physical. She desired
+them to grow up healthy and complete in mind and body alike.
+
+The troubles in Spain thickened apace, and King Joseph left Madrid,
+being followed by General Hugo. The victory of the Allies at Vittoria
+practically settled the fate of Joseph Bonaparte and the Spanish crown.
+The King dismissed his retinue of officers and retired into private
+life, and General Hugo returned to Paris with his son Abel. Madame Hugo
+and the other children had moved into the Rue du Cherche-Midi. Having
+herself been an invader, it was now the turn of France to be invaded.
+General Hugo was no favourite with the Emperor (who had not forgotten
+the Moreau conspiracy), but when his country was in danger he could not
+remain inactive. So he volunteered, and went into the provinces, where
+he rendered conspicuous service. He long held Thionville, keeping the
+Allies at bay, and refused to open the town until he received official
+despatches from his General-in-Chief announcing the cessation of
+hostilities. The restoration of the Bourbons followed, and, although
+this was hailed with great joy by Madame Hugo, it led to General Hugo
+being deprived of his command and removed from active employment,
+together with all the officers who had shared in the defence of
+Thionville.
+
+Eugene and Victor Hugo now lost the liberty they had for some time
+enjoyed, and were sent to school, being placed in the College Cordier et
+Decotte, in the Rue Ste. Marguerite. At first the removal was especially
+bitter to Victor, as it separated him from Adele Foucher, a young girl
+who had completely won his youthful heart. This love continued to grow
+from its inception in the Rue du Cherche-Midi till the time when Adele
+became his devoted wife, and returned Victor Hugo's affection with an
+ardour equal to his own.
+
+The Hugo boys were naturally the subject of a cross-fire in regard to
+politics. Their father was devoted to the Empire, and their mother was
+equally devoted to the Royalists. But as the influence of a mother
+always has priority in regard to time, Victor Hugo was for a season
+enthusiastic about royalty. He could not, with his warm temperament and
+lively imagination, be half-hearted about anything. Nor need it surprise
+us that he yielded first to the influence of his mother as regarded the
+Bourbons, and then to that of his father as regarded the Bonapartes. In
+youth it is the imagination which is developed; the judgment is formed
+by slow stages. It would have surprised us more if Victor Hugo had not
+shown himself amenable to the potent influences of his home training.
+His father and mother were of no ordinary type; they had both great
+latent force of nature and character, which deeply impressed itself upon
+their children. In estimating the career of Victor Hugo, then, with its
+later changes of opinion, the circumstances which surrounded his early
+years, and greatly assisted in moulding his character, must not be
+forgotten.
+
+Early in 1815 Paris was electrified by the news that Napoleon had
+returned from Elba. For a brief period the magic of his name once more
+exercised a profound influence; and under this revival of Bonapartist
+prospects General Hugo was again despatched to take the command of
+Thionville. He exhibited the same capacity and spirit as before, but all
+was of no avail. The crowning disaster of Waterloo extinguished the
+hopes of the Bonapartists, and Napoleon fell, 'like Lucifer, never to
+rise again.'
+
+It is matter for regret that the differences between General and Madame
+Hugo on the subject of politics and dynasties led to a separation
+between them, though one that was mutually desired. Each felt too
+strongly on these subjects to give way, and thereby stultify his or her
+convictions. But political disagreements did not affect the deep
+interest of both parents in their children. The boys made great progress
+at school, and also attended courses of lectures in physics, philosophy,
+and mathematics at the College Louis-le-Grand. Their proficiency was
+especially marked in mathematics, and it obtained for both honourable
+mention in the examinations.
+
+Poetry, however, even thus early, was the real mistress of Victor Hugo.
+His tentative efforts in this direction were as varied as they were
+numerous, and he has left an amusing record of his first wooings of the
+Muse. He alternated fights at the college (he and Eugene were the kings
+of the school) with flights of the imagination. Nothing came amiss to
+him, whether ode, satire, epistle, lyric, tragedy, elegy, etc.; and he
+imitated Ossian and translated from Virgil, Horace, and Lucan at an age
+when others only just begin to acquire an appreciation and understanding
+of those authors. Nor were such writers as Martial and Ausonius unknown
+to him. Then from poetry he would turn to romances, fables, stories,
+epigrams, madrigals, logographs, acrostics, charades, enigmas, and
+impromptus; and he even wrote a comic opera.
+
+In one of these youthful pieces he deprecated the exercise of the
+reader's satirical rage over the effusion; and certainly the chief
+impression which these initial attempts at composition leave upon the
+reader is not a critical one founded upon their manifest crudity and
+inconsequences of thought, but one of surprise at the exuberance of
+fancy and command of expression so soon and so singularly displayed.
+There was more than sufficient in them to the observant eye to
+foreshadow the genius which their author afterwards developed. Each of
+these poems was an effort of the imagination after strength of wing. But
+of all those who perused these early poetic efforts, Madame Hugo was
+probably the only one able to gauge the great promise of the writer. She
+could not but anticipate much from that genius which was just essaying
+to unfold itself in the sun. Yet even she could not fully foresee the
+magnificent, eagle-like flights of which these imaginings were but the
+first faint flutterings of the eaglet's wing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+DAWNINGS OF GENIUS.
+
+
+Victor Hugo was not quite thirteen when he wrote his first poetical
+essay, which had for its subject _Roland and Chivalry_. This was
+followed in the same year, 1815, by an intensely Royalist poem, and one
+breathing indignation against the Emperor, after the disaster of
+Waterloo. The poet had been thrown constantly into the midst of Royalist
+influences and surroundings; not only his mother, but General Lahorie
+and M. Foucher, her most intimate friends, were enemies of the Empire,
+and the youth consequently imbibed at the same time hatred of the Empire
+and love of the Bourbons.
+
+His first tragedy, _Irtamene_, was written in honour of Louis XVIII.,
+and though professedly dealing with Egyptian themes, it was really a
+defence of the French King. There is a usurper in it, who meets with
+condign chastisement, and the play ends with the coronation of the
+legitimate monarch. 'Those who hate tyrants should love kings,' said the
+writer, to whom at that time the restoration of the Bourbons meant
+liberty. But these things must not be made too much of. The poet was at
+that nebulous stage when the fact of writing poetry was more to him than
+the subject-matter of his exercises. He read voluminously, but he had
+not as yet begun to separate, to weigh, and to discriminate.
+
+A course of the _Theatre de Voltaire_ led him to begin a new tragedy,
+_Atheli; or, the Scandinavians_, all in dramatic order, with its five
+acts, and its due regard to narrative, scenery, etc. Before he had
+completed it, however, he turned to a comic opera, _A Quelque Chose
+Hasard est Bon_. Then he reverted to the drama, and wrote a play in
+three acts, with two interludes, entitled _Inez de Castro_. From the
+point of view of literary art, little is to be said of these things; but
+there are many scattered passages in them which reveal remarkable
+insight on the part of one so young. In the year 1817 he first sought
+publicity for his compositions, competing for the poetical prize
+annually offered by the French Academy. The subject chosen was, _The
+Advantages of Study in every situation of Life_, and amongst the
+competitors were Lebrun, Delavigne, Saintine, and Loyson, who all on
+this occasion made their poetical debut. The first prize was divided
+between Saintine and Lebrun, and Hugo received honourable mention; but
+when the poems came to be declaimed in public, the warmest applause
+followed that by Victor Hugo. The Academy judges were considerably
+puzzled by Master Hugo's exercise. In one place he wrote as though he
+had arrived at years of discretion and comparative maturity, and then
+demolished this idea by the lines--
+
+
+     'I, who have ever fled from courts and cities,
+     Scarce three short lustres have accomplished yet.'
+
+
+The judges came to the conclusion that the young poet was playing with
+them, and in their report accordingly threw doubt upon his statement
+that he was only fifteen years old. The production of his birth
+certificate set this question at rest, and Victor's name now became
+prominent in the newspapers. M. Raynouard, the cultured Secretary of the
+Academy, finding that the 'most potent, grave, and reverend signors'
+had not been deceived, expressed the great pleasure he had in making the
+youthful competitor's acquaintance. Other distinguished men followed
+suit, and Hugo was described as 'the sublime child,' either by
+Chateaubriand or Soumet. The evidence points to the latter having first
+made use of this phrase, but its origin matters little, for
+Chateaubriand fully adopted it, remarking that anyone might naturally
+have used the words, they expressed so decided a truth. Hugo was taken
+by a friend to see the author of _Atala_, and the impression made upon
+his mind by this man of genius found utterance in the exclamation, 'I
+would be Chateaubriand or nothing.'
+
+In 1818 Victor's brother Eugene was awarded a prize at the floral games
+of Toulouse. The younger brother's ambition was touched, and in the
+following year he secured two prizes from the same Academy for his poems
+on _The Statue of Henry IV._, and _The Virgins of Verdun_. The former
+poem gained the golden lily, and the latter the golden amaranth. It
+seems that just as the writer was about to set to work on the
+first-named poem, Madame Hugo was seized with inflammation of the
+chest. She lamented that her son would be unable to complete his poem in
+time; but he set to work, wrote it in a single night, and it was
+despatched next morning in time to compete for the prize. The President
+of the Toulouse Academy admitted that it was an enigma for one so young
+to exhibit such remarkable talents in literature.
+
+A poem, _Moses on the Nile_, gained him a third prize at Toulouse, and
+this constituted him Master of the Floral Games, so that at the age of
+eighteen he became a provincial academician. He was still Royalist in
+his opinions, and on the few occasions when he was in the company of his
+father, the latter did not attempt to change his views, feeling that it
+would be useless to attempt to set the arguments of a few hours against
+a daily and hourly influence. But he had a true apprehension of his
+son's character, and on one occasion, when Victor had expressed himself
+warmly in favour of the Vendeans, General Hugo turned to General
+Lucotte, and said: 'Let us leave all to time. The child shares his
+mother's views; the man will have the opinions of his father.'
+
+Victor Hugo was now the subject of conflicting claims. There was the
+law, which he had chosen as a profession, with its demands upon him, and
+there was literature, which he loved too much to surrender; while at the
+same time love and politics also claimed their share in him. He
+determined to throw himself ardently into literature. Separated from the
+object of his youthful affections, he wrote his _Han d'Islande_, in
+which, while there are many crimes and horrors, there are also passages
+of tenderness, wherein he sought to embalm and reveal his feelings of
+love. His courage sustained him through many trials, but at last he was
+called upon to bear one that made a profound impression upon his heart.
+Madame Hugo, who was now living in the Rue Mezieres, was seized with
+serious illness after working in her garden, which was her favourite
+occupation. For some time she struggled successfully with the disease,
+but it had obtained too firm a hold upon her, and she died suddenly on
+the 27th of June, 1821. On the evening of the funeral, Adele Foucher,
+unconscious of what had occurred, was dancing at a party given in
+celebration of her birthday. Next morning Victor called upon her, and
+the lovers, mingling their tears together, mutually renewed their old
+vows of attachment. Victor, to whom life had seemed without an object on
+the death of his mother, speedily found another after his betrothal to
+Adele. Her parents no longer actively opposed the union, but stipulated
+for its postponement until Victor could provide a home.
+
+In conjunction with several friends, Hugo had already founded the
+_Conservateur Litteraire_, to which he contributed articles on Sir
+Walter Scott, Byron, Moore, etc., and a number of political satires. He
+had a sum of seven hundred francs, upon which he subsisted for a year,
+and the method by which he did it will be found related in the
+experiences of Marius in _Les Miserables_. Translations from Lucan and
+Virgil, which appeared under the name of D'Auverney, and the Epistles
+from Aristides to Brutus on _Thou_ and _You_, emanated from his pen. He
+also wrote a very noticeable article on Lamartine's _Meditations
+Poetiques_, which had just appeared. Then came the first instalment of
+his own _Odes et Ballades_, a work in which his genius began to attain a
+fuller freedom and a richer expression. The volume was received with
+very wide favour, and though, as M. Barbou has observed, it presents
+many ideas that would find no approval now, the poet, nevertheless,
+declared that he could proudly and conscientiously place the work side
+by side with the democratical books and poems of his matured manhood.
+This, he said, he should be prepared to do, because in 'the fierce
+strife against early prejudices imbibed with a mother's milk, and in the
+slow rough ascent from the false to the true, which to a certain extent
+makes up the substance of every man's life, and causes the development
+of his conscience to be the type of human progress in general; each step
+so taken represents some material sacrifice to moral advancement, some
+interest abandoned, some vanity eschewed, some worldly benefit
+renounced--nay, perhaps, some risk of home or even life incurred.' This
+justification may fairly be accepted, but from another aspect also these
+_Odes_ are worthy of attention. They were the first noble efforts of the
+poet to emancipate French poetry from the trammels which had too long
+governed it, and which had rendered it almost dead, and effete alike in
+spirit and in form. At length imagination was to resume its rightful
+sway, and exhibit some return to its pristine vigour.
+
+The _Odes_ not only brought the author friends like Emile Deschamps and
+Alfred de Vigny, but they were pecuniarily successful. The first edition
+yielded him a profit of seven hundred francs, and a second quickly
+followed. The attention of the King was called to the poems, and the
+interest his Majesty took in them, together with a romantic incident in
+connection with the Saumur plot, led to a pension of 1,000 francs being
+conferred upon the poet from the King's privy purse. He now thought he
+was entitled to press the question of his marriage. His father, who had
+married again, offered no opposition; the Fouchers also gave way, and
+bestowed the hand of their daughter Adele upon the young and now
+successful poet. Victor Hugo had shortly before this made the
+acquaintance of the celebrated priest Lamennais, and it was from his
+hands that he received the certificate of confession required before he
+could get married. 'I trust with all my heart,' wrote the priest, 'that
+God will bless this happy union, which He appears Himself to have
+prepared by implanting in you a long and unchanged affection, and a
+mutual love as pure as it is sweet.'
+
+The Saumur plot, to which I have referred, took place in 1822, and
+amongst those implicated in it was a young man named Delon, who had been
+an intimate friend of Victor Hugo in his childhood. On hearing of
+Delon's danger, Hugo wrote to the conspirator's mother, offering an
+asylum for her son in his own house, and remarking that as the writer
+was well known for his devotion to the Bourbons, he would never be
+sought in such a retreat. This letter fell into the hands of the King,
+but instead of its prejudicing him against Victor Hugo, he generously
+said, 'That young man has a good heart as well as great genius; he is an
+honourable fellow; I shall take care he has the next pension that falls
+vacant.' This was the origin of the poet's pension, which was in nowise
+due to an expressed wish or desire on his own part.
+
+_Hans of Iceland_, the first published romance of Victor Hugo, appeared
+anonymously in 1823. The work at once attracted attention by reason of
+its graphic power and the startling nature of its contrasts. It combines
+horror with tenderness, the deepest gloom with flashes of the purest
+light. The author himself had a great affection for it, on the personal
+ground already mentioned. But its chief features are of a different
+order. In this northern romance, as one critic has observed, the
+youthful novelist has turned to great account the savage wilds, gloomy
+lakes, stormy seas, pathless caves, and ruined fortresses of
+Scandinavia. 'A being savage as the scenery around him--human in his
+birth, but more akin to the brute in his nature; diminutive, but with a
+giant's strength; whose pastime is assassination, who lives literally as
+well as metaphorically on blood--is the hero; and round this monster are
+grouped some of the strangest, ghastliest, and yet not wholly unnatural
+beings which it is possible for the imagination to conceive--Spiagudry,
+the keeper of the dead-house, or _morgue_, of Drontheim, and Orugex, the
+State executioner--while gentler forms, the noble and persecuted
+Schumacker, and the devoted and innocent Ethel, relieve the monotony of
+crime and horror.' M. Charles Nodier, one of the ablest of French
+contemporary critics, in a review of the work in the _Quotidienne_,
+remarked upon the fact that there were men of a certain organization, to
+whom glory and distinction were temptations, just as happiness and
+pleasure tempted other men. 'Precocious intellects and deep sensibility
+do not take the future into consideration--they devour their future.
+The passions of a young and powerful mind know no to-morrow; they look
+to satiate their ambition and their hopes with the reputation and
+excitement of the present moment. _Han d'Islande_ has been the result of
+this kind of combination, if indeed one can describe as a combination
+that which is only the thoughtless instinct of an original genius, who
+obeys, without being aware of it, an impulse at variance with his true
+interests, but whose fine and wide career may not improbably justify
+this promise of excellence, and may hereafter redeem all the anxiety he
+has caused by the excusable error he committed when he first launched
+himself upon the world.' M. Nodier then discussed with much freedom, and
+yet with almost as much fairness, the peculiar features of the romance,
+its close and painful search into the morbidities of life, its pictures
+of the scaffold and the _morgue_, etc., as well as its strong local
+colouring, its historical truth, its learning, its wit, and its vigorous
+and picturesque style.
+
+The author and his critic became personally acquainted. The latter
+called upon Victor Hugo, who, after other changes of abode, had now
+established himself in the Rue de Vaugirard. A second pension of 2,000
+francs had been awarded him by the King; hence his migration into
+comparatively sumptuous quarters. Other literary friendships besides
+that with M. Nodier were formed as the result of Victor Hugo's first
+romance.
+
+At this period he wrote an ode on the _Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile_, and
+there were many indications that his early Royalist opinions were in
+process of abandonment. He visited his father at Blois, and the General
+was not slow to observe the changes taking place in his son's views.
+While he could not admire Napoleon personally, he began to do justice to
+those who had planted the French standard in all the capitals of Europe.
+But it seemed as though the King was resolved to retain him by favours,
+for there was now conferred upon him the coveted badge of the Legion of
+Honour. He attended the coronation of Charles X. at Rheims, and from
+thence went to pay a visit to Lamartine. A project was formed and a
+treaty signed with a publisher, by which M. Lamartine, Victor Hugo, M.
+Charles Nodier, and M. Taylor engaged to prepare a work detailing a
+poetical and picturesque trip to Mont Blanc and the Valley of Chamouni.
+For four meditations Lamartine was to receive 2,000 francs, Hugo 2,000
+for four odes, Taylor 2,000 for eight drawings, and Nodier 2,250 for all
+the text. The travellers set out, Hugo being accompanied by his wife and
+child. On reaching Geneva--after a temporary arrest of Hugo, some time
+before, on account of the delay of his passport in its journey from
+Paris--the visitors found the police regulations very annoying. Each
+hotel possessed a register, in which every traveller was bound to write
+his name, his age, his profession, the place from whence he came, and
+his object in travelling. M. Nodier was so exasperated that in reply to
+the last query he wrote, 'Come to upset your Government.' For a few
+moments the hotel-keeper was not unnaturally electrified. The travellers
+got their jaunt, but owing to the insolvency of the publisher with whom
+they had arranged, the literary scheme was never carried out.
+
+In ascending the Alps to the Mer de Glace, Victor Hugo had a narrow
+escape. His guide, who was new to the business, took the wrong path, and
+landed the visitor upon a dangerous tongue of ice. From this he was
+rescued with great difficulty, and for several moments, which seemed
+like hours, he was suspended over a terrible abyss. Victor Hugo wrote a
+description of the journey from Sallenches to Chamouni, which was
+translated by Madame Hugo, and published in her sketch of the poet.
+
+_Bug Jargal_, the second romance by Victor Hugo, but the earliest in
+point of time, was published in 1826. It had been originally written for
+the _Conservateur Litteraire_; but after its appearance there, it was
+almost entirely remodelled and rewritten. It is a tale of the
+insurrection in St. Domingo. The essential improbability of such a
+character as Bug Jargal (by what means did the author get such an
+uncouth name?), a negro of the noblest moral and intellectual character,
+passionately in love with a white woman, has been unfavourably commented
+upon. The hero is represented as not only tempering the wildest passion
+with the deepest respect, but he even sacrifices life itself at last in
+behalf of the woman of his love, and of her husband. It was objected
+that this was too violent a call upon the imagination, but knowledge of
+the negro character would tend to prove that such a devotion as Bug
+Jargal's is by no means impossible. In any case, as the novelist is
+allowed great license, this objection cannot be regarded as fatal to the
+romance. Notwithstanding its alleged defects of plot, however, this
+story has many enthralling passages. No reader is likely to forget 'the
+scenes in the camp of the insurgent chief Biassou, or the death-struggle
+between Habihrah and d'Auverney on the brink of the cataract. The
+latter, in particular, is drawn with such intense force, that the reader
+seems almost to be a witness of the changing fortunes of the fight, and
+can hardly breathe freely till he comes to the close.' Whatever else
+these early romances demonstrated, or failed to demonstrate, they were
+at least inspired by enthusiasm, and tinged with aspirations of a noble
+order.
+
+The genius of the author had drawn towards him the admiration, and very
+speedily the friendship, of such men as M. Mery, the journalist; M.
+Rabbe, author of the 'History of the Popes;' M. Achille Deveria and M.
+Louis Boulanger, the eminent artists; M. Sainte-Beuve, one of the most
+incisive of critics, and others whose names have since occupied
+considerable space in the roll of fame. Hugo was indefatigable in his
+literary efforts. _La Revue Francaise_, a periodical which
+unfortunately had but a brief existence, bore testimony to this, as well
+as his poetical miscellany entitled _La Muse Francaise_. He also wrote a
+criticism upon Voltaire, which was afterwards reprinted in his _Melanges
+de Litterature_; but this estimate did not reveal the breadth of view
+which the writer manifested in later years, when he passed an eloquent
+eulogium upon the philosopher of Ferney.
+
+For a new edition of the _Odes_ issued in 1826, and now separated from
+the _Ballades_, the author wrote an introduction in which he distinctly
+unfolded his principles of liberty in the realm of literature. He
+expressed his belief that 'in a literary production the bolder the
+conception the more irreproachable should be the execution;' and he
+added that liberty need not result in disorder. It was the first
+occasion on which the claims of what was called, for want of a better
+word, romanticism were formally promulgated by a writer eminent in that
+school. We shall shortly see how Victor Hugo translated these ideas into
+a concrete form in his works. Meantime, in February, 1827, an incident
+occurred which led to a stirring poem by Hugo, and one which made him
+friends in a new quarter, while it lost them in an old one.
+
+It appears that at a ball given by the Austrian Ambassador in Paris, the
+distinguished French marshals who attended were deliberately shorn of
+their legitimate titles. Thus, the Duke of Taranto was announced as
+Marshal Macdonald; the Duke of Dalmatia as Marshal Soult; the Duke of
+Treviso as Marshal Mortier, and so on. The insult was studied and
+deliberate on the part of the Ambassador; 'Austria, humiliated by titles
+which recalled its defeats, publicly denied them. The marshals had been
+invited in order to show contempt for their victories, and the Empire
+was insulted in their persons. They immediately quitted the Embassy in a
+body.' Victor Hugo's blood was stirred by this incident, and, without
+counting the cost, he took his revenge. Throwing all the weight of his
+indignation into the _Ode a la Colonne_, he hurled that effusion at the
+enemies of France. He was now only anxious to show that he was a
+Frenchman first, and a Vendean afterwards.
+
+The Ode made a great sensation, but it had a wider effect than its
+author anticipated. The Opposition welcomed him as one of themselves,
+for in celebrating the marshals had not the poet celebrated the Empire?
+The Royalists, on the other hand, seeing this bitter attack upon the
+Austrians, who were the most powerful friends of the Bourbons, naturally
+thought that Victor Hugo had abandoned the Royalist cause. Neither side
+could quite understand how such a burst of invective as that witnessed
+in the Ode might be due alone to the outraged feelings of a Frenchman,
+without being intended in the least to partake of the nature of a
+political manifesto. To these fierce partisans, party was everything; to
+Victor Hugo it was the nation that was everything. But his rupture with
+the Royalists is naturally enough traced to this period. He and they
+could never be the same again to each other. The poet passed now from
+his admiration of the Bourbons to an acknowledgment of the glory and
+prowess of the Empire, as at a later period he pressed still further
+forward, and hailed the fuller liberty of Republican France.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+VICTOR HUGO'S HUMANITARIANISM.
+
+
+In 1829 Victor Hugo published anonymously his _Le Dernier Jour d'un
+Condamne_ ('The Last Day of a Convict'). It thrilled the heart of Paris
+by its vivid recitals. While having no pretensions to the character of a
+regular tale, it was, as a writer in the _Edinburgh Review_ remarked,
+one of the most perfect things the author had as yet produced. It was
+the representation of one peculiar state of mind--that of a criminal
+faced by the certainty of his approaching death under the guillotine.
+Like Sterne, Hugo had taken a single captive, shut him up in his
+dungeon, and 'then looked through the twilight of the grated door, to
+take his picture.' The work is a chronicle of thoughts, a register of
+sensations; and it is amazing to see what variety and dramatic movement
+may be imparted to a monologue in which the scene shifts only from, the
+Bicetre to the Conciergerie, the Hotel de Ville, and the Place de Greve.
+
+Few descriptions could be found in literature to vie with that in which
+Victor Hugo places the criminal before us as he enters the court to
+receive his sentence on a lovely August morning. But all the incidents
+attending the trial, the condemnation, and the execution are depicted
+with graphic skill and powerful energy. No one knows better than Victor
+Hugo how to relieve unutterable gloom by some brilliant ray of human
+affection, and so upon this condemned prisoner he causes to break a
+temporary vision of youth and innocence. The intensity all through this
+piece is such as to give the reader a strange realization of the
+criminal, with his weight of guilt, and his terrible and conflicting
+emotions.
+
+But the critic of the _Edinburgh_ would have us believe that all this
+was merely due to a desire by Victor Hugo to exhibit his literary skill.
+He even calls it absurd to regard the sketch as a pleading against the
+punishment of death, and roundly denies that the author had any such
+esoteric purpose. Unfortunately for him, there is conclusive evidence to
+prove that Victor Hugo had a deeper intent in this painful
+representation than a mere literary play upon the feelings. In a preface
+to the edition of 1832 he distinctly avows his purpose: 'It is the
+author's aim and design that posterity should recognise in his work
+_not_ a mere special pleading for any one particular criminal, which is
+always easy and always transitory, but a general and permanent appeal in
+behalf of all the accused, alike of the present and of the future. Its
+great point is the right of humanity urged upon society.'
+
+Moreover, there is another powerful argument to be considered. Ever
+since 1820 Victor Hugo had been deeply moved on the question of capital
+punishment, and resolved to labour for its abolition. It will be
+convenient here to review briefly his public utterances on the subject,
+both before and subsequent to the appearance of _Le Dernier Jour d'un
+Condamne_. We shall thereby be enabled to keep the literary and personal
+thread of our narrative intact. In the year above named Victor Hugo had
+seen Louvel, the murderer of the Duke of Berry, on his way to the
+scaffold. The culprit was a being for whom he had not the slightest
+sympathy; but his fate begat pity, and he began to reflect on the
+anomaly that society should, in cold blood, commit the same act as that
+which it punished. From that time, observes Madame Hugo, he had an idea
+of writing a book against the guillotine. Two executions which he
+witnessed during the next few years strengthened his convictions, and
+led to the work we have already discussed. Subsequently he wrote _Claude
+Gueux_, founded upon the sad and miserable story of a man of that name.
+Gueux was condemned to death in 1832 for a crime to which the pangs of
+hunger had impelled him. The case was doubly painful from the fact that
+the father of Claude, a very old man, had been sentenced to a punishment
+in the prison of Clairvaux, and the son, in order to bring help to him,
+committed an act whose consequences brought him within the walls of the
+same prison. Strenuous exertions were made by Hugo and others to save
+Gueux, but the Council of Ministers rejected the appeal. The man was
+executed, and a noble protest which Victor Hugo afterwards issued
+greatly moved the public conscience, and rendered society still more
+familiar with the writer's views.
+
+In May, 1839, one Barbes was condemned to death for his share in the
+insurrection in the Place Royale. Victor Hugo immediately sent this
+message of appeal to the King:
+
+
+     'By your guardian-angel fled away like a dove,
+     By your royal child, a sweet and frail reed,
+     Pardon yet once more, pardon in the name of the tomb!
+           Pardon in the name of the cradle!'
+
+
+The King, against the advice of his Ministers, insisted on pardoning
+Barbes. More than twenty years afterwards the latter figured as a
+character in _Les Miserables_, and a correspondence, alike honourable to
+both, ensued between him and the author. Twice as a peer of France
+Victor Hugo was called upon to give verdicts in cases where capital
+punishment would follow conviction, and in both instances he voted in
+favour of perpetual imprisonment and against the death-penalty. When the
+question of capital punishment came before the Assembly in 1848, Victor
+Hugo ascended the tribune and made an impassioned speech, from which I
+take these extracts:
+
+'What is the penalty of death? It is the especial and eternal mark of
+barbarism. Wherever the penalty is, death is common, barbarism
+dominates; wherever the penalty of death is rare, civilization reigns
+supreme. You have just acknowledged the principle that a man's private
+dwelling should be inviolate; we ask you now to acknowledge a principle
+much higher and more sacred still--the inviolability of human life. The
+nineteenth century will abolish the penalty of death. You will not do
+away with it, perhaps, at once; but be assured, either you or your
+successors will abolish it. I vote for the abolition, pure, simple, and
+definitive, of the penalty of death.'
+
+In March, 1849, Victor Hugo made an unsuccessful appeal in the case of
+Daix, condemned to death for the affair of Brea; and in the following
+year the poet himself appeared as an advocate in the Court of Assize. He
+defended his eldest son, Charles Hugo, who had been summoned for
+protesting in his journal, _L'Evenement_, against the execution, which
+had been accompanied by revolting circumstances. In the course of his
+eloquent pleadings, Victor Hugo said: 'The real culprit in this matter,
+if there is a culprit, is not my son. It is I myself. I, who, for a
+quarter of a century, have not ceased to battle against all forms of the
+irreparable penalty--I, who, during all this time, have never ceased to
+advocate the inviolability of human life.... Yes, I assert it, this
+remains of barbarous penalties--this old and unintelligent law of
+retaliation--this law of blood for blood--I have battled against it all
+my life; and, so long as there remains one breath in my body, I will
+continue to battle against it with all my power as an author, and with
+all my acts and votes as a legislator. And I make this
+declaration'--(_the pleader here stretched out his arm towards the
+crucifix at the end of the hall above the tribunal_)--'before the Victim
+of the penalty of death, whose effigy is now before us, who is now
+looking down upon us, and who hears what I utter. I swear it, I say,
+before this sacred tree, on which, nearly two thousand years ago, and
+for the instruction of men to the latest generation, the laws,
+instituted by men, fastened with accursed nails the Divine Son of God!'
+In conclusion, the orator exclaimed, 'My son! thou wilt this day receive
+a great honour. Thou art judged worthy of fighting, perhaps of
+suffering, for the sacred cause of truth. From to-day thou enterest the
+just and true manly life of our time, the struggle for the true. Be
+proud, thou who art now admitted to the ranks of those who battle for
+the human and democratic idea! Thou art seated on the bench where
+Beranger and Lamennais have sat.' Notwithstanding his father's defence,
+which powerfully moved the whole court, Charles Hugo was sentenced to
+six months' imprisonment.
+
+While living in exile in Jersey, in 1854, Victor Hugo made an appeal on
+behalf of a man who was to be hanged in Guernsey. One of his letters was
+addressed to the people of Guernsey, who petitioned, but in vain, for
+the life of the convict Tapner. Another was addressed to Lord
+Palmerston, who gave the usual orders for the execution; and probably no
+English Minister ever received, either before or since, a communication
+couched in such burning and passionate language. The writer was
+literally overwhelming in his indignant rhetoric.
+
+For John Brown, of Harper's Ferry, the anti-slavery enthusiast, Victor
+Hugo put in a strong plea with the United States. He told that country
+that 'Brown's executioner would neither be the Attorney Hunter, nor the
+Judge Parker, nor the Governor Wyse, nor the State of Virginia; it would
+be, though one shudders to think it, and still more to say it, the great
+American Republic itself.... When we consider that this nation is the
+glory of the whole earth; that, like France, England, and Germany, it
+is one of the organs of civilization, that it has even gone beyond
+Europe in certain sublime strokes of bold progress, that it is at the
+summit of the whole world, that it wears on its brow the star of
+liberty, we are tempted to affirm that John Brown will not die; for we
+shrink back horrified at the idea of so great a crime being committed by
+so great a nation!' The writer predicted that 'the murder of Brown would
+make in the Union a rent, at first concealed, but which would end by
+splitting it asunder.' John Brown was executed, and Hugo's prediction
+was verified. The South did indeed discover that the spirit of Brown was
+'marching on'; and the American Union was for a time convulsed to its
+centre, ostensibly on the ground of union, but practically on account of
+slavery. Brown, the martyr, was justified by the event, and slavery was
+abolished in the United States.
+
+During the year 1861, a Belgian jury pronounced, on a single occasion
+only, nine sentences of death. Thereupon a writer, assuming the name of
+Victor Hugo, published some verses in the Belgian journals, imploring
+the King's pardon for the nine convicts. Hugo's attention was drawn to
+the verses, when he replied that he was quite willing for his name to be
+used, or even abused, in so good a cause. As his _alter ego_ had
+addressed the King, so he now addressed the nation. He called upon it to
+arrest this great sacrifice of life, and to abolish the scaffold. 'It
+would be a noble thing that a small people should give a lesson to the
+great, and by this fact alone should become greater than they. It would
+be a fine thing that, in the face of the abominable growth of darkness,
+in the presence of a growing barbarism, Belgium, taking the place of a
+great Power in civilization, should communicate to the human race by one
+act the full glare of light.' The sentence of seven of the condemned men
+was commuted, but the two remaining convicts were executed.
+
+When the Republic of Geneva revised its constitution in 1862, the
+principal question remitted to the people was the abolition of the
+punishment of death. M. Bost, a Genevese author, appealed to Victor Hugo
+for his intervention in the discussion. The poet replied by a long and
+exhaustive communication, in which he reviewed the leading cases in
+various European countries where the scaffold had recently been called
+into requisition, and he closed with this exordium: 'O people of Geneva,
+your city is situate on a lake in the Garden of Eden! you live in a
+blessed place! all that is most noble in creation surrounds you! the
+habitual contemplation of the beautiful reveals the truth and imposes
+duties on you! Your civilization ought to be in harmony with nature.
+Take counsel of all these merciful marvels. Believe in your sky so
+bright; and as goodness descends from the sky, abolish the scaffold. Be
+not ungrateful. Let it not be said that in gratitude, and, as it were,
+in exchange for this admirable corner of the earth, where God has shown
+to man the sacred splendour of the Alps, the Arve and the Rhone, the
+blue lake, and Mont Blanc in the glory of sunlight, man has offered to
+the Deity the spectacle of the guillotine.' The question had already
+been decided by the retention of the scaffold when this letter reached
+Geneva, but Victor Hugo now addressed the people. His second letter had
+an immense effect, and secured the rejection of the constitution
+proposed by the Conservatives. It also brought over a great number of
+adherents to the cause of abolition, which ultimately triumphed.
+
+On many subsequent occasions, and notably in connection with Italy and
+Portugal, Victor Hugo wrote and strove for the abolition of capital
+punishment. In France his pressing personal appeals more than once
+availed to procure a commutation of the death-punishment. To his _Last
+Day of a Convict_ was due the introduction of extenuating circumstances
+in the criminal laws of France, and he projected a work to be entitled
+_Le Dossier de la Peine de Mort_.
+
+It is not my intention here, nor, indeed, is it necessary, to discuss
+the arguments which may be advanced for or against capital punishment.
+It has been simply my object to present Victor Hugo in a light which,
+while it may divide men in their judgments, will unite them in their
+sympathies. The cases I have cited will be more than sufficient to
+demonstrate that noble enthusiasm of humanity which forms so conspicuous
+a feature in Victor Hugo's character.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE TRIUMPH OF ROMANTICISM.
+
+
+The war between the two great schools of French poetry, the classic and
+the romantic, passed into an acute stage shortly before the publication
+of Victor Hugo's _Cromwell_. Romanticism meant more than was implied in
+the definition of Madame de Stael, viz., the transference to French
+literature of 'the poetry originating in the songs of the troubadours,
+the offspring of chivalry and Christianity.' Victor Hugo, and men of a
+kindred if not an equal genius, were engaged in a struggle for the very
+life and soul of poetry. Poetic genius in France was wrapped in the
+grave-clothes of classicism; it was a corpse that needed galvanizing
+into life; and it was practically Victor Hugo who rose and said, 'Loose
+her, and let her go.'
+
+Goethe had already fought the battle of literary freedom from old
+superstitions in Germany, and Byron had done the same in England. It was
+now the turn of France to feel the new gush of life, and to gather
+strength and lustre in the revival. As M. Asselineau has observed of the
+French romanticists, 'to their sincerity, their detestation of
+tediousness, their sympathy with life and joy and freshness, as well as
+to their youthful audacity, that was not abashed either by ridicule or
+insult, belongs the honour of securing to the nineteenth century the
+triumph of liberty, invaluable for its preciousness in the world of
+art.' And in enumerating the leaders of the movement, he cites as the
+most prominent and influential, Chateaubriand, Victor Hugo, Madame de
+Stael, Lamartine, Dumas, Alfred de Vigny, Balzac, George Sand, Theophile
+Gautier, Merimee, Philarete Chasles, Alfred de Musset, and Jules Janin.
+Certainly the influence that developed the talents of such a galaxy of
+genius, so far from being despised, should be acclaimed as a force
+worthy of all admiration. It was one, in fact, that practically saved
+French literature from expiring of inanition.
+
+But the romantics were fiercely assailed; so fiercely that Victor Hugo
+said, if they had been thieves, murderers, and monsters of crime, they
+could not have been exposed to severer condemnation. Duvergier de
+Hauranne treated romanticism as a brain disease, and recommended a
+careful diagnosis of those suffering from it, in order to recover for
+them gradually their lost senses. But pleasantries such as these were
+not likely to affect a man in severe earnest. The literary
+revolutionaries of the Cenacle Club, whose leading spirit was Victor
+Hugo, laughed at the denunciations hurled against them, knowing that
+their opportunity had come. There was only one writer who, having put
+his hand to the plough, turned backward. This was Sainte-Beuve. The
+temper of his mind was critical, and after the first burst of enthusiasm
+with which he hailed the new school, and under whose influence he for a
+time joined it, had spent itself, he threw off his allegiance to the
+movement, and vowed that he had never really belonged to the reforming
+band.
