The Sun.
London, England, 1852-10-06 00:00:00

way, is not, as might be conjectured, QUISIMODO-
but the Chief Magistrate of the French D emocracy.
The state which is therein submitted to criticism is
not, by the way, as might be supposed by the un-
wary, that presided over by SAWNEY BEAN, the
Scottish gentleman of peculiar tastes, who used to
salt the legs and arms of the more plump travellers
he happened to have murdered in the
course of his
amusing depredations. It is only the Government to
which is accredited, among other envoys, her
Britannic MAJESTY'S Ambassador. But—putting
the ideas of SAWNEY BEAN and of QUASIMODO on
one side for the sake of argument—let us turn to the
contents of the volume lying before us, to see how far
we have been accurate in declaring that M. n, Vicro
Hugo has appreciated the serenity, the impartiality,
and the dignity of the historian.
Speaking of the origin of the Government which
the refined annalist has here undertaken to weigh in
the balance, he—M. VICTOR HUGO—remarks that it
was " crime." But he dces not content himself with
that one milk-and-water monosyllable—he says it was
a crime "containing within itself all crimes" (p. 17).
Rather comprehensive, that ! And thereupon he
very kindly gives us the entire catalogue, or at any
rate a catalogue as complete as any that could
possibly be expected under the circumstances—
"treachery, perjury, murder, assassination, spoliation,
swindling, and robbery." A pretty kettle of fish,
with a vengeance ! But M. VICTOR HUGO is not
joking—he is writing history. In proof of this we may
observe that he goes on almost immediately to
state that " the author of this crime is a
malefactor of the most depraved and lowest species"
(p. 18). He says that the supporters of the new
Administration are " the_ comrades of a pirate"
(p. 18). He calls them, not statesmen, but " accom-
plices" (p. 18). He declares that the men who
uphold the existing Government are corrupt place-
hunters—" men who want to be prefects" (p. 22) ;
and adds, with that decency which M. VICTOR
HuGo alone could evince, that the women who esteem
that Government are 4"*"—we will give the
expression in the hestorzan's own eAqulslGe per--
phrase—" women who would pass for maids "! ! !
(p. 22). Turning from the " supporters" to the
" supported," from the subordinates to the chieftain,
M. VICTOR HUGO then commences an elaborate and
dignified portraiture of the Head of the Republican
Government. He mentions, with the opprobrium
which such monstrous peculiarities richly de-
serve, the facts that this personage is of the
" middle height"—that he is " cold"—that he is
" pale"—that he has " the air of a person not quite
awake"—that he is " slow in his movements" (p.
27). But M. VICTOR HUGO has not done with him
yet—done with him ! But we must on—and nous
verrons. He solemnly impeaches him with the treason
of a " slight German accent ;" he taxes him with the
atrocity of "speaking drawlingly ;" he charges him
with being guilty of "a dull eye," and avows that he
has the irredeemable infamy of " a thick moustache"
(p. 27) ! Warmed into that unrestrained enunciation
of truth which is among the noblest prerogatives of
the historian, he goes on to observe that the same
personage is " puerile, vain, theatrical, vulgar,
and common-place" (p. 27). A pleasant list
of peculiarities, certainly ! But the annalist is
inexhaustible in his epithets upon the same
subject. A little further on, and he calls
the Chief of the State " a white SOULOUQUE"
(p. 28). He not only tells us what he is,
but what he is not. He informs us that the Head of
the French Government " is not: an idiot" (p. 28)—
a piece of intelligence, of course, for which Europe
will be sufficiently grateful. He observes with the
pleasantry becoming the historian, that this personage
" is so peculiarly amiable in his character, that he
would have been recognised by PHILLIP 11., smiled
upon by HENRY VIII., and embraced by CESAR

