Part 5 (1/2)

On the 27th of October, 1855, the neas coo that he must quit the island by the 2nd of November The poet said to the constable of St Cles, 'I do not await the expiration of the respite that is given me I hasten to quit a land where honour has no place, and which burns raves of their dead co Jersey for various destinations; and on the 31st of October, Hugo and his family embarked for Guernsey

CHAPTER XI

IN GUERNSEY--'LES MISeRABLES'

Though harassed in o had reserved to hi his troubled stay in Jersey, leisure in which to devote himself to the Muses pure and simple As the result of these periods of meditation, there appeared in Paris in 1856 _Les Conteh several editions, was the lyrical record of twenty-five years According to the author himself, it holds, more than any other of the numerous collections of his poetry, 'as in a rocky chalice, the gathered waters of his life' And, again, he observed that 'the author has allowed this book to for drop by drop, through events and sufferings, has deposited it in his heart'

Divided into two parts, the earlier division of the work dealt with other times, the second with 'to-day' Froh which the poet had passed he endeavoured to extract the philosophy of life Everything is tinged with deep feeling, for it would be superfluous to say that Hugo was ever the subject of profound ely than other ives that intense personal realisuished it from the first recorded utterance to the last Virulently attacked in some quarters, this series of poems was as warmly welcomed in others

With the public it found ready favour, and speedily ran through numerous editions It may safely be affirmed that criticism which is merely captious has never yet perenius, it will force its way through such obstacles, and find an honest public appreciation If Hugo had not himself had faith in the poetic seed in such works as _Les Conteotism of talent which is never offensive, he left his work confidently to the judgment of igantic work, _La Legende des Siecles_, the first part of which appeared in 1859, I shall speak in greater detail when referring to its completion

Expelled froh the islands are geographically near, the sentireatly on the subject of political refugees At Hauteville House, which, as its nao found a home which is now peculiarly linked with his nae to Jules Janin, Hugo announced his getting into new quarters: 'England has hardly been a better guardian of my fireside than France My poor fireside!

France broke it up, Belgiu, with all the patience of an ant, to build it up anew If ever I aland, and see whether that worthy prude Albion can help me to find myself _at home_ I have taken a house in Guernsey It has three stories, a flat roof, a fine flight of steps, a courtyard, a crypt, and a look-out; but it is all being paid for by the proceeds of _Les Contees which have been made to Hauteville House, with consequent descriptions of the residence A brief sketch of the leading features of the poet's home, for which I am indebted to an account written by one of such visitors, will not be unacceptable

Hauteville House, which overlooks the city and fort beneath, and commands a vast expanse of sea, is likewise fas of the Renaissance and the Middle Ages, and porcelain, enalass, the work of Venetian and Florentinethe house by a vestibule, there is first perceived on the upper lintel a _basso-relievo_ representing the chief subject in _Notre-Daht and left, in carved oak, are two hter A fine Renaissance colu on, the -room is reached Upon one of the panels is written 'Love and Believe;' and over one of the doors, and below a statuette of the Virgin, is the word of welco the poet's designs, frao adds that of a graphic artist Many of his sketches have a breadth and pohich strongly recall the pencil of Re and some other points they will not, of course, sustain comparison with the work of that wonderful master

The tapestry-parlour is an apart the attention Iorously fro, where its upper carving touches the tapestry The doorway corresponds to the fireplace; the rosace is a convex able is a fire, and decorated by arches of exquisite taste, in which the Byzantine les with the rococo; the ters are two counterforts, which repeat all the orna in its effect, recalls the fronts of the houses in Antwerp and Bruges A face appears aorously thrown out It is that of a bishop, whose crosier alone is gilded On each side of it is a shi+eld, with the witty old, bishop of wood'

On two scrolls, representing rolled parcho looks upon as the principal poets of humanity--Job, Isaiah, Homer, aeschylus, Lucretius, Dante, Shakespeare, Moliere On the opposite side are the naton Two oaken statues lean from the double entablature of the chi, with an inscription on the pedestal--'The Book;' the other shows a monk in ecstasy, with his eyes uplifted, and on the pedestal is written 'Heaven' The working-roo a usta per angusta_' The dining-room walls are covered with splendid Dutch delf of the seventeenth century, and the roonificentthe riches of Summer Vases and statuettes are to be ends--'Man,' 'God,' 'My country,'

