New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-07-01

| Ious Blanc is a consummate Judge Of both litera-
lures, but he hardly took into account perhaps, the
| immense difficulty of so rendering Hugo's French
into English as to preserve flavor Of the original
without perpetually violating, If not the idioms al
| least the usages of the borrowing tongue. must
repeat moreover, that the speech, even as printed
| from the authors manuscript, loses much OF its
effect The spell Of the speaker is no longer upon
you. You read in cold blood what you heard amid
the hurrahs and the many indescribable expressions
| by which French audience manifests Its emotions
and imparts them But must try TO reproduce one or
| two passages The speech touches on many things
beside literature Victor Hugo has set himself task
in his declining years, which is nothing less than Oh
peacemakimg for all the world. III he is stlll-a as ne
surely s-Me greatest Of writers, he is still more the
apostle Of fraternity. His first sentence is deciar
| alton of faith:
The greatness of the memorable year through which
arch over al and all camoIs, suspcndng tne
conflicts OF States astonished at It's mpeous nteyTn
this is year obeyed. What it has resolved TO 90
1t replaces the old order Of the DAY, war q ny
is muterng OF threats put the ns19ns Ip'h ne nS
structibo and complete in respect provisional IN
verifying that is done you teel that II Is done once io
Paris The alliance Of Industries; 6y centenary of
Vodire the alliance OF PHILOSOPHERS by the Cohg,ess
here assembled the alliance Of teraures one vast lea,
Grafton of labor under all It's forms august elce OF
human fraternity upborne by the peasant and the work
| man, and crowned by genius
| 1t is to set a seal on this triumph Of peace and
oivlizaton-not yet quite certain it may be feared
that the members of this Congress are met says
| Hugo from every quarter of the world.
Yours are the prominent fntelligences which nations
love and venerate yours the glorious talents yours the
voices TO winch tho world listens; yours the
souls labOrng 10 bring forth progress You are the
warriors who make peace fon bring mther the CLEAN,
ing speDdor OF great names lou are tbe anDasssdoIs
OF the human intellect sent form 10 THIS great CITY OF
Paris We bid you welcome. writer's orators, poets
philosophers thinkers cOmbatants France saiutes yOn
Then after definition and eulogy of literature:
Your mission Is lofty one You form kind Of con-
stitutent assembly OF literature IL Is your business
just ideas thatare true and IT, par impossible,
your voice listened TO- shall the less put
legislation In the wrong. You wall place literary property
basis. You have right ON your sde you Will
soon have law Foo | affirm that your solutions and
your oOunses will needed. You will make legislators
who would treat literature as possessing only local
rights understand that ts rights universal. For
literature is the government OF tue human race by the
human intellect
Passing the rest of the purely literary discus
sion, quote piece of brilliant inyectiye against
the enemies of civilization:
They are the enemies OF books. the enemies Of free
thought the enemies OF emancipation, OF inquiry, OF de-
yeance they who look upon dogmaa an eternal mas
they toll in vain tho past Is the past; nations return
not 20 their yOm delusons have an end Ignorance
and not without limit Make What you can Of
It, of the past. we fear yon mott on with your work;
regard with curiosity. Try your strength; insult
80 discrown Paris pronounce anathema on liberty Of
conscience on liberty OF the press on FREQ speech
athena on the civil law anathema on the revolution
anathema on liberation anathema science. anathema
on progress. 30 never weary. Dream while you are
about Il Of syllabus large enough for France, aud
eXtinguishor large enough for the SUM-
which seems TO be addressed pretty directly 10
NJ Taine-so thought the audience, plainly, for they
caught up the alusion and greeted IT with cheers
upon cheers. But Victor Hugo passed at once from
what he himself called bitter word: 81 have said
elsewhere and repeat, all human wisdom is in two
wOrds-ConciliatiOn aud Reconciliation cOncilia-
ton Of ideas, reconciliation Of men," The rest Of
the speech is plea no more hatred war against
war. pardon to everybody, and so, by way of i'm
proving the occasion, amnesty TO the prescribed Of
1871:
final publication let IL end In wisdom and good feeling
aud after extnguIsing foreign war extlnguh domestic
this moment shows tho world her hospitality let her
mercy on her head Every festival il iratoruali los
tival which does not pardon somebody not festival
The logic OF q public rejoicing Is amnesty. Let that
be the conclusion OF that admirable solemuity the Unit
versal Exposition. Reconciliation, reconciliation As
race, that rendezvous Of the marvrs Of industry and
toll that exchange OF greetings between TIE master
pieces which stand face 10 lace ioT comparison with each
other, Is an august spectacle But there Is spectacle
sun more augustine exile appearing ON the horizon
and the country 0icnng Ito arms
II must be admitted that this last like many other
passages of Hugos address, has little TO do with
literature, and might have been delivered with more
reason to other body than literary congress.
One Of the ministers, NJ. Bardolx, sat in box
facing the speaker. quite involuntary auditor Of
this appeal for an amnesty which the Government
! has not yet thought ii possible to grant, The
congress was In part foreign; why should for
eIgners be made parties TO French disputeSf Thee
is only answer 10 these and other like questions
Victor Hugo is Victor Hugo.
Az APPEAL FOR FRATFRNITY.
NJ 1urgeneh, the Russian novelist, followed !;
then other members of the congress, among them
! German Jew named L0wonthal, who undertook 10
| make peace between Germany and France. lie
wished 70 render justIc, TO France, he said.
We should like 1t better, rctortcd q Frenchman. il
he would restore Alsace and Lorraine. The topic
was n delicate in the best Of hands. NJ. L0wen-
thai stumbled and blundered along. missing several
excellent opportunities to sit down, and was
finally pulled down into his char by rcso-
lutte friends from behind; not until he, a
perfectly obscure man, had offered his hand
as the representative Of Germany, TO Victor Hugo
as the representative Of France. The incident was
awkward, but was speedily forgotten ia the charm
of NJ. Jules Smons eloquence. NJ. jules Simon Is an
orator. one of the most persuasive Of men. with an
easy grace of manner and an elegance Of style not
unlike the most perfect of living American orators
| No American spoke, unless a Brazilian may be said
| TO be American; an enthusiast who vindicated
his tropical origin by acclaiming Victor Hugo as the
creator of civilization. Ills only in the region Of the
equator that rhetorical plants grow TO that height
G.w.s.
| MR.. BOYESEN and URBANA UNIVERSITY
! A LITTER PROM pRgsIDENT sRWAIT-yAIUApIF