The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1883-05-27
THE LATEST GOSSIP OF pdRys
Victor Hugo ana his NouseL epcr-Iuu-o.s
Pretcnsions TO Nobiiity-pIcturc shaw.


Presensions TO N"biiity-Picturc shaw.
PARIS. May li.-On Saturday curious
spectacle was offered to the moralist and oh.
server. large crowd OF poets painters III.
crary mon, Deputies Acadrmcians. novclists
and celebrities of all kinds including Ernest
Rcnan. Emile Angler. Ccmenccau About Al.
phonsc Daudet. Do Banville &c. &C. followed
to hor grave Nine. Drouet who ever since
1888 had been the mistress OF Victor HUGO
For fifty years Nine. Droucts existence wns
not separated from that OF the poet. a, Paris
as in exile. she always lived near him. follow.
ing him to Brussels. to Jersey. and tD Guernsey.
and Of late years sho had lived in the Same
house with Hugo. in the Rue Clichy and in the
Avenue dEylau. having her seat at tho hearth.
Philemon on one side. Baucis on the other.
and managing the receptions and iny.
tations with perfect tact. In spite OF
her false position. Nine. Drouet's real
namo was Julictto Gauvain. Drouet was
the name OF her uncle. a General OF tho first
republic. Beautiful and dowcrlcss Juli,tte
dnuvain. having no particular vocation for
convcEtual life took to the stage. made her
debut at tho Vaudeville. and then played in
drama at the Od6on and the Porto Saint. Man
tin. In 1899 she created tho role Of the Ir,n-
cess Nearoni in "Iucrecc Borgia:" the samo
year abe created a role in Marie Tudor"
UIteT WHICH Sne Ielt inc ttNsh. MILO, Julioitp'q
role was taken up by Mile Ida Fcrrier. who
aferward became Mime. Alexrndre Dumas
while Mile. Julette herself became the friend
the annie. OF Victor Hugo-a hai,on which was
never interrupted. And Mme. Hugo you will
askp Mmc. Hugo. NEE Aihc Fouchrr and
married to the poet in 1922 accepted the siiua.
ton or endured II. as the case may TO-
for thirty-nve years. until hor death at brussels
in 1868 Victor Hugos children also accepted
tb. situation. At one time 1t may be rcmcm.
bcrcd. Nine. Hugo had moment Of revolt. and
while her husband was enjoying the society OF
Mile. Julietie she. on her side carried on q
curious haison with the famous critic Sain,c-
Beuve. as the latter has related In poetic and
passionate verse In n book Of excessive rarity
called. "Le Lvre d'Amour" Victor Hugo ia.
OF course. an exceptional being. and IL is
pleaded that his conduct is not to be- judged by
the ordinary standard OF everyday morality
1t might also DO responded that Victor Hugo
il surrounded by n phenomenal crowd Of fiat
tcrcrs and humbugs hitherto unparalleled in
the history Of literature. However that may
be. the fact OF this iioison and the homage paid
TO the heroine of 1t is curious fact and worth
noting. Mime. Drouet was ~ years Of age
Apropos Of Hugo. in a recently published
volume. entitled Victor Hugo Before 1880"
the author NJ l,irS has made a curious study
of the gcncalogy of the poet. In his schodboy
diary. under the date Of July 10. 1916 when he
was IA years Of age. Hugo wrote: II wish to
be- Chateaubriand or nothing" This being the
case. Victor Hugo was determined to b. the
equal OF Chateaubriand. not only in genius and
glory but also in BIRTH Son OF a soldier who
had won on the battlefield the title OF Count
Victor Hugo has informed us. through his
official biographers. that his nobility dated from
long before the empire from one George Hugo
Captain of the guards Of the Duke Of lorraine
who WAS cnnobed in 1881. and ono Of whose
descendants was a learned thcologian of the
seventeenth century. Bishop Of Ptoemrs sec
Los Misirnbles." in the first chapter where
Victor Hugo speaks OF this Bishop of Ptocmais
as great great uncle Of the writer this book"
In most interesting q nd curious chapter iull
Of documents. NJ. Bir6 p roves that these pre-
lrm"nstraies beyond any possible doubt hat t't
Victor Huso's father was simply the son OF
Ms WAS nf9 c H N@dnSy wn'
Dominique b 'chet II muster shoemaker. This
joseph Huge was son Of Jean Philippe Hugo.
beyond whom the family cannot be traced as no
registers exist at Domvallcr, anterior to 1890:
As for the old noble family of Hugo. barons of
SritlemIcrs II Is imIossiele to show any con
Dir1 shows up similar vain MISREPRESENTATION
II Victor HUGS efGun Of hi his moas5s am
does II matter whether Hugo is noble or noti
He Is Victor Hugo, and his fame has liled the
has filled the world. It Is true and thu" is Just
the reason why we are justified In remarkine
writer, who pluues himself on being demo
crat. the more so as they are professed bya
n .i WV" With nncesors and .t more .1 ms s. thsv
ar. absolutely devoid Of liquidation;
Nothing is more, fashionable Mt Paris n, the
Sresent moment than picture exhibitions and
Ecole dea Beaux Arts and the exhibition Of in.
ne Rue De The sSn nfy
above all. is a perfect craze: within ten days
and the eserved ets day rc l's eau
pages may be seen drawn up In long files Mt
the door and brilliant toilets abound in the
ming from lisa to 1883. ,fhe idea is good hut
numbering 3j6 are neither numerous enough
nor choice enough. Still the aN hlhlton is re-
narkably interesting. There they are, the
lebrities of the century, conuu.ror-, politicians
writer's. poets, patricans. actresses. figures
tragic, figures dramatic figures elegant. Many
of them have already entered history: others
remain in the limbo Of aneci"te and memoir:
Others are lyins st si hs a%%onf us An1 wS
ing these portraits OF the century might he
supposed to hold among themselves when tho
An fi by. BY Hsnsms talking With the ex'
Empress Eugene by Winterhalter; Louis XVI:
by Duplcssis replying 20 Bartre. whom David
ION Capet." What would one give to hear what
RoslIns Nine. de Staiil bad TO say to DelacroiX's
George Sand and to Boulanger's Balzac clad in
his whi!!:, monks robe' Imagine GSrard,s Nine
theatre with Charpentiers Rachel and las.
ten LeGage's Sarah B,rnhardt;, or Gtrards
rourtales, Dubufe's MarIuise de CALI
Chapin's Comtesse Aimery de In Rochcfou-
caull discussing feminine elegance with Her
sent's Dephine Gay and Dnbnfe's Com
tesse Le Hon, whose portrait. by the way iis-
mres in an old album Of The Beauties 81
Paris side by side with that Of Nile. Ju'l-
cite, the friend Of Victor Hugo. Just n NJ this
present exhib:tion Gervex's p,or,rat Of the
hangs side by side with the portrait by Cabanel
Of the noble and virtuous dame Comtrsse
Mercy dArgenteau. Somehow or other. in
Paris things get mixed.
The other exhibition which I mentioned
above Is the second Of tho new Socety Of the
Annual Exhibition Of International Painting.
The object Of this society Is to hold cNsr spring
at Paris an exhibition Of n limited number of
eminent painters of all countries. The num-
BIER at present is limited to twelve, and each ev-
hibitor has at his disposal spacious pane on
which hr "an, exhibit not one or Two pictures
only. but q whole series OF works. SO q, 70 dis
play his whole artistic individuality. Hitherto
no such exhibition has existed and the Irrren.
-, int, L. h.,v.. mi