BY the marvellous powers of his pen Victor Hugo was enabled to greatly influence his fellow-countrymen: have his works influenced them for the better or the worse? The dread which hangs over French society suggests a different answer from that which admirers of the poet would like to give. There is a general feeling of insecurity, which even the presence of many troops and, police cannot allay. Recent incidents is the streets of Paris and in the cemetery of Pere la Chaise indicate that the red flag may at any moment represent a dominant power in the country. The Commune is dormant, not dead.
There were fears that even yesterday the apotheosis of the Communistic poet would be marked by a struggle, and several red flags were actually seized by the police, though the funeral proceedings were generally conducted with order. In some places, on the route from the Arc de Triomphe to the Pantheon, the street scenes were more suggestive of a popular festival then a national mourning; but this appears to be inevitable in France, where the exuberance of the people takes peculiar shapes. They could not weep over the body of Hugo, because they rejoiced in the triumph of his works. No one can doubt the greatness of the poet's intellect, the steadfastness of his purpose, or the honesty of his motives; but the admission of his great powers makes us all the more regret that his genius was not directed into better channels then these which stimulate revolution, encourage irreligion, and deify the so-called reason.
Liverpool Courier, June 2
Victor Hugo's Funeral
Victor Hugo's Funeral
Table of Contents
Miracles of healing - Christian Miracles or Healing
History of Russia: Christian Versus Barbarian
History of Japan: Early Christian Martyrs
The Jesus of History
The Assyrian Origin of Devil Worshippers
The Christ Of Dogma
The early history of Constantinople
