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

each In less than q month. The battle which
took place IN the theatre between the clsssicists
and the romanticlsts on the production Of this
drama has been repeatedly described. II 10 we'll
known that the tremendous success gained By
Hugo on this occasion was a literary revolu-
tlon. the forerunner of n political revolution.
The fourth act was irresistible. and the sixth
| proved "a complete intoIication." Toward
the close OF the fourth act n publisher hurried
the author out OF the theatre and into a tobac-
conist's shop, and. for tho sum of ten thousand
francs that he had with him. obtained the right
to publish tho drama In book form. This IL the
piece Of which. when 1t was read at the Minis
try OF Foreign Affairs. the Secretary of the
Ministry said, "It's stupid" The dispute con-
corning tho merits of Hermann" provoked
many q duel In France. and. in Toulouse. . young
man lost his life. After the fall Of Charles X.
Marion Delorme' was brought out at the
Ports Saint Martin. Again there was q battle
In the theatre, and again the poet won a
brilliant victory, but this time tho romanti-
cists were divided. and there was q riot In the
streets. II has been asserted that. In the oriai-
nal play. Older, the hero. died without foreiv-
ing Marion, and that the change was made on
the advice OF Merimee or Dumas. Tho truth.
we are now told. is that the author. whils
writing the drama. had hcsitnted between tho
two solutions. and had SUCCESSFULLY tried both.
A"Sh Nv SOW nv w MI uApkeN
bic attitude for Didier. but. after re-
pestsd entreaties during the rehcarsais
from Nine. Dorval, who played Marion.
he consented that his hero should be merciful.
II was also asserted At tho time that Didier was
an imitation OF Antony" whcreupon Alex
andre Dumas published n statement TO tho
effect that marion Dclorme" was written q
year before ho himself had thought Of AN
tony" and that no had heard the former play
read before he had written a line OF his own.
Goethe criticised this piece with great severity.
According to him, the entire subject only
offered material for a single act OF any value.
Six months before the prod uction OF this play
at tho Porte Saint Martin the great novel
"Notro Dame de Paris" had appeared. The
Ideal which the author had IN view 10 Indicated
IN some lines written by him In 1923: After
tho picturesque but prosaic romance Of Sir Wal
ter Scott another kind Of romance will have to
be- rcated, In our opinion far more beautiful
and far moro complete; II will be the romance
which is ut once epic and dramatic, picturesque
but poetic. real but ideal. true but grand. In
which Walter Scott will be. rs IL were. inlnid on
Homer" "Notre Dame de Paris embodied an
attempt made seven years later To fulfil this
programme. 1t appeared In February, 1891. on
the day on which the palace of the Archbishop
Of Paris was pillaged by a mob. When the pub
Usher had received tho manuscript he had read
It to his wife. Sho thought It "frightfully
tirosome." Nearly the entire Partisan prcts was
hostile to tho novel. Alfred de Musset, in the
Temps, remarked. without inuoir appearance of
sorrow. that the book was unfortunate IN being
published on n day Of riot. and that It had been
drowned along with tho library OF the Arch
bishop. Sainte- Beuve euloelzed the form with
the object Of attacking the substance. Monta-
lembert. In L'Arenir. was more favorable. but
thu Ia nir ~ thla ira tar vrna
who, IL he had been a commonplace person, might
have fancied that some sides Of his own char
acter had been used In this creation OF Claude
Frollo. Eugene Sue wrote n generous and noble
letter to the author. in which he undertook to
answer the malevolrnt criticisms which had
been levelled ut the book. Goethe. on the other
hand. In the Conversations with Ecker
manu." said II have been lately reading Notre
Dame de Paris and have required no small
patience to bear up against the torturcs It's
perusal occasioncd me. II Is the most detest-
able book that ever was written. You are not
even rewarded for the torments to which you
are condemned by the pleasure you experience
in coming on n trno picture of human nature
and human character. The work is. on the con-
trary. utterly devoid Of nature and truth. The
authors characters are not living beings. but
wretched puppets who execute all sorts OF gam
bols and contortions as his capricious fancy die
tates. TO produce certain effects he has in view
he puts them through a number Of altogether
silly motions" Notwithstanding the hostility
OF most of the %critics, with Goethe at their head.
the novel was extraordinarily successful.
".
Toward tho close o. 1891 appeared Les
Feuilies d'Automne." In these autumn leaves
the poet. though lie was but 20 years old, seems
to bid farewell to tieeting youth. and to tho be-
witching Joys that find their root In sexual at
traction. fatherhood has taken the place of
love; there are new joys; the gay. ~sportive
rracrs OF children delight the eye. but they also
furrow the brow, and give snd thoughts TO tho
soul OF the parent. These poems. which are
penned from a fathers point OF view, are the
precursors OF "L'Art d'Etre Grand Pere."
which was to see the light IN another genera
ton. Tho unique and celebrated repre-
sentation OF lie RUi s'Amuse" occurred
on Nov. o., 1882. II gave rise. as Is
well known. to an even more furious battle
than that which had taken place over
Hermann" The piece was suspended the next
morning on the score OF immortality. There
upon. the author brought n suit before tho
Tribunal OF Commerce. and, In the course of
the trial. uttered the discourse that drew from
Montalembert the words: You arc quite an
much OF an orator as you are Of n writer. II tho
doors Of the theatre are closed against YOU. you
have still tho tribune A month had hardly
passed away since tho Introduction of tho piece
which held up Francis !, to obloQuy. when the
Porte Saint Martin was already rehearsing lie
Souper dc Ferrare." n title subsequently,
changed to "Lucrece Borgia." Neither
music nor decorations were suitable. and, ut
the beginning OF the first performance. there
wore some hissos; but tho emotion and enthu.
siasm OF the audience increased from scene to
scene. The result was q triumph: tho horses
were taken from the cab In which Victor Hugo
rode. The success OF tho play was contested by
none except Armand Carrel and one other, who
called tho author "a Homer who follows a
wanton's footSteps." On Feb. .. 1870. lust bo-
fore the fall OF the Second Empire. "Lucr6ce
BorgIa" was revived Mt the Porte Saint Martin,
and tho same night q letter was written by
George Sand to Victor Hugo, then In Guern-
sey. The writer said: II have Just wit
messed 'Lucrece Borgia' with heartfelt
emotion and Joy. You are not aware
that I was present at the first reprsssn-
tation of the piece, exactly thirty-soveu
years ago. The drama has not grown a day