Morning journal and courier., 1885-06-13
MAX O'RELL'S LETTER.
Victor HugO-His Last Moments Some Interesting Anecdotes and Remfniseences.

Victor HugO-His Last Moments Some Interesting Anecdotes and "Reminiscences
 Especial Correspondence of the JOURNAL AND CoUR- FER. All Rights Reserved.l LONDON, May 30, 1885.
 To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER
 A few hours after posting my last letter to
 you, received intimation of Victor Hugos
 death. All the events of the week pale be-
 fore this great and sad national calamity.
 Nothing else is talked of. The whole nation
 is in mourning, from the academy which has
 lost in him it's brightest ornament, down to
 the poor mechanic who mourns his warmest
 friend. It is not, perhaps, too much to say
 that the whole thinking world will deplore
 the disappearance of the most brilliant star
 that shone upon it. The nineteenth century
 will be called the age of Victor Hugo, as the
 eighteenth is called the age of Voltaire, the
 seventeenth the age of Corneille and Moliere,
 the sixteenth the age of Shakespeare.
 For once party spirit is set aside by all the
 papers. L'Ami du Peuple forgives the poet
 his large fortune, the Clerical press overlooks
 the fact that he is going to be buried without
 the rites of the church. Every one remem-
 COAAS@oSA
 "Chants du Crepuscule" and of the "Feuilles d Automne," /" the inimitable author of "Her nani, i" of ttNetre Dame de Paris,v and of 'Les Miserables''
 The Chambers have decided that his funer- al shall be national, that is to say that the Bourse, all public offices, etc., are to be closed. The Arc de Trionnphe is being trans formed into chapelle ardente, where the body will lie in state on Sunday, and Paris ians will be able to take farewell look at the familiar face of Hugo. The obsequies will take place on Monday in the morning, and will be attended by all the members of the French Academy, by all the learned so- cieties, by all the dignitaries of the State, in deed by the whole of Paris, including work men in blouses, and the day will be observed as 8 day of mourning throughout the capital, in deed throughout the length and breadth of the country.
 On the 2nd of August 1883, Victor Hugo wrote the following testamentary lines: 'I give fifty thousand francs to the poor of Paris. desire to be carried to the cemetery in pauper's hearse. I refuse the prayers of any church, but beg the prayers of every soul. I believe in God" He will not be carried to the cemetery; he is to be buried in the Pantheon, which, by the presi- dential decree, has been restored to it's origi- nal and legal use, viz, that of re- ceiving the remains of the i1ustrious men of France.
 During the night preceding his death, Victor Hugo had several intervals of full alternating with periods of in sensibility and depression. At dawn he 'sAdieu, Jeanne," to the devoted and beloved granddaughter who tended him to the last. Then he made sign to Madame Lockroy to approach, took her hand, kissed it, and fell back on his pillow. From that time he spoke no more except to utter feebly, but distinctly, Separation" He struggled with death with all the force of strong man in his prime; but at half-past eight his breath came only convulsively and at inter vals. Between these he lay so still and life less that many times the watchers around the bedside thought that all was over However, his pulse still beat, though more and more feebly, until, at half-pa one in the after noon, he raised his head and looked the fare well that he could not utter. Then he fell back, and all was over. The illustrious sui ferer had entered into his rest. M. Victorie Sardou, the celebrated French dramatist, was the first to come out of the house, and to announce to the crowd assembled in front of the door the irreparable loss France had just sustained.
 After the late Franco Prussian war; Victor Hugo went to Thionville to see that unfor- tunate town which had suffered a terrible bombardment: The place was particularly to him, for, under Napoleon I, his father, General Hugo, had successfully held the garrison for two years against the Prussian and by bravery succeeded in keep ing the town for France One day, during the poets visit to Thionyille, little George, a child of four, was playing about the hotel courtyard under the eyes of his -governess A Prussian general, coming out of his room, noticed the handsome boy, and going up to him wanted to know if he would shake hands. Little George, drawing himself up majestically, looked the general full in the face, put his hands behind his back, and answered stNo." ''Whom does this child be- long tos" inquired the general of Georges governess. When he was informed that the little man was the grandson of Victor Hugo, he exclaimed: EAh I understand" And, turning to the boy, he said: "You are quite right, mon petit ami.a
 The following is good illustration of the feeling that existed toward the great mas ter in every grade of society All hope workman accosted M. Lockroy, one of the deputies of Paris and husband of Victor Hugo's daughter-in-law, he came out of the house from the poets bedside. It was to ask for the latest details. 'eThis is scarcely the time to give them to you," said M. Lock roy. To which his questioner replied: "The last moments of Victor Hugo belong to the J lize them"
 Jeanne Hugo the granddaughter and the idol of the poet, having manifested strong objection to learning the alphabet, her moth CT, thinking to sharpen her energies, told her one day that until she had learned the first twelve letters, she would have no dessert. The first thing the child did was to pour out her troubles to grandpapa, ever ready to listen. but on this occasion powerless to in terfere. However, to tighten the privation of his little darling, he proposed to her that they should suffer together; he would touch no dessert so long as she had to abstain. Jeanne approved the arrangement. For many days Victor Hugo consistently refused dessert, alleging various reasons for not par taking of it. But one evening, Jeanne hay ing gone to bed before dinner, certain kind of cheese, of which he was particularly fond, was placed upon the table. The savory odor assailed his nostrils, and Hugo had almost broken his engagement, when he suddenly remembered the solemn promise made to the child and checked himself, much to the amazement of his daughter-in-law, Jeanne's mother. That lady, suspecting something appealed to him to tell her the meaning of his strange behavior. Seeing there was no help for it, Victor Hugo very meek1y cast down his eyes and made clean breast of it.
 In 1s4O Charles Hugo and Francois Victor Hugo, both of whom have been dead few years, were respectively fourteen and twelve years old. Someone asked the father if his sons showed taste for literature and poetry. ''I believe Charles does little," said Victor Hugo, "for have often caught him contem- plating the stars. As for Toto, up to now il dime mieux les pommes cuites que les etoiles." i"
 ttHow difficult it must be to write grand poetryi" exclaimed an amateur poet to Victor Hugo one day ''No," replied the poet gen tly, "it is very easy or it is impossible"
 Ernest Renan remarked the other day to some friends that such men as Victor Hugo came into the world by 8 special decree from above, whereas the rest of us," he said, ''come by collective order for batch.''
 One evening in the year 1874 several well known literary men were dining with Victor Hugo, who had just been elected Senator and had written to Marshal MaeMahon, asking him to postpone the departure of a ship that was to carry some condemned communists to New Caledonia. The guests had not been long at the table when servant brought the poet letter which proved to be the reply to his prayer. He opened it and, having read it's contents, said to his guests: 'Gentlemen, in 1845 WAS neither peer of the realm nor Senator. I was only Victor Hugo. One nightI woke Louis Philippe to ask him to pardon Barbes At five next morning was awakened ia my turn by messenger from tha Tn