+
+Victor Hugo soon gave a pledge, though not in some respects a successful
+one, of the sincerity of his own convictions. M. Taylor, Commissaire
+Royal at the Comedie Francaise, and afterwards widely known in the world
+of art, asked the poet on one occasion why he never wrote for the
+theatre. Hugo replied that he was thinking of doing so, and had already
+commenced a drama on the subject of Cromwell. 'A Cromwell of your
+writing should only be acted by Talma,' said Taylor; and he forthwith
+arranged a meeting between the famous tragedian and the dramatist. Talma
+was at that time greatly depressed, taking gloomy views of the stage,
+and asserting that his own career had been a failure--had never
+fulfilled its ends. No one knew what he might have been, he confided to
+Hugo, but now he expected to die without having really acted once.
+Nevertheless, from the genius of Hugo he did look for something
+original, and he had always longed to act Cromwell. In response, the
+author explained his intentions with regard to the proposed play, and
+also his views upon the drama generally. These views he afterwards
+enlarged upon in the preface to the play. He asserted that there were
+three epochs in poetry, each corresponding to an era in society; and
+these were the ode, the epic, and the drama. 'Primitive ages are the
+lyric, ancient times the heroic, and modern times the dramatic. The ode
+sings of eternity, the epic records history, the drama depicts life....
+The characters of the ode are colossal--Adam, Cain, Noah; those of the
+epic are gigantic--Achilles, Atreus, Orestes; those of the drama are
+human--Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth. The ode contemplates the ideal; the
+epic, the sublime; the drama, the real. And, to sum up the whole, this
+poetical triad emanates from three fountain-heads--the Bible, Homer, and
+Shakespeare.'
+
+In _Cromwell_, urged Hugo, he intended to substitute a drama for a
+tragedy, a real man for an ideal personage, reality for conventionalism;
+the piece was to pass from the heroic to the positive; the style was to
+include all varieties, epic, lyric, satiric, grave, comic; and there
+were to be no verses for effect. The author repeated his first line,
+'_Demain, vingt-cinq juin, mil six cent cinquante-sept_,' which was
+certainly ludicrously matter-of-fact. Talma was delighted with the whole
+idea, and begged the poet to complete his work at once. Unfortunately
+the actor died soon afterwards, and the dramatist now went leisurely on
+with his play. While engaged upon the preface he saw some Shakespearean
+dramas performed in English at the Odeon, and the representations
+affected him deeply, and tinged his dramatic views. At the close of
+1827 _Cromwell_ was published, and great indeed was the controversy to
+which it gave rise. The period dealt with was not what would be
+considered one of the most dramatic in the career of the Protector. It
+was that 'when his ambition made him eager to realize the benefits of
+the King's death,' when, having attained what any other man would have
+reckoned the summit of fortune, being not only master of England, but by
+his army, his navy, and his diplomacy, master of Europe too, he was
+urged onwards to fulfil the visions of his youth, and to make himself a
+king. Cromwell's final relinquishment of the kingly idea, with the
+preliminary stages which led up to his resolution, were delineated with
+subtle power and psychological skill.
+
+But it was not the play so much as its preface--which the author put
+forward as the manifesto of himself and his literary friends--that
+stirred the gall of the critics. A writer in the _Gazette de France_,
+referring to Hugo's avowed aim to break 'all those threads of spiders'
+web with which the army of Liliput have undertaken to chain the drama
+whilst slumbering,' reminded him that in this liliputian army there
+were some dwarfs to be found not so despicable after all; and amongst
+others stood out those men who had written for the stage from _Le Cid_
+down to _Cromwell_. 'But what would these men be worth in the eyes of
+him who calls Shakespeare the god of the Theatre? It is necessary to
+possess some strength to venture to attack giants; and when one
+undertakes to dethrone writers whom whole generations have united in
+admiring, it would be advisable to fight them with weapons which, if not
+equal to theirs, are at least so constructed as to have some chance.' M.
+de Remusat in _Le Globe_ endeavoured to hold the scales of justice
+between the contending parties, while the famous Preface acted as a
+rallying-cry for the supporters of the new principles. M. Soumet, Hugo's
+old friend, wrote concerning the drama: 'It seems to me full of new and
+daring beauties; and although in your preface you spoke mercilessly of
+mosses and climbing ivy, I cannot do less than acknowledge your
+admirable talent, and I shall speak of your work--grand in the style of
+Michael Angelo--as I formerly spoke of your odes.'
+
+About the time of the publication of _Cromwell_, Victor Hugo was
+severely visited in his domestic relations. Madame Foucher, his wife's
+mother, and a woman of many and great virtues, passed away; and on the
+28th of January, 1828, the poet's father died suddenly of apoplexy. The
+General and his second wife had been quite reconciled to Victor and his
+brothers, and the Government had once more recognised the title of the
+old soldier as General of Division. He was happy in the affection of his
+sons, his daughter-in-law, and Victor Hugo's two children--Leopoldine
+and Charles. On the evening of his death he had spent several happy
+hours with the poet, but in the night the apoplexy struck him with the
+rapidity of a shot, and he immediately expired. The incident, as may be
+imagined, profoundly affected the sensitive and impressionable spirit of
+Victor Hugo.
+
+Some years before these events, Victor Hugo had, in conjunction with M.
+Soumet, written a play entitled _Amy Robsart_, founded upon Scott's
+_Kenilworth_. Not being able to agree as to the value of each other's
+contributions, the two authors separated, each bearing away his own
+dramatic goods. Hugo afterwards handed over his play to his
+brother-in-law, Paul Foucher, who produced the piece in his own name at
+the Odeon. It was loudly hissed. There were passages in it that
+unmistakably bore the impress of Victor Hugo, and the latter
+chivalrously wrote to the newspapers to say that those parts which had
+been hissed were his own work. This acknowledgment drew a number of
+young men to the theatre, who were as loud in their applause as a large
+portion of the audience were in their condemnation. Altogether, matters
+became so lively that the Government interfered, and, to allay the
+tumult, interdicted the play.
+
+In the Rue Notre-Dame des Champs there were some rare meetings of poets
+and wits, when Victor Hugo and Alfred de Musset would recite poems
+composed during the day, and Merimee and Sainte-Beuve would engage in
+arguments. M. Henri Beyle, M. Louis Boulanger, and M. Eugene Delacroix
+were also to be seen there; and once the venerable Benjamin Constant was
+a guest. When Beranger was condemned to three months' imprisonment for
+one of his songs, Victor Hugo visited him in his cell. He found that the
+French Burns, though obnoxious to the authorities, was the idol of the
+populace. His cell was generally full of visitors, and he was inundated
+with pates, game, fruit, and wine.
+
+Another great stride in romanticism was made by the publication of
+Victor Hugo's _Orientales_, which appeared in 1828. These lyrical poems
+were full of energy and inspiration, and it was clear that the very
+antithesis of the classical style had now been reached. They enhanced
+the reputation of the writer, while they charmed all readers by their
+freshness, simplicity, and vigour.
+
+In July, 1829, a brilliant company assembled at Hugo's house to listen
+to the reading of a new play by the poet, the famous _Marion de Lorme_,
+originally called _A Duel under Richelieu_. The writer, it was soon
+seen, had avoided the faults which marked the construction of
+_Cromwell_, and had produced a real drama, and one well adapted for
+stage representation. The company present at the reading included
+Balzac, Delacroix, Alfred de Musset, Merimee, Sainte-Beuve, Alfred de
+Vigny, Dumas, Deschamps, and Taylor. Dumas, with the generous frankness
+which always characterized him, afterwards wrote respecting the play: 'I
+listened with admiration the most intense, but yet an admiration that
+was tinged with sadness, for I felt that I could never attain to such a
+powerful style. I congratulated Hugo very heartily, telling him that I,
+deficient in style as I was, had been quite overwhelmed by the
+magnificence of his.' But there was one point upon which Dumas,
+supported by Sainte-Beuve and Merimee, pleaded, and pleaded
+successfully. Not feeling satisfied that Didier should meet his death
+without forgiving Marion, Hugo yielded to the pressure put upon him, and
+altered the drama accordingly. The news of a new play by Victor Hugo
+brought forward the managers at once, but it had already been promised
+to M. Taylor for the Theatre Francais. However, there was the ordeal of
+the censors yet to pass through, and fears were entertained as to the
+fourth act, in which Louis XIII. was described as a hunter, and
+represented as governed by a priest--points in which everybody would see
+a resemblance to Charles X. Permission to perform the play was refused.
+Victor Hugo appealed to the King, who removed from office the Minister
+of the Interior (M. de Martignac), the dramatist's chief enemy, and
+promised to read the offending act himself. Having done so, his Majesty
+declined to give his sanction to the representation of the drama, but
+by way of a solatium granted the poet a fresh pension of 4,000 francs.
+Hugo was indignant, and at once wrote declining the pension, upon which
+the _Constitutionnel_ remarked, 'Youth is less easily corrupted than the
+Ministers think.' With regard to the drama itself, it has been well
+remarked that 'had Marion, in spite of her heroism and her repentance,
+been adequately chastised for her lapse from virtue, probably much of
+the sentimentality would have been avoided, which, although now
+exploded, at the time caused a great depravity of taste, and invested
+the "Dames aux Camellias" and the "Mimis" of Bohemian life with an
+interest that they did not deserve.'
+
+Undismayed by what had occurred, Victor Hugo now devoted himself to the
+composition of another drama, and his _Hernani_ was shortly in the hands
+of M. Taylor for production. The censors again interfered, and in the
+course of a very impertinent report, observed that the play was 'a
+tissue of extravagances, generally trivial, and often coarse, to which
+the author has failed to give anything of an elevated character. Yet
+while we animadvert upon its flagrant faults, we are of opinion that
+not only is there no harm in sanctioning the representation of the
+piece, but that it would be inadvisable to curtail it by a single word.
+It will be for the benefit of the public to see to what extremes the
+human mind will go, when freed from all restraint.' These literary
+censors did, however, require the alteration or removal of certain
+passages in which the kingly state and dignity were handled with too
+much freedom; and they forbade the name of Jesus to be used throughout
+the piece.
+
+The supporters of the classical drama strenuously exerted themselves to
+prevent the play from being produced, but in vain. Of course, this
+creation of a new style meant the decline of the old one. The play went
+into rehearsal, and the author had a passage of arms with Mademoiselle
+Mars, who took the part of Dona Sol. This lady, whose power had made her
+imperious, found her master in Hugo, and when threatened with the loss
+of her part, she consented to deliver a disputed phrase as written. The
+time for production came, and when the author was asked to name his
+systematic applauders, according to custom, he declined to do so,
+stating that there would be no systematic applause. The play excited
+the liveliest curiosity. Benjamin Constant was amongst those who
+earnestly begged for seats, and M. Thiers wrote personally to the author
+for a box. The literary friends of Victor Hugo attended in great
+numbers, including Gautier, Borel, and Balzac. The theatre was crowded,
+and the feeling of all parties intense. As the play progressed from act
+to act, nevertheless, it gained in its hold upon the audience. When the
+fourth act closed, M. Maine, a publisher, sought out Victor Hugo, and
+offered him 6,000 francs for the play, but the matter, he said, must be
+decided at once. The author protested, remarking that the success of the
+piece might be less complete at the end. 'Ah, that's true, but it may be
+much greater,' replied the publisher. 'At the second act I thought of
+offering 2,000 francs; at the third act I got up to 4,000; I now at the
+fourth act offer 6,000; and after the fifth I am afraid I should have to
+offer 10,000.' Hugo laughingly concluded the bargain for 6,000 francs,
+and went with the eager publisher into a tobacco shop to sign a roughly
+improvised agreement. The play concluded brilliantly, Mademoiselle Mars
+securing a great triumph in the last act. The whole house applauded
+vociferously, and the triumph of romanticism was complete.
+
+The literary war which ensued was very fierce. In the provinces, as in
+Paris, it divided the public into hostile camps, and so deep were the
+feelings which it excited that in Toulouse a duel was fought over the
+play, and one of the antagonists was killed. Armand Carrel was
+especially bitter in his assaults upon _Hernani_, but Hugo was more than
+consoled for this and other attacks by the following letter from
+Chateaubriand: 'I was present, sir, at the first representation of
+_Hernani_. You know how much I admire you. My vanity attaches itself to
+your lyre, and you know the reason. I am going--you are coming. I
+commend myself to the remembrance of your muse. A pious glory ought to
+pray for the dead.' As an amusing pendant to this, it may be mentioned
+in connection with the poet and _Hernani_, that a provincial Frenchman
+(in making his will) ordered the following inscription to be placed on
+his tombstone: 'Here lies one who believed in Victor Hugo.'
+
+In spite of the attacks in the press, also of personal threats and of
+the deliberate and almost unparalleled attempts to stifle the play in
+the theatre itself, _Hernani_ held its own, and continued to be played
+with great pecuniary success until the enforced absence of Mademoiselle
+Mars, when it was withdrawn from the stage, and not acted again for some
+years. But the play had practically established the new drama. It was
+the herald of the renaissance, and for this reason must continue to
+occupy a conspicuous position whenever an attempt is made to estimate
+the dramatic work and influence of Victor Hugo.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+'NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS.'
+
+
+There is a natural desire to know something of the personal aspect of
+men who have become great. What would the world give, for example, for a
+faithful account of the character, the appearance, the sayings, the
+habits of Shakespeare, written by a friend and a contemporary? In the
+case of Victor Hugo we fortunately have such a description from the pen
+of one of his most enthusiastic admirers, Theophile Gautier. The sketch
+represents the poet as he appeared at the time which we have now reached
+in his history, that is when he was about twenty-eight years of age.
+
+Gautier was exceedingly nervous over his contemplated interview with
+Victor Hugo, and twice failed to summon up the necessary courage for the
+meeting. On the third occasion he found himself in the poet's study.
+All his prepared eloquence, we are told, at once vanished away; the long
+apostrophe of praise which he had spent whole evenings in composing came
+to nothing. He felt like Heine, who, when he was going to have an
+interview with Goethe, prepared an elaborate speech beforehand, but at
+the crucial moment could find nothing better to say to the author of
+_Faust_ than that the plum-trees on the road between Jena and Weimar
+bore plums that were very nice when one was thirsty. But the Jupiter of
+German poetry was probably more flattered by his visitor's bewilderment
+than he would have been by the most glowing eulogium. Passing over
+Gautier's panegyrics, here is what he wrote concerning the person of
+Hugo: 'He was then twenty-eight years of age, and nothing about him was
+more striking than his forehead, that like a marble monument rose above
+his calm and earnest countenance: the beauty of that forehead was
+well-nigh superhuman; the deepest of thoughts might be written within,
+but it was capable of bearing the coronet of gold or the chaplet of
+laurel with all the dignity of a divinity or a Caesar. This splendid brow
+was set in a frame of rich chestnut hair that was allowed to grow to
+considerable length behind. His face was closely shaven, its peculiar
+paleness being relieved by the lustre of a pair of hazel eyes, keen as
+an eagle's. The curved lips betokened a firm determination, and when
+half opened in a smile, displayed a set of teeth of charming whiteness.
+His attire was neat and faultless, consisting of black frock-coat, grey
+trousers, and a small lay-down collar. Nothing in his appearance could
+ever have led anyone to suspect that this perfect gentleman was the
+leader of the rough-bearded, dishevelled set that was the terror of the
+smooth-faced _bourgeoisie_. Such was Victor Hugo. His image, as we saw
+it in that first interview, has never faded from our memory. It is a
+portrait that we cherish tenderly; its smiles, beaming with talent,
+continue with us, ever diffusing a clear and phosphorescent glory!'
+
+In the year 1831 Victor Hugo published a work which, if he had written
+nothing else, would have given him a place amongst the immortal writers
+of France. This was his _Notre-Dame de Paris_, undertaken and produced
+under extraordinary circumstances. It was received with mixed favour by
+the critics, but at once made its way to the heart of the people. Any
+number of hostile reviews would have been insufficient to check the
+progress of so singular and powerful a work. The author had made an
+engagement to write this book for a publisher named Gosselin, and the
+latter now claimed the execution of the contract. The work was
+originally to have been ready by the close of 1829, but in July, 1830,
+it was not yet begun, and a new contract was prepared, under which it
+was to be completed by the ensuing December. Political events greatly
+disturbed the progress of the romance, and a further difficulty was
+created by the loss of manuscript notes which had taken two months to
+collect. In the removal of Hugo's books and manuscripts from the house
+in the Rue Jean Goujon to the Rue du Cherche-Midi, these valuable notes
+went astray. They were not recovered till some years afterwards, when
+they were incorporated in a later edition of the novel. A still further
+delay was granted by the publisher, in accordance with which the author
+was to complete the story by February, 1831, having just five months in
+which to accomplish the task.
+
+Hugo set to work with marvellous energy, and some amusing details are
+given of the way in which he laboured with his romance. 'He bought a
+bottle of ink, and a thick piece of grey worsted knitting which
+enveloped him from the neck to the heels; he locked up his clothes, in
+order not to be tempted to go out, and worked at his novel as if in a
+prison. He was very melancholy.' It appears that he never left the
+writing-table except to eat and to sleep, and occasionally to read over
+some chapters to his friends. The book was finished on the 14th of
+January, and as the writer concluded his last line and his last drop of
+ink at the same moment, he thought of changing the title of the novel,
+and calling it 'The Contents of a Bottle of Ink.' This title, which was
+not thus used, however, was subsequently adopted by Alphonse Karr.
+
+On being asked by his publisher for some descriptive notes upon the
+work, which might be useful in advertising it, Victor Hugo wrote: 'It is
+a representation of Paris in the fifteenth century, and of the fifteenth
+century in its relations to Paris. Louis XI. appears in one chapter, and
+the King is associated with, or practically decides, the _denouement_.
+The book has no historical pretensions, unless they be those of painting
+with some care and accuracy--but entirely by sketches, and
+incidentally--the state of morals, creeds, laws, arts, and even
+civilization, in the fifteenth century. This is, however, not the most
+important part of the work. If it has a merit, it is in its being purely
+a work of imagination, caprice, and fancy.' Nevertheless, the author has
+underrated in certain respects the value of his own work. Powerful as it
+is from the imaginative point of view, it is no less remarkable for the
+way in which the writer has brought together a mass of historical and
+antiquarian lore. Its thoroughness and careful construction in regard to
+such details may be recommended to less accurate writers in the field of
+historical romance. Paris, with its myriad interests, is vividly
+represented by one to whom it had given up its past as well as its
+present. Whether we see life beneath the shadow of Notre-Dame, in the
+Cour des Miracles, the Place de Greve, the Palais de Justice, the
+Bastille or the Louvre, it is all the same--the master-hand has given
+life and vitality to all it has touched.
+
+The gipsy girl Esmeralda, a fascinating creation, has been compared with
+the Fenella of Scott, the La Gitanilla of Cervantes, and the Mignon of
+Goethe. But she has a character of her own distinct from all of these.
+In her history the power of love is once more exemplified, and if round
+her centres the finest pathos of the work, so also is she its noblest
+gleam of light and grace and beauty. It has been said that love makes
+the learned archdeacon forget his studies, his clerical character, his
+reputation for sanctity, to court the favours of a volatile Bohemian.
+'Love for this same Parisian Fenella softens the human savage Quasimodo,
+the dumb one-eyed bell-ringer of Notre-Dame, and transforms him into a
+delicate monster, a devoted humble worshipper of the Bohemian. While
+she, who is the cynosure of neighbouring eyes, the object of adoration
+to these singular lovers, is herself hopelessly attached in turn to a
+giddy-pated captain of the guard, who can afford to love no one but
+himself.' In his grand and startling effects, the writer has been
+compared with the painter Martin. There is an almost unparalleled
+breadth, which gives the work a Rembrandtish effect in all the chief
+scenes. The siege of the cathedral by the banded beggars and vagabonds
+of Paris in the night is one not readily effaced from the memory; and
+this is equally true of the terrible interview between the infatuated
+monk and his victim in the filthy dungeons of the Palais de Justice; of
+the weird scene of the Fete de Fous in the Hall of the Palace; of the
+Alsatian picture of the examination and projected hanging of Gringoire
+among the thieves in the Cour des Miracles; of the execution of
+Esmeralda; and of the fearful fate of the impassioned monk.
+
+The strange fatality attending upon mere passion is insisted on all
+through; it binds together in one miserable chain the priest who is
+prepared to sacrifice all that is sacred in duty for love, the heartless
+soldier, and the trusting maiden. As to the _dramatis personae_, the
+_Athenaeum_, observed, 'No character can be more intimately identified
+with the genius of Victor Hugo than the interesting, generous, and
+high-minded gipsy girl Esmeralda. The character of Phoebus de
+Chateaupers, the bold, reckless, gay, gallant, good-tempered,
+light-hearted, and faithless captain of gendarmerie, is also original,
+and wrought out with great skill. The Archdeacon Claude Frollo is a
+striking specimen of those churchmen of the fifteenth century who united
+the grossest superstition to the most consummate hypocrisy, and applied
+the influences of religion to acts of the blackest perfidy. There are
+many historical characters in this work, and, among others, our old
+acquaintances in Quentin Durward, Louis XI., Olivier-le-Daim, and the
+squinting Provost, Tristan l'Hermite.' In eloquence, in vigour, in
+animation, and in all the masterly pageantry of a bygone age, this work
+will continue to hold a unique position amongst symbolical and
+historical romances.
+
+_Notre-Dame_ was assailed by the majority of the Parisian journals, but
+in the minority warmly in its favour were to be found some of the first
+writers of the age. Touching the style of the work, Sainte-Beuve said,
+'There is a magical facility and freedom in saying all that should be
+said; there is a striking keenness of observation, especially is there a
+profound knowledge of the populace, and a deep insight into man in his
+vanity, his emptiness, and his glory, whether he be mendicant, vagabond,
+_savant_, or sensualist. Moreover, there is an unexampled comprehension
+of form; an unrivalled expression of grace, material beauty, and
+greatness; and altogether a worthy presentment of an abiding and
+gigantic monument. Alike in the pretty prattlings of the nymph-like
+child, in the cravings of the she-wolf mother, and in the surging
+passion, almost reaching to delirium, that rages in a man's brain, there
+is the moulding and wielding of everything just at the author's will.'
+Alfred de Musset, while unable to take in the scope of the work,
+acknowledged that it was colossal. Jules Janin remarked that 'of all the
+works of the author it is pre-eminently that in which his fire of
+genius, his inflexible calmness, and his indomitable will are most
+conspicuous. What accumulation of misfortunes is piled up in these
+mournful pages! What a gathering together there is of ruinous passion
+and bewildering incident! All the foulness as well as all the faith of
+the Middle Ages are kneaded together with a trowel of gold and of iron.
+At the sound of the poet's voice all that was in ruins has risen to its
+fullest height, reanimated by his breath.... Victor Hugo has followed
+his vocation as poet and architect, as writer of history and romance;
+his pen has been guided alike by ancient chronicle and by his own
+personal genius; he has made all the bells of the great city to clang
+out their notes; and he has made every heart of the population, except
+that of Louis XI., to beat with life! Such is the book; it is a
+brilliant page of our history, which cannot fail to be a crowning glory
+in the career of its author.' Finally, Eugene Sue wrote: 'If the useless
+admiration of a barbarian like myself had the power to express and
+interpret itself in a manner worthy of the book which has inspired it, I
+should tell you, sir, that you are a great spendthrift; that your
+critics resemble those poor people on the fifth story, who, whilst
+gazing on the prodigalities of the great nobleman, would say to each
+other, with anger in their hearts, "I could live during my whole life on
+the money spent in a single day."'
+
+The publisher had some doubts of the pecuniary success of the novel, but
+these speedily disappeared, as edition after edition was called for. In
+the course of a year only, eight large editions had been disposed of,
+and the number of editions which have been issued since that time may be
+described as legion. From thinking, as he did originally, that he had
+made a bad bargain, M. Gosselin soon had reason to arrive at the
+conclusion that he had made a remarkably good one. Together with other
+publishers, he now pestered the author continually for more novels.
+Hugo protested that he had none to give them; but wearied at length by
+their importunities he furnished the titles of two stories he proposed
+to write, which were to be called the _Fils de la Bossue_ and _La
+Quinquengrogne_. The latter name was the popular designation of one of
+the towers of Bourbon l'Aschembault, and in the novel the author
+intended to complete the account of his views concerning the art of the
+Middle Ages. Notre-Dame was the cathedral, La Quinquengrogne was to be
+the dungeon.
+
+Victor Hugo wrote at this time his admirable descriptive work _Le
+Rhin_--a work full of learning, vivacity, and humour--but he never
+proceeded with the two projected novels. _Notre-Dame_ remained for many
+years the only romance in which the author revealed his marvellous power
+of moulding human sympathies, of throwing into imaginative conceptions
+the very form and substance of being, and of realizing a dead-past age
+as though it were that of the actual and the living.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+'MARION DE LORME' AND OTHER DRAMAS.
+
+
+That despotic monarch, Charles X., having been driven from his throne by
+the Revolution of July, 1830, there naturally followed the removal of
+the interdict from the theatres. Victor Hugo was at once applied to by
+the Comedie Francaise for his drama of _Marion de Lorme_, which had been
+in enforced abeyance. But when the political reaction was an absolute
+certainty, the sensitive mind of Hugo shrank from a demonstrative
+triumph. It is true that he was now in the full tide of masculine
+judgment, and that his ideas of progress and liberty were crystallized
+and matured; but he could not forget his early opinions. Though crudely
+formed, and based upon sentiment and not upon reason, they had been
+genuine and disinterested, and his chief feeling at this later period
+was not one of hatred of the King, but rather of rejoicing with the
+people.
+
+However, after a year had elapsed from Charles's fall, there was no
+reason why a drama should be lost to the stage simply because it
+contained an historical presentment of Louis XIII. After declining many
+offers, the author resolved to give the play to M. Crosnier, for the
+theatre of the Porte St. Martin; and he also entered into an agreement
+to write yearly two works of importance for this theatre. Dumas's
+_Antony_ was being performed at the Porte St. Martin, but on the
+conclusion of its run _Marion de Lorme_ was produced, with Madame Dorval
+in the part of Marion, and M. Bocage in that of Didier. Difficulties as
+usual were thrown in the way of the new play, but it eventually
+triumphed over them. The journals, nevertheless, were hostile, the
+_Moniteur_ especially so, affirming that the author had never yet
+conceived anything more meagre and commonplace, and more full of
+eccentricities, than this piece. One critic asserted that the character
+of Didier was taken from that of Antony, although Hugo's play had been
+written first. Those friends who formerly applauded Hugo and Dumas
+conjointly, now divided themselves into two parties, one of which
+persistently assailed the writer of _Marion de Lorme_. From a variety of
+causes the play was only performed four nights on its first production,
+but the performances were afterwards resumed. It may be added that the
+_Revue des Deux Mondes_, whose judgment was better worth having than
+that of most of its contemporaries, remarked that Victor Hugo had never
+so truly shown himself a poet, nor attained to so high a range of
+vision, nor so wide a field of judgment, as in this piece.
+
+A tragic incident which occurred not long after the representation of
+this play affected the poet deeply. Amongst the warmest of his band of
+admirers was M. Ernest de Saxe-Coburg, whose race and origin are
+indicated by his name. He and his mother lived in Paris, on a pension
+granted them by the Duke. Ernest was taken seriously ill, and the
+distracted parent rushed to the house of Victor Hugo, exclaiming, 'You
+alone can save him! Come at once!' But the unfortunate young man was
+already dead; and a painful scene took place in the chamber of death on
+the arrival of Victor Hugo and the mother. 'The unhappy woman, who had
+but this only child in the world to love, would not believe that he was
+dead. He was but cold, she said; and she threw herself on his bed,
+encircling him in her arms in order to impart warmth to the corpse. She
+frantically kissed his marble face, which was already cold. Suddenly she
+felt within herself that it was all over; she raised herself, and
+haggard and wild as she was, though still beautiful, she exclaimed, "He
+is dead!" M. Victor Hugo spent the night by the side of the mother and
+the corpse.' It was the lot of Hugo to awaken by his genius many
+personal attachments and enthusiasms such as that felt for him by this
+ill-fated youth; and these attachments were invariably strengthened and
+deepened by subsequent friendship.
+
+In 1832 the poet wrote his _Le Roi s'Amuse_. It has been charged against
+this play that it presents an unredeemed picture of vice and
+licentiousness. It has 'overstepped all bounds,' wrote one critic;
+'history, reason, morality, artistic dignity, and refinement, are all
+trampled under foot. The whole piece is monstrous; history is set at
+nought, and the most noble characters are slandered and vilified. The
+play is entirely void of interest, and the horrible, the mean, and the
+immoral are all jumbled together into a kind of chaos.' As we shall
+see, Victor Hugo traversed the whole of these and similar judgments.
+Baron Taylor secured the play for the Theatre Francais, Triboulet being
+assigned to M. Ligier, Saint-Vallier to M. Joanny, Blanche to
+Mademoiselle Anais, and Francis I. to M. Perrier. A preliminary flourish
+occurred between Hugo and M. d'Argout, the Minister of Public Works, in
+whose department the theatres lay. The Minister first demanded the
+manuscript, then sent for the author, and finally wrote that the
+Monarchical principle in France must suffer from the author's attacks on
+Francis I., which would be taken as being levelled against Louis
+Philippe. The poet replied that the interests of history were to be
+consulted before those of royalty, but he denied that there was anything
+in the piece reflecting on Louis Philippe. The play was produced on the
+22nd of November, and met with a very mixed reception, the hisses
+predominating. It was partly damned by the defects of the actors. When
+the curtain fell upon the last act, and it was felt that the play had
+failed, the leading performer said to the author, 'Shall I mention your
+name?' Hugo answered haughtily, 'Sir, I have a rather higher opinion of
+my play now it is a failure.'
+
+Next day the play was suspended, the reason given being that it was an
+offence against public morality. It appears that a number of devotees of
+the classical school had persuaded the Minister that a drama which had
+for its subject the assassination of a king was not to be tolerated on
+the very day after the existing monarch had himself escaped
+assassination; that the play was an apology for regicides, etc. Victor
+Hugo was not the man to be thus crushed without an effort to save his
+drama. In the first place he issued a manifesto to the public, briefly
+summarizing the plot of the piece, and denying that it was immoral. Then
+he entered a civil suit before the Board of Trade to compel the Theatre
+Francais to perform _Le Roi s'Amuse_, and likewise to compel the
+Government to sanction the performance. The trial opened in a densely
+crowded court, many celebrities being amongst the audience. They had
+been attracted by the announcement that the author would plead his own
+case. Hugo's speech was applauded by a band of very sympathetic
+listeners, and on its conclusion M. de Montalembert assured him that he
+was as great an orator as he was a writer, and that if the doors of the
+theatre were closed against him, the tribune was still available.
+Judgment was given against the poet, and for the Minister. M. Paul
+Foucher, describing the scene on the night of the first performance of
+_Le Roi s'Amuse_, observed that while the whole theatre was in an
+uproar, and Hugo's name was drowned in the sea of roaring voices, 'the
+author's face exhibited no sign of despondency at the failure any more
+than it had shown passion or excitement during the struggle. His
+Olympian brow had withstood the tempest with the firmness of a rock, and
+after the curtain fell, he went to offer his thanks and encouragements
+to the actors and actresses, saying, "You are a little discomposed
+to-night; but you will find it different the day after to-morrow!" In
+spite of the hissing, he was sanguine about his play; nevertheless, it
+was not destined to be repeated.'
+
+The poet's enemies now caused him considerable annoyance on the subject
+of his pension. He had ceased to receive the 1,000 francs granted him by
+Louis XVIII. out of his privy purse, but still received the 2,000 francs
+allowed him by the Home Minister. In reply to the recriminations of the
+Ministerial journals, he wrote a letter to M. d'Argout, showing that
+this pension was clearly granted to him on literary grounds, quite apart
+from political opinions. But he had decided to accept it no longer, and
+thus stated his reasons: 'Now that the Government appears to regard what
+are called literary pensions as proceeding from itself, and not from the
+country, and as this kind of grant takes from an author's independence;
+now that this strange pretension of the Government serves as the basis
+to the somewhat shameful attacks of certain journals, the management of
+which is, unfortunately, though no doubt incorrectly, imagined to be in
+your hands; as it is also of importance to me to maintain my relations
+with the Government in a higher region than that in which this kind of
+warfare goes on--without discussing whether your pretensions relating to
+this indemnity have the smallest foundation, I hasten to inform you that
+I entirely relinquish it.' The Minister replied, taking the poet's view,
+that the pension was a debt due from the country, and stating that it
+should still be reserved for him; but Victor Hugo never took it up from
+this time forward.
+
+For a brief period managers held aloof from the dramatist, and when he
+wrote _Le Souper a Ferrare_, which title was afterwards changed to that
+of _Lucrece Borgia_, no one was eager for it. But this attitude changed
+after his speech at the tribunal, and M. Harel, director of the Porte
+St. Martin, sought for and obtained the play. Admirable representatives
+were found for the chief parts, Frederick Lemaitre taking that of
+Grennaro, Delafosse that of Don Alphonse d'Este, Mademoiselle Georges
+that of Lucretia, and Mademoiselle Juliette that of the Princess
+Negroni. Meyerbeer and Berlioz composed the music for the song which was
+sung at the supper given by the Princess Negroni. Only one person was
+allowed to be present at the final rehearsal, and that was Sainte-Beuve.
+The critic was playing a double part towards the dramatist, with whom he
+had been out of sympathy for some time past, and it is recorded that at
+the close of the rehearsal of _Lucrece Borgia_ he warmly congratulated
+the author upon his drama, and went away circulating reports everywhere
+that the piece was an utter absurdity! 'It was solely due to his
+treachery and infamous gossip that on the morning of the day on which
+the piece was to be performed in the evening, several newspapers
+announced that they were in possession of the plot, and that the whole
+production was in the highest degree obscene, depicting orgies terrible
+and indecent beyond conception.'
+
+Great interest, notwithstanding, was manifested in the play, and amongst
+those who implored the author for first-night seats was General
+Lafayette. The representation was a triumphant success, and for awhile
+nothing was talked about in Paris but the new play. The monetary success
+was equal to the literary and dramatic. The receipts for the first three
+performances amounted to 84,769 francs--a sum which no other work had
+equalled or approached during M. Harel's management. Referring to two of
+his most widely known dramas, Victor Hugo predicted that _Le Roi
+s'Amuse_ would one day prove to be the principal political era, and
+_Lucrece Borgia_ the principal literary era of his life. He had
+purposely presented deformities in both, but he believed that by uniting
+monsters to humanity, one could not fail to excite interest and perhaps
+sympathy. 'Physical deformity, sanctified by paternal love, this is what
+you have in _Le Roi s'Amuse_; moral deformity, purified by maternal
+love, this is what you find in _Lucrece Borgia_.'
+
+Hugo was fated to be the victim of misunderstanding with regard to
+almost all his dramas, and he found no exception in _Lucrece Borgia_.
+From an attitude of delight and complacency, M. Harel, the director of
+the theatre, passed to one of studious neglect and insolence. He took
+off the play, and then demanded a new one, which he averred the poet had
+agreed to write for him. A quarrel ensued, and the manager challenged
+the dramatist to a duel. It would have taken place, but M. Harel thought
+better of the affair, and apologized, whereupon Hugo agreed to give him
+his next piece. M. Harel remarked upon the whole incident, 'You are
+probably the first author to whom a manager has said, "Your play or your
+life!"'
+
+_Marie Tudor_, produced in November, 1833, was the next play by Victor
+Hugo. It was concerned with a queen, a favourite, and an executioner, a
+trio as common in history as upon the mimic stage. The dramatist had now
+two difficulties to contend with. In the first place, the partisans of
+Dumas sowed dissension between the two authors, and spread lying
+reports respecting Hugo and his attitude towards Dumas; and in the
+second place, the writer's own friends grew alarmed at various reports
+which gained currency. 'I hear on all sides,' wrote one of them, 'that
+your play is more than ever a tissue of horrors--that your Mary is a
+bloodthirsty creature, that the executioner is perpetually on the stage,
+and several other reproaches all equally well founded.' Hugo remained
+calm and unmoved, though he was warned that the presence of the
+executioner on the stage had been given as the watchword to those who
+intended to hiss the play. The piece was produced in due course, and
+Mademoiselle Georges looked superbly and acted well. But the author's
+enemies kept up a persistent hissing, and there was a strong contest
+between those who formed a genuine judgment upon the play and greatly
+admired it, and those who were resolved upon its ruin. The first night
+left the result dubious, but the piece continued to be played beyond the
+time generally regarded as constituting an average success. On its
+withdrawal, all the relations between the author and the Porte St.
+Martin naturally ceased, and the treaty with M. Harel for a third drama
+was destroyed by mutual consent.
+
+Hugo's dramatic work was now interrupted by the composition of his
+_L'Etude sur Mirabeau_, which may be taken as an apology for his
+advanced political and social views. He felt it necessary to review his
+past career, and to make known to the world the processes of education
+through which his mind had passed since his early days of Royalist
+fervour. This study, which appeared in his _Litterature et Philosophie
+Melees_, is a defence of conscience, and illustrates the power of
+growing convictions to emancipate the mind from prejudice and error,
+regarding the matter, of course, from the standpoint of the writer
+himself.
+
+In 1835 the Theatre Francais applied to Victor Hugo for a new drama, and
+in response he gave to it his _Angelo_, one of his best pieces for
+construction and for rapid and vigorous effects. It was the author's
+intention in this drama, as he has himself stated, 'to depict two sad
+but contrasted characters--the woman in society, and the woman out of
+society; the one he has endeavoured to deliver from despotism, the other
+he has striven to defend from contempt; he has shown the temptations
+resisted by the virtue of the one, and the tears shed over her guilt by
+the other; he has cast blame where blame is due, upon man in his
+strength and upon society in its absurdity; in contrariety to the two
+women, he has delineated two men--the husband and the lover, one a
+sovereign and one an outlaw, and, by various subordinate methods, has
+given a sort of summary of the relations, regular and irregular, in
+which a man can stand with a woman on the one hand, and with society in
+general on the other.' There is nothing more characteristic of the
+author's dramas than this exhibition of striking contrasts; and, indeed,
+in all his poetic work is to be traced this juxtaposition of the
+strongest lights and shades of which human life and human emotion are
+capable.
