The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-02-25
VICTOR HUGO


On aRe 1u1buObshS1sS % stse 0"S
We were dining ut Victor Hugo's:
Four of us were believers and four
atheists-Dot speaking Of the ladies,
wh0 were all too clever to be infidels.
Victor Hugo, Of courre, was among
the believers.
ITO believe In God Is To believe
nothing" said one Of the atheists.
ITO believe In God IL to believe
everything" cried Victor Hugo; ut
IL to believe In the infinite, and IN
ones immortal soul. l will prove II to
YOU"
His face was bright with q heavenly
halo. You know he was born with the
century. His face Is crowned with
white hair, but ic Ia the volcano un-
der the snow. His eyes shine like
burning Goals; his brow Ii arched like
an Olympian's: the ose Is refined,
with distended phstrils; the mouth Ii
eager and smiling, still full Of valiant
teeth; the chin finished . profile de-
signed after the laws of artistic gram.
mar. 1t Is q we'll mode head on q 70
bust body. BY robust I do not mean
enormous. He has not the stature OF
O giant nor the torso Of q Hercules.
But he IL q man Uf steel, with no sign
of old age about him. He has oil the
agility, The suppleness, the ease and
grace of his past years. He Ii nov en-
Toying his third or fourth youth; / do
not doubt he will e the century
through.
II feel in myself" he continued,
1.-The future life. I am like q forest
which has been more than once cut
down. The new shoots are stronger
and livelier than ever. ] am rising, l
know, to the sky. The sunshine ID on
my head. The earth gives me Its gen.
erous sap, but heaven lights me with
the reflection of unknown worlds.
You say the soul 10 nothing but the
resultant of bodily powers. Why then
IL my soul the more luminous than
my bodily powers? Winter Ii on my
head and eternal spring ID on my
heart. There / breathe at this -Four
the fragrance Of the lilacs, the viOlets
and the roses, "a at twenty years. The
nearer ] approach the end, tho palmer
/ hear around me the immortal SYM
phonies Of the worlds which invite
me. II IL marvellous, yet simple. 1t 70
o fairy tale and Il 10 history. For hall
q century I have been writing my
thoughts In prose and verse; history,
philosophy, drama, romance. tradi'
ton, satire ode and scng-I have
tried all. But I feel I have not said
the thousandth part Of what Is In ME.
When I go down to the grave, 1 can
say, like 81 many others, Il have IN
ished my days work. but I cannot
ssy L have finished my life.' My
days work will begin again the next
morning. The tomb Is not q blind
alley; II II q ~thoroughfare. 1t closes on
the twilight to open with the dawn.
I improve every hour, because / love
this world as my fatherlaid and be-
cause The truth compels me as 1t CON-
PEELED Voltaue, that human divinity.
MY work Ii only a beginning. My
monument is hardly above It's foun-
dations. / would be glad TO see IL
mounting and mounting forever. The
thirst for the infinite proves infinity.
What do you say Of that MesSieurs
Atheists"
'I say YOU are q Wonderful man."
II am not q wonderful man. I obey
my soul. My soul has It's destiny, and
obeys unknown lave" -.
1T obeys the laws of creation, said
the atheist" IF you should suddenly
have q headache, night would come
over your soul, and you would feel
that IL was the creature Of your brain.
Here, for instance, Ii the coffee. Take
some, ~ I do, In this pretty japanese
CUP, and your blood will be quicken.
ed, and your wit livelier, and for an
hour you will be q greater poet than
ever"
Don't talk such %nonsence, my wit
ty friend. / never drink coffee nor
champagne. Why do not those who
take these stimulants write either my
verSe or my prOse?" .
ut Is because nature has not 30 wei!
fashioned their brains"
There I have YOU" said Victor
Hugo. what Ii nature?"
ut il al occult force" said the
atheist.
"There are no occult forces; there
are onlv luminous forces. Occult force
II chaos, the luminous force Is God.
Man IL AN Infinitely little copy OF God;
this Is glory enough for man. am q
man, an invisible atom, q drop In the
ocean, q grain of. sand on the shore.
Little Ia I am, I feel the God In me,
because ! can bring form out Of my
chaos. | make books which are crea-
tons. l can say this without boasting,
for l hove no more pride than q coral
insect 1t its reef; no more than the
smallest bird which JONES In the uni.
ver.al hymn. I Am nothing. Here lies
Victor Hugo-an atom, a passing echo,
q flying cloud. q wave which laps the
shore. 1 am nothing, but let ime live
my future lives; let me continue my
work begun; let me scale In coming
after all the heights, all the Perils, aii
the love, all the sgonies .-Wbo will
say that one day, after thousands Of
oscents. shall not, like all men oil
good will, have conquered q place Ia
the supreme council Of that adorable
tyrant whose name 10 God?"