'Life is exile' An ararded by the poet as the ancestral seat at his table, is closed by a chain, and bears the inscription, 'The absent are here' The galleries and rooms of the first story are likewise rich in Renaissance work, and in Chinese and japanese treasures The Oak Gallery, which is a kind of guest-chae, which distribute the light through a perfect forest of carved oak The mantelpiece--a marvellous piece of work, represents the sacrifice of Isaac A state bed and a ure carved by Victor Hugo, are also noticeable objects; but they are almost eclipsed by the splendid door of entrance, which, as seen from the interior, is as brilliant as a church o spiral colurotesques, surrounded by arabesques and monsters; it advances with two folds, which are resplendent with paintings, aures of theSt Peter

There is inscribed on the lintel, '_Surge, perge_,' and close by the words of Lucan, 'The conquerors have the Gods, with the conquered Cato remains' There are also nuo's own room was the look-out--a little belvedere open in all directions, but very s-table and an iron bed Whether regarded from the point of view of its noble situation, or froment in its interior, Hauteville House is a place to inspire a poet of a far less expansive io

While the author of _Notre-Dame_ pursued his studies and compositions in the belvedere, the other ined in a variety of pursuits beneath The elder son, Charles, devoted hi of dramas and romances, while the second son, Victor Francois, undertook with much spirit and success a translation of Shakespeare Adele, the one daughter now reed into a series of curious literary studies, which resulted in the production of _Les Mielles de l'Histoire_ and _Profils et Gri notes for her husband's _Life_ Unfortunately, owing to her death, her task was never coht in 1863 The whole fae at Hauteville House, and Gerard de Nerval, Balzac, and many others occupied in turns a room specially set apart for the use of such visitors

Two or three years after Hugo established himself in Guernsey, an amnesty was announced by the Emperor of the French The proclaust, 1859 The poet refused to avail hirace, and in conjunction with Louis Blanc, Edgar Quinet, and others, replied to the Imperial pardon by a counter ed that it was his duty to return to France during the days of the Second Empire, and to use every effort to procure that amelioration of the condition of the people, and the fruition of their hopes, which he and other patriots desired But Victor Hugo was very depressed at this time, and saw little prospect of the realization of his own aspirations and of those who felt and acted with him But an idea of the vast personal influence attributed to the poetwhich was used concerning hio stood forward, as he was ht never have happened, the disastrous Ministry of M emile Ollivier would have been i ruin which fell upon her when absolutely abandoned to the counsels and government of the feeblest mediocrity' It is iuine expectations would have been justified; but they will at least serve to show the high esteeht attached to his individual will and exao was reached in 1862 by the publication of the celebrated roun many years before, and was to have been published in 1848 Its original conception was vastly extended in course of time, until as at first meant to occupy only two octavo volumes ultimately spread over ten The work appeared simultaneously in Paris, London, Brussels, New York, Madrid, Berlin, Turin, St Petersburg, Leipzig, Milan, Rotterdam, Warsaw, Pesth, and Rio de Janeiro The first Paris edition amounted to 15,000 copies, the first Brussels edition to 12,000, and the first Leipzig edition to 3,000 No fewer than 150,000 copies were sold in one year, and altogether, in various forms and editions, more than three times this immense number of copies were disposed of The book was found everywhere, from the Steppes of Russia to the battlefields of the United States, where it solacedthe Civil War

This stupendous work is divided into five parts, entitled respectively 'Fantine,' 'Cosette,' 'Marius,' 'L'Idylle Rue Plumet et l'epopee Rue St