+
+The two leading stars in _Angelo_ were Mademoiselle Mars and Madame
+Dorval. Unfortunately, a serious feud arose in consequence of the former
+discovering that the part she had chosen was not the most forcible and
+picturesque; and it required all the strong will of Victor Hugo to bring
+the actress to reason. The two ladies had their partisans in the theatre
+when the play came to be acted, but the representation passed over
+without mishap, and it was conceded that a fair success had been
+achieved.
+
+Whatever might be Victor Hugo's defects as a dramatist, and however he
+might divide in opinion the theatre-going public of Paris upon the
+general claims of his plays, he had certainly infused life into the
+dramatic literature of the time. He had attained a commanding position,
+and although his genius was marred by some eccentricities, it was also
+as unquestionably distinguished for its grand conceptions, its dramatic
+felicities, and its splendours of diction.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+LAST DRAMATIC WRITINGS.
+
+
+In some respects, no man of equal genius was ever so unfortunate as
+Victor Hugo in his relations with the stage. I refer, of course, to the
+earlier part of his career, for there came a time when the appreciation
+of him as a dramatist was as high and universal as was the admiration of
+his literary excellence. But during the long struggle between the old
+and the new drama there were always enemies ready to denounce and hiss
+whatsoever he produced; and had he given them a _Romeo and Juliet_ or a
+_Hamlet_, the result would have been precisely the same.
+
+We have seen the alternations of failure and success which attended the
+plays already passed in review; and the same mixed reception was awarded
+to those final efforts in connection with the drama which led him to
+adopt the resolution to quit the stage for ever. An operatic venture
+into which the poet was drawn in 1836 resulted in the same ill-fortune
+which had marked more regular dramatic compositions. Meyerbeer and other
+celebrated musicians had begged Victor Hugo to make an opera of
+_Notre-Dame de Paris_, but he had steadfastly declined all such
+proposals. At length he yielded to friendship, and wrote the libretto of
+an opera called _La Esmeralda_, the music being composed by Mademoiselle
+Bertin, daughter of the conductor of the _Journal des Debats_. Curiously
+enough, the libretto ended with the word 'fatality,' and this
+represented the misfortune of the piece and its performers. Though
+boasting a singular array of talent in its production and
+representation, it was hissed. Mademoiselle Falcon, the leading singer,
+lost her voice; M. Nourrit, the tenor, subsequently went to Italy, and
+killed himself; the Duke of Orleans gave the name of _Esmeralda_ to a
+valuable mare, which was killed at a steeplechase; and finally, a ship
+called the Esmeralda was lost in crossing from England to Ireland, and
+every soul on board perished.
+
+A domestic grief visited the poet in the following year, when his
+brother Eugene died. For some time before his death he had been insane,
+and towards the end his one favourite relative, Victor, even could not
+visit him, as the sight of his brother conjured up illusions which made
+him dangerously violent. Though of strong constitution naturally, when
+the sufferer's mind gave way his physical health began to fail also, and
+he gradually wasted away until death released him in February, 1837.
+This was the brother who had been Victor Hugo's constant companion in
+early life, and the news of his death deeply agitated the survivor,
+keenly awakening the slumbering recollections of childhood.
+
+Louis Philippe gave a grand fete at Versailles in the summer of 1837, on
+the occasion of the marriage of the Duke of Orleans. Victor Hugo, Dumas,
+Balzac, and other men of letters were invited, and were obliged to
+appear in fancy dress, the result being ludicrous in some cases, as in
+that of Balzac, who had on the dress of a marquis, which, it was
+jokingly said, fitted him as badly as the title itself would. Hugo was
+an object of special distinction by the Royal family. The King conversed
+with him, and the Duchess of Orleans paid him marked attention. There
+were two people, she said, with whom she wished to become acquainted--M.
+Cousin and himself. She had often spoken of him to Monsieur de Goethe;
+she had read all his works, and knew his poems by heart. Her favourite
+book was the _Chants du Crepuscule_; and she added, 'I have visited
+_your_ Notre-Dame.' Hugo was promoted to the rank of Officer of the
+Legion of Honour, and he received from the Duchess a painting by M.
+Saint-Evre representing Inez de Castro. It was a valuable work, and on
+the gilding of the frame was inscribed, '_Le Duc et la Duchesse
+d'Orleans a M. Victor Hugo, 27 Juin, 1837_.'
+
+At this juncture the poet brought a second action before the Board of
+Trade, to compel the Comedie Francaise to fulfil its agreement with him
+by producing his plays. He also claimed compensation for past neglect.
+Hugo's advocate, M. Paillard de Villeneuve, in an effective speech,
+demonstrated the injustice of a theatre supported by the State becoming
+the monopoly of a clique; showed how the existing state of things
+pressed heavily upon such men of genius as his client; and asserted that
+not only had no pieces ever realized greater profits, but that actually
+at that moment, while they were prohibited in France, they were drawing
+large and appreciative audiences in London, Vienna, Madrid, Moscow, and
+other important cities. Victor Hugo himself also spoke, complaining that
+the manager of the French theatre had deceived him, and that he wore two
+masks--one of which was intended to deceive authors, and the other to
+elude justice. The Board gave judgment in the poet's favour, sentencing
+the Comedie Francaise to pay 6,000 francs damages, and to perform
+_Hernani_, _Marion de Lorme_, and _Angelo_ without delay. An appeal was
+entered against this judgment, and when it came on for hearing Hugo
+pleaded his cause in person, asserting that there was an organized
+effort to close the stage against the new and rising school of
+literature. The appeal was dismissed, and justice was at length done to
+the dramatist. In conformity with the judgment, _Hernani_ was first
+produced, and the play was brilliantly successful.
+
+I must refer in this place to some of Victor Hugo's lyrical efforts. Not
+without reason has the volume entitled _Feuilles d'Automne_ held a high
+place in the regard of his admirers. It is the poetry of the emotions
+expressed in such graceful lyric verse as has rarely been penned. In
+these tender and exquisite poems, as M. Alfred Nettement observed, the
+poet's 'lay is of what he has seen, of what he has felt, of what he has
+loved: he sings of his wife, the ornament of his home; of his children,
+fascinating in their fair-haired beauty; of landscapes ever widening in
+their horizon; of trees under which he has enjoyed a grateful shade.'
+Nature and personal experiences--from the opening thoughts of the child
+to the greater aspirations of the man--are blended in beautiful harmony
+in these poems, which may be turned to again and again for their
+sweetness and melody. In 1835 appeared _Les Chants du Crepuscule_, which
+truly represent a kind of twilight of the soul. 'As compared with what
+had gone before, the book exhibits the same ideas; the poet is
+identically the same poet, but his brow is furrowed by deeper lines, and
+maturity is more stamped upon his years; he laments that he cannot
+comprehend the semi-darkness that is gathering around; his hope seems
+damped by hesitation; his love-songs die away in sighs of misgiving; and
+when he sees the people enveloped in doubt, he begins to be conscious of
+faltering too. But from all this temper of despondency he quickly
+rallies, and returns to a bright assurance of a grand development of
+the human race.' The volume has tones of gentleness and also tones of
+lofty scorn. To the suffering and the unfortunate the poet was ever
+tender and pitiful; but to the mean, the base, and the vicious he was as
+a whip and a scourge. He always endeavoured to separate the worthy from
+the unworthy, and wherever the latter were to be found, whether in the
+ranks of friends or foes, they were never suffered to escape the lash of
+his indignation.
+
+Another volume of poems, _Les Voix Interieures_, was published in 1837.
+'The poet in this production,' says one of his biographers, 'regards
+life under its threefold aspect, at home, abroad, and at work; he
+maintains that it is the mission of the poet not to suffer the past to
+become an illusion to blind him in the present, but to survey all things
+calmly, to be ever staunch yet kind, to be impartial, and equally free
+from petty wrath and petty vanity; in everything to be sincere and
+disinterested. Such was his ideal, and in accordance with it Victor Hugo
+spared no effort to improve the minds and morals of men in general, and
+by his poetry, as well as by his romances and his plays, he desired to
+constitute himself the champion of amelioration.' This same desire for
+the elevation of the race ran through all his efforts--social, literary,
+and political. He may have been mistaken in his means sometimes, never
+in the honesty and purity of his intent.
+
+Returning to the stage, Victor Hugo had become so impressed with the
+idea that the French nation had a right to have a theatre in which the
+higher drama should be performed, that he was brought to consent to
+several interviews on the subject with M. Guizot. The latter admitted
+that there never was a more legitimate request; he agreed with the poet
+that a new style of art required a new style of theatre; that the
+Comedie Francaise, which was the seat of Tradition and Conservatism, was
+not the proper arena for original literature of the day; and that the
+Government would only be doing its duty in creating a theatre for those
+who had created a department of art. A scheme was perfected for a new
+theatre, and M. Antenor Joly was named as manager. No building but a
+very old one was to be had, however, and this--which was in a bad
+situation--was transformed into the Theatre de la Renaissance. For this
+theatre Hugo wrote his _Ruy Blas_, a drama which, as is well known,
+deals with the love of a queen for a valet who subsequently becomes a
+minister. The play was in five acts, and the leading character was
+sustained by Lemaitre. The actor strongly approved the first three acts,
+but was more than dubious about the fourth and fifth. During the final
+rehearsals of this piece Victor Hugo had a marvellous escape of his
+life. Two of the actors happening to station themselves awkwardly, he
+got up in order to indicate their right positions. Scarcely had he left
+his chair when a great bar of iron fell upon it from an arch above,
+smashing it to atoms. The author would undoubtedly have been killed on
+the spot but for this momentary rising to correct the mistake of the
+actors.
+
+The body of the theatre being incomplete when the play came to be
+produced, difficulties beset the representation. It was winter, and many
+of the audience were chilled by violent draughts. But the play soon
+warmed them into enthusiasm. In the fifth act, we are told by one who
+was present, Lemaitre rivalled the greatest comedians, and success was
+more decided than ever. 'The way in which he tore off his livery, drew
+the bolt, and struck his sword on the table, the way in which he said to
+Don Sallustre:
+
+
+                                 '"_Tenez_,
+     Pour un homme d'esprit, vraiment vous m'etonnez!"
+
+
+--the way in which he came back to entreat the Queen's pardon, and
+finally drank off the poison--everything had so much greatness, truth,
+depth, and splendour, that the poet had the rare joy of seeing the ideal
+of which he had dreamt become a living soul.'
+
+The play was successful with that part of the public which was
+unprejudiced, and the press generally was in its favour. But it appears
+that the theatre was wanted by the co-manager for comic opera, so the
+fourth act of Hugo's play was persistently hissed at every
+representation by interested persons. The _claqueurs_ were detected and
+instantly recognised. _Ruy Blas_ ran for fifty nights, the same
+programme of hissing being carried through to the end. The manuscript of
+the piece was sold to the manager of a publishing company, M. Delboye.
+The company also purchased the right of publication of the whole of the
+poet's works for eleven years, for which they agreed to pay 240,000
+francs; and the poet on his part agreed to add two unpublished volumes.
+
+Victor Hugo produced no drama after this for several years; but in 1840
+he issued his work _Les Rayons et les Ombres_, consisting of poems which
+had previously been read to his friends Lamartine, Deschamps, De
+Lacretelle, and others. Here again he sought expression for his
+ever-widening aspirations after human perfectibility. Once more in this
+work 'he claims the right of expressing his goodwill for all who labour,
+his aversion to all who oppress; his love for all who serve the good
+cause, and his pity for all who suffer in its behalf; he declares
+himself free to bow down to every misery, and to pay homage to all
+self-sacrifice.' In the poetical alternations and contrasts in this
+volume will be discovered a profound love and appreciation of Nature, as
+well as an undercurrent of affection for the human. The poet himself,
+looking back upon what he had accomplished, and forward towards what he
+hoped to do, at the transition period before he went into exile,
+asserted his thesis that 'a poet ought to have in him the worship of
+conscience, the worship of thought, and the worship of Nature; he should
+be like Juvenal, who felt that day and night were perpetual witnesses
+within him; he should be like Dante, who defined the lost to be those
+who could no longer think; he should be like St. Augustine, who,
+heedless of any accusation of Pantheism, declared the sky to be an
+intelligent creation.' And it is under such inspiration that 'he has
+attempted to write the poem of humanity. He loves brightness and
+sunshine. The Bible has been his Book; Virgil and Dante have been his
+masters; he has laboured to reconcile truth and poetry, knowing that
+knowledge must precede thought, and thought must precede imagination,
+while knowledge, thought, and imagination combined are the secret of
+power.' It would be impossible for a poet with any vigour of
+imagination, and any perception of the soul of beauty in all things, to
+fail with these sublime ideals before him.
+
+I now come to the last of Victor Hugo's writings for the stage, and in
+_Les Burgraves_ we have in some respects the best of his dramatic works.
+It was written towards the close of 1842, and produced (like its
+predecessors) in the midst of difficulties in March, 1843, at the
+Comedie Francaise. At the time of its production, the author's
+political opinions had arrived at a stage of compromise. Though he was a
+Republican in theory, he had no strong objection to such a monarchy as
+that of Louis Philippe, which was liberty itself compared with that
+which it overthrew. For a sovereign who refrained from tyranny, and was
+not inimical to progress, he had some sympathy, and he was willing to
+wait until the time became ripe for the advent of the Republic. Writing
+to M. Thiers, indeed, to beg for some amelioration in the lot of an
+imprisoned editor, he said of himself, 'I do not at the present time
+take any definite political part. I regard all parties as acting with
+impartiality, full of affection for France, and anxious for progress. I
+applaud sometimes those in power, sometimes the opposition, according as
+those in power or in opposition seem to me to act best for the country.'
+
+The catholic spirit in which he looked upon public affairs was
+manifested in his study upon Mirabeau. Defining the position of the wise
+politician, he remarked that 'he must give credit to the moderate party
+for the way in which they smooth over transitions; to the extreme
+parties for the activity with which they advance the circulation of
+ideas, which are the very life-blood of civilization; to lovers of the
+past for the care which they bestow on roots in which there is still
+life; to people zealous for the future, for their love of those
+beautiful flowers which will some day produce fine fruits; to mature men
+for their moderation, to young men for their patience; to those for what
+they do, to those for what they desire to do; to all the difficulty of
+everything.' So, some years later he stated that the aim he had in view
+was 'to agree with all parties in what is liberal and generous, but with
+none in what is illiberal and mischievous.' The form of government he
+regarded as a secondary affair; liberty and progress demanded the first
+and most urgent thought. Herein, of course, he differed from the
+professional politician, who has ever looked at great questions not from
+the poet's point of view, but from the immediately personal and
+practical. Many of his humanitarian ideas appeared Quixotic and
+chimerical to those who viewed politics as a matter of party, or as a
+means of personal triumph; while unjust and illiberal men were not also
+wanting in the ranks of the Republicans.
+
+Then there were some who, like Armand Carrel, were prepared to go with
+Victor Hugo in politics, but rejected his new literary ideas. They clung
+to the old form of the drama, and found a new star in Ponsard, the
+author of _Lucrece_, a tragedy which had for its subject the expulsion
+of the Tarquins and the establishment of a Republic in Rome. So the
+Parisians were beguiled by the name of Ponsard, who found a great and
+useful ally in Rachel; and Hugo was contemned, in spite of such
+strictures as those of Thierry in _Le Messager_, who drew a comparison
+between the ostracism with which his countrymen visited such brilliant
+writers as Hugo, and that of the Athenians, who punished people whose
+renown lasted too long.
+
+It was at this juncture that _Les Burgraves_ was produced, and even the
+genius of the writer himself added to the difficulties by which he was
+beset. He had conceived three stupendous characters, Job, Otbert, and
+Barbarossa; and although the actors who sustained these characters, MM.
+Beauvallet, Geffroy, and Ligier, were undoubtedly men of dramatic
+instinct and ability, neither they nor any other living tragedians could
+adequately set forth these epic creations. In the matter of this
+magnificent trilogy, the author has been not inaptly compared with
+AEschylus. 'The first of Greek tragedians, AEschylus, after he had long
+stirred the emotions of the Athenians, was finally deserted by them;
+they preferred Sophocles to him, and full of dejection he went into
+exile, saying, 'I dedicate my works to Time;' and Time at last did him
+ample justice, though he did not live to enjoy his triumph. But in this,
+Hugo differed from the glorious Greek, for he lived to witness the
+repentance of the people.
+
+_Les Burgraves_ was ill received on the first night, but this was
+nothing compared with the opposition subsequently manifested. At every
+representation, sneers and hissing interrupted the progress of the
+piece; but the manager and the actors struggled on and played the drama
+for thirty nights. Some of the most influential journals joined
+themselves to the enemy, and the time was marked by the defection of
+Lamartine to the side of Ponsard. Theophile Gautier was one of the small
+band who boldly applauded Hugo's drama in the press. 'In our day,' he
+asserted, 'there is no one except M. Hugo who is capable of giving the
+epic tone to three great acts, or of maintaining their lyric swing.
+Every moment seems to produce a magnificent verse that resounds like
+the stroke of an eagle's wing, and exalts us to the supremest height of
+lyric poetry. The play is diversified in tone, and displays a singular
+flexibility of rhythm, making its transitions from the tender to the
+terrible, from the smile to the tear, with a happy facility that no
+other author has attained.'
+
+With the production of this play dates Victor Hugo's final abandonment
+of the stage. Strange fate this for a writer for whom Charles Nodier
+claimed the honour of being, after Rabelais and Moliere, one of the most
+original geniuses that French literature ever saw. But the dramatist was
+disgusted with the literary hostility, the political insincerity, and
+the personal antipathy which abounded, and although he had a play, _Les
+Jumeaux_, which had never been produced, he resolved to give no more of
+his writings to the stage. He was repeatedly pressed in after years to
+depart from this resolution, but in vain. 'My decision is final,' he
+said on one occasion. 'Under no pretext shall any more of my plays
+appear on the stage during my life.'
+
+The poet wrote several plays not for publication after this time, and
+one of them, _Torquemada_, has been published. Others, named
+respectively _L'Epee_, _La Grand'mere_, and _Peut-etre Frere de
+Gavoche_, will only appear posthumously. That there will be in them
+characters which will live, and that the plays themselves are such as to
+enhance the public view of Victor Hugo's dramatic talents, are points
+upon which we have explicit assurances from those who have had the
+privilege of listening to the pieces as read by the late venerable
+author himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE FRENCH ACADEMY.
+
+
+A seat amongst the 'forty Immortals' is the high and honourable aim of
+every distinguished Frenchman. But the chequered history of the Academy
+since its formation by Richelieu two centuries and a half ago, furnishes
+another evidence of the truth that merit does not always secure its just
+reward. Again and again have men illustrious in letters been passed
+over, whilst those who had no claim upon the nation's regard have
+snatched fortuitous honours by unworthy means. Amongst those who knocked
+on more than one occasion at the doors of the French Academy in vain,
+was Victor Hugo. That such a man must be ultimately successful was
+beyond a doubt; but it says little for the Academy that it failed to
+recognise his claims until its hostile attitude had become a scandal to
+literature.
+
+As a kind of apology for, or defence of his career, in 1834 Hugo
+published his _Litterature et Philosophie Melees_. For those who could
+see nothing but tergiversation in the development of his views, as
+regarded from the Royalist standpoint of 1819 and the Revolutionary
+standpoint of 1834, these collected papers presented a series of
+progressive arguments well worthy of study. Nor was it merely from the
+personal point of view that the author issued this work; he believed
+that the gradual changes of thought which they revealed, all tending
+towards a fuller liberty in art, politics, and literature, were but
+typical of the states of mind through which a very large moiety of the
+young thinkers of his generation had passed. That he did not spare the
+crudities and defects which marked his own period of literary
+adolescence will be apparent from this passage, in which he frankly
+discusses his early compositions: 'There were historical sketches and
+miscellaneous essays, there were criticism and poetry; but the criticism
+was weak, the poetry weaker still; the verses were some of them light
+and frivolous, some of them tragically grand; the declamations against
+regicides were as furious as they were honest; the men of 1793 were
+lampooned with epigrams of 1754, a species of satire now obsolete, but
+very fashionable at the date at which they were published; next came
+visions of regeneration for the stage, and vows of loyalty to the State;
+every variety of style is represented; every branch of classical
+knowledge made subordinate to literary reform; finally, there are
+schemes of government and studies of tragedies, all conceived in college
+or at school.'
+
+The time had now come in which he demanded a larger scope. His ideas had
+expanded, and while not abandoning the life contemplative, he desired to
+become in some way the man of action, and to mingle in the literary and
+political conflicts going forward around him. Taxed with forsaking the
+study of Nature, the poet replied that he still loved that holy mother,
+but in this century of adventure a man must be the servant of all.
+Reviewing his political position, he felt that he had more than paid his
+debt to the fallen monarchy, while he could at the same time
+conscientiously acknowledge Louis Philippe. The recollection of a
+pension was balanced by the confiscation of a drama, observes Madame
+Hugo, and he was now his own master to follow out his convictions. In
+the adoption of a public career there were two courses nominally open to
+him. But with respect to one of these, that of entering the Chamber of
+Deputies, he was met by an obstacle which completely disbarred him. He
+was not a wealthy man, and by the electoral law of that day only wealthy
+men could become deputies. Moreover, if he could have secured by some
+means a nominal qualification, the electors looked askance upon literary
+men. They regarded them as more fitted for the quietude of the study
+than the bustling activity of the tribune. Lamartine was a deputy, it is
+true, but he was a rare exception.
+
+Abandoning all idea of the Chamber of Deputies at that time, Victor Hugo
+next thought of the Chamber of Peers. But here again he was met by a
+practical difficulty. In the selection of peers the King could only
+choose men who had attained to certain dignities; and in Hugo's case
+election to the Academy was the only qualifying dignity that was open to
+him. To the Academy accordingly he appealed. The first vacancy occurred
+in 1836. But Victor Hugo had enemies, and amongst these was Casimir
+Delavigne, who had considerable weight amongst the Forty. M. Barbou
+states that 'the poet of the imperial era was sickly and asthmatic, and
+he detested Victor Hugo simply for his robustness and power.' When Dumas
+canvassed Delavigne in the interest of his friend, the author of
+_Notre-Dame_, Delavigne replied with warmth that he would vote for Dumas
+with all his heart, but for Hugo never. The Academicians elected M.
+Dupaty, probably on the principle that his fame was of such a restricted
+character that it could not in the least detract from their own lustre.
+Commenting upon his defeat, Hugo said, 'I always thought the way to the
+Academie was across the Pont des Arts; I find that it is across the Pont
+Neuf.'
+
+Three years later there was another vacancy, and Hugo canvassed the
+Academicians in turn. But the whole nature of his work was opposed in
+spirit to the exclusives of the Academy, and it is not to be wondered
+at, from this standpoint, that he failed to meet with a favourable
+appreciation. However brilliant a candidate might be, most of the
+members were unable to take a large and liberal view. Alexandre Duval
+was especially bitter against Hugo, and when the poet was asked what he
+had done to offend him, he replied, 'I had written _Hernani_.' Though in
+a dying condition, Duval insisted upon being taken from his bed to vote
+against Hugo. M. Mole was elected. In 1840 a third vacancy occurred, and
+although Hugo was again a candidate, the Academicians elected M.
+Flourens.
+
+At length, in 1841, on the occasion of his fourth candidature, Victor
+Hugo was successful. Amongst the distinguished men who voted for him
+were Lamartine, Chateaubriand, Villemain, Mignet, Cousin, and Thiers. In
+the list of those who opposed him were the names of only two men of real
+note, Delavigne and Scribe. One, M. Viennet, voted for Hugo, though the
+amusing anecdote is told concerning him that when the poet was made a
+Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, he said he should like to claim 'the
+cross of a chevalier for everyone who had the courage to read right
+through any work of a romantic, and the cross of an officer for everyone
+who had the wit to understand it!' Amidst much that is paltry in the
+jealousies of literary men, it deserves to be stated to the honour of
+Balzac that this eminent writer declined to become a candidate against
+Victor Hugo.
+
+The new Academician, who was by no means universally congratulated upon
+his success, was received on the 3rd of June, 1841. According to custom
+he was called on to pronounce a eulogium upon his predecessor, M.
+Nepomucene Lemercier. His oration began with a description of the
+splendour and power of Napoleon. Before his greatness, said the speaker,
+the whole universe bowed down, with the exception of six contemplative
+poets. 'Those poets were Ducis, Delille, Madame de Stael, Benjamin
+Constant, Chateaubriand, and Lemercier. But what did their resistance
+mean? Europe was dazzled, and lay, as it were, vanquished and absorbed
+in the glory of France. What did these six resentful spirits represent?
+Why, they represented for Europe the only thing in which Europe had
+failed--they represented independence; and they represented for France
+the only thing in which France was wanting--they represented liberty.'
+Alluding still more directly to M. Lemercier, Hugo related that he was
+on brotherly terms with Bonaparte the consul, but that when the consul
+became an emperor he was no longer his friend. Finally, the orator
+declared with much eloquence that it was the mission of every author to
+diffuse civilization; and avowed that for his own part it had ever been
+his aim to devote his abilities to the development of good fellowship,
+feeling it his duty to be unawed by the mob, but to respect the people;
+and although he could not always sympathize with every form of liberty
+which was advocated, he was yet ever ready to hold out the hand of
+encouragement to all who were languishing through want of air and space,
+and whose future seemed to promise only gloom and despair. To ameliorate
+the condition of the masses he would have every generous and thinking
+mind lay itself out by devising fresh schemes of improvement; and
+libraries, studies, and schools should be multiplied, as all tending to
+the advancement of the human race, and to the propagation of the love of
+law and liberty.
+
+Victor Hugo's address was enthusiastically received by the bulk of the
+members of the Academy, and the press generally commented upon it in
+flattering terms. Times had changed since the poet had first called upon
+M. Royer-Collard to solicit his vote, when the latter professed his
+entire ignorance of Victor Hugo's name, and the following conversation
+took place:
+
+'I am the author of _Notre-Dame de Paris_, _Bug Jargal_, _Le Dernier
+Jour dun Condamne_, _Marion Delorme_, etc.'
+
+'I never heard of any of them.'
+
+'Will you do me the honour of accepting a copy of my works?'
+
+'I never read new books.'
+
+The later relations of Hugo with the Academy are of considerable
+interest. A generous forgetfulness of offence characterized him. When
+Casimir Delavigne died, and it fell upon Hugo to deliver the funeral
+oration over one who had been his enemy, he testified to the fine
+talents of Delavigne, and magnanimously exclaimed: 'Let all the petty
+jealousies that follow high renown, let all disputes of the conflicting
+schools, let all the turmoil of party feeling and literary rivalry be
+forgotten. Let them pass into the silence into which the departed poet
+has gone to take his long repose!' In January, 1845, Hugo had to reply
+to the speech of M. Saint Marc Girardin, and shortly afterwards--which
+was a much more difficult and delicate matter--to the opening address
+of M. Sainte-Beuve. In the early stage of the poet's career,
+Sainte-Beuve, as we have seen, warmly hailed his advent, but he
+afterwards became his enemy, turning his back upon all his old literary
+beliefs. By way of covering his retreat, he advocated in the _Revue des
+Deux Mondes_ a union between the classics and romanticists; and while he
+did justice to every other writer whom he named, he arrested his praise
+when he came to the name of Victor Hugo. He remarked that all signs of
+magnificent promise were forgotten, 'as soon as we think of his numerous
+stubborn relapses, or consider the way in which he holds to theories
+which public opinion has already condemned. Sentiments of humanizing
+art, which might easily enough be praised, are utterly ignored, and M.
+Hugo clings with a steadfast persistence to his own peculiar style.' The
+public were naturally curious to know how Hugo would speak of one who
+had acted treacherously towards him, but with his usual high-minded
+courtesy, the speaker uttered not one word of a personal character
+against the man who had been so unjust towards himself.
+
+The Academy had few members who were so regular in attendance, or were
+so useful to that august body, as Victor Hugo. He brought into all his
+relations with it the same energy and conscientiousness which marked his
+course in connection with literature and the drama. His association with
+the Academy was virtually the first stage of a new departure in his
+career.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+PERSONAL AND POLITICAL.
+
+
+Amongst all Victor Hugo's contemporaries there was no greater admirer of
+the poet than Balzac. There mingled with his admiration a feeling which
+amounted almost to reverence; and probably the proudest moment in the
+novelist's life was that in which he received Hugo at the Jardies. Leon
+Grozlan tells us that he awaited his arrival with eagerness; indeed, so
+great was his anxiety that he could not remain for an instant in one
+place.
+
+These distinguished men of letters were noticeable in their attire,
+which was certainly far from Solomon-like in its splendour. 'Balzac was
+picturesque in rags. His pantaloons, without braces, receded from his
+ample waistcoat _a la financiere_; his shoes, trodden down, receded from
+his pantaloons; the knot of his cravat darted its points close to his
+ear; his beard was in a state of four days' high vegetation. As to
+Victor Hugo, he wore a grey hat of a rather doubtful shade; a faded blue
+coat with gilt buttons, and a frayed black cravat, the whole set off by
+green spectacles of a shape and form to rejoice a rural bailiff.' During
+breakfast, in speaking of literature and the drama, Hugo incidentally
+mentioned his large profits as a dramatist. 'Balzac listened with the
+air of a martyr listening to an angel, while he heard Hugo recount the
+enormous sums which had accrued to him from his magnificent dramas. This
+_coup de soleil_ was likely to excite Balzac's brain for a long time to
+come.' At that period the author of the _Comedie Humaine_ was a personal
+authority on the bitterness of poverty. The talk proceeded to royalty,
+to the patronage of talent, and such like matters. Balzac spoke
+eloquently upon the lustre which men of genius have shed upon their own
+times. 'The pen alone,' he said, 'can save kings and their reigns from
+oblivion. Without Virgil, Horace, Livy, Ovid, who would recognise
+Augustus in the midst of so many of his name?... Without Shakespeare the
+reign of Elizabeth would gradually disappear from the history of
+England. Without Boileau, without Racine, without Corneille, without
+Pascal, without La Bruyere, without Moliere, Louis XIV., reduced to his
+mistresses and his wigs, is but a crowned goat, like the sign of an inn.
+Without the pen, Philippe le Roi would leave behind him a name less
+known than that of Philippe the eating-house keeper of the Rue
+Montorgueil, or of Philippe the famous pilferer and juggler. Some day it
+will be said (at least, I hope so, for his Majesty's sake), "Once upon a
+time there lived a king called Louis Philippe, who, by the grace of
+Victor Hugo, Lamartine, etc."' French rulers were emphatically destined
+to live in the pages of Victor Hugo, but in the case of at least one
+sovereign it was to be by the immortality of contempt.
+
+At the residence of Hugo in the Place Royale, whither he had moved on
+leaving the Rue Jean Goujon, there was a frequent visitor in the person
+of one Auguste Vacquerie. This young poetic enthusiast was born at
+Villequier, in La Seine Inferieure, in the year 1820. He was educated
+first at Rouen, but having an unconquerable longing to see and be near
+Victor Hugo, he went to complete his studies at the Pension Favart,
+Paris, within a few doors of Hugo's house. In one of his poems he
+confessed that though he ardently sighed for Paris, that city meant to
+him Hugo and nothing beside--it was the shrine of the poet's fame. Like
+his friend Paul Meurice, he lived in the inspiration of Victor Hugo's
+name, and the two youths became constant and intimate visitors at the
+house in the Place Royale. Vacquerie fell seriously ill, and he was
+nursed with all the devotion of a mother by Madame Hugo. After his
+recovery, and in acknowledgment of the care bestowed on his son, M.
+Vacquerie, senior, invited Madame Hugo to occupy his chateau at
+Villequier during the summer vacation. The offer was gladly accepted,
+and Madame Hugo and her four children left Paris for Normandy on this
+pleasurable excursion. In the course of this visit, Auguste Vacquerie's
+brother Charles was introduced to Leopoldine Hugo, and these
+impressionable natures at once fell in love. An engagement of no long
+duration followed, for the young couple were married in the following
+spring of 1843. The wedded life of the poet's daughter was unfortunately
+as brief as it was happy and joyous. After a period of five months only
+it came to a sad and tragic termination. The catastrophe with which it
+closed is thus described: 'The Vacquerie family property at Yillequier
+is on the banks of the Seine, which is tidal as far as Rouen; but the
+periodical rising of the water was a matter of no uneasiness to the
+family, who were accustomed to make excursions almost daily from
+Villequier to Caudebec. One of these excursions was arranged for the 4th
+of September, when M. Charles Vacquerie, with his wife, his uncle, and
+cousin, started to make a trial trip in a large new boat. They all set
+out in high spirits upon what was quite an ordinary outing; but a sudden
+squall came on, and the boat capsized. Leopoldine had always been taught
+that in the event of being upset, the safest thing to do was to cling to
+the boat, and accordingly she now instinctively grasped its side amidst
+convulsions of alarm; her husband was a good swimmer, and, anxious to
+carry her off, did his utmost to make her relax her hold. But all his
+efforts were unavailing; in her agony she seemed to have embedded her
+finger-nails in the wood; his very attempt to break her fingers proved
+ineffectual. He was but a few yards from the shore, but finding it was
+impossible to save her, he determined not to survive her, and, taking
+her into his embrace, sank with her in the stream. The two bodies were
+recovered a few hours afterwards.'
+
+One can well understand the accession of melancholy which would come
+over the poet and his wife in consequence of such a disaster as this.
+Gloom fell upon the house in the Place Royale, but Victor Hugo found
+consolation in the affection of the partner of his youth, whose devotion
+had seemed thus far to increase with the lapse of years. Again and again
+she animated his lyre, and gave his verse much of its sweetest and
+noblest inspiration. She entered fully into his high aspirations, and
+received with grace and _bonhomie_ visitors like Lamartine and Madame de
+Girardin, who came to exchange the courtesies of friendship and genius.
+
+Victor Hugo was given to silent wanderings by night in the Champs
+Elysees and the vicinity, and he has stated that many of his finest
+thoughts occurred to him during these midnight walks. On one occasion
+this habit nearly proved of serious import to him, for as he was passing
+along near the Rue des Tournelles, wrapped in meditation, he was
+attacked and knocked down by a band of pickpockets, and would in all
+probability have suffered severe injury had not some passers-by caused
+his assailants to take precipitate flight. The incident caused no
+modification in the poet's custom, for of physical or moral fear he had
+scant knowledge.
+
+Notwithstanding his advanced political views in later life, Victor Hugo,
+as I have already had occasion to observe, moved forward towards a
+republic by gradual stages. He had no faith in the stability of a
+government which was merely the result of revolt, and in 1832, when
+there appeared considerable danger of insurrectionary bloodshed, he
+wrote: 'Some day we shall have a republic, and it will be a good one.
+But we must not gather in May the fruit which will only be ripe in
+August. We must learn to be patient, and the republic proclaimed by
+France will be the crown of our hoary heads.' His political honesty
+impressed his contemporaries. Louis Blanc saw a noble unity in his
+political progressiveness; and another critic, M. Spuller, in eulogizing
+the three great French poets of the nineteenth century, Chateaubriand,
+Lamartine, and Hugo, observed that although they were all born outside
+the pale of the Revolution, they proved to be the very men to help
+forward and to glorify the democracy, Hugo especially being a noble
+exponent of the new social truths.
+
+There naturally came a time, therefore, when Hugo desired actual contact
+with political life. At first, as I have remarked, he formed the design
+of getting returned for the Chamber of Deputies, but this idea had to be
+abandoned. Then he was sent for by Louis Philippe. This monarch, though
+generally immovable on social and literary questions, and caring little
+for the conciliation of the democracy, was much impressed by the power
+he recognised in Victor Hugo. Stories are told of interviews, prolonged
+into the night, between the King and the poet. The result was that on
+the 13th of April, 1845, Hugo was created a peer--an event which was
+warmly applauded by the bulk of the people. In taking his seat in the
+Upper Chamber the new peer was by profession an independent
+Conservative, but there was in him already a large Republican leaven.
+His maiden speech was delivered in defence of artists and their
+copyright, and this was followed in March, 1846, by a vigorous address
+on Poland. As was the case with many other literary men, Victor Hugo
+sympathized deeply with the Poles. He denounced the avowed policy of M.
+Guizot, that France could do nothing towards re-establishing the Polish
+nationality. 'He maintained that it was not a material but a moral
+intervention that was required, and that such intervention ought to be
+made in the name of European civilization, of which the French were the
+missionaries and the Poles the champions. He reminded his audience how
+Sobieski had been to Poland what Leonidas had been to Greece, and he
+claimed the gratitude and moral support of France for a people who had
+done their part in the noble defence of freedom.' But, apart from the
+fact that Poland had few friends, the ideas of freedom expounded by Hugo
+excited little sympathy in the breasts of the French aristocracy.
+
+In 1847 the new peer showed his catholicity of spirit by supporting the
+petition of Prince Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte, praying that his family
+might be allowed to return to France. His chief arguments were: that the
+Chamber would evidence its strength by its generosity; that it was
+repugnant to his feelings for any Frenchman to be an exile or an outlaw;
+that any pretender must be harmless in the midst of a nation where
+there was freedom of work and of thought; and that by mercifulness the
+Chamber would consolidate its power with the people. Louis Philippe was
+so impressed by these views that he allowed the Bonapartes to return.
+
+That momentous revolutionary year, 1848, did not come upon Victor Hugo
+altogether as a surprise. That which astonished him was not the
+character, but the strength of the new movement. He had long before seen
+that the stability of any French Government would depend upon its
+attitude towards the people and the pressing social and political
+questions of the time. If a Government ignored, or attempted to crush
+the forces which were at work in society, then it was inevitably doomed
+to fall before them. He had indulged some hope that the Government of
+Louis Philippe would inaugurate an enlightened policy; but it failed to
+do this, while it perpetuated abuses which had long been obnoxious. That
+which the far-seeing predicted actually occurred; the monarchy was swept
+away. Hugo thought for a moment that a compromise might be effected by
+constituting the Duchess of Orleans regent; but he speedily saw that
+the popular movement was against all Royalty and its forms, and he gave
+in his adhesion to the Republic. The Provisional Government having fixed
+the elections for the 23rd of April, Hugo was nominated as a candidate
+for Paris; but he was unsuccessful. Shortly afterwards, however, he was
+returned to the National Assembly, on the occasion of the supplementary
+elections rendered necessary in Paris. He took an independent part in
+the debates in the Assembly, voting now with the Right and now with the
+Left. His socialistic views found expression during the discussion upon
+the national factories, which had borne such lamentable results.
