Part 4 (2/2)

Barthololishmen and Frenchmen, Germans and Italians, Europeans and Auenots have been content to ether in an embrace alike honourable and indissoluble' These words excited a strange fervour and enthusias of hats and handkerchiefs, and other demonstrations of applause, a Roht have been seen ee

During the debate on the new Education Bill, introduced by M de Falloux in January, 1850, Victor Hugo adversely criticized the y He announced that he should oppose any scheme which entrusted the education of youth to the clerical party, ere always seeking to fetter the human mind Church and State must pursue independent courses 'Your law,' he exclai the Minister, 'is a laith a , it does another It may bear the aspect of liberty, but it means thraldom It is practically confiscation under the naift But it is all one with your usual policy Every tie a new chain you cry, ”See, here is freedoo appealed for mercy for the political criminals, and condemned the law of transportation, by which they were not only banished but liable to be shut up in citadels His speech on this occasion created such a profound impression that it was afterwards printed and distributed throughout the country, and a medal was struck in honour of the orator

Troublous ti over France The protestations of Louis Napoleon that he desired to rank as a patriot only, and not as a Bonaparte, had been accepted by Victor Hugo, Louis Blanc, and others, in good faith In his prison at Ham, he had been visited by several staunch Republicans, who believed his asseverations that he had no other end in view than the welfare of France and the consolidation of her liberties

Indeed, when the exile returned to Paris he sought out Victor Hugo, and in the e said to hiain? Why, it would not simply be an ambition, it would be a crireat man, and when the Republic is made I shall never follow the steps of Napoleon As for ton' It never struck the poet that his visitor protested too ht and sincere hirity of others, and he little dreamt that Louis Napoleon, who had sworn fidelity to the Constitution, and again and again declared hile the Republic with his own hands

But, alas! it was not long before the poet and his friends were disillusioned, for, as Proudhon remarked, 'Citizen Bonaparte, who but yesterday was a mere speck in the fiery heavens, has beco stor, bore hieously, and from his place in the tribune never ceased to advocate the cause of freedom, while he bade the people repose securely in their own strength The reactionary policy began with the curtailment of the liberty of the press, and culminated in the _Coup d'etat_ of the 2nd Deceislative assee was established, and Paris was declared to be in a state of siege Thiers, Cavaignac, and others were arrested and sent to the Castle of Vincennes About 180 members of the asse to meet, were also arrested, and Paris was occupied by troops Sanguinary conflicts ensued between the people and the soldiery, but the troops were victorious Napoleon put a pistol at the head of Paris, and ulties, the Eo did all in his power for the hts of the people, but in vain In the tribune he indignantly inveighed against the tyranny of Napoleon, and was in consequence placed at the head of the list of the proscribed He supported the Committee of Resistance in their efforts to depose the Prince; but the people were paralyzed by the display of power, and he was obliged to fly from Paris A sum of 25,000 francs was offered to anyone ould either kill or arrest hireat was the terror of the populace that no one could be found ould give the friend of freedoth he secured te here until the 12th of Deceuised, by the Northern Railway Station The expatriated poet reached Brussels in safety, but his sons and the rest of the staff of _L'evenement_ had been cast into prison It was a o, ere naturally anxious for his safety when so many of the friends of the Republic had been seized and incarcerated

In his retreat the great patriot found himself confronted by a new task

He resolved to compile a history of the infamous events which had driven him into exile 'His lashes should reach to the faces of Napoleon and his acolytes at the Tuileries; he became at once the Tacitus and Juvenal of his tihtier than theirs, because his indignation was greater and his wrath e was soon to descend which should leave him exposed to the derision and contempt of the world to the end of time

The sword is powerful; but the pen, which is the stronger weapon, has always overtaken it, and adjusted the historical balance in the interests of humanity

CHAPTER X

THE POET IN EXILE

In Brussels Victor Hugo ca the novelist, Alexandre Du in this city because he was the better able to pursue his literary work there, undistracted by the myriad claims which such a centre as Paris presents He had never rined at the banisho that he chivalrously resolved never to visit Louis Napoleon or the Tuileries again; and he resolutely adhered to this decision Victor Schoelcher followed Hugo to Brussels, having escaped frouise of a priest Towards the close of Dece narrative, _L'Histoire d'un Cri May It was not published until 1877, and I shall st other exiles in Brussels were the ill-assorted couple eium also sheltered in this hour of peril Ledru Rollin, the sculptor David, Barbes, Louis Blanc, Edgar Quinet, and Eugene Sue Indeed, many of the finest and choicest spirits of France had been driven froo joined their father in January, 1852, and the poet deterned at the Tuileries Fate, nevertheless, decreed otherwise The Belgian Governo, was still more anxious to maintain friendly relations with the new French Eo soon ian rulers to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds The publication of his _Napoleon le Petit_ fell like a thunderbolt over both Paris and Brussels That scathing work made the Dictator writhe aed it, pathos, sarcases denunciatory of Louis Napoleon was the following: 'He will never be other than the nocturnal strangler of liberty; he will never be other than the lory, like the first Napoleon, but ine; he will never be other than the pigreat people Grandeur, even in infamy, is utterly inconsistent with the character and calibre of the man As Dictator, he is a buffoon; let hirotesque That would at once put an end to hi their shoulders Will he be less severely punished for that reason? Not at all: conteer

He will be hideous, and he will rehs, and crushes What would you have the historian do with this fellow? He can only lead him to posterity by the ear The man once stripped of success, the pedestal rereat sabre taken away, the poor little skeleton laid bare and shi+vering--can anyone i meaner and more eance: 'You do not perceive that the 2nd of Dece but an i curtain, behind which the Deity, thatthe last act, the final and triumphant scene of the French Revolution! You look stupefied upon the curtain, upon the things painted upon the coarse canvas, this one's nose, that one's epaulettes, the great sabre of a third, those eenerals, those _poussahs_ that you call istrates, those worthy men that you call senators, this mixture of caricatures and spectres--and you take them all for realities You do not hear yonder in the shade that hollow sound! You do not hear so backwards and forwards! You do not see that curtain shaken by the breath of Him who is behind!'

