The Express.
London, England, 1864-04-23 00:00:00

LETTER FROM VICTOR HI7OO.

Had the French banquet takes place, the following
letter from Victor Hugo was to hare bee. road :
" Hautovills House, April 1&
"It seems to mess if I was mearoing to Frames. The
season is that I foal myself among you. You call me aad
my soul rushee towards you.

" Shakespeare you Frenchmen give ms ed.
winkle sample.
" You put Bbakerpear• cm the fullest level with OW
satiosal illustrious men. You make him freaaraies with

Moller% whom you emaciate with him and with Voltamt,
whom you bring into his fold. At the moment when Ens.
land meads Garibaldi a citizen of London you make
Shekespearea citizen of the republic of French letters.
"Yon know, in fact, that Shakespeare belongs to you.
You love everything in that man ; in the first plum you lore
him became he is essentially a man, nest you glorify in hint
the actor who was in distivss, the philosopher who did kettle
with fortune, and the poet who conquered. Your acclawa.
Lions honour in his life the force of will, in his gem.
power, in Lis art, conscience, in his theatre humanity.
" You are right, and it is just civilisation claps her hands
around that noble head.

" You are posts gbwifying poetry, you are thinkers
glorifying philosophy, you are 'Aids glorifying art : you
are something still more—you are Francs glorifying Log.
land. It is the magnanimous accolade of sister to sister, of
the nation of St. Vincent de Paul to the nation of Wilber.
force, of Paris where there is equality to London where
there is liberty. From this embrace will result exchanges.
Os* will give what the other wants.

" It is a fine thing in the name of Frame to salute For.
land through the person of its great man ; you do
more, you leave geographical limits; neither French nor
English, you are the brotbers of a genius end you fut., him ;
you fete the glob* itself ; you coogratuiate the earth, which
on such a day 300 years ago saw the birth of Shakespeare.
You consecrate this sublime principle of the uhi.
quity of minds wham* the unity of civilisation
proceeds ; you remove egotism from the heart
of nationalities. Corneille is not ours; Milton is
not theirs; all are to all. The whole world is
country to intelligence. You take all geniuses to give them
to all the peoples ; in removing the barrier between poets
you remove it from between men, and by the amalgamation
of glories you commence the effacing of frontier,. Sacred
mingling !—I t is a great day !
" Homer, Dente, Shakespeare, Holi4re. Voltaire, co.
partners ; the taking posesmion of great men by the entire
human race ; the common sharing of the thef"cr, ;
such is the first step. 'fhe met will follow. Thie
is the work which you inaugurate—a work which
is cosmopolitan, human, fraternal, indifferent to
nationality, above local demarcations, the magnificent Moo.
tiou of Europe by France, and of the entire world by
Europe. From a fete like this does civilieation flow.

" For the presidency of this memorable elusion, you
have the stoles of the most renowned ; popular and illus.
trios. names abound amongst you ; your list is bright with
them. The brilliant incarnations of art, of the drams. of
romance, of history, poetry, philosophy, and eta
queues, are grouped almost all io this solemnity
around the pedestal of Shakespeare ; but you have
doubtless had this thought, that is order to give to the
celebration of this anniversary its peculiarly external
character, in order that this manifestation may be
apart from and beyond all frontiers, it would be
well to have as president a man who is himself
planed in this exceptional position,—* Frenchman
out of France, at once absent and present, basing
his foot in England and hie heart at Paris—a kind
of link, situated at a fitting distance, and able
in some degree to put into each other the hands
of two august nations. It has been found,
by an arrangement of fate, that this position
was mine, and the glorious choice which you hove made of
me, I owe to this chance,—to-day a happy one. I give you
thanks, and I propose to you this toast :
"To Shakespeare and to England.
"To the success of great men of intelligence, sod to the
communion of the peoples in program and in the ideal

" VICTOR HI G).'

WEATHER REPORT.-(THIS DAY.)

ISATVIDAY, APIL sl, II LX.

11.• I- Bs, V. 4 L 11.
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8aba....... 30.20 549 B.&W. ; 2 I 1 I &&W. b— 1
Abortlaele ... 30.13 OA L&L. ' ,4 ' 8. b' 2
loath 30.28401 W. 2I 2 I L b— 1
A rdroesso 30.1712 21.12. ; 2 2 j N. ,eb I
Grammatba 30.211 W. 1 ;2 • L cb —1 1
Galway 30.211;10 8.8.1. ; 2 2' LLW. 'cb 2
Cape Clear 30.1111 51 8.
1 I 4 B.E. eb 4
Queenstown 30.05 53 N.12.' 5 8813 ' a —, I
Liverpool lO lb 51 8.1 , '3 . E.B. I. nt I
Holyhead 3O 24 55i W. N.W. 1 ,4 . N.W. Is 2
Pembroke,— 30.23 53j 1.8.1 3 &Z. 1 b —`2
Beamom .. 30.20 531 11.4. E 6 9E. ' b —; 4
Brest 39.1_501 &N.Y.. 4 111. K. 'be —' 4
L'Orleut 31.04 66' E.N.E. . 4 ' E. N.E.be I 4
Rochefort —4004 Id' E. • 3 N.Z. eb '— 12
Plymouth ' 20.1065 Z. I 6. L I bl ; 2
Weymouth 30.2462 K. 3 9.2. b I
Portamoetb 30.2254 12.1 I 4 E. 8.1 I c —l2
Loudon :30.!3 41 E. : 3 lt. I b —; -
Dover 40.2667 Z. i 1 E. b— 1
T,1100016 00.284900.28 N. 3 ' E. N.E. b , . 1
Scarborough 10.2661 N.E. 1 3 N.N.L b — I
Maids 30.1000 8 X 2 &L bl 12
Hellgolmsd

8. T.