+'Admitting the necessity which might seem to justify their
+establishment, he insisted that practically they had had a most
+disastrous influence upon business, and pointed out the serious danger
+which they threatened, not alone to the finances, but to the population
+of Paris. As a socialist, he addressed himself to socialists, and
+invoked them to labour in behalf of the perishing, but to labour without
+causing alarm to the world at large; he implored them to bestow upon the
+disendowed classes, as they were called, all the benefits of
+civilization, to provide them with education, with the means of cheap
+living; and, in short, to put them in the way of accumulating wealth
+instead of multiplying misery.' From the point of view of the social
+reformer, his utterances were wise and conciliatory. During the
+sanguinary days of June he went from place to place, striving to avert
+bloodshed; and after the outbreak he was instrumental in saving the
+lives of several of the insurgents. He advocated mercy, and in the
+Assembly proposed that an entire amnesty should be proclaimed. A deputy
+rose and embraced him, and with this deputy, who was none other than
+Victor Schoelcher, a close friendship was formed. Hugo would have no
+part in the proceedings against Louis Blanc, and he declined to assent
+to the vote that Cavaignac deserved the gratitude of his country. He
+opposed the project of having but one Chamber, and it has been pointed
+out that the existence of a second Chamber would in all probability have
+saved France from the _Coup d'Etat_. From his place in the Assembly he
+spoke strongly in favour of the liberty of the press and of the
+abolition of capital punishment. In April, 1848, he started the journal
+_L'Evenement_, which had for its motto 'Intense hatred to anarchy,
+tender love for the people,' and which included amongst its contributors
+Charles Hugo, Paul Meurice, Auguste Vitu, Theophile Gautier, and Auguste
+Vacquerie. This journal, which supported the cause of the Revolution,
+was for a time, but a brief one only, successful.
+
+In January, 1849, the Constituent Assembly was dissolved, and a
+Legislative Assembly summoned in its stead a few months afterwards. Hugo
+was elected one of the twenty-eight deputies for Paris, his name
+standing tenth on the list. He has left it on record in _Le Droit et la
+Loi_ that this year formed an epoch in his life. He became at this time
+a thorough Republican. 'An inanimate body was lying on the ground; he
+was told that that lifeless thing was the Republic; he drew near and
+gazed, and lo! it was Liberty; he bent over it and raised it to his
+bosom. Before him might be ruin, insult, banishment, and scorn, but he
+took it unto him as a wife! From that moment there existed within his
+very soul the union between Liberty and the Republic.' The
+uncompromising attitude he now assumed seems to have alarmed some
+persons, who charged him with apostasy; but they must have been
+superficial students of his career. The poet had long been drifting
+towards this end. With the advance in his political views there seems to
+have come an expansion in his eloquence; and the tribune witnessed many
+impassioned speeches from the deputy--speeches which moved his auditors
+to the utmost depths of emotion. When he defended Italy at the time the
+French entered Rome--and in doing so strongly attacked the abuses
+attendant upon ecclesiastical domination--he incurred the anger of his
+former friend Montalembert. Replying to the Comte he said: 'There was a
+time when he employed his noble talents better. He defended Poland as
+now I defend Italy. I was with him then; he is against me now. The
+explanation is not far to seek. He has gone over to the side of the
+oppressors: I have remained on the side of the oppressed.'
+
+Presiding at the Peace Congress of Paris, held on the 21st of August,
+1849, and addressing Richard Cobden and his fellow-delegates from
+various parts of the world, Hugo gave expression to his sanguine
+humanitarian sentiments. 'You have come,' he observed to these
+representatives of peace, 'to turn over, if it may be, the last and
+most august page of the Gospel, the page that ordains peace amongst the
+children of the one Creator; and here in this city, which has rejoiced
+to proclaim fraternity to its own citizens, you have assembled to
+proclaim fraternity to all men.' The orator expressed his conviction
+that universal peace was attainable, and at the closing sitting of the
+Congress, held on the 24th, the anniversary of St. Bartholomew, he spoke
+in this impassioned strain: 'On this very day, 277 years ago, this city
+of Paris was aroused in terror amidst the darkness of the night. The
+bell, known as the silver bell, chimed from the Palais de Justice, and a
+bloody deed, unprecedented in the annals of crime, was perpetrated; and
+now, on that self-same date, in that self-same city, God has brought
+together into one general concourse the representatives of that old
+antagonism, and has bidden them transform their sentiments into
+sentiments of love. The sad significance of this mournful anniversary is
+removed; each drop of blood is replaced by a ray of light. Well-nigh
+beneath the shadow of that tower whence tolled the fatal vespers of St.
+Bartholomew, not only Englishmen and Frenchmen, Germans and Italians,
+Europeans and Americans, but actually Papists and Huguenots have been
+content to meet, happy, nay proud, to unite themselves together in an
+embrace alike honourable and indissoluble.' These words excited a
+strange fervour and enthusiasm in the audience, and amidst the waving of
+hats and handkerchiefs, and other demonstrations of applause, a Roman
+Catholic abbe and a Protestant pastor might have been seen embracing,
+overcome by the power of the orator's language.
+
+During the debate on the new Education Bill, introduced by M. de Falloux
+in January, 1850, Victor Hugo adversely criticized the measure as
+placing too much power in the hands of the clergy. He announced that he
+should oppose any scheme which entrusted the education of youth to the
+clerical party, who were always seeking to fetter the human mind. Church
+and State must pursue independent courses. 'Your law,' he exclaimed,
+directly addressing the Minister, 'is a law with a mask. It says one
+thing, it does another. It may bear the aspect of liberty, but it means
+thraldom. It is practically confiscation under the name of a deed of
+gift. But it is all one with your usual policy. Every time that you
+forge a new chain you cry, "See, here is freedom!"' During the same
+session Hugo appealed for mercy for the political criminals, and
+condemned the law of transportation, by which they were not only
+banished but liable to be shut up in citadels. His speech on this
+occasion created such a profound impression that it was afterwards
+printed and distributed throughout the country, and a medal was struck
+in honour of the orator.
+
+Troublous times were again looming over France. The protestations of
+Louis Napoleon that he desired to rank as a patriot only, and not as a
+Bonaparte, had been accepted by Victor Hugo, Louis Blanc, and others, in
+good faith. In his prison at Ham, he had been visited by several staunch
+Republicans, who believed his asseverations that he had no other end in
+view than the welfare of France and the consolidation of her liberties.
+Indeed, when the exile returned to Paris he sought out Victor Hugo, and
+in the most frank and unambiguous language said to him, 'What would it
+be for me to be Napoleon over again? Why, it would not simply be an
+ambition, it would be a crime. Why should you suppose me a fool? I am
+not a great man, and when the Republic is made I shall never follow the
+steps of Napoleon. As for me, I am honest; and I shall follow in the way
+of Washington.' It never struck the poet that his visitor protested too
+much. Upright and sincere himself, he liked to believe in the integrity
+of others, and he little dreamt that Louis Napoleon, who had sworn
+fidelity to the Constitution, and again and again declared himself bound
+by his oath, would in a short time strangle the Republic with his own
+hands.
+
+But, alas! it was not long before the poet and his friends were
+disillusioned, for, as Proudhon remarked, 'Citizen Bonaparte, who but
+yesterday was a mere speck in the fiery heavens, has become an ominous
+cloud, bearing storm and tempest in its bosom.' Hugo, seeing what was
+advancing, bore himself courageously, and from his place in the tribune
+never ceased to advocate the cause of freedom, while he bade the people
+repose securely in their own strength. The reactionary policy began with
+the curtailment of the liberty of the press, and culminated in the _Coup
+d'Etat_ of the 2nd December, 1851. On that date the Legislative Assembly
+was dissolved; universal suffrage was established, and Paris was
+declared to be in a state of siege. Thiers, Cavaignac, and others were
+arrested and sent to the Castle of Vincennes. About 180 members of the
+Assembly, with M. Berryer at their head, on endeavouring to meet, were
+also arrested, and Paris was occupied by troops. Sanguinary conflicts
+ensued between the people and the soldiery, but the troops were
+victorious. Napoleon put a pistol at the head of Paris, and ultimately,
+by means which will be condemned in history to all ages, the Empire was
+established.
+
+Victor Hugo did all in his power for the maintenance of the rights of
+the people, but in vain. In the tribune he indignantly inveighed against
+the tyranny of Napoleon, and was in consequence placed at the head of
+the list of the proscribed. He supported the Committee of Resistance in
+their efforts to depose the Prince; but the people were paralyzed by the
+display of power, and he was obliged to fly from Paris. A sum of 25,000
+francs was offered to anyone who would either kill or arrest him, and so
+great was the terror of the populace that no one could be found who
+would give the friend of freedom an asylum. At length he secured
+temporary shelter beneath the roof of a relation, remaining here until
+the 12th of December, when he left Paris, completely disguised, by the
+Northern Railway Station. The expatriated poet reached Brussels in
+safety, but his sons and the rest of the staff of _L'Evenement_ had been
+cast into prison. It was a momentous time for the friends of Victor
+Hugo, who were naturally anxious for his safety when so many of the
+friends of the Republic had been seized and incarcerated.
+
+In his retreat the great patriot found himself confronted by a new task.
+He resolved to compile a history of the infamous events which had driven
+him into exile. 'His lashes should reach to the faces of Napoleon and
+his acolytes at the Tuileries; he became at once the Tacitus and Juvenal
+of his time, only his accents were mightier than theirs, because his
+indignation was greater and his wrath more just.' Napoleon had
+triumphed, but the scourge was soon to descend which should leave him
+exposed to the derision and contempt of the world to the end of time.
+The sword is powerful; but the pen, which is the stronger weapon, has
+always overtaken it, and adjusted the historical balance in the
+interests of humanity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE POET IN EXILE.
+
+
+In Brussels Victor Hugo came upon friends, amongst them being the
+novelist, Alexandre Dumas. The latter was living in this city because he
+was the better able to pursue his literary work there, undistracted by
+the myriad claims which such a centre as Paris presents. He had never
+mixed ardently in politics, but he was so chagrined at the banishment of
+Hugo that he chivalrously resolved never to visit Louis Napoleon or the
+Tuileries again; and he resolutely adhered to this decision. Victor
+Schoelcher followed Hugo to Brussels, having escaped from his pursuers
+in the disguise of a priest. Towards the close of December, 1851, the
+poet began to write his stirring narrative, _L'Histoire d'un Crime_, and
+the work was completed by the following May. It was not published until
+1877, and I shall make some references to it in a later chapter. Amongst
+other exiles in Brussels were the ill-assorted couple Emile de Girardin
+and General Lamoriciere. But Belgium also sheltered in this hour of
+peril Ledru Rollin, the sculptor David, Barbes, Louis Blanc, Edgar
+Quinet, and Eugene Sue. Indeed, many of the finest and choicest spirits
+of France had been driven from their native soil.
+
+The sons of Victor Hugo joined their father in January, 1852, and the
+poet determined to remain in Brussels so long as Napoleon III. reigned
+at the Tuileries. Fate, nevertheless, decreed otherwise. The Belgian
+Government, though favourable to Hugo, was still more anxious to
+maintain friendly relations with the new French Empire. Victor Hugo soon
+made it impossible, however, for the Belgian rulers to run with the hare
+and hunt with the hounds. The publication of his _Napoleon le Petit_
+fell like a thunderbolt over both Paris and Brussels. That scathing work
+made the Dictator writhe amid the splendours of his palace. It was
+charged with wit, pathos, sarcasm, and invective. Amongst the many
+personal passages denunciatory of Louis Napoleon was the following: 'He
+will never be other than the nocturnal strangler of liberty; he will
+never be other than the man who has intoxicated his soldiers, not with
+glory, like the first Napoleon, but with wine; he will never be other
+than the pigmy tyrant of a great people. Grandeur, even in infamy, is
+utterly inconsistent with the character and calibre of the man. As
+Dictator, he is a buffoon; let him make himself Emperor, he would be
+grotesque. That would at once put an end to him. His destiny is to make
+mankind shrug their shoulders. Will he be less severely punished for
+that reason? Not at all: contempt does not in his case mitigate anger.
+He will be hideous, and he will remain ridiculous. That's all. History
+laughs, and crushes. What would you have the historian do with this
+fellow? He can only lead him to posterity by the ear. The man once
+stripped of success, the pedestal removed, the dust fallen, the lace and
+spangles and the great sabre taken away, the poor little skeleton laid
+bare and shivering--can anyone imagine anything meaner and more
+miserable?' This powerful satire closed with a vision of vengeance: 'You
+do not perceive that the 2nd of December is nothing but an immense
+illusion, a pause, a stop, a sort of working curtain, behind which the
+Deity, that marvellous machinist, is preparing and constructing the last
+act, the final and triumphant scene of the French Revolution! You look
+stupefied upon the curtain, upon the things painted upon the coarse
+canvas, this one's nose, that one's epaulettes, the great sabre of a
+third, those embroidered vendors of _eau-de-Cologne_ whom you call
+generals, those _poussahs_ that you call magistrates, those worthy men
+that you call senators, this mixture of caricatures and spectres--and
+you take them all for realities. You do not hear yonder in the shade
+that hollow sound! You do not hear some one going backwards and
+forwards! You do not see that curtain shaken by the breath of Him who is
+behind!'
+
+The excitement caused by this work proved too much for the Belgian
+Government, and, desirous of keeping well with Napoleon III., it
+reluctantly decided that the author must be expelled. As there was no
+law bearing upon Hugo's case, the Belgian Chamber passed one to meet it,
+and Hugo was cast out from what he deemed to be a secure asylum. He
+embarked for England, but only on his way to Jersey, which he had
+decided upon as his next place of habitation. He landed at St. Helier on
+the 5th of August, 1852, and was received by a body of French
+compatriots and exiles.
+
+Hugo was now somewhat straitened in means, as he derived nothing from
+his dramas and his various works. From his very ability and genius, he
+was singled out as a special object of disapprobation on the part of the
+French rulers. The poet first settled down in a small house on the
+Marine Terrace, and the money he received from the sale of his effects
+in Paris was a very welcome addition to his small store. But he had
+passed through too many periods of hardship and vicissitude to repine
+over these altered circumstances--he rather rejoiced to suffer for
+conscience' sake. He now gave himself up to intellectual labour, and
+found much happiness in his leisure hours in the bosom of his family,
+every member of which was deeply attached to him; and in the interchange
+of affectionate confidences with his intimate friends, Vacquerie, Paul
+Meurice, and others. He was treated with great distinction by the
+islanders, not (as he himself said) because he was Victor Hugo the poet,
+but because he was a peer of France. In consequence of his rank,
+observes one writer, 'he enjoyed certain privileges, one of which was
+that he was exempt from the obligation of sweeping his doorstep and
+clearing away the grass from the front of his house!' But he was obliged
+to supply the suzerain of the Duchy of Normandy with two fowls every
+year, a tax that was religiously exacted from 'his lordship.'
+
+Yet even in the little island home of their adoption the exiles were not
+permitted to rest in peace. Spies were sent amongst them, who
+endeavoured to gather evidence of sedition, and although Jersey had its
+own laws, as Napoleon was now the ally of England the situation was not
+without its dangers. One Imperial spy, named Hubert, was discovered; and
+when the exiles determined that he should die for his treachery, Hugo,
+with his usual large-hearted magnanimity, came forward and saved his
+life.
+
+Another terrible denunciation of Napoleon and his satellites was penned
+by Hugo during his stay in Jersey. _Les Chatiments_, this new satire,
+was even more powerful and telling than _Napoleon le Petit_. Its verse
+burned with indignation. The poet spared no one who was in any degree
+responsible for the crime of the 2nd December. 'Sometimes he is full of
+pity for the victims of the dastardly aggression, pouring out his
+sympathy for those whom the convict-ships were conveying to the deadly
+climates of Cayenne and Lambessa, to receive for political offences the
+fate of the worst of felons; sometimes he sounds forth their virtues in
+brilliant strophes; and sometimes he rises into grandeur as he scourges
+the great men of the Second Empire, whilst at others he uses the lash of
+satire, and depicts them all as circus grooms and mountebanks. Page
+after page seems to bind his victim to an eternal pillory.' The work
+showed, in its various divisions, how society was 'saved,' order
+re-established, the dynasty restored, religion glorified, authority
+consecrated, stability assured, and the deliverers themselves delivered.
+It was first published in Brussels, but only in a mutilated form, the
+Belgian Government dreading the effects of some of its bitter attacks
+upon the ruler of France. In vain the poet protested against this
+infringement of liberty. A complete edition of the work, however, soon
+appeared at St. Helier, and it speedily got into circulation in all the
+European capitals, ingeniously defying every effort to suppress it. 'The
+more it was hunted down the more thoroughly it penetrated France. It
+had as many disguises as an outlaw. Sometimes it was enclosed in a
+sardine-box, or rolled up in a hank of wool; sometimes it crossed the
+frontier entire, sometimes in fragments; concealed occasionally in
+plaster busts or clocks, laid in the folds of ladies' dresses, or even
+sewn in between the double soles of men's boots.'
+
+Matters were thus rendered righteously unpleasant for Napoleon, who
+dreaded these attacks upon his person and power. A man of genius
+fighting for liberty is sometimes stronger than a throne; and it was
+possible that this might be the issue between the poet and the Dictator.
+The work brought no profit to its author, but he had the far higher
+reward of seeing it carry terror into the midst of the Tuileries, while
+it at the same time stirred the slumbering conscience of the French
+nation. For two or three years the Jersey exiles remained unmolested,
+but Napoleon, feeling insecure, determined that they should 'move on.'
+Victor Hugo on several occasions delivered funeral orations over
+departed patriots. He never spared the French rulers, and invariably
+expressed sympathy with 'the heartrending cry of humanity which made
+the crowned criminal turn pale upon his throne.'
+
+At the obsequies of one Felix Bony, who had been a victim of Imperial
+tyranny, the poet referred to the British alliance with the Emperor of
+the French as a degradation to England. Upon this, Sir Robert Peel
+intimated in the House of Commons that he should feel it his duty to put
+an end to this kind of language on the part of French refugees as soon
+as possible. Ribeyrolles, the editor of _L'Homme_, the French newspaper
+in Jersey, retorted that England was England no longer, and Victor Hugo
+returned the following answer: 'M. Bonaparte has driven me from France
+because I have acted on my rights as a citizen, and as a representative
+of the people; he has driven me from Belgium because I have written
+_Napoleon le Petit_, and he will probably drive me from England because
+of the protests that I have made and shall continue to make. Be it so.
+That concerns England more than it concerns me. America is open to me,
+and America is sufficiently after my heart. But I warn him, that whether
+it be from France, from Belgium, from England, or from America, my voice
+shall never cease to declare that sooner or later he will have to
+expiate the crime of the 2nd of December. What is said is true: there
+_is_ a personal quarrel between him and me; there is the old quarrel of
+the judge upon the bench and the prisoner at the bar.'
+
+The tension became too great when Felix Pyat published in _L'Homme_ a
+'Letter to Queen Victoria,' commenting in sarcastic but foolish terms
+upon her Majesty's visit to the Emperor and Empress of the French. Some
+of the personal portions of the pamphlet affecting the Queen were
+perfectly unjustifiable, and the result was a serious agitation in
+Jersey for the expulsion of the exiles. At one moment their lives were
+in danger. Hugo confessed that he did not care for this, but he should
+greatly regret the destruction of his manuscripts. His compositions,
+which represented thirty years' labour, and included _Les
+Contemplations_, _La Legende des Siecles_, and the first portion of _Les
+Miserables_, were accordingly secured in a strong iron-bound chest.
+Madame Hugo, though warned of her danger, resolutely remained by the
+side of her husband.
+
+The conductors of _L'Homme_ were at once expelled from Jersey, whereupon
+Victor Hugo drew up a protest on behalf of the exiles. 'The _Coup
+d'Etat_,' said this document, 'has penetrated into English liberty.
+England has reached this point that she now banishes exiles.' It then
+went onto inveigh against the crimes of 'treason, perjury, spoliation,
+and murder,' committed by Napoleon III., for which he had been legally
+condemned by the French Court of Assize, and morally by the bulk of the
+English press. The protest received thirty-seven signatures, amongst
+them being those of Louis Blanc and Victor Schoelcher. After a period
+of uncertainty, the English Government consented to the expulsion of the
+refugees.
+
+On the 27th of October, 1855, the news was communicated to Victor Hugo
+that he must quit the island by the 2nd of November. The poet said to
+the constable of St. Clement, the bearer of the tidings, 'I do not await
+the expiration of the respite that is given me. I hasten to quit a land
+where honour has no place, and which burns my feet.' After paying a
+farewell visit to the graves of their dead comrades, the exiles
+dispersed, leaving Jersey for various destinations; and on the 31st of
+October, Hugo and his family embarked for Guernsey.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+IN GUERNSEY.--'LES MISERABLES.'
+
+
+Though harassed in mind and in person, Victor Hugo had reserved to
+himself, during his troubled stay in Jersey, leisure in which to devote
+himself to the Muses pure and simple. As the result of these periods of
+meditation, there appeared in Paris in 1856 _Les Contemplations_. This
+work, which speedily went through several editions, was the lyrical
+record of twenty-five years. According to the author himself, it holds,
+more than any other of the numerous collections of his poetry, 'as in a
+rocky chalice, the gathered waters of his life.' And, again, he observed
+that 'the author has allowed this book to form itself, so to speak,
+within him. Life, filtering drop by drop, through events and sufferings,
+has deposited it in his heart.'
+
+Divided into two parts, the earlier division of the work dealt with
+other times, the second with 'to-day.' From the trials and the joys
+through which the poet had passed he endeavoured to extract the
+philosophy of life. Everything is tinged with deep feeling, for it would
+be superfluous to say that Hugo was ever the subject of profound
+emotions. He felt more deeply and strongly than other men, and this
+gives that intense personal realism to his work which distinguished it
+from the first recorded utterance to the last. Virulently attacked in
+some quarters, this series of poems was as warmly welcomed in others.
+With the public it found ready favour, and speedily ran through numerous
+editions. It may safely be affirmed that criticism which is merely
+captious has never yet permanently injured any work. Wherever there is
+genius, it will force its way through such obstacles, and find an honest
+public appreciation. If Hugo had not himself had faith in the poetic
+seed in such works as _Les Contemplations_, he must have despaired; but
+with that egotism of talent which is never offensive, he left his work
+confidently to the judgment of minds which could think and souls which
+could feel. Of that gigantic work, _La Legende des Siecles_, the first
+part of which appeared in 1859, I shall speak in greater detail when
+referring to its completion.
+
+Expelled from Jersey, the poet found a home in Guernsey; for although
+the islands are geographically near, the sentiments of the islanders
+differed greatly on the subject of political refugees. At Hauteville
+House, which, as its name implies, occupied a commanding elevation,
+Victor Hugo found a home which is now peculiarly linked with his name.
+The re-arrangement of the place was a work of time. Writing to Jules
+Janin, Hugo announced his getting into new quarters: 'England has hardly
+been a better guardian of my fireside than France. My poor fireside!
+France broke it up, Belgium broke it up, Jersey broke it up; and now I
+am beginning, with all the patience of an ant, to build it up anew. If
+ever I am driven away again I shall turn to England, and see whether
+that worthy prude Albion can help me to find myself _at home_.... I have
+taken a house in Guernsey. It has three stories, a flat roof, a fine
+flight of steps, a courtyard, a crypt, and a look-out; but it is all
+being paid for by the proceeds of _Les Contemplations_.'
+
+Innumerable are the pilgrimages which have been made to Hauteville
+House, with consequent descriptions of the residence. A brief sketch of
+the leading features of the poet's home, for which I am indebted to an
+account written by one of such visitors, will not be unacceptable.
+Hauteville House, which overlooks the city and fort beneath, and
+commands a vast expanse of sea, is likewise famed for its interior
+treasures. The visitor finds carvings of the Renaissance and the Middle
+Ages, and porcelain, enamels, and glass, the work of Venetian and
+Florentine masters. Entering the house by a vestibule, there is first
+perceived on the upper lintel a _basso-relievo_ representing the chief
+subject in _Notre-Dame de Paris_. On the right and left, in carved oak,
+are two medallions, by David, of Victor Hugo and his second daughter. A
+fine Renaissance column supports the whole. Passing on, the monumental
+door of the dining-room is reached. Upon one of the panels is written
+'Love and Believe;' and over one of the doors, and below a statuette of
+the Virgin, is the word of welcome to the visitor, '_Ave_.' In the
+billiard-saloon are hung the poet's designs, framed in varnished fir. To
+his other evidences of ability Hugo adds that of a graphic artist. Many
+of his sketches have a breadth and power which strongly recall the
+pencil of Rembrandt, though in the matter of drawing and some other
+points they will not, of course, sustain comparison with the work of
+that wonderful master.
+
+The tapestry-parlour is an apartment of special interest, the
+mantelpiece particularly fixing the attention. Imagine a cathedral of
+carved oak, which, rising vigorously from the floor, springs up to the
+ceiling, where its upper carving touches the tapestry. The doorway
+corresponds to the fireplace; the rosace is a convex mirror, placed
+above the mantelpiece; the central gable is a firm entablature covered
+with fantastic foliage, and decorated by arches of exquisite taste, in
+which the Byzantine mingles with the rococo; the two towers are two
+counterforts, which repeat all the ornamentation of the entire mass. The
+coping, very imposing in its effect, recalls the fronts of the houses in
+Antwerp and Bruges. A face appears amid the woodwork, vigorously thrown
+out. It is that of a bishop, whose crosier alone is gilded. On each side
+of it is a shield, with the witty motto:
+
+
+     'Crosier of wood, bishop of gold:
+     Crosier of gold, bishop of wood.'
+
+
+On two scrolls, representing rolled parchment, are inscribed the names
+of those whom Victor Hugo looks upon as the principal poets of
+humanity--Job, Isaiah, Homer, AEschylus, Lucretius, Dante, Shakespeare,
+Moliere. On the opposite side are the names of Moses, Socrates, Christ,
+Columbus, Luther, Washington. Two oaken statues lean from the double
+entablature of the chimney-piece. One represents St. Paul reading, with
+an inscription on the pedestal--'The Book;' the other shows a monk in
+ecstasy, with his eyes uplifted, and on the pedestal is written
+'Heaven.' The working-room contains another fine monumental piece of
+work, bearing a motto taken from the fourth act of _Hernani_, '_Ad
+augusta per angusta_.' The dining-room walls are covered with splendid
+Dutch delf of the seventeenth century, and the room has also a
+magnificent mirror and a piece of Gobelin tapestry representing the
+riches of Summer. Vases and statuettes are to be met with everywhere;
+and on panels are carved various legends--'Man,' 'God,' 'My country,'
+'Life is exile.' An armchair of carved oak, which was regarded by the
+poet as the ancestral seat at his table, is closed by a chain, and
+bears the inscription, 'The absent are here.' The galleries and rooms
+of the first story are likewise rich in Renaissance work, and in Chinese
+and Japanese treasures. The Oak Gallery, which is a kind of
+guest-chamber, has six windows looking out upon Fort St. George, which
+distribute the light through a perfect forest of carved oak. The
+mantelpiece--a marvellous piece of work, represents the sacrifice of
+Isaac. A state bed and a massive candelabrum in oak, surmounted by a
+figure carved by Victor Hugo, are also noticeable objects; but they are
+almost eclipsed by the splendid door of entrance, which, as seen from
+the interior, is as brilliant as a church window. Two spiral columns
+sustain a pediment of oak with Renaissance grotesques, surrounded by
+arabesques and monsters; it advances with two folds, which are
+resplendent with paintings, among which are eight large figures of the
+martyrs, attired in gold and purple, the principal being St. Peter.
+There is inscribed on the lintel, '_Surge, perge_,' and close by the
+words of Lucan, 'The conquerors have the gods, with the conquered Cato
+remains.' There are also numerous maxims, poetic and otherwise. Hugo's
+own room was the look-out--a little belvedere open in all directions,
+but very small in extent. It contains the poet's writing-table and an
+iron bed. Whether regarded from the point of view of its noble
+situation, or from that of the artistic treasures which find a lodgment
+in its interior, Hauteville House is a place to inspire a poet of a far
+less expansive imagination than Victor Hugo.
+
+While the author of _Notre-Dame_ pursued his studies and compositions in
+the belvedere, the other inmates of Hauteville House were generally
+engaged in a variety of pursuits beneath. The elder son, Charles,
+devoted himself to the writing of dramas and romances, while the second
+son, Victor Francois, undertook with much spirit and success a
+translation of Shakespeare. Adele, the one daughter now remaining,
+composed music; Auguste Vacquerie plunged into a series of curious
+literary studies, which resulted in the production of _Les Mielles de
+l'Histoire_ and _Profils et Grimaces_; and Madame Victor Hugo busied
+herself in collecting notes for her husband's _Life_. Unfortunately,
+owing to her death, her task was never completed, a portion only of her
+labour of love seeing the light in 1863. The whole family ever
+cordially welcomed any Frenchmen who sought a refuge at Hauteville
+House, and Gerard de Nerval, Balzac, and many others occupied in turns a
+room specially set apart for the use of such visitors.
+
+Two or three years after Hugo established himself in Guernsey, an
+amnesty was announced by the Emperor of the French. The proclamation was
+dated the 15th of August, 1859. The poet refused to avail himself of the
+act of grace, and in conjunction with Louis Blanc, Edgar Quinet, and
+others, replied to the Imperial pardon by a counter manifesto. He was
+blamed by some for this step, it being urged that it was his duty to
+return to France during the days of the Second Empire, and to use every
+effort to procure that amelioration of the condition of the people, and
+the fruition of their hopes, which he and other patriots desired. But
+Victor Hugo was very depressed at this time, and saw little prospect of
+the realization of his own aspirations and of those who felt and acted
+with him. But an idea of the vast personal influence attributed to the
+poet may be gathered from such language as the following which was used
+concerning him at this time: 'Had Victor Hugo stood forward, as he was
+morally bound to do, the fatal day of Sadowa might never have happened,
+the disastrous Ministry of M. Emile Ollivier would have been impossible,
+and France could have been spared the overwhelming ruin which fell upon
+her when absolutely abandoned to the counsels and government of the
+feeblest mediocrity.' It is impossible, of course, to say that these
+sanguine expectations would have been justified; but they will at least
+serve to show the high esteem in which the poet was held, and the weight
+attached to his individual will and example.
+
+Another epoch in the literary career of Victor Hugo was reached in 1862
+by the publication of the celebrated romance, _Les Miserables_. This
+work had been begun many years before, and was to have been published in
+1848. Its original conception was vastly extended in course of time,
+until what was at first meant to occupy only two octavo volumes
+ultimately spread over ten. The work appeared simultaneously in Paris,
+London, Brussels, New York, Madrid, Berlin, Turin, St. Petersburg,
+Leipzig, Milan, Rotterdam, Warsaw, Pesth, and Rio de Janeiro. The first
+Paris edition amounted to 15,000 copies, the first Brussels edition to
+12,000, and the first Leipzig edition to 3,000. No fewer than 150,000
+copies were sold in one year, and altogether, in various forms and
+editions, more than three times this immense number of copies were
+disposed of. The book was found everywhere, from the Steppes of Russia
+to the battlefields of the United States, where it solaced many a
+soldier during the Civil War.
+
+This stupendous work is divided into five parts, entitled respectively
+'Fantine,' 'Cosette,' 'Marius,' 'L'Idylle Rue Plumet et l'Epopee Rue St.
+Denis,' and 'Jean Valjean.' Each of these parts consists of eight or
+more books, which are again divided into chapters. It was complained
+that the book was partly the offspring of a poet, and partly the
+offspring of a social philosopher, and that while the poetry was noble
+the philosophy was detestable. At the same time it was admitted that the
+writer had stamped upon every page the hall-mark of genius, and the
+loving patience and conscientious labour of a true artist. The romance
+opens with a finely-sketched portrait of a worthy bishop, called by the
+people Monseigneur Bienvenu, a noble creation, which surprised those
+who looked upon Hugo merely as a curser of the Church and all its works.
+A scene of strong dramatic power occurs in Chapter X., which deals with
+an interview between the bishop and a dying conventionnel, who had all
+but voted for the death of the King. Victor Hugo's unequalled command of
+language and his terse and vigorous emphasis come here into full play.
+'All French writers of mark,' says a writer in the _Quarterly Review_,
+'are divisible into two schools; the one is characterized by the polish
+and smoothness to which the romance element is carried in a Racine, or,
+in more modern times, a Lamartine; the other is full of a _viel esprit
+Gaulois_, a Moliere or a La Fontaine. For this rugged force of speech,
+all knots, the bark still on, M. Hugo is very remarkable. The terseness
+with which he throws into a word the compressed power which a feebler
+but more elegant writer would draw out into a whole sentence, indicates
+an amount of genius which belongs only to the kinglier spirits of an
+age, and which in French literature has only been matched by Rabelais,
+in Italian by Dante.'
+
+The real hero of the story is Jean Valjean, the son of a woodcutter of
+Faverolles. Losing his father and mother when a child, he grew up to
+carry on the former's craft, supporting thereby an elder sister (left a
+widow) and her seven children. One night, in that terrible year of
+famine, 1795, Jean Valjean broke into a baker's shop to steal a loaf for
+the starving children at home. He was arrested for the theft, and
+condemned to five years at the galleys. Frequent attempts to escape
+added fourteen years more to his punishment. At length, after nineteen
+years, he was liberated; but, while now free, his lot was as hard as
+though he were still in confinement. No one will recognise or aid this
+pariah of civilization, and he enters the episcopal town of D---- in
+despair. The good bishop alone will receive the outcast, and he
+entertains him, and has a bed provided for him. In the middle of the
+night Valjean is overcome by wild impulses. He steals the spoons from
+the cupboard over the bed of the sleeping bishop, and escapes through
+the garden. In the morning he is caught and brought back, but the bishop
+only heaps coals of fire upon his head in return for his perfidy.
+Valjean is allowed to go out into the world, but there is a terrible
+struggle between the good and the evil nature within him. The
+psychological power of this part of the novel is marvellous. The
+conflict between right and wrong is renewed periodically in Valjean's
+breast all through the romance, and it is the influence of the Christian
+bishop which prevents the miserable man from becoming dead to all his
+better instincts. The third book of the first part is devoted to the
+episode of Fantine, an unhappy being who is more sinned against than
+sinning, and whose sorrows are vividly and painfully described, with
+some few delicate lights thrown in upon child-life. A striking portrait
+of Javert, a severe French _agent de police_, testifies once more to
+Victor Hugo's power of human analysis; but the most thrilling scenes
+still centre round Valjean. The ex-convict becomes a respectable
+provincial mayor under an assumed name, and when a man is arrested in
+his old name of Valjean, after a tremendous struggle, in which he sees
+the dead bishop calling upon him to be true to his conscience, he
+resolves to deliver himself up and save the innocent man. I cannot
+follow all the ramifications of this extraordinary work, which
+absolutely teems with exciting incidents, all graphically told, and
+having for their central and cardinal motive the trials of Valjean and
+the revolt against society. In the last volume we have the marriage of
+Cosette, daughter of Fantine, with one Marius, both of whom owed their
+lives to Valjean. Marius and Cosette shrink from Valjean when they hear
+his confession that he is a liberated convict. But when Marius learns
+further that Valjean had saved his life and conveyed him from the
+barricades to his grandfather's house, and that he had also secured for
+him his wife's dowry of 600,000 francs, remorse overcomes him for his
+ingratitude. He and Cosette seek out Valjean at his lodgings, but only
+arrive in time to witness the death of the suffering, sinning,
+struggling convict, and to receive his last blessing.
+
+This romance contains passages which, for grandeur of conception and
+skill in execution, have never been equalled by any other French writer.
+At the same time the work is not without its defects, chief of which is
+the frequent recurrence of prolix digressions. For example, at a very
+critical point in the story, when Jean Valjean has effected his escape
+with Marius in his arms from the pursuit of the soldiery, the reader is
+treated to some hundred pages of speculation on the valuable uses to
+which the sewage of large towns may be put. Other eccentricities might
+be pointed out, but high and above them all burns the light of the
+original genius of the author, which transforms the book for us into a
+veritable wizard's spell. Hugo, even with his perversities and his
+literary contradictions, can move us as no other man can. Writing to
+Lamartine, who had been considerably exercised by the social views
+promulgated in this book, the author said: 'A society that admits
+misery, a humanity that admits war, seem to me an inferior society and a
+debased humanity; it is a higher society, and a more elevated humanity
+at which I am aiming--a society without kings, a humanity without
+barriers. I want to universalize property, not to abolish it; I would
+suppress parasitism; I want to see every man a proprietor, and no man a
+master. This is my idea of true social economy. The goal may be far
+distant, but is that a reason for not striving to advance towards it?
+Yes, as much as a man can long for anything I long to destroy human
+fatality. I condemn slavery; I chase away misery; I instruct ignorance;
+I illumine darkness; I discard malice. Hence it is that I have written
+_Les Miserables_.' So much for one side of the work; but if its social
+and political philosophy be condemned to the exclusion of its manifold
+excellences and beauties, then I can only pity the mole-like blindness
+of those who, in their haste to be critical, have lost that key-note of
+human sympathy which alone can unlock the treasures of _Les Miserables_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+LITERARY AND DRAMATIC.
+
+
+Utopian as some of Victor Hugo's social theories might be, his
+aspirations after the perfection of the race were unquestionably noble.
+What is more, he furnished practical evidence of the sincerity of his
+desire to bridge over the gulf which separates humanity into classes. At
+his house in Guernsey he entertained periodically the children of the
+poor, frequently to the number of forty, at his own table. They would be
+accompanied by their mothers, and would sit down to an excellent repast,
+the hospitable board being presided over by the poet himself. In this
+fraternal spirit he endeavoured to carry out his democratic ideas. At
+one of his Christmas feasts at Hauteville House, Hugo remarked: 'My idea
+of providing a substantial dinner for the destitute has been well
+received almost everywhere; as an institution of fraternity it is
+accepted with a cordial welcome--accepted by Christians as being in
+conformity with the Gospel, and by democrats as being agreeable to the
+principles of the Revolution.' He also advocated the education of
+children, as well in the principles of justice and real happiness as in
+the various branches of knowledge; for by elevating the child they would
+elevate the people of the future.
