The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1885-07-30
VICTOR HUGO.
The Great Anthor's Famous Address to
Old and Yoang, Rich and Poor

V4OAW0 SA0WWe
The Great Aathor's Fsmous Address 70
OLD and rosng, Rbch and Poor.
Tam asked what has been the lesson
Of my life, what have learned in my
years Of living to bequeath - my most
precious legacy to humanity Ireply
that nv soul has two messages Of coun-
sel, Of promise and Of threat, TO deliver
-one to the rich, the other TO the poor.
The two contain the sum Of human wis
dom.
TO THE RICH.
The poor cry out to the wealthy. The
slaves implore their rulers. And -
much now as in the days Of Spartan
Helots. l am one OF them, and I add
my voice 20 that Of the multitude that
it may reach the ears Of the rich. Who
am 12 One of the people. From
whence come i? From the bottomless
pit. How am named? lam Wretch
edness. My lords, ] have something to
Say 10 you.
My lords, you ore placed high. You
have power, opnlence, pleasure, the
sun immovable ut your zenith, unlim-
tied authority, enjoyment undivided,
total forgctfnlness Of others. So be it.
But there is something below you.
Above you, perhaps. NV lords, l i'm
part to you novelty. The human race
exists.
am he who comes from the depths.
Ny lords, you are the great and the
rich. That is perilous. You take ad-
vantage of the night. But have care;
there , greater power-t the morning.
The dawn cannot be vanquished. Il
will come. 1t comes. It has within it
the outbreak o: irresistible day.
You, you arc the dark clouds of priv
ilege. Be afrai.l. The true master Is
about to knock at the door.
What is the father of Privilege?
Chance. What is his son? Abuse.
Neither chance nor abuse is enduring.
They have, both Of them, an evil to-
morrow.
/ feel it requisite that I should come
among you. Why? Because of my
yesterdays rags. It was in order that
my voice might I've raised among tho
satiated, that God commingled me with
the hungereI. Ohi have pityl Oh!
you know not this fatal world whereto
you believe that you belong. So high,
you are outside Of it. ! will tell yol
what it is.
Abandoned, an orphan, alone in
boundless creation, made my entry
into this gloom that you call society.
The first thing I saw was law, under
the form Of gibbet; the second was
wealth--it is your wealth-under the
form of woman dead Of cold and
hunger: the third was luxury under
the shape of hunted man chained to
prison walls; the fourth was your pal
aces, beneath the shadow Of which COW.
cred tho tramp.
The human race has been made by
you slaves and conHcts. You have
made Of this earth dungeon. Light
Il wanting, an is venting, virtuo 10
wanting.
come to warn You. como to de.
uOunce to you your own bliss. It Is
made out Of the ills Of others. Your
paradise is made out of the hell Of the
poor. / come to open before You, the
wealthy, the grand assizes Of the poor
that sovereign who is the slave, that
convict who is the Judge. / am bowed
down under what l have to say. Where
TO begin? Iknow not. have picked
mp IN the cruel experience Of suffering,
my vast though struggling pleas. Now
what shall do with them? They over.
power me and throw them forth, poll
NELL before me.
I am diver and bring mp from the
depths pearl, the truth. / speak be-
cause / know. / have experienced. I
have seen. Suffering? No, the word
is weak, o masters in bliss. Poverty
II have grown up in il; winter-I
have shivered in it; famine-I have
tasted i'll scorn-I have undergone It !;
the plague-I have had it; shame-I
have drunk Of it.
The workers of this world whose
fruits you enjoy, live in death ~, mere
are little :, "'- :. wno bsgin at eight by
prostitution, and who end at twenty bY
Old age. Who among you have been tn
Nowcastle-cn- Tyne? There arc men
a. ths mines Who chew coal, to All the
stomach ard cheat hunger, Look you
In Lancashire. Misery everywhere.
Are You aware that the Harlech fisher
men eat grass when the fishery fails
Are you aware that ut Button Lazers
there are still certain lepe; driven into
the woods, who are fired at il they come
out Of their dens? In Peckridge there
are no beds in the novels, and holes are
dug in the ground for little children to
sleep in; so that in the place OF begin
hing with the cradle they begin With
the tomb. N.
Mercy, have mercy for the poor? |?
On; conjnre you, have pity! But no.
you will not. ] know ye all. Devils
bred In hell and dogs with hearts Of
stone. Upward 10 your golden thrones
tor ages has gone the cry of misery,
the groan Of hunger, and the sob Of
despair. and ye needed not. Whist
mercy thou hast given shall 10 meted
out to you in return.
Boar in mind that the series of kings
armed with tho sword was interrupted
by Cromwell armed with Che OK.
Tremblc! The incorruptible disso-
lutions draw near; the clipped talons
push out again; the torn out tongues
take to flight, become tongues Of fire
scattered to the wind Of darkness, and
they howl in the infinite. They who
are hungry show their idle teeth. Par
adises built over hells totter. There
is suffering, there is suffering, and that
which is above leans over, and that
which is below gapes open, The
shadow asks to become it's light. The
damned discuss the elect. 1t is the pep
ple who are on-coming. I tell you it h
man who ascends. It is the end that
! il be0inuinp. IL is the red dawninp of