National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-05-15
A VISIT TO VICTOR HUGO.
The Poet-His son-in-Law-The Chill
dron-The Cat, tho Hunt. and the
Carvings Garibaldis Room,

held at the Same time with half dozen
people, two or three French gentlemen Gu
tered the room, and presently little groups
were formed when / found myself tete-a-
tete with Victor Hugo. On my way to the
house | had prepared beautiful speech in
my best French, and was burning to get rid
Of II, so now came the chance to fire II of.
Certain misgivings had arisen In my mind
lest / should be unequal to the opportunity,
and / remembered only too distinctly
that when Heine first met Goethe all he
could find TO say was that the plums be-
tween Jena and Weimar were very sweet.
/, however, had great advantage over
Heine in not being poet, and probably
Victor Hugo was not SO overwhelming In
appearance as tho writer Of Faust" At
all events when | was taken by the arm aud
led to the other end OF the room to look at
n picture / summoned all my available
dpiOmb said TO bashfulness, "Get thee be-
hind me-" and opened upon Victor. In
rather extravagant phrase told him what
lecturer upon modern French literature
had said about him in an address to my
class at the university, and he appeared
very much pleased at reference In which
he was compared at one time to Turgot and
at another TO LIIoptal. He seemed deeply
interested when l said that the stories OF
Jean NallcNU, fdullUe, anu Dltu-4AlulC
had first startled me into serious consider
alton Of human misery and human duties,
and he laughed heartily when told him
that, having read "Les Travailleurs dc la
Mer'' at the seaside, i had to give up salt
water bathiDg-my principal delight In
life-from paralyzing terror OF the devil
fish. Sometimes halted for word, which
he supplied, and, as my address was really
acontinuous eulogy uttered by an over
grown hoy, who believed every word he
said, the old gentleman seemed disap-
pointed when my foreign language gave
out, and his attitude reminded one OF Oliver
asking for "more." lie was sufficiently
pleased to look several times in the dlrec
ton Of his son-in.law, who, at the mention
| Of LHopital's name, Joined him In ex-
| pressing qualification through the medium
Of eyes and shoulders.
The reply was faltering and deliberate,
| interepersed with English words which
were more difficult to understand, as pro-
nounced by Hugo, than the French ones.
| He congratulated me upon my knowledge
| OF his language, at which / felt my boots
blushlng, and stated that he could never
Learn any language but his own. He spoke
! of Gladstone, Tennyson, and Ireland, aud
asked IL all lrishmen were six feet high.
| replied that Tipperary was famous for u
| population OF which the smallest male unit
would be half foot taller than Porthos,
Athos, or the invulnerable D'Artagnan. He
| broke into broad laughter at this point, aud
encouraged me to proceed, which was easy
for any fellow with sense OF humor enough
to appreciate the fun Of "chafIing" Victor
| Hugo. AS that great man did not possess
the critical historic sense "to any great eX-
tent,n my narratives Of Great Britain were
nodded after the manner Of Froude, not
Hallam. Facts being only made for slaves
J dealt largely in color. and we had good
time.
| This conversation lasted more than an
hour and during that period observed the
! poet very closely. His short gray hair and
| bushy eyebrows stood flercely ON end, and
the large, piercing, brown eyes looked clear
through mine until l felt them burning
holes in the back of my head. The nose
| was stout and fleshy and the complexion
wonderfully clear and fresh for man Of
nearly eighty. He stood the entire time,
now and then taking u turn around the
table, with his hands deep I'm the side
| pockets OF short black-ribbed silk coat.
| A black silk neck-cloth was folded negll-
| gently under broad unstarched collar
| which rippled down over the waistcoat. /
have seen Tcnnyson In the Isle of Wight,
Walt Whitman in Philadelphia, and Victor
| Hugo in Guernsey, and noticed that q unity
Of the trinity consisted In the starchless
| collar.
| Victor Hugo's eyes interested me more
than any other OF his externals. They were
very penetrating and very sad, and honest
as those Of cow-than which | can con-
ceive no higher compliment. There was no
humor In them, and the very pupils APP
peared to be buried in egotism. While
| Hugo was looking in my direction seemed
to hear his eyes say, 81, Victor Hugo, who
have taken God into my confidence in
helping to run the universe, under the con-
troll of France, am looking at you. For a
| marital ypn orn noseablp lint DON'T fnrOpt
that you are in presence of God.n The
popularity of all this egotism was that II
gave no oifense. 1t was all pardonable,
Indeed lovable, when one remembered that
with less self.consclousnes "Les Misor-
ablesn would never have been written.
As such thoughts were passing through my
mind door Of the salon was banged open,
and two children came bounding into the
room. One OF them, little girl, held @
cat in her arms, and dropped It promptly
upon the carpet. The cat ran around Victor
Hugo-who stopped talking-and then
urged on her mad career under chairs and
tables, between the boots OF the big French
man on the hearth rug, and right round
the circle OF ladies, with the children In full
tilt after her. Suddenly, just when the hunt
had monopolized all attention, the cat
jumped out the window and made OF
through the veranda into the night. Th(
children narrowly escaped jumping, tht
poet burst out laughing, the ladies smiled
and the visitors were thankful. The chill
dren then came over to their grandfather
who introduced them to me, when they
brought chairs up to the table near whert
We were standing, and proceeded to knee
upon them; they then placed theil
elbows upon the table, and buried
their heads In little hemispheres
made-as could see-of very pretty, sun
burnt, little hands. They listened, or pre-
| al 30, ptn al hn1 IN, IL,
the favored youngsters for whom had beer
written "L'Art D'Etre Grandpere."
Both children were very rk.complex.
ioned--swarthy In fact. but they wer,
bright and beautiful us believe most chill
dren would be II only they had the prope
sort Of grandfathers The boy Georges
about 12 years old, was dressed In High
excellent advantage his fine figure ant
sturdy limbs. When / came to know hin
well found that his mind was as sturdy a
his limbs. He was the proper sort OF a boy
He didn't know anything at all abou
books, and what's more, he didn't care
But he knew every animal and leaf, AM
tree and fruit, and fish that condescendet
knew every street in Paris, aud he coul,
tell Of hairbreadth Escapes by food an,
field and street, from boat and bull AM
bus.
But Jeanette was the perfection OF lttl
girlhood. have forgotten all about he
dress except that she wore tartan plat
suit, with a red sash falling from thu
shoulder and knotted at the side, followet
by splendid streamers OF the same hue
which were shown to full advantage In tn
quest Of the cat. 1t would give me create
pleasure to be able to describe Jeanette a
l saw her then-or as thought saw her
than to write successful analytical move
, Of the Boston school now, but / shall le
her speak in action, like the characters o
Shakespeare.
! When the children had been for yer,
, little time at the table / went round an
sat near them. Jeanette gave me the bloe
| ranhy of her pot and Gpnrpns dominant ~