+
+The good work thus initiated in Guernsey was imitated by humanitarians
+in London, who provided acceptable meals for the poor in the Ragged
+Schools, and for the neglected and the outcast. Hugo's example was
+therefore not barren of results, though systematic care for the poor was
+still a dream of the future.
+
+A strangely interesting scene took place at Brussels, when Victor Hugo's
+publishers in that city, Messrs. Lacroix and Verboeckhoven, gave a grand
+banquet to the author in celebration of the success of _Les Miserables_.
+Distinguished representatives of the English, French, Italian, Spanish
+and Belgian press attended, and amongst the chief guests were the
+Burgomaster of Brussels, the President of the Chamber of
+Representatives, MM. Eugene Pelletan, De Banville, Champfleury, and
+Louis Blanc. The illustrious exile was much moved as he listened to
+speeches breathing sympathy and affection for himself as a man, and
+admiration for him as a writer. 'Eleven years ago, my friends,' he said
+in reply, 'you saw me departing from among you comparatively young. You
+see me now grown old. But though my hair has changed, my heart remains
+the same. I thank you for coming here to-day, and beg you to accept my
+best and warmest acknowledgments. In the midst of you I seem to be
+breathing my native air again; every Frenchman seems to bring me a
+fragment of France; and while thus I find myself in contact with your
+spirits, a beautiful glamour appears to encircle my soul, and to charm
+me like the smile of my mother-country.' The Empire had made this
+gathering impossible in Paris, the city where it should naturally have
+been held.
+
+A pleasant act of reparation for past injustice was performed when, on
+the 18th of May, 1860, the inhabitants of Jersey once more welcomed Hugo
+to their island. He went over upon the requisition of five hundred
+sympathizers with liberty, who invited him to speak on behalf of the
+subscription which was being raised to assist Garibaldi in the
+liberation of Italy. The occasion was pre-eminently one to unseal the
+fount of eloquence in the exile and the poet. His own deep love for
+France led him to feel profoundly with the noble patriot who was
+struggling for a united Italy. Hugo spoke with great energy, first
+depicting Italy in her bondage, then pleading for her freedom and
+independence, and prophesying the near approach of the time when, with
+the sword of Garibaldi, aided by the support of France and England,
+Italy would rise victorious in the struggle for liberty.
+
+A few years later, and we have some glimpses of the domestic relations
+of the poet. His son Charles was married in 1866, at Brussels, to the
+ward of M. Jules Simon. In April, 1867, Victor Hugo became a
+grandfather, and amongst the many evidences of his affection for
+children this little letter, written upon his grandson's birth, is well
+worthy of preservation: 'Georges,--Be born to duty, grow up for liberty,
+live for progress, die in light! Bear in thy veins the gentleness of thy
+mother, the nobleness of thy father. Be good, be brave, be just, be
+honourable! With thy grandmother's kiss, receive thy father's
+blessing.' The child had scarcely come, however, to gladden the
+household before he was taken away again. He lived a twelvemonth only;
+but in his place there soon came another Georges, and he was followed by
+a sister Jeanne--offshoots of humanity which twined themselves round the
+heart of the grandfather, and on more than one occasion inspired his
+pen.
+
+In the summer of 1866, the poet and his two sons, with a party of
+friends, went upon a tour of pleasure through Zealand. But the journey,
+which was intended to be pursued strictly incognito, became in reality a
+kind of progress. The principal traveller was recognised at Antwerp, and
+Charles Hugo, who afterwards published a work entitled _Victor Hugo en
+Zelande_, remarked that though his father had come to discover Zealand,
+Zealand had discovered him instead. Many pleasant incidents marked the
+journey, not the least gratifying being a reception at Ziericsee, when,
+in addition to being welcomed by the municipal authorities, two little
+girls, dressed in white, came forward and presented Hugo with
+magnificent bouquets. On leaving Dordrecht, the farewell was one that
+might have been tendered to a sovereign.
+
+Shortly before making this tour Hugo had issued _Les Chansons des Rues
+et des Bois_. In these songs of the streets and the woods will be
+discovered the amusing recreations of a great spirit and the
+representations of its lighter moods. Applying to the volume a
+standpoint quite out of keeping with its scope and motive, some of the
+reviewers saw in it a decadence of genius. They had no ear for its music
+or for its more delicate undertones. It was so different from the work
+they expected from such a writer that it must be bad. Charles Monselet
+thought there were some passages in this book which, in pure musical
+quality, were worthy of Rossini or Herold.
+
+But those who complained of the poems had no reason to complain of the
+work which followed it in 1866, _Les Travailleurs de la Mer_. This was
+another of the great romances by which the name of Victor Hugo will
+live. In announcing the completion of the work the author wrote, 'In
+these volumes I have desired to glorify work, will, devotion, and
+whatever makes man great. I have made it a point to demonstrate how the
+most insatiable abyss is the human heart, and that what escapes the
+sea, does not escape a woman.' In the work itself was the inscription,
+'I dedicate this book to the rock of hospitality and liberty, to that
+portion of old Norman ground inhabited by the noble little people of the
+sea: to the island of Guernsey, severe yet kind, my present refuge, and
+probably my grave.' This powerful story dealt with the last of three
+great forces which Victor Hugo had now illumined by his
+genius--religion, society, and Nature. In these forces were to be seen
+the three struggles of man. They constitute at the same time, said the
+writer, his three needs. Man has need of a faith; hence the temple. He
+must create; hence the city. He must live; hence the plough and the
+ship. But these three solutions comprise three perpetual conflicts. The
+mysterious difficulty of life results from all three. Man strives with
+obstacles under the form of superstition, under the form of prejudice,
+and under the form of the elements. He is weighed down by a triple kind
+of fatality or necessity. First, there is the fatality of dogmas, then
+the oppression of human laws, and finally the inexorability of nature.
+The author had denounced the first of these fatalities in _Notre-Dame de
+Paris_; the second was fully exemplified in _Les Miserables_; and the
+third was indicated in _Les Travailleurs de la Mer_. But with all these
+fatalities there also mingled that inward fatality, the supreme
+agonizing power, the human heart.
+
+This book on the toilers of the sea has been compared with the
+_Prometheus_ of AEschylus. The story or plot is very subordinate, the
+author having devoted himself to the great contest between his hero and
+the powers of Nature. In the whole range of literature there is probably
+nothing more graphic than the account of Gilliatt's battle with the
+devil-fish. 'This is St. George and the Dragon over again,' remarked a
+critic in the _British Quarterly Review_; 'and you might as well blame
+Ariosto or Dante, or great mediaeval painters and sculptors, for their
+innumerable elaborate creations of such monstrous objects, as blame the
+modern who has, by his study of modern science, seen and restored much
+that our ancestors conceived. The Pieuvre, moreover, is an ugly symbol
+of the evil spiritual powers with which man contends. For the rest, Hugo
+may revel in his strength of creation in this region, as Ariosto and
+Dante revelled before him, as the builders, too, of our great Gothic
+cathedrals revelled in their gargoyles and hobgoblins. But before we
+quit this romance, observe the perfect unity of it as a work of art.'
+
+The career of Gilliatt, the hero of this romance, is important from
+certain social and philosophical aspects, as well as from the individual
+point of view. The work is a dissertation upon the dignity, duty, and
+power of labour, the French writer thus endorsing the dictum of Carlyle
+on this great question. Gilliatt, hand to hand with the elements,
+grapples with the last form of external force that is brought against
+him. It has been well observed that the artistic and moral lesson are
+worked out together, and are, indeed, one. Gilliatt, alone upon the reef
+at his herculean task, offers a type of human industry in the midst of
+the vague 'diffusion of forces into the illimitable' and the visionary
+development of 'wasted labour' in the sea, and the winds, and the
+clouds. It is man harassed and disappointed, and yet unconquered.
+
+In 1869 appeared a fourth important romance by Victor Hugo, the strange
+and grotesque _L'Homme qui Rit_. In this book there is a good deal to
+make the reader restive, for in some parts it is unquestionably
+repulsive. But when this has been borne with, there is still much
+invested with that peculiar interest which only the author can weave
+round his creations. The movement of life plays a subordinate part in
+the story, and the real purpose of the work is seen to be a description
+of the battle waged in the individual breast, first with Fate, and then
+with those ancient enemies of man, the World, the Flesh, and the Devil.
+Criticizing this book, Mr. Swinburne remarked: 'Has it not been steeped
+in the tears and the fire of live emotion? If the style be overcharged
+and overshining with bright sharp strokes and points, these are no
+fireworks of any mechanic's fashion; these are the phosphoric flashes of
+the sea-fire moving in the depths of the limitless and living sea.
+Enough that the book is great and heroic, tender and strong, full from
+end to end of divine and passionate love, of holy and ardent pity for
+men that suffer wrong at the hands of men; full, not less, of lyric
+loveliness and lyric force; and I, for one, am content to be simply glad
+and grateful: content in that simplicity of spirit to accept it as one
+more benefit at the hands of the Supreme singer now living among us the
+beautiful and lofty life of one loving the race of men he serves, and of
+them in all time to be beloved.' Yet, notwithstanding its evidences of
+power, _L'Homme qui Rit_ failed to obtain that deep hold upon the public
+mind which was secured by its predecessors.
+
+A writer in the _Cornhill_ pointed out that it was Hugo's object in this
+romance to denounce the aristocratic principle as it is exhibited in
+England. Satire plays a conspicuous part, but the constructive ingenuity
+exhibited throughout is almost morbid. 'Nothing could be more happily
+imagined, as a _reductio ad absurdum_ of the aristocratic principle,
+than the adventures of Gwynplaine, the itinerant mountebank, snatched
+suddenly out of his little way of life, and installed without
+preparation as one of the hereditary legislators of a great country. It
+is with a very bitter irony that the paper, on which all this depends,
+is left to float for years at the will of wind and tide.' There are also
+other striking contrasts. 'What can be finer in conception than that
+voice from the people heard suddenly in the House of Lords, in solemn
+arraignment of the pleasures and privileges of its splendid occupants?
+The horrible laughter, stamped for ever "by order of the King" upon the
+face of this strange spokesman of Democracy, adds yet another feature
+of justice to the scene; in all time, travesty has been the argument of
+oppression; and, in all time, the oppressed might have made this answer:
+"If I am vile, is it not your system that has made me so?" This ghastly
+laughter gives occasion, moreover, for the one strain of tenderness
+running through the web of this unpleasant story: the love of the blind
+girl Dea for the monster. It is a most benignant providence that thus
+harmoniously brings together these two misfortunes; it is one of these
+compensations, one of these after-thoughts of a relenting destiny, that
+reconcile us from time to time to the evil that is in the world; the
+atmosphere of the book is purified by the presence of this pathetic
+love; it seems to be above the story somehow, and not of it, as the full
+moon over the night of some foul and feverish city.' This last sentence
+exhibits a misapprehension of Victor Hugo's method. It is part of his
+plan to discover that which would be accounted as the most vile, the
+most contemptible, the most loathsome in human nature, and to show that
+it has some point of contact with the most educated, the most refined,
+the most beautiful. Critics may complain that he sacrifices art
+sometimes in doing so, but his reply would be that there can be no
+sacrifice of art where truth is concerned. Falsehood alone is
+destructive of art.
+
+I must pause here to note some interesting dramatic reproductions which
+took place in Paris in connection with the Exhibition of 1867. Existing
+dramatic literature was at a very low ebb, when the Emperor felt that
+this important international occasion ought to be further distinguished
+by the production of some new dramas. The managers were nonplussed, for
+they had nothing worth producing, and the Minister of Fine Arts ventured
+to hint as much to his Majesty. Ultimately the name of Victor Hugo was
+brought forward, and it was decided to bring out _Hernani_ at the
+Theatre Francais, and _Ruy Blas_ at the Odeon. On the 20th of June,
+accordingly, _Hernani_ was produced, and performed by a brilliant
+company, including Delaunay, Bressant, and Mademoiselle Favart. Twenty
+thousand applications had been made for tickets for the first
+performance. The audience was a very mixed one, and as it was feared
+that political disturbances might occur, the most rigid precautions were
+taken by the authorities. But there was no need for this--the piece was
+received with a favour that was practically unanimous; and although M.
+Francisque Sarcey (who was not then numbered amongst Hugo's admirers)
+hinted that the applause was not precisely genuine, his insinuations
+were soon rudely scattered to the winds. On the next night, and for
+eighty succeeding nights, this remarkable play drew forth the most
+genuine and vociferous applause.
+
+A number of young authors, including Francois Coppee, Armand Silvestre,
+and Sully Prudhomme, were so delighted with the success of _Hernani_
+that they addressed the following letter to the poet: 'Master most dear
+and most illustrious, we hail with enthusiastic delight the reproduction
+of _Hernani_. The fresh triumph of the greatest of French poets fills us
+with transports. The night of the 20th of June is an era in our
+existence. Yet sorrow mingles with our joy. Your absence was felt by
+your associates of 1830; still more was it bewailed by us younger men,
+who never yet have shaken hands with the author of _La Legende des
+Siecles_. At least they cannot resist sending you this tribute of their
+regard and unbounded admiration.' Writing from Brussels, Hugo thus
+replied: 'Dear poets, the literary revolution of 1830 was the corollary
+of the Revolution of 1789; it is the speciality of our century. I am the
+humble soldier of the advance. I fight for revolution in every form,
+literary as well as social. Liberty is my principle, progress my law,
+the ideal my type. I ask you, my young brethren, to accept my
+acknowledgments. At my time of life, the end, that is to say the
+infinite, seems very near. The approaching hour of departure from this
+world leaves little time for other than serious meditations; but while I
+am thus preparing to depart, your eloquent letter is very precious to
+me; it makes me dream of being among you, and the illusion bears to the
+reality the sweet resemblance of the sunset to the sunrise. You bid me
+welcome whilst I am making ready for a long farewell. Thanks; I am
+absent because it is my duty; my resolution is not to be shaken; but my
+heart is with you. I am proud to have my name encircled by yours, which
+are to me a crown of stars.' The writer who thus contemplated an early
+departure from the stage of human life was to accomplish much more
+before that event, and to witness many startling changes in his beloved
+France.
+
+The third Napoleon seems to have been inspired by a bitter jealousy of
+the genius of Victor Hugo, whose great influence he dreaded; and the
+poet answered this by an unconquerable distrust of the Emperor. After
+the representations to which I have drawn attention, Hugo declined to
+allow his play to be acted, and it was only at the close of Napoleon's
+reign that he could be prevailed upon to allow the production of
+_Lucrece Borgia_ at the Porte St. Martin. George Sand was present on
+this occasion, and thus wrote to the dramatist: 'I was present
+thirty-seven years ago at the first representation of _Lucrece_, and I
+shed tears of grief; with a heart full of joy I leave the performance of
+this day. I still hear the acclamations of the crowd as they shout,
+"Vive Victor Hugo!" as though you were really coming to hear them.'
+
+Hugo's sympathy with Garibaldi--for whom he had a profound
+admiration--found vent in 1867, in a poem entitled _La Voix de
+Guernesey_. It severely condemned the Mentana Expedition, and encouraged
+Garibaldi under the check he had sustained at the hands of the Pope and
+Napoleon III. Garibaldi replied with some verses styled 'Mentana,' and
+this interchange of friendship and goodwill between the two patriots
+stirred the worst blood of the French clerical party. The poems were
+circulated by some means throughout France in considerable numbers, the
+result being an Imperial order to stop the representations of _Hernani_,
+while the following letter was also despatched to the poet in Guernsey:
+'The manager of the Imperial Theatre de l'Odeon has the honour to inform
+M. Victor Hugo that the reproduction of _Ruy Blas_ is
+forbidden.--CHILLY.' From Guernsey came this pithy reply, addressed to
+the Tuileries: 'To M. Louis Bonaparte.--Sir, it is you that I hold
+responsible for the letter which I have just received signed
+Chilly.--VICTOR HUGO.'
+
+The Emperor would doubtless have given much could he have quenched the
+genius and subdued the patriotism of the exile. But though the former
+affected security in his power, and the latter looked for the triumph of
+the people, neither could anticipate the dawning of that day of
+humiliation and blood which in the course of a few years was to break
+over unhappy France.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+PARIS AND THE SIEGE.
+
+
+Having vowed never again to visit the land that was 'the resting-place
+of his ancestors and the birthplace of his love' until she had been
+restored to liberty, it is not surprising that Victor Hugo rejected the
+renewed amnesty offered him by Napoleon in 1869. The past ten years had
+wrought in him no signs of relenting, and when he was urged by his
+friend M. Felix Pyat to accept this new offer of a truce, he replied,
+'_S'il n'en reste qu'un, je serai celui-la_' ('If there remain only one,
+I will be that one'). When the Republican journal _Le Rappel_ was
+started, with Charles and Francois Hugo, Auguste Vacquerie, and Paul
+Meurice as its principal contributors (joined subsequently by M.
+Rochefort), he wrote for the opening number a congratulatory manifesto
+addressed to the editors. By every means in his power, indeed, he
+endeavoured to advance Republican principles.
+
+Early in 1870 Napoleon was so impressed by the spread of Republican
+feeling that he resolved to test the stability of his power and the
+magic of his name by a _plebiscite_. This step was condemned by Hugo,
+who asked why the people should be invited to participate in another
+electoral crime. He thus gave vent to his burning indignation at the
+proposal: 'While the author of the _Coup d'Etat_ wants to put a question
+to the people, we would ask him to put this question to himself, "Ought
+I, Napoleon, to quit the Tuileries for the Conciergerie, and to put
+myself at the disposal of justice?" "Yes!"' This bold and stinging
+retort led to the prosecution of the journal and the writer for inciting
+to hatred and contempt of the Imperial Government. But the poet went on
+his course unmoved, now engaged in writing his study of _Shakespeare_,
+and now in responding to the appeals made to him from various quarters,
+including those from the insurgents of Cuba, the Irish Fenians who had
+just been convicted, and the friends of peace at the Lausanne Congress.
+He had suffered another domestic grief in 1868 by the death of his
+wife, his unfailing sympathizer and consoler in his early struggles,
+and other sorrows were impending.
+
+The war with Prussia in 1870 led to the disaster of Sedan, and the
+collapse of the Empire. Hugo at once hastened to France, where he was
+welcomed with heartfelt enthusiasm by his friends of the Revolutionary
+Government formed on the 4th of September. M. Jules Claretie, who
+accompanied the poet on the journey from Brussels to Paris, has written
+a graphic account of his return to the beloved city. At Landrecies Hugo
+saw evidences of the rout and the ruin which had overtaken France. 'In
+the presence of the great disaster, whereby the whole French army seemed
+vanquished and dispersed, tears rolled down his cheeks, and his whole
+frame quivered with sobs. He bought up all the bread that could be
+secured, and distributed it among the famished troops.' The scene in
+Paris on Hugo's arrival was a memorable one. 'Through the midst of the
+vast populace,' continues the narrator, 'I followed him with my gaze. I
+looked with admiration on that man, now advancing in years, but faithful
+still in vindicating right, and never now do I behold him greeted with
+the salutations of a grateful people without recalling the scene of
+that momentous night, when with weeping eyes he returned to see his
+country as she lay soiled and dishonoured and well-nigh dead.'
+Concerning this scene, M. Alphonse Daudet also wrote: 'He arrived just
+as the circle of investment was closing in around the city; he came by
+the last train, bringing with him the last breath of the air of freedom.
+He had come to be a guardian of Paris; and what an ovation was that
+which he received outside the station from those tumultuous throngs
+already revolutionized, who were prepared to do great things, and
+infinitely more rejoiced at the liberty they had regained than terrified
+by the cannon that were thundering against their ramparts! Never can we
+forget the spectacle as the carriage passed along the Rue Lafayette,
+Victor Hugo standing up, and being literally borne along by the teeming
+multitudes.' At one point, in acknowledging his enthusiastic reception,
+Hugo said: 'I thank you for your acclamations. But I attribute them all
+to your sense of the anguish that is rending all hearts, and to the
+peril that is threatening our land. I have but one thing to demand of
+you. I invite you to union. By union you will conquer. Subdue all
+ill-will; check all resentment. Be united, and you shall be invincible.
+Rally round the Republic. Hold fast, brother to brother. Victory is in
+our keeping. Fraternity is the saviour of liberty!' Addressing also the
+crowd assembled in the Avenue Frochot, the place of his destination, the
+poet assured them that that single hour had compensated him for all his
+nineteen years of exile.
+
+Installed at the house of his friend Paul Meurice, Hugo remained in
+Paris all through the siege. The Empire having fallen, the cause of
+strife had ceased, and Hugo addressed a manifesto to the Germans, in
+which he said: 'This war does not proceed from us. It was the Empire
+that willed the war; it was the Empire that prosecuted it. But now the
+Empire is dead, and an excellent thing too. We have nothing to do with
+its corpse; it is all the past, we are the future. The Empire was
+hatred, we are sympathy; that was treason, we are loyalty. The Empire
+was Capua, nay, it was Gomorrha; we are France. Our motto is "Liberty,
+Equality, Fraternity;" on our banner we inscribe, "The United States of
+Europe." Whence, then, this onslaught? Pause a while before you present
+to the world the spectacle of Germans becoming Vandals, and of barbarism
+decapitating civilization.' But the victorious Germans did not share the
+peaceful sentiments of the writer, and it would have gone ill with him
+if, like his manifesto, he had fallen into the hands of the Prussian
+Generals.
+
+The siege went on, and the poet laid the funds from his works at the
+feet of the Republic. Readings were given of _Les Chatiments_, and other
+poems, and the proceeds expended in ammunition. It was a brave struggle
+on the part of the Parisians. Gambetta called on Hugo to thank him for
+his services to the country, when the latter replied: 'Make use of me in
+any way you can for the public good. Distribute me as you would dispense
+water. My books are even as myself; they are all the property of France.
+With them, with me, do just as you think best.' The poet kept up a brave
+heart during the privations of hunger, and cheered many of the younger
+spirits at his table by his pleasantry and wit, which relieved the gloom
+that pressed so heavily over all. When the great and terrible time of
+peril and suffering was past, he left it on record: 'Never did city
+exhibit such fortitude. Not a soul gave way to despair, and courage
+increased in proportion as misery grew deeper. Not a crime was
+committed. Paris earned the admiration of the world. Her struggle was
+noble, and she would not give in. Her women were as brave as her men.
+Surrendered and betrayed she was; but she was not conquered.' One can
+scarcely wonder that men who loved Paris as a woman loves her child can
+never forget the humiliation she was called upon to pass through.
+
+In the list of the Committee of Public Safety, which was responsible for
+the insurrectionary movement of the 31st of October, the name of Victor
+Hugo appeared; but he disavowed its use, and on the ensuing 5th of
+November he declined to become a candidate at the general election of
+the mayors of Paris. Nevertheless, 4,029 suffrages were accorded him in
+the 15th arrondissement. In the elections of February, 1871, he was
+returned second on the list with 214,000 votes, Louis Blanc coming first
+with 216,000, and Garibaldi third with 200,000 votes. Speaking on the
+1st of March in the National Assembly--which met at Bordeaux--Hugo
+strongly denounced the preliminaries of peace. The treaty, however, was
+ratified. Interposing in the debate which subsequently took place on the
+election of Garibaldi, he said: 'France has met with nothing but
+cowardice from Europe. Not a Power, not a single King rose to assist us.
+One man alone intervened in our favour; that man had an idea and a
+sword. With his idea he delivered one people; with his sword he
+delivered another. Of all the Generals who fought for France, Garibaldi
+is the only one who was not beaten.' A strange scene of tumult arose
+upon this speech, many members of the Right gesticulating and
+threatening violently. Rising in the midst of an uproar that was
+indescribable, Hugo announced that he should send in his resignation.
+This he accordingly did, and remained firm, notwithstanding the earnest
+entreaties to withdraw it on the part of the President, M. Grevy. Next
+day, in consequence, there was nothing for the President to do but to
+announce the resignation, which was couched in these terms: 'Three weeks
+ago the Assembly refused to hear Garibaldi; now it refuses to hear me. I
+resign my seat.' Louis Blanc expressed his profound grief at the
+resignation; it was, he said, adding another drop of sorrow to a cup
+that seemed already over-full; and he grieved that a voice so powerful
+should be hushed just at an emergency when the country should be showing
+its gratitude to all its benefactors. Garibaldi thus wrote to Hugo: 'It
+needs no writing to show that we are of one accord; we understand each
+other; the deeds that you have done, and the affection that I have borne
+for you make a bond of union between us. What you have testified for me
+at Bordeaux is a pledge of a life devoted to humanity.'
+
+It was at this juncture that the poet was called upon to mourn the loss
+of his son Charles, who died suddenly from congestion of the brain.
+There had been an unusually close bond between the two, and the shock
+came with great force upon the father. The body of the deceased was
+brought to Paris for interment, Hugo following the hearse on foot to the
+family vault at Pere la Chaise. Funeral orations were delivered by
+Auguste Vacquerie and Louis Mie.
+
+From Brussels, whither he had gone after his son's death, the poet
+protested against the horrors of the Commune. He also vainly tried to
+preserve the column in the Place Vendome from destruction. He wrote his
+poem, _Les deux Trophees_, referring to the column and the Arc de
+Triomphe, with the object of staying the hands of the destroyers, but
+the mad work went forward. Nevertheless, it was characteristic of him
+that after the insurrection was at an end, he pleaded for mercy towards
+the offenders. In his house at Brussels many fugitives found shelter,
+until the Belgian Government banished them from the country. In reply to
+this edict Hugo published an article in _L'Independance_. He declared
+that although Belgium by law might refuse an asylum to the refugees, his
+own conscience could not approve that law. The Church of the Middle Ages
+had offered sanctuary even to parricides, and such sanctuary the
+fugitives should find at his home; it was his privilege to open his door
+if he would to his foe, and it ought to be Belgium's glory to be a place
+of refuge. England did not surrender the refugees, and why should
+Belgium be behindhand in magnanimity? But these arguments were of no
+avail with the exasperated Belgians. A few of the more ruffianly spirits
+of Brussels actually made an attack upon the poet's house, which they
+assaulted with stones, to the great danger of Madame Charles Hugo and
+her children. Defeated in their attempts to break in the door or to
+scale the house, the assailants at length made off. So far at first from
+any redress being granted to Hugo for this outrageous assault, or any
+punishment being meted out to the offenders, the poet himself was
+ordered to quit the kingdom immediately, and forbidden to return under
+penalties of the law of 1865. A debate took place in the Chamber, and as
+the result of this debate and various protests, the Government did not
+order the indiscriminate expulsion of all exiles, as they had
+contemplated. They also made some show of satisfaction to Hugo by
+ordering a judicial inquiry into the attack upon his residence. In the
+end a son of the Minister of the Interior was fined a nominal sum of 100
+francs for being concerned in the outrage.
+
+Hugo now made a tour through Luxemburg, and afterwards visited London,
+returning to Paris at the close of the year 1871. After the trial of the
+Communists he pleaded earnestly, but in vain, for the lives of Rossel,
+Lullier, Ferre, Cremieux, and Maroteau. In the elections of January,
+1872, he got into a difficulty with the Radicals of Paris in consequence
+of his refusal to accept the _mandat imperatif_. This, he explained,
+was contrary to his principles, for conscience might not take orders. He
+was willing to accept a _mandat contractuel_, by which there could be a
+more open discussion between the elector and the elected. Hugo was
+defeated, receiving only 95,900 votes, as against 122,435 given to his
+opponent, M. Vautrain, a result partly accounted for by Hugo's amnesty
+proposals. The poet published, in September, 1873, _La Liberation du
+Territoire_, a poem which was sold for the benefit of the inhabitants of
+Alsace and Lorraine. In it the writer strongly condemned the adulation
+poured upon the Shah of Persia, then on a visit to France, and
+respecting whose cruelty and barbarism many anecdotes were current.
+
+On the morning following Christmas Day, 1873, the poet was again called
+upon to bear a great loss by the death of his only remaining son,
+Francois Victor. At the funeral Louis Blanc delivered a short address,
+in which he extolled the literary ability, the integrity, and the
+virtues of the deceased. To the shouts of '_Vive Victor Hugo! Vive la
+Republique!_' the weeping poet was led away from the grave-side.
+
+During the siege of Paris, Hugo kept a diary of this lurid history, and
+upon this he constructed his poem _L'Annee Terrible_--the events
+celebrated extending from August, 1870, to July, 1871. Speaking of this
+work, a writer whom I have already quoted remarked that 'the poems of
+the siege at once demand and defy commentary; they should be studied in
+their order as parts of one tragic symphony. From the overture, which
+tells of the old glory of Germany before turning to France with a cry of
+inarticulate love, to the sad majestic epilogue which seals up the
+sorrowful record of the days of capitulation, the various and continuous
+harmony flows forward through light and shadow, with bursts of thunder
+and tempest, and interludes of sunshine and sweet air.' The variety of
+note in these tragic poems has also been well insisted upon. 'There is
+an echo of all emotions in turn that the great spirit of a patriot and a
+poet could suffer and express by translation of suffering into song; the
+bitter cry of invective and satire, the clear trumpet-call to defence,
+the triumphal wail for those who fell for France, the passionate sob of
+a son on the stricken bosom of a mother, the deep note of thought that
+slowly opens into flower of speech; and through all and after all, the
+sweet unspeakable music of natural and simple love. After the voice
+which reproaches the priest-like soldier, we hear the voice which
+rebukes the militant priest; and a fire, as the fire of Juvenal, is
+outshone by a light as the light of Lucretius.' Mr. Dowden sees in these
+poems the work of a Frenchman throughout, not a man of the Commune, nor
+a man of Versailles. 'The most precious poems of the book are those
+which keep close to facts rather than concern themselves with ideas. The
+sunset seen from the ramparts; the floating bodies of the Prussians
+borne onward by the Seine, caressed and kissed and still swayed on by
+the eddying water; the bomb which fell near the old man's feet while he
+sat where had been the Convent of the Feuillantines, and where he had
+walked in under the trees in Aprils long ago, holding his mother's hand;
+the petroleuse, dragged like a chained beast through the scorching
+streets of Paris; the gallant boy who came to confront death by the side
+of his friends--memories of these it is which haunt us when we have
+closed the book--of these, and of the little limbs and transparent
+fingers, and baby-smile, and murmur like the murmur of bees, and the
+face changed from rosy health to a pathetic paleness of the one-year-old
+grandchild, too soon to become an orphan.' But other critics, while
+acknowledging the force of the writing and the noble aspirations of the
+author, place the work on a considerably lower level as a whole. Yet no
+one who knows the work can surely deny that the poet has thrown a halo
+of glory round the concrete facts of a disastrous and momentous period.
+
+While the language of despair was held by many of his friends at this
+dark crisis in French history, Victor Hugo never once wavered in his
+hopes for the future of his country. So far from being annihilated, he
+predicted that France would rise to enjoy a greater height of
+prosperity, and a more durable peace, than she had ever enjoyed under
+the Empire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+'QUATRE-VINGT-TREIZE.'--POLITICS, ETC.
+
+
+In 1874 appeared the last of Victor Hugo's great romances,
+_Quatre-Vingt-Treize_. It was published on the same day in ten
+languages. This grand historical and political novel was a fitting close
+to a series of works unexampled in scope and breadth of conception. A
+great prose epic upon that terrible year in French history, 1793, it
+excited the liveliest interest throughout Europe, and critics of all
+shades of opinion hastened to do justice to its extraordinary merits.
+Even those warm admirers of the author's superb imaginative genius, who
+had looked forward with misgiving to this daring excursion into the
+historic field, admitted that his complete success had justified the
+effort. They extolled the work as 'a monument of its author's finest
+gifts; and while those who are, happily, endowed with the capacity of
+taking delight in nobility and beauty of imaginative work will find
+themselves in possession of a new treasure, the lover of historic truth,
+who hates to see abstractions passed off for actualities, and legend
+erected in the place of fact, escapes with his praiseworthy
+sensibilities unwounded.'
+
+The work is on a colossal scale, exhibiting great breadth of touch,
+while the style has now the power of the lightning, and now the calm and
+the depth of the measureless sea. 'With La Vendee for background, and
+some savage incidents of the bloody Vendean war for external machinery,
+Victor Hugo has realized his conception of '93 in three types of
+character--Lantenac, the Royalist marquis; Cimourdain, the Puritan
+turned Jacobin; and Gauvain, for whom one can as yet find no short name,
+he belonging to the Millenarian times.' It was said that there is
+nothing more magnificent in literature than the last volume of this
+work, and while its author had no rival in the sombre, mysterious
+heights of imaginative effect, he was equally a master in strokes of
+tenderness and the most delicate human sympathy. Rapidity and profusion
+are the pre-eminent characteristics of this work--'a profusion as of
+starry worlds, a style resembling waves of the sea, sometimes indeed
+weltering dark and massive, but ever and anon flashing with the foamy
+lightning of genius. The finish and rich accurate perfection of our own
+great living poet Tennyson are absent. Hugo is far more akin to Byron;
+but his range is vaster than Byron's. He has Byron's fierce satire, and
+more than Byron's humour, though it is the fashion to generalize and say
+that the French have none. He is both a lyrical and epic poet. He is a
+greater dramatist than Byron; and whether in the dramas or prose
+romances, he shows that vast sympathy with, and knowledge of, human
+nature which neither Byron, Shelley, Coleridge, nor Wordsworth had.
+Scott could be his only rival. In France they had lived dramatic lives
+for the last ninety years; we have lived much more quietly in England,
+and in France there is a real living drama.'
+
+As this book, full-hearted in its passion, and deeply-veined with human
+emotion, is the last of Victor Hugo's prose romances, some brief general
+allusions to him as a novelist will be appropriate. Taking the five
+books (which have been referred to in the order of their publication)
+alone, viz., _Notre-Dame_, _Les Miserables_, _Les Travailleurs_,
+_L'Homme qui Rit_, and _Quatre-Vingt-Treize_--they would have made the
+fame of any writer; and yet, it has been justly remarked, they are but
+one facade of the splendid monument that Victor Hugo has erected to his
+own genius. I am not one of those who would contend that Hugo's style is
+everywhere immaculate. On the contrary, he sometimes sins greatly; but
+these occasions are rare compared with his mighty triumphs. Still,
+justice must not be extinguished in admiration. My own view of Hugo's
+literary gifts, as expressed more especially in his romances, has been
+so fairly put by another writer that I shall transfer, and at the same
+time in the main adopt, his language: 'Everywhere we find somewhat the
+same greatness, somewhat the same infirmities. In his poems and plays
+there are the same unaccountable protervities that have already
+astonished us in the romances; there, too, is the same feverish
+strength, welding the fiery iron of his idea under forge-hammer
+repetitions; an emphasis that is somehow akin to weakness; a strength
+that is a little epileptic. He stands so far above all his
+contemporaries, and so incomparably excels them in richness, breadth,
+variety, and moral earnestness, that we almost feel as if he had a sort
+of right to fall oftener and more heavily than others; but this does not
+reconcile us to seeing him profit by the privilege so freely. We like to
+have in our great men something that is above question; we like to place
+an implicit faith in them, and see them always on the platform of their
+greatness: and this, unhappily, cannot be with Hugo. As Heine said long
+ago, his is a genius somewhat deformed; but, deformed as it is, we
+accept it gladly; we shall have the wisdom to see where his foot slips,
+but we shall have the justice also to recognise in him the greatest
+artist of our generation, and, in many ways, one of the greatest artists
+of all time. If we look back, yet once, upon these five romances, we see
+blemishes such as we can lay to the charge of no other man in the number
+of the famous; but to what other man can we attribute such sweeping
+innovations, such a new and significant view of life and man, such an
+amount, if we think of the amount merely, of equally consummate
+performance?' It is in the nature of the human intellect, finite as it
+is, to relax sometimes from its highest strain, and if Victor Hugo
+failed at times to scale his loftiest note of thought or expression, it
+may be remembered also that even Shakespeare was not always in the mood
+for producing _Hamlets_.
+
+There appeared, in 1874, Hugo's pathetic sketch 'Mes Fils,' containing a
+tribute of affection to his own dead children; and in 1875-6 was
+published his _Actes et Paroles_. This justificatory work was in three
+parts, which dealt respectively with the period before exile, the period
+of exile, and the period since exile. 'The trilogy is not mine,' said
+the author, 'but the Emperor Napoleon's; he it is who has divided my
+life; to him the honour of it is due. That which is Bonaparte's we must
+render to Caesar.' Although he first strongly countenanced resistance,
+the writer concluded with an exhortation to clemency, holding that
+resistance to tyrants should not be deemed inconsistent with mercy to
+the vanquished. We have here a complete collection of Hugo's addresses,
+orations, and confessions of faith, etc., during the preceding thirty
+years. _Pour un Soldat_, a little brochure written in favour of an
+obscure soldier, appeared in 1875. Its publication not only resulted in
+saving the life of the soldier, who had been condemned for a venial
+crime, but the sufferers in Alsace and Lorraine reaped the pecuniary
+fruits of its popularity. The second part of _La Legende des Siecles_
+was published in 1877. At this time the poet was living in the Rue de
+Clichy, No. 21, sharing part of the house with Madame Charles Hugo, who,
+after a widowhood of some years, married M. Charles Lockroy, deputy for
+the Seine, and also known as a man of letters. Madame Drouet, who had
+befriended the poet when he was proscribed in 1851, placed her salon in
+this house at the poet's disposal for the reception of his friends. M.
+Barbou, who saw much of Hugo in this residence, thus describes the man
+and his habits: 'The hand, no doubt, is too slow for the gigantic work
+that the poet conceives. And yet no moment is ever lost. Generally up
+with the sun, he writes until mid-day, and often until two o'clock.
+Then, after a light luncheon, he goes to the Senate, where, during
+intervals of debate, he despatches all his correspondence. He finds his
+recreation generally by taking a walk, although not unfrequently he will
+mount to the top of an omnibus just for the sake of finding himself in
+the society of the people, with whom he has shown his boundless
+sympathy. At eight o'clock he dines, making it his habit to invite not
+only his nearest friends, but such as he thinks stand in need of
+encouragement, to join him and his grandchildren at their social meal.
