loquent orations, delivered on various sad
occasions since he was exiled, have awakened the interest of the world,
and people who cared little for him as the successful author, feel a
deep sympathy for the noble exile.

Victor Hugo was born at Besancon in 1803, and of a rich family. His
father was a general in the service of Joseph Bonaparte, who was then
king of Naples. He followed him into Spain, where he distinguished
himself by his valor. He returned in 1814, and journeyed through Italy.
Victor was then very young, but accompanied his father on his Italian
tour. When but fourteen years old, Victor wrote a poem, to compete with
many older persons for a prize, and though his poem was undoubtedly
deserving of the reward, yet from his extreme youth, only honorable
mention was made of his effort. This early poetical ambition, however,
was an indication of his future career.

When he was twenty-two years of age, Charles X. gave him an audience,
and Victor Hugo presented his majesty with some of his poetry. The king
handed it to Chateaubriand, who was near, and demanded his opinion.

"Sire," said he, "the youth has a sublime genius!"

Hugo was displeased with the judgment of the Academy, which had not
given him the prize for his first verses, and he wrote for an Academy at
Toulouse, won several prizes, and was honored with a degree in the
presence of Chateaubriand. He lived during this time in Paris, with his
mother, who loved him to idolatry, and the affection was as warmly
returned on the part of her son. She was a royalist and suggested his
first poems. When she died he was overwhelmed with grief, and wrote a
sad romance entitled _Han d' Glande_, which was severely attacked by the
critics, many of whom knew his youth. But he triumphed over them all, as
genuine genius is always sure to do. He now fell in love with a
beautiful young girl, named Mademoiselle Foucher, and they married. He
was twenty, and she was but fifteen years of age. They loved each other
fondly, and if they were poor in gold, they were "very rich in virtues."

The publisher who brought out Hugo's romance, says that he visited the
young family to purchase the second edition, and found them living in a
pleasant little dwelling with two children to grace their fireside. Here
came troops of friends, for Hugo had already made them among the wise
and great. The politicians of the day, Thiers and others, were his
companions. He often took his wife and chi