The exciteian Govern ith Napoleon III, it reluctantly decided that the author o's case, the Belgian Chao was cast out froland, but only on his way to Jersey, which he had decided upon as his next place of habitation He landed at St Helier on the 5th of August, 1852, and was received by a body of French coo was now so from his draenius, he was singled out as a special object of disapprobation on the part of the French rulers The poet first settled down in a small house on the Marine Terrace, and the money he received from the sale of his effects in Paris was a very welcoh too many periods of hardshi+p and vicissitude to repine over these altered circumstances--he rather rejoiced to suffer for conscience' sake He now gave himself up to intellectual labour, and found much happiness in his leisure hours in the bosom of his family, every member of which was deeply attached to hie of affectionate confidences with his intimate friends, Vacquerie, Paul Meurice, and others He was treated with great distinction by the islanders, not (as he hio the poet, but because he was a peer of France In consequence of his rank, observes one writer, 'he enjoyed certain privileges, one of which was that he was exe away the grass froed to supply the suzerain of the Duchy of Noriously exacted from 'his lordshi+p'

Yet even in the little island home of their adoption the exiles were not perst theh Jersey had its os, as Napoleon was now the ally of England the situation was not without its dangers One Imperial spy, named Hubert, was discovered; and when the exiles detero, with his usual large-hearted nanimity, came forward and saved his life

Another terrible denunciation of Napoleon and his satellites was penned by Hugo during his stay in Jersey _Les Chati than _Napoleon le Petit_ Its verse burned with indignation The poet spared no one as in any degree responsible for the crime of the 2nd December 'Sogression, pouring out his sy to the deadly climates of Cayenne and Lambessa, to receive for political offences the fate of the worst of felons; sometimes he sounds forth their virtues in brilliant strophes; and soreat men of the Second Empire, whilst at others he uses the lash of satire, and depicts thee seems to bind his victim to an eternal pillory' The work showed, in its various divisions, how society was 'saved,' order re-established, the dynasty restored, religion glorified, authority consecrated, stability assured, and the deliverers themselves delivered

It was first published in Brussels, but only in athe effects of some of its bitter attacks upon the ruler of France In vain the poet protested against this infringement of liberty A complete edition of the work, however, soon appeared at St Helier, and it speedily got into circulation in all the European capitals, ingeniously defying every effort to suppress it 'The hly it penetrated France It had as uises as an outlaw Sometimes it was enclosed in a sardine-box, or rolled up in a hank of wool; soments; concealed occasionally in plaster busts or clocks, laid in the folds of ladies' dresses, or even sewn in between the double soles of hteously unpleasant for Napoleon, who dreaded these attacks upon his person and power A er than a throne; and it was possible that this ht be the issue between the poet and the Dictator

The work brought no profit to its author, but he had the far higher reward of seeing it carry terror into the midst of the Tuileries, while it at the sa conscience of the French nation For two or three years the Jersey exiles re insecure, detero on several occasions delivered funeral orations over departed patriots He never spared the French rulers, and invariably expressed sy cry of humanity which made the crowned criminal turn pale upon his throne'

At the obsequies of one Felix Bony, who had been a victim of Imperial tyranny, the poet referred to the British alliance with the Eland Upon this, Sir Robert Peel intimated in the House of Commons that he should feel it his duty to put an end to this kind of language on the part of French refugees as soon as possible Ribeyrolles, the editor of _L'Holand was England no longer, and Victor Hugo returned the following answer: 'M Bonaparte has driven hts as a citizen, and as a representative of the people; he has driven ium because I have written _Napoleon le Petit_, and he will probably drive land because of the protests that I have made and shall continue to land more than it concerns me America is open to me, and America is sufficiently after my heart But I warn hiland, or from America, my voice shall never cease to declare that sooner or later he will have to expiate the crime of the 2nd of December What is said is true: there _is_ a personal quarrel between hie upon the bench and the prisoner at the bar'

The tension becareat when Felix Pyat published in _L'Ho in sarcastic but foolish terms upon her Majesty's visit to the Emperor and Empress of the French So the Queen were perfectly unjustifiable, and the result was a serious agitation in Jersey for the expulsion of the exiles At one o confessed that he did not care for this, but he should greatly regret the destruction of his manuscripts His compositions, which represented thirty years' labour, and included _Les Conteende des Siecles_, and the first portion of _Les Miserables_, were accordingly secured in a strong iron-bound chest

Madaer, resolutely remained by the side of her husband

The conductors of _L'Hoo drew up a protest on behalf of the exiles 'The _Coup d'etat_,' said this doculand has reached this point that she now banishes exiles' It then went onto inveigh against the crimes of 'treason, perjury, spoliation, and ally condemned by the French Court of assize, and lish press The protest received thirty-seven signatures, a those of Louis Blanc and Victor Schoelcher After a period of uncertainty, the English Governees