+At table Victor Hugo relaxes entirely from his seriousness. The powerful
+orator, the earnest pleader, becomes the charming and attractive host,
+full of anecdote, censuring whatever is vile, but ever ready to make
+merry over what is grotesque.... Hale and vigorous in his appearance,
+precise and elegant in his attire, with unbowed head, and with thick,
+white hair crowning his unfurrowed brow, he commands involuntary
+admiration. Round his face is a close white beard, which he has worn
+since the later period of his sojourn in Guernsey as a safeguard against
+sore throat; but he shows no token of infirmity. His countenance may be
+said to have in it something both of the lion and the eagle, yet his
+voice is grave, and his manner singularly gentle.'
+
+The same writer devotes a chapter to Hugo's love of children, _a propos_
+of his _L'Art d'etre Grand-pere_. It is perfectly true that women, and
+children also, stirred in the poet an element of chivalrous devotion.
+He also strove to exalt woman as something far beyond the mere passion
+and plaything of man; while as to children, 'he is pathetic over an
+infant's cradle, he is delighted at childhood's prattle, and to him the
+fair-haired head of innocence is as full of interest as the glory of a
+man.' Nor was there anything derogatory to his genius in this, or in his
+making Georges and Jeanne, his two grandchildren, the hero and heroine
+of the work above named. When the wisdom of his indulgence was
+questioned, he replied that he agreed with M. Gaucher, who held that 'a
+father's duties are by no means light; he has to instruct, to correct,
+to chastise; but with the grandfather it is different, he is privileged
+to love and to spoil.' But he taught the oneness of humanity even to his
+grandchildren; and once, when they were about to enjoy the good and
+pleasant things of this life, he bade the children fetch in some
+houseless orphans who were crouching under the window, in order to share
+their appetizing dishes. Unconquered by his opponents, Hugo confessed
+himself a captive to the children, and he defined Paradise as 'a place
+where children are always little, and parents are always young.'
+
+Towards the close of his eighth decade, the poet seemed to have almost
+abandoned political life, but he had not forgotten his friends and the
+electors of Paris. Innumerable letters published in the public press
+proved this, as well as his presence as chairman at a number of
+Democratic conventions, and the delivery of a number of public
+discourses, such as those pronounced at the obsequies of M. Edgar Quinet
+and Madame Louis Blanc. Preparatory to the first Senatorial elections,
+M. Clemenceau, President of the Municipal Council of Paris, waited upon
+the poet, and in the name of the majority of his colleagues offered him
+the function of delegate. Hugo accepted, and at once issued his
+manifesto, entitled 'The Delegate of Paris to the Delegates of the
+36,000 Communes of France,' in which he reiterated, with redoubled
+energy, his old idea of the abolition of monarchy by the federation of
+the peoples. On the 30th of January, 1876, he was elected Senator of
+Paris, but only after a keen struggle. He was fourth out of five, and
+was not returned until after a second scrutiny, when it was found that
+he had secured 114 votes out of a total of 216.
+
+Soon after his election, Hugo introduced a proposal in the Senate for
+granting an amnesty to all those condemned for the events of March,
+1871, and to all those then undergoing punishment for political crimes
+or offences in Paris, including the assassins of the hostages. On the
+22nd of May he delivered an eloquent oration in support of his motion.
+Towards the close of his address, he described the state of the
+prisoners in New Caledonia. Having painted their agony, and deplored the
+continuation of the prosecutions and the last transport of convicts, he
+said: 'That is how the 18th of March has been atoned for. As for the 2nd
+of December, it has been glorified, it has been adored and venerated, it
+has become a legal crime. The priests have prayed for it, the judges
+have judged by it, and the representatives of the people, at whom the
+blows were dealt by this crime, not only received them, but accepted and
+submitted to them, acting with all rigour against the people and all
+baseness before the Emperor. It is time to put a stop to the
+astonishment of the human conscience; it is time to renounce that double
+shame of two weights and two measures. I ask a full amnesty for the
+events of the 18th of March.' The motion was rejected, only about seven
+hands being held up for the amnesty. The poet-orator again pleaded the
+same cause in January, 1879, but his proposal was coldly received.
+Nevertheless, in the following month an Amnesty Bill was passed by the
+Chamber of Deputies.
+
+Early in 1877 appeared the second part of the _Legende des Siecles_; and
+it is pleasant to recall an interchange of courtesies which took place
+in this year between Victor Hugo and our own greatly-honoured poet, Lord
+Tennyson. In the month of June, 1877, there appeared in the _Nineteenth
+Century_ the following sonnet, addressed to Hugo by the Poet Laureate:
+
+
+     'Victor in Poesy, Victor in Romance,
+       Cloud-weaver of phantasmal hopes and fears,
+       French of the French, and lord of human tears;
+     Child-lover; Bard whose fame-lit laurels glance,
+     Darkening the wreaths of all that would advance,
+       Beyond our strait, their claim to be thy peers;
+       Weird Titan, by the winter-weight of years
+     As yet unbroken, stormy voice of France;
+       Who dost not love our England--so they say;
+     I know not--England, France, all man to be
+     Will make one people ere man's race be run:
+       And I, desiring that diviner day,
+     Yield thee full thanks for thy full courtesy
+     To younger England in the boy, my son.'
+
+
+To this sonnet the French poet returned a reply which I may translate
+as follows: 'My dear and eminent _confrere_, I read with emotion your
+superb lines. It is a reflection of your own glory that you send me. How
+shall I not love that England which produces such men as you! The
+England of Wilberforce, the England of Milton and of Newton! The England
+of Shakespeare! France and England are for me one people only, as Truth
+and Liberty are one light only. I believe in the unity of humanity, as I
+believe in the Divine unity. I love all peoples and all men. I admire
+your noble verses. Receive the cordial grasp of my hand. It made me
+happy to know your charming son, for it seemed to me that while clasping
+his hand I was pressing yours.'
+
+In 1877-78 appeared Hugo's _L'Histoire d'un Crime_. It possessed special
+interest from its autobiographical character, and, like many of its
+predecessors, it was instinct with energy and passion. By way of preface
+to this history, the author remarked, 'This work is more than opportune;
+it is imperative. I publish it.' Then came the following explanatory
+note: 'This work was written twenty-six years ago at Brussels, during
+the first months of exile. It was begun on the 14th of December, 1851,
+and on the day succeeding the author's arrival in Belgium, and was
+finished on the 5th of May, 1852, as though chance had willed that the
+anniversary of the death of the first Bonaparte should be countersigned
+by the condemnation of the third. It is also chance which, through a
+combination of work, of cares, and of bereavements, has delayed the
+publication of this history until this extraordinary year, 1877. In
+causing the recital of events of the past to coincide with the events of
+to-day, has chance had any purpose? We hope not. As we have just said,
+the story of the _Coup d'Etat_ was written by a hand still hot from the
+combat against the _Coup d'Etat_. The exile immediately became an
+historian. He carried away this crime in his angered memory, and he was
+resolved to lose nothing of it: hence this book. The manuscript of 1851
+has been very little revised. It remains what it was, abounding in
+details, and living, it might be said bleeding, with real facts. The
+author constituted himself an interrogating judge; all his companions of
+the struggle and of exile came to give evidence before him. He has
+added his testimony to theirs. Now history is in possession of it; it
+will judge. If God wills, the publication of this book will shortly be
+terminated. The continuation and conclusion will appear on the 2nd of
+December. An appropriate date.'
+
+When the second part of the work was issued at the beginning of 1878,
+France had fortunately passed through a time of great political
+excitement without those fearful consequences which have frequently
+followed such periods in her history. The continuation of Victor Hugo's
+work did not consequently create such popular fervour as it might
+otherwise have done. But the author was as scathing as ever in his
+invectives, and no one knew such strong depths of bitterness and
+indignation as he. The satellites of Louis Napoleon were sketched with
+the pen of a Swift, and in the delineation of their master we find such
+touches as this: 'Louis Napoleon laid claim to a knowledge of men, and
+his claim was justified. He prided himself on it, and from one point of
+view he was right. Others possess discrimination; he had a nose. 'Twas
+bestial, but infallible.' As for the members of his court, 'they lived
+for pleasure. They lived by the public death. They breathed an
+atmosphere of shame, and throve on what kills honest people.' There are
+many interesting episodes in a momentous period dealt with throughout
+this work, which, like everything else by its author, is instinct with
+his strong personality.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+POEMS ON RELIGION.
+
+
+Victor Hugo's attitude on religion was the subject of frequent comment.
+It is now known that so far from being a sceptic, as was frequently
+declared, he had a firm belief in God and immortality. When a
+rationalist on one occasion said to him that though he himself had a dim
+belief in immortality, he doubted whether the outcasts of society could
+have any belief in their own immortality, the poet replied, 'Perhaps
+they believe in it more than you do.'
+
+Arsene Houssaye has left an interesting sketch of certain religious
+confidences with which Hugo favoured him some years before his last
+illness. 'I am conscious within myself of the certainty of a future
+life,' the poet expressly said. 'The nearer I approach my end the
+clearer do I hear the immortal symphonies of worlds that call me to
+themselves. For half a century I have been outpouring my volumes of
+thought in prose and in verse, in history, philosophy, drama, romance,
+ode, and ballad, yet I appear to myself not to have said a thousandth
+part of what is within me; and when I am laid in the tomb I shall not
+reckon that my life is finished; the grave is not a _cul-de-sac_, it is
+an avenue; death is the sublime prolongation of life, not its dreary
+finish; it closes in the twilight, it opens in the dawn. My work is only
+begun; I yearn for it to become brighter and nobler; and this craving
+for the infinite demonstrates that there is an infinity.' He denied that
+there were any occult forces responsible for the creation of man and
+nature; there was a luminous force, and that was God. Continuing the
+thought as to his own future existence, he added, 'I am nothing, a
+passing echo, an evanescent cloud; but let me only live on through my
+future existences, let me continue the work I have begun, let me
+surmount the perils, the passions, the agonies, that age after age may
+be before me, and who shall tell whether I may not rise to have a place
+in the council-chamber of the Ruler that controls all, and whom we own
+as God?'
+
+If his creed had not many doctrines, it was at least very clear upon
+those which he did hold. He set against the God of the Papists, as he
+conceived him, another being whom he regarded as the personification of
+the true, the just, and the beautiful, who made his influence everywhere
+felt, but nowhere more deeply or more permanently than in the human
+conscience. In April, 1878, Hugo gave a concrete form to some of his
+religious ideas in his poem entitled _Le Pape_. It represented the
+Pope--though not the existing or any particular Pontiff--as having a
+long dream. He finds himself treading in the steps of Christ, mixing
+with and succouring the poor and the afflicted, eschewing all pomp,
+interposing between two hostile armies and preventing bloodshed, saving
+the malefactor from the scaffold, and finally leaving Rome for
+Jerusalem. All this, of course, is a fearful mistake; his Holiness wakes
+up, declares that he has had a frightful dream, and clings to the
+Syllabus and worldly state more firmly than ever. The contrast was very
+sharply drawn between the good, ideal pastor, and the worldly and
+sensual father too often met with. Hugo's evolvement of his own ideas
+led to much controversy, and his book was severely attacked. By way of
+reply he issued _La Pitie Supreme_. For those who sinned through
+ignorance and defective education, he inculcated pity and forgiveness;
+and the work generally furnished but another illustration to many which
+had gone before of the liberality of his mind, and his support of the
+doctrine of universal toleration. At a still later date, in his _L'Ane_,
+he once more denounced false teachers. Desiring, like Rabelais, to lash
+his kind, the poet put his denunciations into the mouth of an ass, which
+animal was taken to be the type of unsophisticated man. In the pages of
+this satire, observed Louis Ulbach, 'the poet at the climax of his life,
+dazzled though he is by the nearness of the dawn beyond, glances back at
+those whom he has left behind, addresses them with raillery keen enough
+to stimulate them, but not stern enough to discourage them, and from the
+standpoint of his severity, puts a fool's cap upon all false science,
+false wisdom, and false piety.' Nevertheless, the work was regarded as a
+failure, in spite of its scintillations of genius, the satiric power of
+Victor Hugo being one rather of fierce denunciation than that which
+consists in the perception of the incongruous in humanity.
+
+Another work in which Hugo endeavoured to place the false and the true
+in religion side by side, was his _Religions et Religion_, issued in
+1880. 'This book,' said the author in a prefatory note, 'was commenced
+in 1870, and completed in 1880. The year 1870 gave infallibility to the
+Papacy, and Sedan to the Empire. What is the year 1880 to bring forth?'
+_Religions et Religion_ was an attack not only upon various systems of
+religion, but also upon those who attack all religion. The writer made
+an assault upon the system of Milton, and established a system of
+religion of his own, which in its catholicity should embrace all spirits
+who love the good. The work was regarded as part of the great epic _Le
+Fin de Satan_, which had been foreshadowed many years before. But, as
+one of his critics remarked, if Hugo had fallen into the mistake of
+thinking that this book was not only a poem full of the loveliest
+sayings and the noblest aspirations, but a valuable treatise on theology
+and philosophy, it was but a mistake which he had been making ever since
+he began to write. Hugo's new poem 'is an emphatic, not to say a
+violent, answer to two different systems of poetic religion, each of
+which is itself at war with the other--the system of Dante and the
+system of Milton. Without Hell, Dante would never have been able to
+write a line of the Inferno; and without the Devil, Milton would have
+been in a condition equally forlorn. Yet M. Hugo's book is an attack
+upon both these venerable beliefs, and also upon the positivists who are
+trying to undermine them.' Hugo, in short, gave his support to the
+unconscious humourist who complained of _Paradise Lost_ that it proved
+nothing.
+
+As a polemic in verse, the poet was not very successful; but no one
+would turn to the poems of Victor Hugo in order to find the successful
+controversial theologian. No doubt he made the mistake of believing that
+he was eminently fitted for grappling with abstruse religious theories,
+and he was not the first literary genius who has done so. But if he
+failed in polemics in the work at which I have just glanced, there still
+remained, in all his energy and fulness, Hugo the poet and the
+philanthropist.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+PUBLIC ADDRESSES, ETC.
+
+
+Victor Hugo was unquestionably a great orator, or rather I ought perhaps
+to say he exhibited the powers of a great orator on special occasions.
+If eloquence is to be measured by the effect which it has upon the
+audience, he had the electrical force of the orator in no small degree;
+for in connection with certain persons and topics he was successful in
+enkindling an enthusiasm in his hearers which was almost unparalleled.
+But his oratory was not of that even kind which, if it never passes
+beyond a given elevation, never sinks on the other hand into bathos or
+commonplace. Hugo had a wonderful gift of language, and he was an orator
+when his heart was thrown into his subject, and he pressed into its
+service all the wealth of rhetoric he had at command. Nevertheless, some
+of his public utterances were far from being successful--a result due
+in some instances to extravagance of language and quixotism of idea, and
+in others to the absence of that 'sweet reasonableness' which
+dispassionately weighs and considers the opinions of others, and judges
+righteous judgment.
+
+At the celebration of the Voltaire centenary in Paris in May, 1878, Hugo
+was the chief speaker. The great meeting was held in the Gaite Theatre,
+which was crowded to suffocation. One who was present stated that while
+all the speakers at the demonstration were warmly applauded, it was only
+when Victor Hugo arose that the full tempest of acclamation burst forth.
+'Can a grander, a more striking, a more exaggerated scene be conceived
+than this association of Victor Hugo and Voltaire, of the most eloquent
+and the most touching of French orators exhausting his mines of highly
+coloured epithets and colossal antitheses on the ironical head of
+Voltaire? A report of his speech does not suffice; the white head and
+apostle's beard, the inspired eye, the solemn voice, rolling as if it
+would sound in the ears of posterity; the involuntarily haughty attitude
+in vain striving to seem modest; the imperturbable seriousness with
+which he piles antithesis upon antithesis--all this must be realized.'
+Hugo was enthusiastically cheered on taking the chair. Waving his arm he
+exclaimed, '_Vive la Republique!_'--a cry which was then taken up with
+equal fervour by every person in the audience. After the other speakers
+had been heard, the distinguished chairman delivered his oration. He
+rapidly sketched the work accomplished by Voltaire, and concluded thus:
+'Alas! the present moment, worthy as it is of admiration and respect,
+has still its dark side. There are still clouds on the horizon; the
+tragedy of peoples is not played out; war still raises its head over
+this august festival of peace; princes for two years have persisted in a
+fatal misunderstanding; their discord is an obstacle to our concord, and
+they are ill-inspired in condemning us to witness the contrast. This
+contrast brings us back to Voltaire. Amid these threatening events let
+us be more peaceful than ever. Let us bow before this great dead, this
+great living spirit. Let us bend before the venerated sepulchre. Let us
+ask counsel of him whose life, useful to men, expired a hundred years
+ago, but whose work is immortal. Let us ask counsel of other mighty
+thinkers and auxiliaries of this glorious Voltaire--of Jean Jacques,
+Diderot, Montesquieu. Let us stop the shedding of human blood. Enough,
+despots. Barbarism still exists. Let philosophy protest. Let the
+eighteenth century succour the nineteenth. The philosophers, our
+predecessors, are the apostles of truth. Let us invoke these illustrious
+phantoms that, face to face with monarchies thinking of war, they may
+proclaim the right of man to life, the right of conscience to liberty,
+the sovereignty of reason, the sacredness of labour, the blessedness of
+peace. And as night issues from thrones, let light emanate from the
+tombs.' There are probably no two great French writers who present more
+marked points of contrast than Voltaire and Victor Hugo; yet the latter,
+not only in praising his predecessor, but on many other occasions,
+gloried in being grandly inconsistent if he could thereby, as he
+believed, advance the interests of humanity.
+
+Victor Hugo presided at the International Literary Congress held in
+Paris in June, 1878. His speech on that occasion, though by no means
+confined to business details, was accepted by the Congress as forming
+the basis of its decisions. The speaker urged that a book once published
+becomes in part the property of society, and that after its author's
+death his family have no right to prevent its reissue. He held that a
+publisher should be required to declare the cost and the selling price
+of any book he intended to bring out; that the author's heirs should be
+entitled to 5 or 10 per cent. of the profit, and that in default of
+heirs the profit should revert to the State, to be applied to the
+encouragement of young writers.
+
+Passing to more general questions, and dwelling on the memorableness of
+the year 1878, Hugo defined the Exhibition as the alliance of industry,
+the Voltaire Centenary as the alliance of philosophy, and the Congress
+then sitting as the alliance of literature. 'Industry seeks the useful,
+philosophy seeks the true, literature seeks the beautiful--the triple
+aim of all human forces.' He welcomed the foreign delegates as the
+ambassadors of the human mind, citizens of a universal city, the
+constituent assembly of literature. Peoples, he remarked, were estimated
+by their literature; Greece, small in territory, thereby earning
+greatness, the name of England suggesting that of Shakespeare, and
+France being at a certain period personified in Voltaire. He next showed
+that copyright was in the interest of the public, by securing the
+independence of the writer; and, glancing at the former dependent
+position of men of letters, he remarked that paternal government
+resulted in this--the people without bread and Corneille without a sou.
+Deriding the alleged dangerousness of books, and urging the real dangers
+of ignorance, he described schools as the luminous points of
+civilization. He ridiculed as harmless archaeological curiosities those
+who wished mankind to be kept in perpetual leading-strings, and who
+anathematized 1789, liberty of conscience, free speech, and a free
+tribune. He exhorted men of letters to recognise as their mission
+conciliation for ideas and reconciliation for men. They should war
+against war. 'Love one another' signified universal disarmament, the
+restoration to health of the human race, the true redemption of mankind.
+An enemy was better disarmed by offering him your hand than by shaking
+your fist. In lieu of _Delenda est Carthago_, he proposed the
+destruction of hatred, which was best effected by pardon. After showing
+her industry and hospitality, France should show her clemency, for a
+festival should be fraternal, and a festival which did not forgive
+somebody was not a real festival. The symbol of public joy was the
+Amnesty, and let this be the crowning of the Paris Exhibition.
+
+In the August following this Congress, a great working-men's conference
+was held in the French capital in favour of International Arbitration.
+Victor Hugo being unable to attend and preside at the gathering, as
+originally announced, sent a communication expressing his approbation of
+the objects of the meeting. 'I demand what you demand,' he wrote. 'I
+want what you want. Our alliance is the commencement of unity. Let us be
+calm; without us, Governments attempt something, but nothing of what
+they try to do will succeed against your decision, against your liberty,
+against your sovereignty. Look on at what they do without uneasiness,
+always with serenity, sometimes with a smile. The supreme future is with
+you. All that is done, even against you, will serve you. Continue to
+march, labour, and think. You are a single people; Europe and you want a
+single thing--peace.' Two or three months subsequent to this meeting,
+the English Working-men's Peace Association waited upon Victor Hugo in
+Paris, and presented him with an address, magnificently illuminated and
+framed, as a token of admiration for the services he had rendered to the
+cause of humanity and peace. In reply, Hugo said: 'As long as I live I
+shall oppose war, and defend the cause which is dear and common to us
+all--the cause of labour and peace.'
+
+As honorary president of a secular education congress in 1879, Victor
+Hugo thus addressed that body: 'Youth is the future. You teach youth,
+you prepare the future. This preparation is useful, this teaching is
+necessary to make the man of to-morrow. The man of to-morrow is the
+universal Republic. The Republic is unity, harmony, light, industry,
+creating comfort; it is the abolition of conflicts between man and man,
+nation and nation, the abolition of the law of death, and establishment
+of the law of life. The time of sanguinary and terrible revolutionary
+necessities is past. For what remains to be done the unconquerable law
+of progress suffices. Great battles we have still to fight--battles the
+evident necessity of which does not disturb the serenity of thinkers;
+battles in which revolutionary energy will equal monarchical obstinacy;
+battles in which force joined with right will overthrow violence allied
+with usurpation--superb, glorious, enthusiastic, decisive battles, the
+issue of which is not doubtful, and which will be the Hastings and the
+Austerlitz of humanity. Citizens, the time of the dissolution of the old
+world has arrived. The old despotisms are condemned by the Providential
+law. Every day which passes buries them still deeper in annihilation.
+The Republic is the future.'
+
+Another address, in which Hugo expounded his views of the future of
+humanity, of labour and progress, etc., was delivered at Chateau d'Eau,
+on behalf of the Workmen's Congress at Marseilles. Differentiating the
+achievements of the centuries, he remarked that 'for four hundred years
+the human race has not made a step but what has left its plain vestige
+behind. We enter now upon great centuries. The sixteenth century will be
+known as the age of painters; the seventeenth will be termed the age of
+writers; the eighteenth, the age of philosophers; the nineteenth, the
+age of apostles and prophets. To satisfy the nineteenth century it is
+necessary to be the painter of the sixteenth, the writer of the
+seventeenth, the philosopher of the eighteenth; and it is also
+necessary, like Louis Blanc, to have the innate and holy love of
+humanity which constitutes an apostolate, and opens up a prophetic vista
+into the future. In the twentieth century war will be dead, the scaffold
+will be dead, animosity will be dead, royalty will be dead, and dogmas
+will be dead; but man will live. For all there will be but one
+country--that country the whole earth; for all there will be but one
+hope--that hope the whole heaven.'
+
+It will be seen that there was a sweeping breadth and magnificence about
+Victor Hugo's prophecies for the twentieth century. But that epoch is so
+near that we may well doubt whether the seer's extensive programme will
+so speedily be realized. Still, the prophecy is lofty, generous, noble,
+and I will not attempt to destroy the horoscope. Passing on to the great
+question of the day, that of labour, the orator observed: 'The political
+question is solved. The Republic is made, and nothing can unmake it. The
+social question remains; terrible as it is, it is quite simple; it is a
+question between those who have, and those who have not. The latter of
+these two classes must disappear, and for this there is work enough.
+Think a moment! Man is beginning to be master of the earth. If you want
+to cut through an isthmus, you have Lesseps; if you want to create a
+sea, you have Roudaire. Look you; there is a people and there is a
+world; and yet the people have no inheritance, and the world is a
+desert. Give them to each other, and you make them happy at once.
+Astonish the universe by heroic deeds that are better than wars. Does
+the world want conquering? No, it is yours already; it is the property
+of civilization; it is already waiting for you; no one disputes your
+title. Go on, then, and colonize.'
+
+This is no doubt grand, but it is vague. However, the men of highest
+aspiration have frequently proved themselves ill-fitted for the
+practical development of their own theories. It is the penalty which the
+brain has to pay for being stronger than the hand that it must often
+call in the services and co-operation of the latter. Hugo was
+exceedingly happy in dealing with cavillers at material progress. He
+showed that those who make the worst mistakes are those who ought to be
+the least mistaken. 'Forty-five years ago M. Thiers declared that the
+railway would be a mere toy between Paris and St. Germain; another
+distinguished man, M. Pouillet, confidently predicted that the apparatus
+of the electric telegraph would be consigned to a cabinet of
+curiosities. And yet these two playthings have changed the course of the
+world. Have faith, then; and let us realize our equality as citizens,
+our fraternity as men, our liberty in intellectual power. Let us love
+not only those who love us, but those who love us not. Let us learn to
+wish to benefit all men. Then everything will be changed; truth will
+reveal itself; the beautiful will arise; the supreme law will be
+fulfilled, and the world shall enter upon a perpetual fete-day. I say,
+therefore, have faith! Look down at your feet, and you see the insect
+moving in the grass; look upwards, and you will see the star resplendent
+in the firmament: yet what are they doing? They are both at their work;
+the insect is doing its work upon the ground, and the star is doing its
+work in the sky. It is an infinite distance that separates them, and yet
+while it separates, unites. They follow their law. And why should not
+their law be ours? Man, too, has to submit to universal force, and
+inasmuch as he submits in body and in soul, he submits doubly. His hand
+grasps the earth, but his soul embraces heaven; like the insect he is a
+thing of dust, but like the star he partakes of the empyrean. He labours
+and he thinks. Labour is life, and thought is light!'
+
+Some idea of Victor Hugo's social and humanitarian ideas may be gained
+from these addresses. In the course of a conversation with M. Barbou,
+however, he supplemented these views and theories by explicit statements
+upon various questions. France, he said, was in possession of a
+_bourgeoise_ Republic, which was not an ideal one, but which would
+undergo a slow and gradual transformation. He regarded himself and his
+contemporaries as having been pioneers and monitors, whose advice was
+worth obtaining, because they had gained their knowledge by experience,
+having lived through the struggles of the past; but whose theories could
+not be put into practice by themselves. The future solution of the
+social question belonged to younger men, and to the twentieth century.
+That solution, he maintained, would be found in nothing less than the
+universal spread of instruction; it would follow the formation of
+schools where salutary knowledge should be imparted. By educating the
+child they would endow the man, and when that had been accomplished,
+society might proceed to exercise severe repression upon anyone who
+resisted what was right, because he would have been already so trained
+that he could not plead ignorance in his own behalf.
+
+But Hugo was careful to add that he did not expect a Utopia to follow
+this universal dissemination of knowledge. When man had proceeded well
+on the path of advancement, he would require land to cultivate. He would
+go out and colonize, and the whole interior of Africa was destined, he
+believed, before long to be conquered by civilization. Frontiers would
+disappear, for the idea of fraternity was making its way throughout the
+world. As the whole earth belonged to man, men must go forth and reclaim
+it. For the whole race he saw a brighter future, and his watchwords in
+this respect would seem to have been--Labour, progress, peace,
+happiness, and enlightenment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+'LA LEGENDE DES SIECLES,' ETC.
+
+
+I have reserved this poem for somewhat fuller mention than I have been
+able to accord to Victor Hugo's other works. This is called for by
+reason of the inherent grandeur of the work, and because upon this noble
+achievement the greatness of the poet's fame must ultimately rest. Mr.
+Swinburne holds it to be the greatest work of the century, and many
+critics who have not his _perfervidum ingenium_ incline to the same
+view. When the first part of the _Legende_ appeared, in 1859, it excited
+so much interest that every poet of any note in France wrote warm
+letters of congratulation to the author. To one of these, penned by
+Baudelaire, and typical of the rest, Hugo characteristically replied.
+
+Regarding humanity in two aspects--the historical and the legendary, and
+maintaining that the latter was in one sense as true as the former,
+Hugo took up the legendary side of the question in this Legend of the
+Ages. It was intended to be followed by two other sections under the
+respective titles of 'The End of Satan' and 'God.' The first part of
+this great trilogy was far more striking than any of its author's
+previous poems. Its brilliancy and energy, its literary skill and its
+powerful conceptions, enchained the attention. The poet divided his work
+into sixteen cycles, extending from the Creation to the Trump of
+Judgment. A full and on the whole discriminating criticism of this
+remarkable poem has been given by the Bishop of Derry, who also, with
+some success, has translated passages from it. But Victor Hugo's French
+is too peculiar and impassioned to be brought within the trammels of
+English verse. Nevertheless, I will quote from the Bishop the last three
+stanzas of that beautiful poem, _Booz Endormi_, one of the first set of
+poems, all of which are devoted to Scriptural subjects. The rich man
+Boaz sleeps, quite unconscious of the Moabitess Ruth, who lies expectant
+at his feet:
+
+
+     'Asphodel scents did Gilgal's breezes bring--
+       Through nuptial shadows, questionless, full fast
+       The angels sped, for momently there pass'd
+     A something blue which seem'd to be a wing.
+
+     'Silent was all in Jezreel and in Ur--
+       The stars were glittering in the heaven's dusk meadows.
+       Far west among those flowers of the shadows,
+     The thin clear crescent, lustrous over her,
+
+     'Made Ruth raise question, looking through the bars
+       Of Heaven, with eyes half-oped, what God, what comer
+       Unto the harvest of the eternal summer,
+     Had flung his golden hook down on the field of stars.'
+
+
+The second section deals with the Decadence of Rome, and here the poet's
+imagination has full sway. The well-known story of Androcles and the
+Lion is the subject of a beautiful poem. The third section is Islam, and
+then come the Heroic Christian Cycle, the Day of Kings, etc. But perhaps
+the most important composition in the work is Eviradnus, a poem in
+praise of the true and gentle knight. The Thrones of the East, Ratbert,
+Sultan Mourad, the Twentieth Century, and some other sections, all bear
+evidence of intense poetic realism, and show the mastery of the author
+over pictorial and dramatic effects.
+
+The Bishop of Derry raises a question upon which a good deal might be
+said, when he propounds a theory to the effect that Victor Hugo
+possesses fancy rather than imagination. It may not be possible to
+produce passages from Hugo which, for sustained grandeur and breadth of
+conception, would be equal to isolated passages that could be cited from
+Dante and Milton; yet there are as unquestionably scores of other
+passages in the works of Victor Hugo in describing which it would be
+wholly inadequate to use the term fancy. They are either grandly and
+powerfully imaginative, or they are nothing. This writer no doubt too
+frequently distorts his conceptions, while his treatment sometimes falls
+from sublimity into caricature; but it is incontestable, I think, that
+in spite of all _bizarrerie_, and every other exception or
+qualification, he possesses a mobile and an impressive imagination.
+
+In 1877 appeared the second part of _La Legende des Siecles_. Although
+it scarcely rose to the level of the first part, it was not without
+those exalted passages which gave supremacy to the poet. 'Once again the
+seer surveys the cycle of humanity from the days of Paradise to the
+future which he anticipates; he takes his themes alike from the legends
+of the heroic age of Greece, and from the domains of actual history, and
+after singing of the achievements of the great, he dedicates his lay to
+the little ones, and in a charming poem entitled _Petit Paul_ he
+depicts with fascinating pathos all the tenderness and all the sorrows
+of childhood.'
+
+The third and final part of the work was published in 1883. Discussing
+the unity of tone which entitles this strange work, with its multitude
+of separate characters and incidents, to be called a poem, a writer in
+the _Athenaeum_ observed: 'It is an apprehension, at once profound and
+tender, of the pathos of man's mysterious life on the earth; a pity such
+as has never before been expressed by any poet; a beautiful faith in God
+such as, in these days, can only find an echo in rare and noble souls;
+and an aspiration for justice and the final emancipation of man such as
+seems an anachronism, indeed, in a time which has given birth to Gautier
+and to Baudelaire on the one hand, and to Zola and his followers on the
+other.' Yet, notwithstanding its unity, it is not a little curious that
+the Legend was as finished a work at the end of the first instalment as
+it was at the end of the whole. As to the poetic qualities of the
+closing part of the work, there was no decadence of true poetic impulse,
+nor any subsidence of that marvellous brilliance which dazzled Europe
+when the first part of the poem appeared. But neither was there any
+growth of those highest poetic characteristics 'in which Hugo's
+magnificent poetry was always weak--such as self-dominance, serenity,
+and that wise sweetness of a balancing judgment, equitable alike to the
+slave in the field and to the king on his throne, which belongs to the
+mind we call dramatic, whether the dramatist be the writer of
+_Oedipus_ or the writer of _Hamlet_.'
+
+The _Legende des Siecles_ offers a bewildering maze of things, sweet,
+beautiful, and sublime. It scintillates with the brilliant lights of
+genius as the vault of heaven is fretted with the glittering stars. Yet
+what is perhaps nobler still, as Mr. Swinburne has said, 'Over and
+within this book faith shines as a kindling torch, hope breathes as a
+quickening wind, love burns as a changing fire. It is tragic, not with
+the hopeless tragedy of Dante, or the all but hopeless tragedy of
+Shakespeare. Whether we can or cannot share the infinite hope and
+inviolable faith to which the whole active and suffering life of the
+poet has borne such unbroken and imperishable witness, we cannot in any
+case but recognise the greatness and heroism of his love for mankind.
+As in the case of AEschylus, it is the hunger and thirst after
+righteousness, the deep desire for perfect justice in heaven as on
+earth, which would seem to assure the prophet's inmost heart of its
+final triumph by the prevalence of wisdom and of light over all claims
+and all pleas established or asserted by the children of darkness, so in
+the case of Victor Hugo is it the hunger and thirst after
+reconciliation, the love of loving-kindness, the master-passion of
+mercy, which persists in hope and insists on faith, even in face of the
+hardest and darkest experience through which a nation or a man can pass.
+Hugo's poetic masterpiece, to translate his own language concerning it,
+had its rise in the past, in the tomb, in the darkness and the night of
+the ages; but permeating all is the regenerating light of a mighty
+hope.'
+
+The poet published in 1881 _Les Quatre Vents de l'Esprit_. The work
+which bore this fanciful title of the four winds of the Spirit was
+divided into four distinct sections--the Book Satiric, the Book
+Dramatic, the Book Lyric, and the Book Epic. The wind of Victor Hugo,
+however, is chiefly of the lyric kind. It 'is like a fine sou'wester,
+warm and bright, but deeply charged with tears. Over the bitter and
+eager wind of satire, for instance, he has no real command, and none
+over that bracing north wind of masculine thought and intellectual
+strength which is necessary to vitalize epic and drama.' So it was
+complained, and not without force or reason, that while it would be
+impossible to praise the lyrical portions of his work too highly, the
+satirical lacked subtlety and delicacy to make it effective; the epic
+wanted a larger freedom of natural growth; while situations intended to
+be dramatic rarely rose above the merely theatrical. The play in which
+these situations occur is concerned with the absolute equality of all
+men in regard to the great human passions. Cynicism or conventionality
+may for a long period encrust a man, but there comes a time when the
+heart will have its way. Hugo's latest illustrator of this truth, Duc
+Gallus, rescues a peasant girl from a proposed marriage with a brutal
+fellow whom she loathes, but rescues her with the deliberate intention
+of making her his mistress. Though surrounded with splendour, the girl
+soon pines and breaks her heart through sheer loneliness, and at last in
+despair she kills herself by means of a poisoned ring. The Nemesis of
+remorse now overtakes the Duc. Beneath this pretended cynicism there has
+been all the while smouldering a real passion, which, now that it is too
+late, breaks out into a fierce and inextinguishable flame; it was in
+depicting these heights and depths of emotion that Hugo found his
+keenest delight.
+
+The Book Epic deals with the great French Revolution, but it is in the
+Book Lyric that the poet achieves his finest triumph. In considering the
+substance and variety of Hugo's lyrical efforts, every reader will agree
+with the judgment that amongst poets of energy, as distinguished from
+the poets of art and culture, Shelley's is the only name in
+nineteenth-century literature which can stand beside that of Victor
+Hugo.
+
+In 1882 was published _Torquemada_, a drama written chiefly during
+Victor Hugo's exile in Guernsey. The poet himself regarded it as one of
+his best efforts, and it certainly exhibits his glowing imagination and
+his power of depicting human misery at their highest. The great
+Inquisitor is drawn as a single-minded enthusiast who, following
+relentlessly to their conclusion the doctrines upon which he has been
+nourished from childhood, burns and tortures people out of pure love of
+their souls--that is, fastens their bodies to the stake for the purpose
+of saving from the everlasting fires of hell both their souls and their
+bodies. The poet shows how the idea gradually mastered him until it
+became irresistible as fate. The chief point in the plot well
+illustrates this. Torquemada having been condemned as a fanatic by the
+Bishop of Urgel, is ordered to be bricked up alive in a vault. He is
+rescued from his living tomb by two lovers, Don Sanche and Donna Rosa.
+Torquemada swears to be their eternal friend, and subsequently saves
+them from the wrath of the King. Sanche and Rosa are just being freed
+when the former relates the manner of the deliverance of Torquemada from
+his tomb. Sanche had used as a lever on that occasion an iron cross
+which hung upon the tottering wall. 'O ciel! ils sont damnes!' exclaims
+Torquemada, when he hears this. In his view the lovers are now condemned
+to eternal perdition, but in order to save their souls he sends their
+bodies to the stake. It need scarcely be said that the author, in
+ascribing honesty and other characteristics to the bloodthirsty
+Inquisitor, gives a more exalted view of him than is taken by impartial
+history. But the play must be read for its poetry and its scenic
+effects, which are magnificent.
+
+A prose work by Hugo, to which considerable interest attaches, was
+published in 1883, under the title of _L'Archipel de la Manche_. As its
+title implies, it deals with the Channel Islands, in one of which the
+author found for so long a time his home. From the literary aspect, the
+work suffers when compared with its author's verse, which alone can be
+grandly descriptive--at least since the production of his earlier
+romances. But for its glimpses of the inhabitants of Guernsey, and its
+occasional touches of rich local colour, this work may be turned to with
+pleasure and advantage.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+HONOURS TO VICTOR HUGO.