Denis,' and 'Jean Valjean' Each of these parts consists of eight or ain divided into chapters It was co of a poet, and partly the offspring of a social philosopher, and that while the poetry was noble the philosophy was detestable At the same tie the hall- patience and conscientious labour of a true artist The romance opens with a finely-sketched portrait of a worthy bishop, called by the people Monseigneur Bienvenu, a noble creation, which surprised those who looked upon Hugo merely as a curser of the Church and all its works

A scene of strong dramatic power occurs in Chapter X, which deals with an intervieeen the bishop and a dying conventionnel, who had all but voted for the death of the King Victor Hugo's unequalled coorous emphasis come here into full play

'All French writers of mark,' says a writer in the _Quarterly Review_, 'are divisible into two schools; the one is characterized by the polish and smoothness to which the romance element is carried in a Racine, or, in more modern times, a Lamartine; the other is full of a _viel esprit Gaulois_, a Moliere or a La Fontaine For this rugged force of speech, all knots, the bark still on, M Hugo is very remarkable The terseness hich he throws into a word the coant writer would draw out into a whole sentence, indicates an alier spirits of an age, and which in French literature has only been matched by Rabelais, in Italian by Dante'

The real hero of the story is Jean Valjean, the son of a woodcutter of Faverolles Losing his father and rew up to carry on the for thereby an elder sister (left a ) and her seven children One night, in that terrible year of famine, 1795, Jean Valjean broke into a baker's shop to steal a loaf for the starving children at home He was arrested for the theft, and condealleys Frequent attempts to escape added fourteen years th, after nineteen years, he was liberated; but, while now free, his lot was as hard as though he were still in confinenise or aid this pariah of civilization, and he enters the episcopal town of D---- in despair The good bishop alone will receive the outcast, and he entertains hiht Valjean is overcome by wild impulses He steals the spoons fro bishop, and escapes through the garden In the ht back, but the bishop only heaps coals of fire upon his head in return for his perfidy

Valjean is allowed to go out into the world, but there is a terrible struggle between the good and the evil nature within hiical power of this part of the novel isis renewed periodically in Valjean's breast all through the romance, and it is the influence of the Christian bishop which prevents thedead to all his better instincts The third book of the first part is devoted to the episode of Fantine, an unhappy being who is , and whose sorrows are vividly and painfully described, with so portrait of Javert, a severe French _agent de police_, testifies once o's power of hu scenes still centre round Valjean The ex-convict becomes a respectable provincial mayor under an assumed name, and when a man is arrested in his old nale, in which he sees the dead bishop calling upon him to be true to his conscience, he resolves to deliver himself up and save the innocent man I cannot follow all the ramifications of this extraordinary work, which absolutely tee for their central and cardinal ainst society In the last voluhter of Fantine, with one Marius, both of whom owed their lives to Valjean Marius and Cosette shrink from Valjean when they hear his confession that he is a liberated convict But when Marius learns further that Valjean had saved his life and conveyed hirandfather's house, and that he had also secured for him his wife's dowry of 600,000 francs, reratitude He and Cosette seek out Valjean at his lodgings, but only arrive in ti convict, and to receive his last blessing

This rorandeur of conception and skill in execution, have never been equalled by any other French writer

At the same time the work is not without its defects, chief of which is the frequent recurrence of prolix digressions For example, at a very critical point in the story, when Jean Valjean has effected his escape with Marius in his arms from the pursuit of the soldiery, the reader is treated to soes of speculation on the valuable uses to which the sewage of large towns h and above theenius of the author, which transforo, even with his perversities and his literary contradictions, canto Lamartine, who had been considerably exercised by the social views proated in this book, the author said: 'A society that admits misery, a humanity that admits war, seem to her society, and a --a society without kings, a humanity without barriers I want to universalize property, not to abolish it; I would suppress parasitism; I want to see every man a proprietor, and no oalto advance towards it?

Yes, asto destroy human fatality I condenorance; I illumine darkness; I discard malice Hence it is that I have written _Les Miserables_' So much for one side of the work; but if its social and political philosophy be condemned to the exclusion of its manifold excellences and beauties, then I can only pity the mole-like blindness of those who, in their haste to be critical, have lost that key-note of human sympathy which alone can unlock the treasures of _Les Miserables_