The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-01-10
VI.

du Crepusculc." In which the preoccupations OF
the citizen were pensively blended with tho
tender and deep sentiment VI the mar and the
poet. These eleRiao poems not only attained
tho level Of the authors lyric rcnown. but, to q
certain extent, Increased II. One OF Sainte-
Beuve's remarks upon them was: Tho hour.
as the title Indicates. has already dsrkened; It
is the hour when hope is declining aud doubt Is
advancing. and an ever-lengthcning shadow 10
falling on the path: and yet. with all this. there
are softened CLEANS of light trembling through
the gloomy aspects OF things, as is the case In
that charming honr: tho night il coming on.
but II Is tho night that sadness loves as
II II were n sister" On the other hand.
Les voIx Interieuros." which was published
in 1887, was bitterly attached. Some
Of the critics professed to hesitate between
compassion and disdain. but Alexandra Dumas
camo to tho rescue with a sturdy article that
made short work OF the detractors. In the next
year Ruy Bias" was writton. between July 4
and Aug. IL. Victor Hugo's f-st idea was to
have tho drama begin thus: Ruy Bias. tho ALL
powerful Minister. beloved by the queen, sees
Don Salluste enter. dressed rs a iackey. Don
Salluste orders the Prime Minister to close tho
door and pick up his handkerchief. Every
thing would have been explained In the follow
Ing scenes. The poet afterward preferred to let
the action tell tho story. BY way Of tito.
at tho head Of tie manuscript. are found
these two variants. LA Refine s'ennuie" and
LA Vengeance de Don Sailuste." Both were
subsequently, abandoned for tho namo by
which the play is known. On Its irst
production at the Renaissance this drama
was performed nifty times. 1t was sub
seauently played ut the AmbiGu and revived at
the Porte Saint Martin In ls+l. Under the
Second Empire permission to have It per-
formed was refused. In February, 1872,
| hnwArar Rnu nta. rn.Ia . -.t 90.
entry on the boards Of the Odeon. and In
April, 1870. IL was received with even greater
enthusiasm at the Theatre FrancAis. where
II has since formed part Of the ordinary re-
pcrtory. The press at tho outset treated tho
play with some GOODNESS. but the OF
Mime. do Girardin are worth reproducing.
Writing In November. 1898. she said: Tho
true idea OF the drama Ia this: The soul Of
. lackey Is as noble as that OF a hero. Ad-
dress II In the Language of generous passion
and II will respond. Love makes OF this lackey
a great statesman; he 10 capable Of tho Hottest
actions and realizes tho vastest plans; he Is a
Minister, and would savc Spain. No sooner. how
ever. do you hurl with cruel irony his past In
his face than you load his heart with bitterness;
then this man sinks back furiously into his
former condition. You have made his past q
crime in him; he will make OF It q weapon. II
he had been born a gentleman he would have
avenged himself like q knight; but he was born
4 n servant and he avenRes himself like an
assassin; yet this murder he commits with n
noble aim. and his tase deed saves the honor Of
a Queen"
In tho spring Of 1870. lies Rayons OF les
ombres." a collection Of lyrics. part blithesomo
and part ponsive. saw tho light. Three years
later the trilogy OF tho Burgraves. to which the
letters on Tho Rhine" published In ls42, had
heen n kind Of preface. was brought out Mt the
Theatre Francais. This remarkable work.
which presents In dramatic form the idea OF tho
"Legende des Siecles." was received with much
GOODNESS. II was burlesqued at tho Palais
Royal and at Les Varieties. There were express
slons OF cordial approval In some OF the reviews
and newspapers, notably by Theophile Gautier
and Edouard Thierry. but Hugo resolved
that he would never moro expose tho on
spring Of his intellect ITO those facile insults,
to those anonymous hisscs. toa hostility which
twenty years had not disarmed." Besides. no
was about to leave the theatre for the tribune
Of the orator. He had offered himself rs n can
didate for admission into tho Academy In 1880,
but tho Forty preferred another. In 1880 and
1910 he came forward. but on both occasions
other candidates were preferred. In 1871 he
was elected. Having become an A~cadomician.
no was In one OF the categories from which.
under tho Constitution then existing. the peers
of France were recruited. A peersge was
offered to Victor Hugo and was accepted
In April, ls45. It seems that. In 1890.
when he was but 1s years old. Alex.
andre Sonnet had asked him what he intended
to be. and whether he was resolved to devote
himself solely to literature. Victor replied that
he hoped to be a peer of France. In 1916 no was
disposed to sec In the constitutional monarchy
OF Louis Philippe "a useful transition from
royal legitimacy to popular sovereignty.' He
mounted tho tribune Of tho Chamber of Peers
for tho first time In February. ls46. and made q
speech In defence OF tho right Of authors TO
their literary property. In tho course OF thu
next two years he spoke In behalf Of the code.
urged the adoption OF measures for the protec-
ton Of the coast. and Ia thing he was TO regreu
advocated the return OF the Bonapartos.
VII.
Whom the revolution OF February, 1s4s, had
overturned tho Orleans dynasty. tho social
question reared its head. Al the elections in
June. Victor Hugo was elected a representative
for the city OF Paris In tho National Assembly
BY his haranRuo on the national workshops In
the same month, no revealed clearly what his
attitude on the questions of the day was hence
forth to DO; he protested firmly against schemes
which tended to transform Partisan worKmen
Into the Pretorians of n riot at tho service OF a
dictatorship" He spoke on behalf Of the liberty
OF tho press, on the raising Of the state Of siege.
on tho abolition OF the death penalty, against
the reduction Of the grant for the encourage
mont OF art and letters, and finally, In
February, l849. in favor Of the completion
of tho Louvre. where he desired to in
stall the institute. In May OF the last
named year he was elected to tho Legislative
Assembly. In his own words, the year ls49
was for him a great date. II witnessed an alb
solute rupture with tho past. "In 1s4s ! was q
Liberal merely; l became n Republican in
ls40." On July o ho said: :" am not one OF
those who believe that suffering can bs sup
pressed in this world; suffering 10 a divine law;
but l am one of those who think and hope
that misery can be suppressed" This was In
terpreted as a profession OF the Socialist faith.
He was scarcely a new convert, however. His
republicanism, from tho moment he embraced
It. had a socialistic tinge. On Jan. 10. 1910.
he had delivered a discourse on tho liberty OF
teaching. in which he demanded that enamel
patton which would come with tho future; the
right of the child, more sacred than that Of