+
+
+Unlike many other great men, Victor Hugo was not compelled to wait for a
+posthumous recognition of his powers. His genius was incontestable; he
+towered far above all his contemporaries; and the universal
+acknowledgment of his talents left no room for jealousy. Hence writers
+and artists of all classes, and of varying eminence, combined with their
+less distinguished fellow-countrymen in paying homage to one who has
+shed undying lustre upon the French name.
+
+The chief ovations accorded to the poet I must briefly pass in review.
+Several revivals of his best-known dramas have taken place of recent
+years, but the most striking of these celebrations was undoubtedly that
+at the Theatre Francais, on the 25th of February, 1880. It was the
+fiftieth anniversary of the original representation of _Hernani_, and
+that play was again produced to mark 'the golden wedding of Hugo's
+genius and his glory.' After the termination of the play the curtain was
+lifted, when a bust of the dramatist was seen elevated on a pedestal
+profusely decorated with wreaths and palm-leaves. The stage was filled
+with actors dressed to represent the leading characters in Hugo's
+various plays. Mademoiselle Sarah Bernhardt came forward in the
+character of Dona Sol, and recited with much feeling and energy some
+laudatory verses by M. Francois Coppee, which roused anew the enthusiasm
+of the audience. In response to the call of M. Francisque Sarcey, the
+vast assembly rose, and filled the air with their congratulatory
+vociferations. '_Ad multos annos!_ long live Victor Hugo!' Such were the
+cries from all parts of the house, which so affected the venerable poet
+that he was compelled to retire.
+
+A few days subsequent to this performance the members of the Parisian
+press gave a grand banquet to Victor Hugo at the Hotel Continental. The
+speech of welcome and honour to the poet was delivered by M. Emile
+Augier, himself a writer of considerable reputation. After referring to
+the marvellous vitality of Victor Hugo's poems and romances, the
+speaker said: 'Time, O glorious master, takes no hold upon you; you know
+nothing of decline; you pass through every stage of life without
+diminishing your virility; for more than half a century your genius has
+covered the world with the unceasing flow of its tide. The resistance of
+the first period, the rebellion of the second, have melted away into
+universal admiration, and the last refractory spirits have yielded to
+your power.... When La Bruyere before the Academy hailed Bossuet as
+father of the Church, he was speaking the language of posterity, and it
+is posterity itself, noble master, that surrounds you here, and hails
+you as our father.'
+
+At the word 'father' the whole audience rose, and took up the
+salutation. When quiet was restored M. Delaunay suggested that the poet
+should be solicited for a new dramatic work. The enthusiasm was renewed
+at this suggestion, and it may well be imagined that the acclamations
+reached their culminating point when Sarah Bernhardt rose and embraced
+the aged author of _Hernani_. On this occasion Victor Hugo read his
+address of thanks, which was brief and pregnant in its allusions.
+'Before me I see the press of France,' said Hugo. 'The worthies who
+represent it here have endeavoured to prove its sovereign concord, and
+to demonstrate its indestructible unity. You have assembled to grasp the
+hand of an old campaigner, who began life with the century, and lives
+with it still. I am deeply touched. I tender you all my thanks. All the
+noble words that we have just been hearing only add to my emotion. There
+are dates that seem to be periodically repeated with marked
+significance. The 26th of February, 1802, was my birthday; in 1830 it
+was the time of the first appearance of _Hernani_; and this again is the
+26th of February, 1880. Fifty years ago, I, who am now here speaking to
+you, was hated, hooted, slandered, cursed. Today, to-day--but the date
+is enough. Gentlemen, the French press is one of the mistresses of the
+human intellect; it has its daily task, and that task is gigantic. In
+every minute of every hour it has its influence upon every portion of
+the civilized world; its struggles, its disputes, its wrath resolve
+themselves into progress, harmony, and peace. In its premeditations it
+aims at truth; from its polemics it flashes forth light. I propose as my
+toast the prosperity of the French press, the institution that fosters
+such noble designs, and renders such noble services.'
+
+On the 27th of December, 1880, there was a grand festival at Besancon in
+honour of the poet, its most illustrious son. The chief inhabitants of
+the town, and the visitors from Paris, assembled at the Mairie, and
+proceeded thence to the Place St. Quentin. The Mayor was accompanied by
+M. Rambaud, chief secretary to the Minister of Public Instruction, and
+General Wolff, commander of the _Corps d'Armee_. There were also present
+deputations from the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, officers,
+university professors, a representative of the President of the
+Republic, the Rector of the Academy, the Prefect, the Municipal
+Councillors, and a large body of members of the press. The poet was
+represented by M. Paul Meurice. The whole of Besancon was _en fete_. In
+a street facing the Place St. Quentin a large platform had been erected,
+and here the proceedings took place. A beautiful medallion affixed to a
+house near the platform was uncovered by the Mayor. This medallion
+represented a five-stringed lyre with two laurel branches of gold, and
+there was an inscription which, by the poet's express desire, consisted
+simply of his name and the date of his birth--'Victor Hugo: 26th of
+February, 1802.' The lyre was surmounted by a head typical of the
+Republic, encircled by rays. The procession adjourned from the Place St.
+Quentin to the stage at the Besancon Theatre, in the centre of which had
+been placed David's bust of Victor Hugo. At the request of the Mayor, M.
+Rambaud delivered an address upon the poet's character and genius. He
+recited the history of his struggles and of his literary conflicts, and
+of the gradual attainment of victory over thought and intellect;
+descanted upon his ever-increasing influence, his development as a
+politician, his internal conflicts, and his final triumph; described his
+prolonged duel with the Empire, and his ultimate success; reviewed the
+leading characteristics of his lyrical, dramatic, and historical
+writings; and finally demonstrated how, after a life fraught with
+conflicts, trials, and sorrows, he found his reward in the revival of
+France, in the progress of democracy; and last, though not least, in the
+peaceful joys of domestic life and the society of his grandchildren.
+
+To this address M. Paul Meurice responded, and read the following letter
+from Victor Hugo himself: 'It is with deep emotion that I tender my
+thanks to my compatriots. I am a stone on the road that is trodden by
+humanity; but that road is a good one. Man is master neither of his life
+nor of his death. He can but offer to his fellow-citizens his efforts to
+diminish human suffering; he can but offer to God his indomitable faith
+in the growth of liberty.' The marble bust of the poet was crowned with
+a wreath of golden laurel, and while the whole audience stood, a band of
+one hundred and fifty musicians performed the _Marseillaise_. Cries of
+'_Vive Victor Hugo! Vive la Republique!_' were heard as the audience
+left the theatre.
+
+An ovation such as few sovereigns have ever received was accorded to
+Victor Hugo by the City of Paris on the 27th of February, 1881. The day
+before, the poet had completed his seventy-ninth year, and by the French
+people this is regarded as entitling to octogenarian honours. A
+celebration took place which was compared with the reception of Voltaire
+in 1788. The Avenue d'Eylau, where Victor Hugo resided, was densely
+thronged, and the poet, being recognised with his children and
+grandchildren at an upper window of his house, was cheered by a vast
+multitude, estimated by unsympathetic observers at 100,000. The
+Municipality had erected at the entrance to the Avenue lofty flagstaffs
+decorated with shields bearing the titles of his works, and supporting a
+large drapery inscribed '1802, Victor Hugo, 1881.' Early in the morning
+the Avenue was thronged with processions consisting of collegians,
+trades unions, musical and benefit societies, deputations from the
+districts of Paris and from the provinces, etc. A deputation of
+children, bearing a blue and red banner with the inscription, '_L'Art
+d'etre Grand-pere_,' and headed by a little girl in white, arrived at
+the house, and was received by Victor Hugo in the drawing-room. The
+little maiden, who recited some lines by M. Mendes, was blessed by the
+venerable poet. Among other incidents of the day, the Paris Municipality
+drew up in front of the house, and Victor Hugo read to them the
+following speech: 'I greet Paris, I greet the city. I greet it not in my
+name, for I am naught, but in the name of all that lives, reasons,
+thinks, loves, and hopes on earth. Cities are blessed places; they are
+the workshops of Divine labour. Divine labour is human labour. It
+remains human so long as it is individual; as soon as it is collective,
+as its object is greater than its worker, it becomes Divine. The labour
+of the fields is human; the labour of the towns is Divine. From time to
+time history places a sign upon a city. That sign is unique. History in
+4,000 years has thus marked three cities, which sum up the whole effort
+of civilization. What Athens did for Greek antiquity, what Rome did for
+Roman antiquity, Paris is doing to-day for Europe, for America, for the
+civilized universe. It is the city of the world. Who addresses Paris
+addresses the whole world, _urbi et orbi_. I, a humble passer-by, who
+have but my share in your rights, in the name of all cities, of the
+cities of Europe, of America, of the civilized world, from Athens to New
+York, from London to Moscow; in thy name, Rome; in thine, Berlin--I
+praise, with love I hail, the hallowed city, Paris.'
+
+A stream of processions then filed past the house, many of them bearing
+imposing bouquets, which were deposited in front of Hugo's residence.
+The musical societies alone exceeded 100; strains of the _Marseillaise_
+were now and again audible, and the entire Avenue, nearly a mile long,
+was thickly lined with spectators, while that part of it commanding a
+view of the poet's house was densely packed, except for a passage-way
+for the processions. Medals and photographs of the hero of the day were
+to be seen everywhere, and the behaviour of the enormous assemblage was
+most exemplary. Victor Hugo, whose love of the fresh air always made him
+careless of exposure, remained at the open window for several hours
+bareheaded, acknowledging the greetings of the successive deputations
+and of the multitude. At the Trocadero a musical and literary festival
+was held, when selections from Victor Hugo's works were sung or recited
+by some of the leading Paris _artistes_, and the _Marseillaise_ was
+performed by a military band. M. Louis Blanc, who presided, said that
+few great men had entered in their lifetime into their immortality.
+Voltaire and Victor Hugo had both deserved this, one for stigmatizing
+religious intolerance, the other for having, with incomparable lustre,
+served humanity. He commended the committee for inviting the
+co-operation of men of different opinions, for genius united in a common
+admiration men otherwise at discord, and the idea of union was
+inseparable from a grand festival. 'There were enough days in the year
+given to what separated men. It was well to give a few hours to what
+brought them together, and there could be no better opportunity than the
+festival of an unrivalled poet, an eloquent apostle of human
+brotherhood, whose use of his genius was greater than his genius itself,
+the oneness of his life consisting in the constant ascent of his spirit
+towards the light.' In the evening of the day there was a Victor Hugo
+concert at the Conservatoire, and at many of the theatres verses were
+recited in his honour. On the night of the 25th a special performance
+was given at the Gaite of _Lucrece Borgia_, which had not been produced
+for ten years. The house was filled, all the notabilities of Paris being
+present, while the poet himself also appeared for a short time. The
+celebration generally was one triumphant success.
+
+In honour of Hugo's eightieth birthday, on the 26th of February, 1882,
+the French Government ordered a free performance of _Hernani_ at the
+Theatre Francais. Crowds stood outside for hours waiting for admission,
+and 2,300 persons managed to squeeze themselves into seats intended to
+accommodate only 1,500. The poet and his grandchildren were present
+during the last act, and were loudly applauded. Hugo's bust was placed
+on the stage at the close of the piece, and verses in his honour by M.
+Coppee were recited. On the preceding evening 5,000 persons had attended
+his reception, when the committee of the previous year's grand
+celebration presented him with a bronze miniature of Michael Angelo's
+'Moses.' In acknowledging the gift, the poet said, 'I accept your
+present, and I await a still better one, the greatest a man can receive:
+I mean death--death, that recompense for the good done on earth. I shall
+live in my descendants, my grandchildren, Jeanne and Georges. If,
+indeed, I have a narrow-minded thought it is for them. I wish to ensure
+their future, and I confide them to the protection of all the loyal and
+devoted hearts here present.'
+
+Yet one more celebration I must notice. On the 22nd of November, 1882,
+the Theatre Francais gave a brilliant performance of Victor Hugo's _Le
+Roi s'Amuse_. It has already been seen that this piece was first
+produced on the 22nd of November, 1832, amid such a scene of disorder
+and tumult that the Government forbade its further representation. From
+that time forward it had never been produced until this fiftieth
+anniversary in 1882. It was the subject of preliminary conversation for
+weeks in Paris, and great anxiety was manifested on the subject of
+seats. It was stated that if the house, which had only provision for
+1,500 persons, could have been made to accommodate 10,000, there would
+still have been an insufficiency of places to satisfy all the
+supplications with which the Theatre Francais was besieged. The
+intrinsic value of the work, however, was not the first thought of those
+who engaged in the feverish quest for seats, which for a full month
+possessed all fashionable, artistic, literary, political, diplomatic,
+and financial Paris. It was chiefly the desire to do honour to the
+veteran poet. With regard to the representation itself, the splendour of
+the mounting, the beauty of the accessories, and the historical fidelity
+of the costumes, transcended all expectation. Never was a piece placed
+on the stage with greater, or indeed probably equal, art.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+PERSONAL AND MISCELLANEOUS.
+
+
+In private life and character, it is well known that Victor Hugo was one
+of the noblest and most unselfish of men. Numberless are the anecdotes
+related of his generosity and kindliness of disposition. His children's
+repasts at Hauteville House, Guernsey, and his hospitality to the
+suffering and distressed in Paris, I have already alluded to. He had a
+special talent for organizing Christmas parties, and was never happier
+than when surrounded by his grandchildren. He mingled in all their
+games, and even shared their troubles and their punishments. When his
+favourite little grandchild was put on dry bread for bad conduct, the
+grandfather was so unhappy that he would take no dessert. His pleasures
+were as simple as his mind was great. The writer who furnishes me with
+these details warmly contradicted the statement that Victor Hugo was an
+infidel; on the contrary, he was a firm believer in God and in a future
+state; and this, as we have seen, the poet himself confirmed. Even when
+in his octogenarian period it was the poet's habit to rise with the day,
+summer and winter, and to work until nine. He then allowed himself an
+hour's rest for breakfast and his morning constitutional, after which he
+again sat at his desk, mostly pursuing his intellectual labours, till
+five in the afternoon. Work being concluded, he dined at half-past six,
+and invariably retired to rest at ten. On one occasion, speaking of his
+future works, the poet said, 'I shall have more to do than I have
+already done. One would think that with age the mind weakens; with me it
+appears, on the contrary, to grow stronger. The horizon gets larger, and
+I shall pass away without having finished my task.'
+
+On one occasion, a poor old woman was so delighted with the poetry of
+her grandson, aged eighteen, that in the fulness of her heart she sent
+his verses to Victor Hugo. The poet thus spoke of this incident to a
+friend--'In spite of myself, I must hurt this worthy woman's feelings
+by not replying to her letter; the verses of her grandson are simply
+mine, taken from _Les Contemplations_. I can't anyhow write to say I
+find my own verses beautiful--I can't encourage plagiarism; and I won't
+tell the grandmother that her grandson is a liar.'
+
+Much has been written concerning Hugo's skill as a draughtsman. It
+appears that this own discovery of his powers in this direction was made
+in a little village near Meulan, where he stopped to change horses, when
+travelling with a lady in a diligence. He went inside the village
+church, and was so struck by the graceful beauty of the apse that he
+made an attempt to copy some of the details, using his hat as an easel.
+He obtained a fair _souvenir_ of the place, and for the first time
+realized how beneficially copying from nature might be combined with his
+literary pursuits. After that he always delighted in sketching
+architectural peculiarities of fabrics which remained in the original
+design, and had not been 'improved' by modern handling.
+
+He never took artistic lessons, but by constant practice he acquired
+considerable facility in representing a certain class of subjects,
+ruined castles with deep shadows, gloomy landscapes, stormy skies, etc.
+M. Ph. Burty and several writers and artists of the first class have
+expressed their admiration of his artistic work, and its striking
+effects. His drawings were chiefly illustrative of his own thoughts.
+They were employed either to develop his poems, or to serve as pictorial
+commentaries upon his own literary creations. Theophile Gautier wrote:
+'M. Hugo is not only a poet, he is a painter, and a painter whom Louis
+Boulanger, C. Roqueplan, or Paul Huet would not refuse to own as a
+brother in art. Whenever he travels he makes sketches of everything that
+strikes the eye. The outline of the hill, a break in the horizon, an old
+belfry--any of these will suffice for the subject of a rough drawing,
+which the same evening will see worked up well-nigh to the finish of an
+engraving, and the object of unbounded surprise even to the most
+accomplished artists.' M. Castel collected many of Hugo's early drawings
+into an album, and published them with the object of furthering the
+poet's work among poor children. Theophile Gautier supplied an
+introduction to the album, and it had an excellent sale. A number of
+land and sea pieces, bearing Hugo's signature, passed into the
+possession of M. Auguste Vacquerie. The poet prepared a set of
+illustrations for his _Les Travailleurs de la Mer_, and a second album,
+consisting of miscellaneous illustrations by Hugo, has also been
+prepared. Many of his sketches were left in Hauteville House, and M.
+Paul Meurice, Madame Lockroy, and Madame Drouet came into possession of
+others. Victor Hugo himself sat for a great number of portraits between
+his twenty-fifth and his seventy-seventh year, and he was likewise the
+subject of numerous caricatures. These portraits and caricatures were
+edited and published by M. Bouvenne. A very sumptuous volume is M.
+Blemont's _Livre d'Or_ of Victor Hugo, containing beautiful
+illustrations by eminent artists, suggested by his poems and romances.
+
+During the latter years of his life Victor Hugo resided in the quarter
+already mentioned, the Avenue d'Eylau (near the Bois de Boulogne), whose
+name, out of compliment to the poet, has been changed by the
+Municipality of Paris into the Avenue Victor Hugo. The house is
+semi-detached, and adjoins that occupied by M. and Madame Lockroy and
+Georges and Jeanne. A communication between the two residences,
+however, brought the whole of the family practically under the same
+roof. The house is three stories high, and the poet's study was on the
+first floor, where he lived in a kind of bower, looking out upon one
+side in the direction of the Avenue, and on the other towards a pleasant
+garden, with a lawn surrounded by flowers and shaded by noble trees. The
+daily post to Hugo's house was an important matter, for he had a stream
+of communications from all parts of the world. If a poetaster in America
+or Australia thought he possessed immortal genius he could not rest
+content until he had received, or at least attempted to obtain, Victor
+Hugo's imprimatur. There were many things the kindly veteran would
+smooth over in order not to wound sensitive minds bitten with the
+_cacoethes scribendi_. The poet was also very accessible to personal
+callers, so much so that it was said you had only to put on a black
+coat, pull at his bell, and there you were. Sometimes his good-nature
+was imposed upon, as will happen with all men, little or great. An
+amusing story is told of a cabman who, after driving the poet one day,
+refused to take the fare, on the ground that the honour of having Victor
+Hugo in his vehicle was a sufficient reward. The author of _Notre-Dame_
+asked his admiring Jehu to dinner; but when the meal was over, and Hugo
+might naturally have thought they could cry quits, the guest drew a
+manuscript from his pocket with the ominous words, 'I also am a poet!'
+Greatness is thus not without its penalties.
+
+A good deal of interest attaches to Victor Hugo's manuscripts. Madame
+Drouet was the poet's literary secretary for thirty years, and during
+all that period she copied with her own hand the manuscripts of his
+various works as he wrote them. This was done to guard against the
+danger of the originals being lost, or mangled by printers. A writer in
+the _Pall Mall Gazette_ has furnished some interesting details
+respecting the manuscripts, which will be valuable as showing how the
+poet worked. What he effaced, he says, was so covered with ink, applied
+in a horizontal direction, that nobody will ever be able to make it out.
+When he wanted to get a subject well into his mind's eye he drew it
+sometimes with great finish of detail on the margin. There is something
+in several of the manuscripts reminding one of Dore's illustrations of
+the _Contes Drolatiques_; while others bring to mind Albert Duerer's
+orfevrerie. All Victor Hugo's important manuscripts have been bequeathed
+to the Bibliotheque Nationale.
+
+The writer to whom I have just referred further adds these personal
+details respecting the poet and his habits: 'Victor Hugo occupied the
+room looking on the garden in which he died. The window of his chamber
+is framed with ivy, and opens on an ivy-clad balcony. A vast
+old-fashioned four-post bed, with a flat, short drapery of antique
+brocade round the roof, stands in an alcove. The poet's body lay on it
+after death. A dressing-room is at the head, and a small closet used as
+a wardrobe at the foot. The desk is massive, and made with shelves, on
+which precious books are placed. One of them is the volume of the
+_Contemplations_, paid for by public subscription when Victor Hugo was
+in exile, and presented to Madame Victor Hugo. The vignettes and other
+illustrated portion of the work were done by the artists who had known,
+admired, and loved her husband. Between every second page there was a
+blank sheet, upon which a literary celebrity wrote a thought, good wish,
+or sentiment. Michelet led off; Louis Blanc, Jules Janin, Theophile
+Gautier, Dumas pere, and other celebrities of the time filled blank
+pages. Lamartine shines by his absence. He was always jealous of Victor
+Hugo, and querulously attacked _Les Miserables_ soon after that strange
+_chef d'oeuvre_ was published. There is also a tall desk in Victor
+Hugo's bedroom. It was the one that he most used. He was up every
+morning at six, when he washed in cold water, and then took a cup of
+black coffee and a raw egg. This refection kept up strength and did not
+draw blood from the brain, as must a less easily digested one. If ideas
+did not come rapidly he went to the window, which was all day open,
+winter and summer, sought inspiration by gazing thence, returned to the
+desk, sketched, and then wrote. If his "go" slacked, he walked about,
+and again looked out and drew. At eleven he breakfasted. His Pegasus, he
+used to say, was the knifeboard (imperial) of an omnibus, and he
+generally mounted it early in the afternoon. If he had nothing
+particular to do he did not get down till he had been to the terminus
+and back again. The objective faculties were not more active in these
+rides than the subjective. He used to observe, reflect, and dream
+simultaneously.' When not riding, Hugo was equally fond of walking
+about Paris, revisiting old sites associated with personal or historic
+events.
+
+It will have been seen in the course of this volume that Victor Hugo was
+much tried by domestic affliction. Both his sons died young, Charles
+leaving the two children, Georges and Jeanne, of whom their grandfather
+was so fond. Madame Charles Hugo, the mother of these children, married
+afterwards, as already stated, M. Lockroy, the Extremist Deputy and
+journalist. The poet's second daughter, Adele Hugo, fifty years of age,
+is in an asylum in the neighbourhood of Paris; and from the Paris
+correspondent of the _Times_, and other sources, I glean the following
+information concerning her: Thirty years ago she married an officer of
+the English Navy, while her father was living at Guernsey. The marriage
+was contrary to the wishes of Victor Hugo, who refused to have further
+intercourse with his daughter. She went to India with her husband. Some
+years afterwards she came back to Europe insane, under the care of a
+negro woman, who had become attached to her. Her father secured her
+admission to an asylum, and visited her there every week. On these
+journeys to St. Mande to see his daughter, he would take the
+Muette-Belville omnibus, with a correspondence to Vincennes, and every
+Christmas he sent 500 francs to the conductors of these lines. His
+pockets were stuffed with bonbons and little articles of finery which it
+gave Adele pleasure to receive. It is stated that her madness takes the
+gentle and childish form. She would always know Victor Hugo, but did not
+understand why he did not take her to live with him. He placed her under
+the guardianship of his and her old friend Vacquerie, and made no
+attempt to evade the law, in virtue of which she comes, as alleged, into
+a fortune of L120,000, and half the income which may be derived from the
+copyright of Victor Hugo's works. The poet is said to have regretted
+during his later years his harshness in connection with his daughter's
+marriage, and her melancholy history cast over him one of the few
+sorrowful shadows that visited his life.
+
+Hugo possessed one valuable piece of landed property, a plot of ground
+bought by him for 337,365 francs in the Avenue which bears his name. It
+is covered with trees, which surround a bright patch of lawn, and throw
+deep shadows over the ground, grateful to the eyes of those accustomed
+to the dusty streets of Paris. It says not a little for his vigour and
+apparent hold upon life, that after he had passed his eighty-second year
+he intended to superintend the erection of his new house, which was to
+be built entirely from his own designs. A large portion of Hugo's
+fortune--which was estimated altogether at about four million
+francs--was invested in Belgian National Bank shares, English Consols,
+and French Rentes.
+
+For several years before his death Victor Hugo had renounced public
+speaking, his latest efforts in this direction having brought on an
+indisposition which obliged him to go to Guernsey for rest and quiet. He
+had also ceased to issue political appeals and manifestoes, though
+agitators of all shades of opinion (including the Irish Nationalists)
+endeavoured to enlist his sympathies. Occasionally he would give the
+weight of his name to a movement with whose ramifications he was not
+very familiar; but it was only for a time that he yielded to such
+blandishments. He attended the Senate periodically until the very last,
+although his deafness prevented him from following the course of the
+discussions.
+
+The relation of the poet's life begun by Madame Hugo, has been
+completed by M. Paul Meurice, who includes in his work reprints of early
+poems and criticisms by Hugo, which are useful as strengthening the view
+taken in the earlier part of this narrative of his youthful political
+opinions. The poet is stated to have bequeathed his theatrical
+copyrights to M. Meurice, and the copyrights of his other works to M.
+Vacquerie. A magnificent national edition of the whole of Victor Hugo's
+works is now being issued in Paris. When completed, the work will
+contain etchings executed from original designs by fifty-seven of the
+chief French painters of the day, including Bonnat, Boulanger, Baudry,
+Cabanel, Constant, Comerre, Cormon, Gerome, Harpignies, Henner, Moreau,
+and Rochegrosse. There will also be no fewer than 2,500 ordinary
+illustrations. The edition, which will extend to forty volumes, will
+contain unpublished, as well as all the published, works of the poet,
+and it will be completed by the opening day of the Universal Exhibition
+of 1889. No other monument could more fitly, or more worthily,
+commemorate this distinguished writer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE POET'S DEATH AND BURIAL.
+
+
+When the news that Victor Hugo had been seized with a serious illness
+was made known on the 17th of May, it excited a painful sensation not
+only in Paris and throughout France, but also in London, Vienna, and
+other European capitals. The great age of the sufferer caused the
+gravest apprehensions, notwithstanding his well-known vigour and
+robustness of constitution.
+
+The last public act of the poet was to stand sponsor to M. de Lesseps at
+the Academy reception, held towards the close of April, 1885. In
+accordance with his customary practice he was thinly clad, although the
+weather was inclement, and the rain fell while he stood for a
+considerable time in the quadrangle. His friends dreaded the result of
+this exposure. It seems that the spectators, as if with the
+presentiment that they would not see him again, gave him a prolonged
+cheer, 'which he acknowledged with the seriousness of a man already
+looking back, as from a distance, on the world's transient
+satisfactions. He then sat down, apparently absorbed in listening to
+what he called the inner voices, scarcely raising his head to respond to
+the plaudits evoked by the passage in his honour.' A fortnight after
+this incident, Hugo received his friend Lesseps and his family to
+dinner, according to his weekly custom. It was noticed by the poet's
+relatives, though it escaped the attention of his godson of the Academy,
+that the host was far from being in his usual health. Nevertheless, he
+exerted himself with his wonted courtesy, and remained with his guests
+until they departed at a late hour. He was already suffering from a
+cold, caught, it is said, on the 13th of May, when he took one of those
+omnibus rides to which, as we have seen, he was very partial. Overtaxed
+by his exertions in entertaining his friends, and unable to shake off
+the effects of the cold, serious symptoms began to develop themselves.
+In addition to an affection of the heart, congestion of the lungs set
+in. Although for some time he battled heroically with the disease, he at
+length looked for and anticipated death.
+
+A correspondent of the _Daily News_, reporting a conversation with an
+intimate friend of the Hugo family upon the poet's last illness, said:
+'He tells me that he never heard of a more terrible struggle between
+organic vitality and the morbid causes that are at work. Victor Hugo
+would like to die, so that it cannot be said it is his strength of will
+that enables him to resist the disease from which he is suffering.
+Contrary to what some of the journals have said, he is a very bad
+patient. Last night, when after straining his whole body to breathe, he
+had fallen into a prostrate state, a strong blister was prescribed, and
+the three doctors agreed to stay and watch its effects. As one of them
+was going to apply it, Victor Hugo jumped up and not only pushed him
+away but the others also, with a muscular force that astounded them. He
+rushed to and fro, convulsively throwing up his arms, and clutching the
+furniture. In the intervals between the crises, the poet likes to have
+his granddaughter near him. He feels that death has come to summon him,
+and that medical help is impotent to save him. He chafes at having to
+lie in bed. His voice is very weak, but remains audible to those near
+him. He was greatly affected on hearing that numbers of working people
+come in the evening to stand mutely and respectfully at a short distance
+from his house, so as to hear from those who call, as they are walking
+away, how he is. With his characteristic politeness, he has ordered that
+a direct notification is to be made to the humble watchers in the street
+of his decease, and wishes it to be known that his last thoughts have
+been about his friends the poor of Paris, with whom he has long been in
+brotherhood by feeling.'
+
+On hearing of Victor Hugo's alarming illness, Cardinal Guibert, the
+Archbishop of Paris, wrote to Madame Lockroy: 'I have the deepest
+sympathy with the sufferings of M. Victor Hugo and with the anxieties of
+his family. I have prayed much at the Holy Sacrifice of Mass for the
+illustrious patient. Should he desire to see a minister of our holy
+religion, although I am myself still weak, and in a state of
+convalescence from a disease much resembling his, I should make it my
+very pleasing duty to bring him the succour and consolation so much
+needed in these cruel ordeals.' M. Lockroy at once replied as follows:
+'Madame Lockroy, who cannot leave the bedside of her father-in-law, begs
+me to thank you for the sentiments which you have expressed with so much
+eloquence and kindness. As regards M. Victor Hugo, he has again said,
+within the last few days, that he had no wish during his illness to be
+attended by a priest of any persuasion. We should be wanting in our duty
+if we did not respect his resolution.' As the correspondent of the
+_Times_ observed, the Archbishop could scarcely have expected an
+acceptance of his offer, for Victor Hugo was not the man to play the
+revolting death-bed farce of Talleyrand; and to have died a Catholic
+would not even have been a reversion to the creed of his childhood, for,
+strictly speaking, he was not brought up a Catholic. His mother, though
+a Vendean Royalist, was a Voltairian; and when she entered her sons at
+the monastic college of Madrid, she declared them Protestants in order
+to exempt them from the confessional. But all through life Hugo was a
+Theist, and ran the gauntlet of much criticism from sceptical friends in
+consequence of his firm belief in the Deity.
+
+There seemed at one time a possibility of the poet's recovery, though
+he did not himself share this view. 'I only wish that death may come
+quickly,' he exclaimed the day before his death; and again, in passing
+through a severe spasmodic fit, he said: 'It is the struggle between day
+and night.' The patient's sufferings were very great, and those about
+him could desire nothing but his release. For several days he was kept
+alive only by injections of morphia. On the evening of the 21st he
+rallied sufficiently from his lethargy to embrace his two grandchildren,
+both in their 'teens, and to utter a few words. His breathing was
+temporarily easier, though the action of the heart continued to be very
+feeble. At five o'clock on the following morning the last agony
+commenced. Almost his last words, addressed to his granddaughter, were,
+'Adieu, Jeanne, adieu!' His final movement of consciousness was to grasp
+his grandson's hand. The pulse gradually grew weaker and weaker, and at
+half-past one o'clock he raised his head, made a gesture as if bowing,
+and fell back lifeless.
+
+In the afternoon M. Nadar attended, to photograph the death-bed. M.
+Bonnat, whose striking portrait of Hugo was one of the features of the
+Salon a few years ago, took a sketch, and M. Dalou, the sculptor, made a
+cast of the head. M. and Madame Jules Simon were the first amongst a
+long list of notabilities to pay a visit of condolence to the family.
+Early on the morning of the poet's death a crowd had assembled in the
+Avenue Victor Hugo, and the painful news of his decease rapidly spread
+through their midst, and was soon known throughout Paris.
+
+When the Senate met, shortly after the melancholy event, the President,
+M. Le Royer (a Protestant), said: 'Victor Hugo is dead. He who for more
+than sixty years has excited the admiration of the world and the
+legitimate pride of France has entered into immortality. I will not
+sketch his life; everyone knows it. His glory is the property of no
+party or opinion; it is the appanage and inheritance of all. I have only
+to express the deep and painful emotion of the Senate, and the unanimity
+of its regret. In sign of mourning, I have the honour to ask the Senate
+to adjourn.' M. Brisson then said: 'The Government joins in the noble
+words of the President of the Senate. To-morrow the Government will
+have the honour of submitting to the Chamber a Bill for a national
+funeral to Victor Hugo.' The Senate then rose. The Municipal Council
+paid similar homage to the man whose name was imperishably associated
+with that of Paris. The Council also resolved upon attending the funeral
+in a body.
+
+For some days the poet's death was the only subject of conversation in
+Paris. Foreign visitors delayed their departure in order to be able to
+say that they had witnessed his funeral. The Mayor of the 46th
+arrondissement declared the house where he died to be sacred, and the
+property of the city of Paris, and it was decided to give his name to
+new streets in the capital. For the first time, it was said, since
+Lafayette's death--and even this comparison proved to be
+inadequate--France was to celebrate a truly national funeral. The
+funerals of Thiers and Gambetta, though the most striking in France for
+at least a generation, aroused sympathy in one section of the people,
+and drew forth protests from the rest; but all France felt that it could
+bow the head with unanimous respect and veneration before the remains of
+Victor Hugo.
+
+A doubt which had troubled all persons holding religious beliefs in
+France was set at rest by the publication of the following unsealed
+memorandum handed by the poet to M. Vacquerie on the 2nd of August,
+1883:--'I give 50,000 francs to the poor. I wish to be carried to the
+cemetery in their hearse. I refuse the prayers (_oraisons_) of all
+churches: I ask for a prayer (_priere_) from all souls. I believe in
+God.--VICTOR HUGO.' Though rejecting creeds, it was seen that the
+illustrious departed had not rejected belief. On one point M. Renan
+expressed the universal feeling when he wrote as follows:--'M. Victor
+Hugo was one of the evidences of the unity of our French conscience. The
+admiration which enveloped his last years has shown that there are still
+points upon which we are agreed. Without distinction of class, party,
+sect, or literary opinion, the public, for some days past, has hung upon
+the heartrending narratives of his agony; and now there is nobody who
+does not perceive a great void in the heart of the country. He was an
+essential member of the church in whose communion we dwell--one might
+say that the spire of that old cathedral has crumbled into dust with the
+noble existence which has carried the banner of the ideal highest in our
+century.'
+
+At the opening of the French Chamber on the 23rd, M. Floquet pronounced
+an eloquent eulogium upon Victor Hugo. He spoke of France as having lost
+one of her best citizens, who had enriched the treasure of national
+glory, had restored courage in adversity, and after having suffered
+everything for the Republic had inculcated concord and tolerance. He
+described him as a hero of humanity, who for sixty years had been the
+champion of the poor, the weak, the humble, the woman, and the child,
+and as the advocate of inviolable respect for life, and of mercy to
+those who had gone astray. His name ought to be proclaimed, not only in
+the academies of artists, poets, and philosophers, but in all
+legislative assemblies, on which he had sought to impress the
+inspirations of his all-powerful and benevolent genius.
+
+In proposing a vote of 20,000 francs for a national funeral, M. Henri
+Brisson said:--'Victor Hugo is no more. While living he became immortal.
+Death itself, which often adds to the reputation of men, could not add
+to his glory. His genius dominates our century. Through him France
+irradiated the world. It is not letters alone that mourn, but our
+country and humanity--every reading and thinking man in the whole
+world. As regards us Frenchmen, for the last sixty-five years his voice
+has entered into our inner moral life and our national existence,
+bringing into them all that is sweetest and brightest, most touching and
+most elevated, in the private and public history of that long series of
+generations which he has charmed, consoled, kindled with pity or
+indignation, enlightened, and warmed with his own fire. What man of our
+time is not indebted to him? Our democracy laments his loss. He has sung
+all its grandeurs; he has wept over all its miseries. The weak and lowly
+cherished and venerated his name. They knew that this great man had
+their cause in his heart. It is a whole people that will follow him to
+the grave.'
+
+Loud acclamations followed this speech, and the proposal was adopted by
+415 votes to 3.
+
+The news of the poet's death excited as much emotion in the French
+provinces as in the capital. The Municipal Councils of Lyons,
+Marseilles, and Toulon closed their sittings as a mark of grief, after
+having appointed delegates to represent them at the funeral. The
+Municipal Council of Besancon sent the following address to the Hugo
+family:--'The native town of Victor Hugo, through the Council, places at
+the feet of the departed its sentiments of profound grief. The glory of
+the greatest of her children will for ever irradiate her and the whole
+world. By his genius he was foremost among men of letters and poets. By
+his love of his country and of liberty he was the enemy of usurpers and
+despots, and the power of his heart and his zeal for the welfare of
+humanity place him at the head of the protectors of the oppressed, the
+humble, and the weak.' The Mayor of Nancy addressed the following letter
+to M. Lockroy:--'The town of Nancy has always felt proud of having been
+the birthplace of General Hugo, the father of the man of genius for whom
+France mourns. She claimed as a glory for the blood of Lorraine, which
+ran in his veins, the renown of the great poet. I am an inadequate but
+sincere interpreter of the general grief.' At Algiers the Municipal
+Council closed its sittings, and from London, Vienna, and St. Petersburg
+messages of sympathy were despatched. On the day following the poet's
+death it was computed that at least ten thousand letters and messages of
+condolence reached the Avenue Victor Hugo.
+
+A desire having been expressed that Victor Hugo should be buried in the
+Pantheon, the feeling spread rapidly through almost all classes. In
+pursuance of this wish, M. Anatole de la Forge moved in the Chamber of
+Deputies that the Pantheon, known as the Church of St. Genevieve, should
+be secularized, in order that Victor Hugo's remains might be buried
+there. Urgency was voted for the motion by 229 against 114 votes, but
+the Minister of the Interior requested the House to postpone the vote
+upon it until the next sitting.