BORGIA" (p. 28). For his actions, M. VICTOR
HUGO has only one word, but that highly-spiced
enough,—he says they are "hideous" (p. 29). He
continues, with a moderation that LINGARD or TA-
CITUS might have envied, by observing, that the Chief
Magistrate of the French Republic—" does not speak,
he lies "—but, as if fearful that this civil remark
were not sufficiently civil, or at any rate, sufficiently
explicit, adds—" this man lies as other men
breathe" (p. 30). That is surely what
may he called true dignity in writing—dignity worthy
of a great annalist. Beyond the foregoing, however,
he hes all sorts of agreeable phrases—all devoted to
the same subject, all poured upon the same forehead.
M. VICTOR HUGO, in this manner, terms the Leader
of the French Democracy " a small man " (p. 31);
he says that he hes no " conscience " (p. 31)—he
designates him at one moment " a vagabond " (p.
32)—and at another " a toadstool " (p. 32)—and at
another " a sparrow-hawk " (p. 33)—and at another
" a knave " (p. 40)—and at another " a resident
gendarme " (p. 41)—and at another " a man last
among men" (p. 41). He talks of the same person-
age appearing in a box at the opera " gloating in all
his ugliness " (p. 33). He rises from this language,
so suitable in the mouth of an historian, to the loftiest
strain of the most daring aad infatuated blas.
phemy ! He says (p. 41, book i., ch. 7), speaking
of the existing Government of the French
Republic, "were it to last, it must be that there is
no GOD in heaven !" So that M. VICTOR lIUGO
holds out conditions to the Divinity. Ho protests
that unless so and so occur before long, he must
deny the existence of the Omniscient ! Almost the
same words wel a uttered, as far back as 1793, by
the comedian MONVEL, during the height of the first
revolutionary madness. How does .A.rasort mention
it ? He says ( History of Europe, ch. xiv.), " The
comedian MONVEL, in the Church of St. Poch, car-
ried impiety to its utmost lengths. GOD! if you
exist,' said he, avenge your injured name. I bid
you defiance. You remain silent—you dare not
launch your thunders ; who, after this, will believe
in your existence ?' " M. VICTOR HUGO, in 1852,
emulates the comedian MONVEL. If the pre-
sent state of things in Paris last, says
he, "it must be that there is no GOD
in heaven!" But this blasphemy is anything
but isolated—the work before us abounds in impie-
ties. For example, when talking of the marble statue
of the Chief of the State, erected in the market-place
by PIETRI, the Prefect of Police, he dares, for the
sake of a wretchedly profane pun, to quote (p. 72)
the solemn words spoken by the Holy One in Pales-
tine—"Tu es PIETRI et super hanc pietram cdfficaito
e jfi gie meam." He goes even further—be yen.
tures upon the most blasphemous comparison ever
attempted to be made by mortal, when
(pp. 236.237)—" For three years and more, the men
of the past, the scribes, the Pharisees, the publicans,
the princes of the priests, have crucified in presence
of the human race the Christ of nations—the French
people. Some have furnished the cross, others the
nails, others the hammer. FALLOUX has placed
upon its forehead the crown of thorns.
MoNTALEMBERT has placed upon its mouth the
sponge dipped in gall and vinegar. Louis BONA.-
PARTE ig the wretched soldier who struck his lance
into its side, and made it utter its last cry—' -Eli
Eli ! Lama Sabachthani " Further than this into
the sanctuary of holiness the hoof of the blasphemer
could scarcely venture to penetrate. With a shudder
we have quoted the passage entire—because we take
it tO be the most remarkable testimony that could be
adduced of the lengths to which M. VICTOR HUGO
has allowed himself to be carried by his most sedate,
gn
illustrationsifie d
labours f
those
as ne
—Historian !
A
his most decent, amndonhais
the mostlesser
di
labours there is still an abundance that might be par-
ticularized. The annalist has even not exhausted his
epithets applied to the Chief Magistrate of the French
Government. Ile designates his power a hideous
phantasm and observes of it that, " like the osprey, it
takes refuge in the night, and it would die if once
seen" (p. 52). He calls the possessor of that power
this man with harassed gesture and glassy eye,
who walks with distracted air in the midst of the hor-
rible things which he does, like a sort of sinister som•
nambulist" (p. 57). His language is yet more like
the serene language of the annalist, whenever he
speaks of the supporters of the present Government.
He cells them." imbeciles I" (p. 66). He calls teem
"selfish idiots !" (p. .50). He calls them " base
wretches !" (p. 64). And this is History ! And
M. VICTOR Huck° dreams himself an Historian !

The subject to which our respected correspondent
invites the attention of the public in his letter, which
appeared in The Sun of Tuesday, is one which de-
serves very serious consideration. For some time