New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-20

his political enthusiasns carried him 49,.
and the nuncroUs letters in this volur.
pressing admiration for the work or No.
qualities VI one friend Dr another become -
IL absurd after While Five and iva.
years have passed" he writes 10 Cha,ean,.
and. and there remain only great thincv =,
two great men. Napoleon and Chateaubr,,,
Permit me to lay these lines re re,nr a
rEmpcreur'D at your feet. You have long -
made peace with the iilus'riOus shade Who =
spired them This sort Of thing. Repeated
hundred times, ia bound to leave an irnprrrs
Of mere wordincss. Yet IL is delightful 70 s..
him championing George Sand at time vhs
her coun:rymen seemed bent on saying insup
ing things Of her. and while the note Of err
siye laudat!on grows wearisDme there ia A..
all. something winning abou, the man Who oos
appreciate the works Of his contemporaries q
generously as Victor Hugo appreciated ne-
Our only regret is that he did not know how
nut his praise into reasonable words. but tals1
TO each critic or poet or historian az though
were the last word Of French genius On :,
whole. the correspondence before W shows la
victor Hugo was most effective when he ~
angry. Then he forgot 20 BE- nowery and
yas rhetorical at all he was. AZ any rate. il--
and vigorous. There is a Wholesome simpuI
about this savage letter TO Monsieur de S1g1
Risbop." written from Hauteyille Houss ,
1872:
Sir. was not aware Of your cxiStenee
| am informed to-day that you 90 exist AZ
even that you are L bIsh"p.
=.
Won have had the goodness 20 write the o.
loving lines about ne, when nave W'Sh coz
municated 10 me-. a.. ,,,.,.., v,..,
Victor Hugo. the great, The auStere NNf
Hugo the magnificent poet 81 the de'noGs7
and Of the universal rcpubnc. Is also pt
Co. anictsd with a year.y income 81 more M
,brna hundred thousand francs luhHetHhei :
Tho texD. sorle 60 so far ~ 10 say H,e ",f
drod thousand underlined IN 'he Nv. IL
irfa,nous book LES Mls"raoiea W'usn' ~. =
five hundred thousand liah'S d. 80
p.onle always forget 10 m"niioh t"e eHs,..
iI Ips he large humanitarian heart GoluOeA
onr,ne,s him To bestow on his gear C' s W. .
~ ,,orLinq classes. He IL Sa'1 ~ Oe d. '''D''
ard seIAsh as he is boaSttdi ~ ,,-ai, d.
Then follow two pages IN 'r ia Crpsls'
T .edr,I- Rollin who is cali'h Many NJ,
an pochefort, who was "causht a ~, 9TH.
~ hanknotes in the lninE 81 No ,,O',S
-, CarihaIdi whom you call ''di 80 , - .,-.
Who makes war without hshtlas. Az 90 hr's
consisted of fifteen THOUSAND Oa.r r',ir1 M /.
"a nice and who ran away '"'''
millions" etc. etc 49,. :, telling YOU s.
hall not waste my time IN ~. n'-e az, ,
80 ~. ton lines quoted aDotr 'n'' =, :
,nanv lies as there are words - itsr,.
raady confine myself 70 noti.'I7 ,.famos,
criticism in the passage, the VP'''
annlied to Les NJ SeraDies ,tsbon who.
Good sincere. humble brotherly, 'n,i',s sy,
11.i, az we'll AS kindness. ana VINO H".. ,h,.
virttie to his sacred office. 9utbr,,,,,,s h..
lyhv Les Miserables Is an NJ, y - Y,
From which it must DE- ,b,a hook il >
irables" would be an adhlira s,p,
Itshon wore a malignant Sianderer' jill a, -
= ,aSte,ess and vulgar writer. 10" So 'O"'0
tn. basest kind, clrcuialot va
scandal a crOZlered ana NM . ,,,,. n 4
Would the second bishop be more "ue =
than the first? 81. ", .,.l
Tbis question concerns you. SIT lou az
hotter Judge Of bishops than am
Tho nurely literary letters in this volume
.au, most Of the communications - authors :
ing in the vein of hyperbolcal personal eu"s
- which We have alluded. but there are one
t,vo fraements in which Hugp's way u !ooA'
at questions Of literature is presented III ~ /
teresting light For example. he answers -
would appear To have been a Sood-hA'U''
charge Of plagiarism with 5,ory Of no" Lina
nais called on him one day and. looking o'e' :
shoulder. cav these lines. which he had =
composed:
Ephemerc histrion aui sal. son role 20
Chaque homme ivre daudace W pa'p''aA'
frOi.
Sous le sayon du patre gu Ia robe du roL
Went passer. son tour. son heure sur ID w
I.amennais uttered an exclamation OF Su'|
"Hullor' he said. do sou know Ensish'
cause you have just written a Inc 81 'N'A
peare." Hugo protested that he di ho' :"
English. that he had not read ShaAesP~
Well" said Lamennais you are DOM @D'--
Of the line You have hit Oh the same '''
Shakespeare" and he pointed out 'he w.
blance between the passage quoted ao'''
Shakcspcare's famous reference to 'H' ?
player that struts and fretS his ho" ~
the stage" Hugo adds 20 his correSi'"
Now decide my dear judge. As th'us" -