+
+It may be here stated that the Pantheon was commenced in 1764 as a
+church, completed in 1790 as a Walhalla, was a church from 1822 to 1830,
+and again from 1851 until 1885. The interments in it of Mirabeau,
+Voltaire, Rousseau, and Marat are matters of history, as are also the
+expulsions which followed. Mirabeau's body was publicly expelled by the
+Terrorists; Marat's by the Anti-Terrorists; and Voltaire's and
+Rousseau's clandestinely by the Legitimists. In 1881 the last French
+Chamber passed a Bill secularizing it; but this did not pass through the
+Senate.
+
+Two days after the discussion upon M. de la Forge's motion, the
+_Journal Officiel_ published a series of documents which summarily
+disposed of the matter. Ministers having advised President Grevy that an
+opportune moment had arrived for accomplishing the wish expressed by the
+Chamber in 1881, and for restoring the building to its original
+destination as a burial-place for illustrious Frenchmen, two
+Presidential Decrees were made, one declaring the Pantheon to be
+henceforth a mausoleum for great men who should have merited the
+gratitude of the nation, and the other directing that the body of Victor
+Hugo should be laid there. In the Chamber an order of the day was
+proposed by the Comte de Mun, condemning the Presidential Decree as a
+provocation to Catholics and as an act of feebleness; but this was
+rejected by 388 to 83. Another motion expressing the Chamber's entire
+approval of the letter and spirit of the Decree was then submitted, and
+carried by 338 to 90. Hugo's family consented to the body being taken to
+the Pantheon, but insisted on its being carried in a pauper's hearse
+from the Arc de Triomphe, where it was to lie in state, to the national
+mausoleum.
+
+At six o'clock on the morning of the 31st of May the remains of the
+poet were transferred to the Arc de Triomphe, where waggon-loads of
+flowers and memorial wreaths had been constantly arriving. All the
+shops, cafes, and restaurants in the Avenue Victor Hugo, and near the
+Triumphal Arch, had remained open all night. 'There was nothing
+disorderly,' wrote a correspondent, 'and the impression everything gave
+was one of sadness, though all day the aspect of the Place de l'Etoile
+had been really festive. The cenotaph was visible from the Tuileries.
+The coffin was covered with a silver-spangled pall, which rose from a
+base covered with black and violet cloth, violet being regal mourning,
+and Victor Hugo having attained an intellectual and moral sovereignty
+over France.' Early in the day the crowds of human beings in all the
+avenues leading to the Place de l'Etoile were very dense. As evening
+drew on the aspect was like that of some great fair. Medals bearing _Les
+Chatiments, Napoleon le Petit_, and other legends, were offered for
+sale, as well as medallions and numberless other memorials of the dead.
+The display of flowers was wholly unparalleled. At night a flood of
+electric light poured upon the Place de l'Etoile, revealing the coffin
+with Dalou's powerfully modelled bust at the foot, and bringing out the
+flowers and the names of Victor Hugo's works on shields. The effect of
+the Horse Guards with torches and veiled lamps was very striking. Twelve
+schoolboys, relieved every hour, formed a picket in front of the
+cenotaph, round which there was an outer circle of juvenile guards, and
+an inner one of Hugo's intimate friends. English literature and the fine
+arts were worthily represented in the votive offerings laid at the feet
+of the great poet. Wreaths, flowers, and memorial cards were sent in
+great abundance. Lord Tennyson wrote under his name the word 'Homage,'
+and at the top of his card, '_In Memoriam celeberrimi Poetae_.' Mr.
+Browning also was represented, as well as Sir Frederick Leighton, the
+President of the Royal Academy. Archdeacon Farrar sent the message, 'In
+honour of one who honoured man as man.' Sir F. Burton, director of the
+National Gallery, wrote, 'Honour to the memory of the great master;' and
+similar tributes were paid by many men of letters, poets, Royal
+Academicians, and others.
+
+The funeral ceremony took place on the 1st of June, and it was of such a
+character as to live in the memory of all who witnessed it. What
+distinguished the procession in honour of Victor Hugo from the only one
+comparable with it, that of Gambetta, observed the correspondent of the
+_Times_, was not only its vast size, which was without precedent, but
+also the distinct sentiment which dominated both its members and the
+crowd. It was at once the triumph of the democracy and an illustration
+of its power. In the case of Gambetta, France beheld a statesman cut off
+in his prime, with all the dreams of hope and ambition before him. In
+the case of Victor Hugo, it was a veteran in letters entering into his
+rest. 'At the tidings of his death, all France, all parties, seemed to
+claim him; and it was the loss of the poet, the thinker, the
+humanitarian, which was first deplored. Then, by degrees, party claims
+were put forth. The poet and thinker disappeared, and this made his
+funeral less sublime. The crowd paid homage to the political weaknesses
+of his latter years, to the democratic philanthropist, to the Extremist
+Senator, to a Hugo, in fact, whom posterity will ignore, while honouring
+him with a place among great literary geniuses.' The struggle over his
+remains ended by other parties giving way, and the people for whom he
+had laboured claiming him as their especial champion and prophet. But
+certainly, whether for king, priest, statesman, or man of letters, Paris
+and the provinces never before turned out in such vast multitudes.
+
+The wreaths arriving from all parts were placed on twelve cars, drawn by
+four or six horses each, and they formed a brilliant spectacle. Before
+six o'clock in the morning there were already four rows of spectators
+assembled on each side of the Champs Elysees. 'The authorities, with
+considerable skill and foresight, had directed most of the societies
+likely to bear what might be qualified as seditious banners to meet in
+the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne. Here accordingly, at a little before
+nine o'clock, were massed various free-thought societies, nearly all of
+them bearing red flags or banners, from Boulogne, Asnieres, Argenteuil,
+Suresne, Bicetre, Sevres, Puteaux, and other places. Some of the banners
+were ornamented with Phrygian caps. Close by, in the Avenue de la Grande
+Armee, the proscripts of 1851-52 had also a red banner. By ten o'clock
+there were fifteen red flags close to the Arc de Triomphe. At the corner
+of the Rue Brunel M. Lissagaray, M. Martin, and some thirty well-known
+anarchists had responded to the call of the Revolutionary Committee.
+They seemed, however, lost in the crowd. Twice this little group of
+anarchists tried to unfurl a red flag, but being so closely watched,
+they had not time to hoist the colour in the air before flag-bearer and
+flag were both captured. By half-past ten the anarchists, having already
+lost two flags, abandoned the Rue Brunel. A little before eleven o'clock
+a Commissioner of Police, in plain clothes, accompanied by half-a-dozen
+policemen and a company of Republican Guards, marched down the Avenue du
+Bois de Boulogne, and, accosting the bearer of every red flag that
+seemed at all objectionable, lifted his hat, and demanded that the
+emblem should be covered over.' Although disturbances had been feared
+none occurred. The Red Republicans and anarchists (whom Victor Hugo had
+more than once condemned) were but as a drop in the bucket, compared
+with the myriads of other citizens assembled to do honour to the dead.
+Although some arrests were made, the greatness of the whole occasion
+dwarfed their significance, and the most imposing spectacle within
+living memory became a veritable popular triumph, and one reflecting
+credit upon the French nation.
+
+Vivid descriptions were penned of the ceremony. According to one of
+these, by eleven o'clock the sight at the foot of the Arc de Triomphe
+became more and more impressive. The dull, grey sky, the roll of the
+muffled drums, the mournful strains of Chopin's _Funeral March_,
+combined with the hushed tones of conversation, helped to impress the
+numerous audience gathered round. The bright red robes of the judges and
+the sombre gowns of the barristers made a picturesque contrast with the
+very plain, unpretending dress of the members of the Government and of
+the Foreign Diplomatic Corps, who sat in the most favoured places at the
+foot of the Arc. In the background the glitter of cuirassier armour and
+the gold braiding of the representatives of the army gave tone and
+vivacity to the scene. Much interest was manifested at the presence of
+the French Cabinet, of both Houses, and of the English Ambassador,
+sitting side by side with M. de Mohrenheim, the Russian Ambassador.
+
+When the mourning family had taken their places, Ministers went to pay
+them their condolences. The funeral addresses were then delivered from
+a tribune erected on the left of the catafalque. The first speaker, M.
+Le Royer, President of the Senate, described Victor Hugo as the most
+illustrious senator, whose Olympian forehead, bowed on his breast in an
+anticipated posture of immortality, always attracted respectful homage
+from all his colleagues. He never mounted the tribune but to support a
+cause always dear to him--the Amnesty. Amidst apparent hesitations, he
+had all his life consistently pursued a high ideal of justice and
+humanity, and his moral action on France was immense. He unmasked the
+sophisms of crowned crime, comforted weak hearts, and restored to honest
+men right notions of moral law, which had been momentarily obscured.
+
+The speech of the day, however, was delivered by M. Floquet, President
+of the Chamber of Deputies. In tones which could be distinctly heard
+throughout the vast arena, and with much eloquence of gesture, the
+orator said: 'What can equal the grandeur of the spectacle before us,
+which history will record! Under this arch, constellated with the
+legendary names of so many heroes, who have made France free, and wished
+to render her glorious, we see to-day the mortal remains, or rather, I
+should say, the still serene image, of the great man who so long sang
+the glory of our country and struggled for her liberty. We see here
+around us the most eminent men in arts and sciences, the representatives
+of the French people, the delegates of our departments and communes,
+voluntary and spontaneous ambassadors, and missionaries from the
+civilized universe, piously bending the knee before him who was a
+sovereign of thought, an exile for crushed right and a betrayed
+Republic, a persevering protector of all the weak and oppressed, and the
+chosen defender of humanity in our century. In the name of the nation we
+salute him, not in the humble attitude of mourning, but with all the
+pride of glorification. This is not a funeral, but an apotheosis. We
+weep for the man who is gone, but we acclaim the imperishable apostle
+whose word remains with us, and, surviving from age to age, will conduct
+the world to the definite conquest of liberty, equality, and fraternity.
+This immortal giant would have been ill at ease in the solitude and
+obscurity of subterranean crypts. We have elevated him there, exposed to
+the judgment of men and Nature, under the grand sun which illuminated
+his august conscience. Whole peoples realize the poetical dream of this
+sweet genius. May this coffin, covered with the flowers of the grateful
+inhabitants of Paris, which Victor Hugo loved to call the _Cite Mere_,
+and of which he was the respectful son and faithful servant, teach the
+admiring multitude duty, concord, and peace.'
+
+M. Floquet concluded by reciting the verses beginning '_Je hais
+l'oppression d'une haine profonde_' ('I hate oppression with a profound
+hatred'). This address, which elicited enthusiastic approval, was
+followed by one from M. Goblet, Minister of Public Instruction. The
+Minister said that Victor Hugo, while living, figured in the glorious
+pleiad of great poets--with Corneille, Moliere, Racine, and Voltaire. He
+would always remain the highest personification of the nineteenth
+century, the history of which, with its contradictions, its doubts, its
+ideas, and aspirations, had been best reflected in his works. The
+speaker laid stress upon the profoundly human character of Victor Hugo,
+who represented in France the spirit of toleration and peace. M. Emile
+Augier, who appeared in the uniform of the Academy, said: 'The great
+poet that France has lost vouchsafed me a place in his friendship.
+Hence the honour I have to be chosen by the Academy to express our
+grief, which is as nothing to that of the whole nation. To the sovereign
+poet France renders sovereign honours. She is not prodigal of the
+surname Great. Hitherto it has been almost the exclusive appanage of
+conquerors; but one preceding poet was universally called the Great
+Corneille, and henceforth we shall say the Great Victor Hugo. His
+long-acquired renown is now called glory, and posterity commences. We
+are not celebrating a funeral, but a coronation.' M. Michelin, President
+of the Municipal Council of Paris, delivered the last speech of the day.
+
+On the conclusion of the addresses, the drums beat the salute, and then
+the band of the Republican Guard struck up the _Marseillaise_. Just as
+they had reached the chorus of the stirring French national anthem, the
+coffin was brought out from the catafalque, and at that precise moment
+the sun, bursting through the grey clouds, threw a ray of brilliant
+light on the mountain of flowers whence the remains of Victor Hugo had
+emerged. Now the march commenced, the school battalions and the
+representatives of the Press taking the lead, amid clapping of hands.
+Chopin's _Marche Funebre_ was the music played at the opening of the
+ceremonial. After this came in slow movement the strains of the
+_Marseillaise_, which were soon followed by the _Chant du Depart_, and
+then by the Girondins' celebrated chant, _Mourir pour la Patrie_.
+Faithful to the stipulation of his will, Victor Hugo's body was conveyed
+to its last resting-place in the poor man's hearse--that is to say, the
+cheapest hearse which the Pompes Funebres provide. As the corpse was
+being removed from the cenotaph every head was uncovered. The artillery
+of the Invalides and of Mont Valerian boomed out a farewell salute. 'The
+procession,' wrote a correspondent of the _Daily News_, 'had for
+vanguard a squadron of mounted gendarmes, followed by General Saussier,
+the Governor of Paris, and the Cuirassiers, with band playing; twelve
+crown-laden cars, the band of the Republican Guard, the delegates of
+Besancon carrying a white crown, the French and foreign journalists, the
+Society of Dramatic Authors, and the delegates of the National and other
+theatres. The cars were surrounded by the children of the school
+battalion. There was no crown on the pauper's hearse. The friends of
+the deceased held the cords of the pall, and Georges Hugo walked alone,
+behind. He was in evening dress, and looked a young man. His face is
+handsome, and his air distinguished. His mother, sister, and different
+ladies and other friends of the family walked at a short distance behind
+him. The crowd of people was astounding round the Arch of Triumph, and
+in the Champs Elysees' side-ways the windows, balconies, house-roofs,
+and even the chimney-tops were crowded.'
+
+The very trees seemed to bud with human beings; and the crowd of
+spectators in the streets was so deep and serried that it was impossible
+for any wearied senator, savant, or other venerable person to get out if
+once imprisoned. All along the route of the procession heads were
+religiously uncovered as the hearse passed. The school battalion guarded
+it, and then came many companies of boyish militia. Gymnastic societies
+in white, blue, and red flannel shirts, with white trousers, gaiters,
+and caps; delegations of the learned societies, political clubs,
+printers, publishers, newspapers, foreign Radicals, literati,
+philanthropical societies, fire brigades, humane societies, trades
+unions, came in processional order. Each group was distinctly separated
+from the other. Down the broad Champs Elysees the procession moved with
+great facility, as all carriages had been cleared away before eight
+o'clock in the morning. All the available standing-room of the broad
+causeway was filled with an eager throng; but the most sublime sight was
+presented at the Place de la Concorde. The corner from the Champs
+Elysees to the bridge was walled off by the troops, so that an
+innumerable multitude was able to collect at this point. Not content
+with this, the banks of the Seine, down to the water's edge, on both
+sides of the bridge, were thickly studded with people, and every
+floating barge or boat was dangerously loaded with spectators. Far up
+the broad stretch of the Avenue the procession, with its thousand crowns
+and banners, could be seen slowly descending. Many groups had not yet
+left the Arc de Triomphe when the head of the procession reached the
+Pantheon. A dense mass of spectators had gathered in and around the
+Place de la Concorde; but perhaps no portion of the route was so crowded
+as the Rue Soufflot, which leads from the Boulevard St. Michel to the
+Pantheon. Windows, ladders, roofs, and chimneys were all utilized by
+those eager to witness the passing of the procession. Shortly after
+half-past one the head of the procession reached the steps of the
+Pantheon, and at two o'clock the coffin was brought up the front steps,
+and placed on the catafalque. The representatives of the family, of
+Government, and the various authorities took their places on either side
+of the main entrance. Once more a grand spectacle was offered by the
+artistic grouping of crowns, flowers, uniforms, and colours under the
+majestic pillars of the Pantheon. Speeches were again delivered, and
+these continued while the procession, with, bands and banners, filed
+past. The working-class corporations followed in their various order,
+and these were succeeded by the Secular Technical School for Girls, the
+Republican Socialist Alliance, the Comedians of Paris, the Montmartre
+Choral Society, the Women's Suffrage Society, the Radical Socialist
+Club, and many other bodies. 'A few minutes after six o'clock,' remarked
+the _Times_ correspondent, 'the last crowns and banners passed by, and
+after a short interval the troops representing the Army of Paris
+commenced their march-past. Dragoons, Republican Guard, and Line were
+in their turn acclaimed by the multitude, pleased by their martial
+appearance and their light tread after the fatigues of the day. Then
+came the blare of the Artillery trumpets, followed by those of the
+Dragoons, and at precisely a quarter to seven the last soldier made the
+last salute to the remains of Victor Hugo. A statue of Hugo in his
+famous posture of reverie fronted the Pantheon. This papier-mache statue
+represented Victor Hugo watching the long procession that did him
+honour. It was a trifle; but there was a touch of tender thoughtfulness
+in this reminder to the surging multitude that they must not forget the
+man who was being borne to the grave.'
+
+Thus ended a funeral pageant worthy, on the whole, of the poet and the
+nation--a pageant in which were to be found representatives of all
+classes of the French community. Victor Hugo, whose genius recalled the
+elder glory of French literature, now sleeps in the Pantheon. While he
+differed from the illustrious men of the past, having neither the wit of
+Rabelais nor Moliere, the classic dignity of Corneille, nor the
+philosophic depth of Voltaire, he had a greatness, though of a
+different kind, equal to their own. He therefore joins them as an equal.
+He has given to French literature a new departure; for every book he has
+written, while wet with human tears, is yet stamped with the terrible
+earnestness which possessed his spirit, and made immutable by the
+Herculean strength of his genius.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+GENIUS AND CHARACTERISTICS.
+
+
+Victor Hugo, though simple in nature, was many-sided in intellect. As I
+approach the conclusion of my task, I feel how truly great the sum of
+this man's work was, notwithstanding the flaws which disfigured it. And
+in proportion to its greatness is the difficulty of appraising, or even
+of approximately appraising, its value. This task belongs to a writer or
+writers yet unborn; for neither in his own nor even in the next
+generation does such a man of genius as Hugo--an author _sui generis_,
+one utterly unlike all others--assume his distinctive niche in the
+Walhalla of literature. But there are some suggestions of a general
+character which may be offered respecting his work, and these will
+naturally fall under four headings--political, social, moral or
+religious, and literary.
+
+It has been said that Hugo failed in politics; but as he never posed
+for being a practical politician, the charge does not possess the
+significance that would have attached to it had he come forward as a
+political saviour--of whom France has had so many. For the sinuosities
+and compromises of party politics, however wise and necessary at times,
+he had no aptitude. He had no political creed; or, if he had, it might
+be summed up in one article. He individualized humanity, and declared it
+to be miserable. The whole of his creed, therefore, consisted in the
+destruction of monopolies and abuses, and the uplifting of the masses.
+But he was certainly unfitted for the debates of such a body as the
+French Chamber, and it was probably one of the best things he ever did
+in his life when he shook the dust from under his feet, and bade the
+Assembly an indignant farewell. Yet he was more successful than scores
+of other politicians who have set up a claim to superior political
+wisdom. The French Chamber has been too frequently suggestive of a
+_maison d'alienes_. The modern Gallic politician is about the most
+impulsive creature of which we have any knowledge. He lacks the
+phlegmatic nature of the German and the logical hardheadedness of the
+Briton. He is hypersensitive and emotional, not argumentative and
+judicial. He only knows that he has ideas, and that every man who
+opposes those ideas is an enemy of the human species, and must be put
+out of the way. This was proved again and again in that terrible year of
+Revolution, 1793, when the friends of Reason sent each other to the
+block as they successively gained the upper hand. One would think that
+this was a sufficient baptism of blood; but it was not so; the tale has
+been renewed at intervals, and the communistic horrors of 1871 added
+another fearful page to the grim catalogue. French politics are a
+succession of storms; the lightning breaks, the thunder rolls, and the
+deluge follows; then, for a time, the sky clears and the sun shines
+brilliantly: but the clouds return after the rain; the barometer becomes
+demoralized; and electrical disturbance is once more the order of the
+day.
+
+But in the intervals of sanity in the French political world--I use the
+word 'sanity' in its larger sense--great and noble work is done, work
+worthy of the world's admiration. When the French mind conceives
+projects of amelioration, it conceives them with boldness and
+generosity. In this lies the safety-valve of the people, and also the
+best hope for the future of the race. Men like Hugo are the men to
+suggest and to push forward these great conceptions for the national
+welfare. They may have few political principles as such, but the
+political sympathies of such a man as Victor Hugo have more force and
+weight than the most orthodox and irreproachable doctrines of a hundred
+smaller men. While politicians may be struggling for unimportant
+details, men of great sympathies are mighty to the moving of mountains.
+As a practical politician, then, let it be frankly admitted that Hugo
+was a failure; that in his speeches he was frequently rhapsodical; and
+that he could take no initiative in practical legislation. All these are
+matters in which lesser intellects might, could, should, would, and do
+succeed. But in that higher region where the eternal principles of
+justice come into play, where sublime benevolence holds her seat, where
+by a quick and living sympathy universal humanity is made to feel a
+universal brotherhood, then Victor Hugo had a political illumination to
+which none other of his contemporaries could lay claim.
+
+From the political to the social is but a step, and that a natural one.
+It cannot be said of Hugo that he was liberal in his social theories and
+aristocratic in his practice. He had a courteousness of nature that made
+him equally esteemed, and had in reverence, by such an one as a king or
+an emperor, and the meanest of his compatriots who called upon him for
+advice or aid. If he endeavoured to teach the higher social life to
+others, he at least led the way by setting before himself only such aims
+as were noble and humane. He was the very soul of truth in all his
+relations, and if he were not the equal of Rousseau as a great social
+teacher, he far transcended the author of the _Contrat Social_ in his
+irreproachable life and his deep personal sympathies. One writer has
+said that 'Victor Hugo's own strongest influence is but a breath of the
+influence of Rousseau.' This is a deliverance as unhappy as it is
+dogmatic. There is neither necessity nor appositeness in placing the two
+writers in such juxtaposition. France before Rousseau was not the France
+of Victor Hugo; the former had work of an originative character to do in
+the social sphere, as Victor Hugo had in that of literature. But while
+Hugo was not the creator of a new social system, one of the primary
+causes of his influence was of a social character. His intense and
+genuine sympathy with the humble and the poor and the suffering gave him
+a place in the affection of thousands who knew little of social
+theories. The key, indeed, to Hugo's personal character and influence,
+as distinguished from the literary, was that human sympathy which led to
+his untiring efforts to protect the weak against the strong. He would
+have no parleying with oppression and violence, and notwithstanding his
+passionateness he really exercised a salutary and calming influence in
+the main, and one which told for goodness. To him the orphan's rags, the
+shame of woman, and the anguish of the toiler never appealed in vain. I
+can imagine him doing what sturdy old Samuel Johnson did when he rescued
+the outcast woman in the Strand, and himself bore her away to a place of
+safety. Hugo had a clear enough insight into those social reforms which
+are still a necessity even in this enlightened age. He did not believe
+in the perfection of the poor, though he did believe in the absolute
+imperfection of kings and priests. By setting the latter in the full
+blaze of publicity, he believed he was doing a great social work, and
+helping on that golden age of happiness for which he laboured. In his
+earnestness and enthusiasm, he might commit, and doubtless did commit,
+errors of judgment; but then without these very qualities of earnestness
+and enthusiasm all the great things associated with his name could have
+had no birth. Where we gain much, we can easily forgive a little. Victor
+Hugo had a conscience, and as a man amongst men, pleading for men, he
+threw it all into his social work. In Jean Valjean he will never cease
+to plead, though he himself is dead. He has given to the sufferings of
+humanity a voice which will continue to speak in tones of pathos and of
+sadness until the last of those sufferings and social wrongs shall have
+passed away. Of many devastating spirits has the world been called upon
+to say that they made a solitude and called it peace; but of Victor Hugo
+we may say that he found humanity a bleak and cheerless wilderness, and
+endeavoured to make it blossom as the rose.
+
+Yet loving the world and humanity as he did, and feeling that the earth
+was 'bound by gold chains about the feet of God,' Hugo, as I have
+before said, has been claimed by some as an unbeliever. As though any
+great poet who had come to years of discretion could be a materialist or
+an infidel. So far from seeing no God in the universe, the poet as a
+rule is God-intoxicated. I shall be reminded, perhaps, of Lucretius and
+Shelley, but even these, as the exceptions, would only serve to prove
+the rule. The Roman, however, was philosopher first, and poet
+afterwards; while as for the atheism of Shelley, it was a spasmodic
+experience due to a revolt against authority--not a deep-settled
+conviction--and an experience out of which he was rapidly growing at the
+time of his death. No poet of the first order has ever been an atheist,
+and Victor Hugo was no exception to the rule. While discarding religious
+systems, he was, in fact, profoundly religious. He never swerved in this
+matter from the position he held in 1850, and which he thus explained at
+the close of a speech on public instruction, 'God will be found at the
+end of all. Let us not forget Him; and let us teach Him to all. There
+would otherwise be no dignity in living, and it would be better to die
+entirely. What soothes suffering, what sanctifies labour, what makes
+man good, strong, wise, patient, benevolent, just, and at the same time
+humble and great, worthy of liberty, is to have before him the perpetual
+vision of a better world throwing its rays through the darkness of this
+life. As regards myself, I believe profoundly in this better world, and
+I declare it in this place to be the supreme certainty of my soul. I
+wish, then, sincerely, or, to speak more strongly, I wish ardently for
+religious instruction.' There is surely nothing vague or nebulous about
+this. No man could express himself more clearly or emphatically if
+directly questioned upon the great and momentous topics of God and
+immortality. As a religious teacher, then, Hugo may be justly claimed;
+for the whole weight of his name and influence was thrown upon the side
+of those profound religious convictions which have been the consolation
+of the human race, and which have knit man in indissoluble bonds to the
+Divine.
+
+What shall I say of Victor Hugo from the literary point of view? His
+true glory is that he revivified French literature--created it afresh,
+as it were--and was himself the best representative of its new
+excellences. But this subject is so great that I scarcely dare venture
+upon it. The poet carried out in his own person and work the advice he
+once gave to some younger spirits, 'Act so that your conscience will
+approve, and your works praise you; and, like those great unknown, you
+will leave the world better than you found it; while, in virtue of the
+justice which I believe to be the law of the universe, you will rise
+high elsewhere in the scale of creation. A man is splendidly praised
+when he is praised by his works.' Of course, he had his detractors--such
+men as Charles Maurice, who believed himself to be a greater writer than
+Victor Hugo, and who only perceived in _Hernani_ the effects of 'an
+intolerable system of style destructive of all poesy.' The world has
+since regulated this matter adversely to Maurice. Then there were others
+not so unjust as this writer, but men who were so strongly impressed by
+the defects of Hugo that they scarcely gave him due credit for his
+manifest powers of literary expression. Heine and Amiel may be taken to
+represent this type. To set against these are the Hugolatres, as
+Theophile Gautier called them. In England the most enthusiastic admirer
+of the poet is undoubtedly Mr. Swinburne, and from his numerous
+tributes I may select one passage that is a kind of triumphant summary
+of the rest. It is the last stanza from his New-Year Ode to Hugo, in the
+_Midsummer Holiday, and other Poems_:
+
+
+       'Life, everlasting while the worlds endure,
+         Death, self-abased before a power more high,
+       Shall bear one witness, and their word stand sure,
+         That not till time be dead shall this man die.
+       Love, like a bird, comes loyal to his lure;
+         Fame flies before him, wingless else to fly.
+         A child's heart toward his kind is not more pure,
+         An eagle's toward the sun no lordlier eye.
+             Awe sweet as love and proud
+             As fame, though hushed and bowed,
+         Yearns toward him silent as his face goes by;
+             All crowns before his crown
+             Triumphantly bow down,
+         For pride that one more great than all draws nigh:
+             All souls applaud, all hearts acclaim,
+     One heart benign, one soul supreme, one conquering name.'
+
+
+Making allowance for the fervour which a peculiarly fervid singer throws
+into his admiration, there is much truth in this metrical tribute to the
+literary and personal worth of the great poet. Substantially the same
+high view of Hugo is held by Lord Tennyson and other literary men in
+this country. But, with regard to criticism in particular, the writer
+from whom I have just quoted was even happier still in his prose
+comparisons. He remarked in his essay on _La Legende des Siecles_ that
+'Hugo, for all his dramatic and narrative mastery of effect, will always
+probably remind men rather of such poets as Dante or Isaiah than of such
+poets as Sophocles or Shakspeare. We cannot, of course, imagine the
+Florentine or the Hebrew endowed with his infinite variety of
+sympathies, of interests, and of powers; but as little can we imagine in
+the Athenian such height and depth of passion, in the Englishman such
+unquenchable and sleepless fire of moral and prophetic faith. And hardly
+in any one of these, though Shakspeare perhaps may be excepted, can we
+recognise the same buoyant and childlike exultation in such things as
+are the delight of a high-hearted child--in free glory of adventure and
+ideal daring, in the triumph and rapture of reinless imagination, which
+gives now and then some excess of godlike empire and superhuman kinship
+to their hands whom his hands have created, and the lips whose life is
+breathed into them from his own.' And again, 'In his love of light and
+freedom, reason and justice, he not of Jerusalem, but of Athens; but in
+the bent of his imagination, in the form and colour of his dreams, in
+the scope and sweep of his wide-winged spiritual flight, he is nearer
+akin to the great insurgent prophets of deliverance and restoration than
+to any poet of Athens, except only their kinsman AEschylus.' Even the
+most superficial reading of Hugo must leave an impression of magnificent
+powers, of powers which in given circumstances might have produced many
+and different forms of greatness. He had that exaltation of the
+intellect and imagination, that lofty range of mental force, which
+moulds centuries and moves the world.
+
+But there are special literary qualities in Hugo which should be
+noticed. First among them is his extreme conscientiousness. His natural
+eloquence has sometimes been regarded as a snare to him, and yet in all
+the details of his work he was rigidly exact, so far as the most minute
+search could enable him to be. This was apparent in _Notre-Dame_, and
+especially so in _Les Miserables_, where he devoted a volume to a
+description of the battle of Waterloo, or Mont St. Jean, as the French
+designate it. Before writing on this, he lived for some time in the
+vicinity of the scene, and closely noted every item in connection with
+the fight on that great battlefield. He wrote to a correspondent, 'I
+have studied Waterloo profoundly; I am the only historian who has passed
+two months on the field of battle.' This same feeling of
+conscientiousness he also carried into other matters.
+
+Another point which must be borne in mind in endeavouring to get at the
+source of Victor Hugo's influence upon literature is the extent and
+flexibility of his vocabulary. 'No one,' wrote M. Edmond About, shortly
+after the appearance of _Quatre-Vingt-Treize_, 'can fail to recognise
+the power of Hugo's invention, the wealth of his ideas, the grandeur of
+his oratorical flights, and that sublimity which is the mark of a man of
+genius; but it is not known in Europe, nor even in France, that Victor
+Hugo is the most learned of men of letters. He possesses an enormous
+vocabulary. Out of the 27,000 words which the dictionary of the Academy
+contains, and 6,000 of which have an individuality of their own, the
+language of common life employs at most about a thousand. I could
+mention illustrious publicists, popular dramatists, novelists, whose
+books are much read and much liked, none of whom has more than 1,500
+words at his disposal. Theophile Gautier, a studious man and a
+dilettante, used to boast to his friends of possessing 3,000. "But," he
+used to add, "I might toil to the last day of my life without attaining
+to the vocabulary of Hugo." Genius apart, merely by his knowledge and
+use of his mother-tongue, Hugo is the Rabelais of modern days. This is
+the minor side of his glory, I allow; but critics ought not to neglect
+it, or they will lead people to form false ideas.'
+
+As to Hugo's human passion, it agonizes in almost every page of his
+writings. He is nothing if not intensely human. And his weird and
+powerful effects are heightened by that undertone, that minor chord of
+music which he touches more often than the more jubilant major notes.
+'The still sad music of humanity' is for ever beating in his ear, and he
+translates its moving pathos into words. A mind of this stamp feels that
+it can rarely turn to the humorous, and accordingly it is objected that
+he has no sense of humour. The charge is true in the main, for the grim
+humour of some of his situations may be better expressed by the epithet
+of grotesque. He lacked just this saving sense of humour to place him
+on a level with the greatest writers--or rather with those writers who
+are greatest in the delineation of human nature and its passions; for we
+have great writers, such as Dante and Milton, who are equal strangers
+with Hugo to the humour which plays about the pages of Shakspeare.
+
+But Hugo is pre-eminent in other qualities. He is firmly and
+uncompromisingly veracious. No special correspondent who ever described
+a battlefield could be more vivid and telling in his reminiscences.
+There is the stamp of reality and truthfulness upon all that he has
+written. With a gloomy magnificence of imagery he has described scenes
+and events that are now immortal in literature. There is a grand
+spontaneity in his utterances--an eloquence that springs from the heart
+as much as from the head; while over all his poems and romances a noble
+halo has been thrown which is the reflex of the innate nobility of the
+man.
+
+M. Emile Montegut has observed that Hugo is master of all that is
+colossal and fearful. His imagination prefers sublime and terrible
+spectacles: war, shipwreck, death, and primitive civilizations, with
+their babels and convulsions--these attract him. How well, also, can he
+imitate the plaintive cries of the ocean under the tempest which
+torments it! Let him but paint a feudal ruin and you will be made to
+feel all its imposing horrors; or a palace of Babylon, and you will
+realize its massive splendours. He knows the secrets of the Sphinx, and
+of the monstrous idols; he is familiar with the burning deserts of
+Africa, and the horrors of hyperborean countries. In the domain of the
+weird he is sovereign king, and no one will dispute with him. In other
+fields he may have rivals, but in the region where the fantastic mingles
+with the superhuman he has no equal.
+
+But there is yet another side to Hugo which English critics have been
+just to note--it is that concerned with his human creations. While he
+may revel in the scenes which M. Montegut depicts, his heart is mostly
+in his human creations. And with regard to his treatment of these, it
+has been observed that the spectator is put outside the scene, and can
+do nothing but look on breathless, while amid mist and cloud, with
+illuminations fiery or genial, as the case may be, the great picture
+rises before him, each actor detached and separate, some in boldest
+relief, with a force which is often tremendous, and always forcibly
+dramatic. The giant and the child are treated with equal care and
+conscientiousness. Though first in massive effects, in deep broad lines,
+Hugo is also first in the most delicate shades of tenderness. 'The babes
+are as distinct as the heroes, every pearly curve of them tender and
+sweet as rose-leaves, yet complete creatures, nowhere blurred or
+indefinite, even in the most delicious softness of execution.' I quote
+from a writer in _Blackwood_, who had the candour (not always displayed
+by critics) to acknowledge that neither in France nor upon our own side
+of the Channel is there a contemporary writer who can with any show of
+justice be placed by the side of Victor Hugo. 'His genius is too
+national, his workmanship too characteristic, to be contrasted with the
+calmer inspiration of any Englishman.... His subject, the character he
+is unfolding, possesses the writer: he throws himself upon it with a
+glow and fervour of knowledge, with a certainty of delineation which is
+not the mere exercise of practised powers, but with that something
+indescribable, something indefinable, added to it, swelling in every
+line, and transforming every paragraph. The workmanship is often
+wonderful; but it is not the workmanship which strikes us most--it is
+the abundant, often wild, sometimes unguided and undisciplined touch of
+genius which inspires and expands and exaggerates and dilates the words
+it is constrained to make use of--almost forcing a new meaning upon them
+by way of fiery compulsion, to blazon its own meaning upon brain and
+sense, whether they will or not. We know no literary work of the age--we
+had almost said no intellectual work of any kind--so possessed and
+quivering with this indescribable but extraordinary power.'
+
+Hugo's works are undoubtedly in parts eccentric, and all too frequently
+extravagant; but this is the nodding of Homer. His conceptions are
+gigantic, and his figures truly dramatic; and these are the chief things
+with which we have to do. In his superb excellences he stands alone--he
+is unique. His table is weighted with intellectual sustenance; so great
+is his abundance that a myriad writers could be fed from the crumbs
+which fall from his table. From the literary point of view we must not
+forget his chief distinction--that he effected the most brilliant and
+complete revolution that has been witnessed in the history of French
+literature. He changed the whole face of art in French poetry, and
+destroyed for ever the poetry of conventionality. He has endowed his
+native language with new nerve and sensibility; he has given it a fresh
+and vital force, and the effects of his influence upon the nation and
+literature of which he was the brightest ornament must be radical and
+abiding.
+
+One quality only, or so it seems to me, Hugo lacked to place him on a
+level with the few great master spirits of the world. He wanted the
+universality of Homer and Shakspeare. Whenever the _Iliad_ is read, the
+power of that mighty story is felt, and methinks that had I been born of
+any other than that English nationality of which I can boast, there is
+still something in Shakspeare which would have moved me as no other
+writer does. It is that secret power which draws all hearts to
+him--'that touch of nature which makes the whole world kin,' and unites
+all men in admiration of his singular genius. Hugo is great also, but he
+has not that Shakspearean greatness which compels the tribute of all
+other peoples, as it receives the willing homage of his own. His noble
+poems and romances, with their sonorous eloquence, their rapid changes,
+their varied effects, remind me of Nature on an autumn day. The gloomy
+cloud gathers in the heavens, the lurid lightning darts from its bosom,
+the thunder rolls and reverberates in the mountains; but anon the
+tempest passes, the heavens open, and the glorious and beneficent sun
+once more smiles upon the world. So Hugo is a mixture of thunder and
+sunshine; of smiles and tears. No man had ever a greater
+heart--Shakspeare, and few others only, a more expansive intellect. He
+lacks the grand impartiality and the majestic calm of the author of
+_Hamlet_; but his soul is filled with the same love of his species, and
+it is large enough to embrace all the sons of humanity. His is a name
+which any nation, might well hold in everlasting honour. Though his life
+be ended, the splendour of his fame has but just begun; for the works
+infused and moulded by his genius, and into which he threw so much of
+passionate energy, of a noble idealism, of radiant hope, of moral
+fervour, and of human sympathy, will assuredly confer upon him glory and
+immortality.
+
+BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Victor Hugo: His Life and Works, by
+G. Barnett Smith
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