and Poor,' and an elegy called the 'Canadian.' In 1817 he was a competitor for a prize on the 'Advantages of Study,' offered by the academy. In 1819, having committed himself to a literary career with his father's consent, he wrote two odes, entitled 'The Virgins of Verdun,' and 'The Restoration of the Statue of Henri IV,' and sent them to the Academy of Floral Fêtes, at Toulouse, by which they were both crowned. In 1820 he published his 'Infant Moses in the Nile.' In 1822 appeared the first volume of his 'Odes and Ballads,' a collection of occasional pieces, all breathing a royalist spirit. His 'Hans of Iceland,' and 'Bug-Jargal,' though not published until some years later, were written about this time. Before the close of the same year the young poet married Mdlle. Foucher, and rising into distinction as a royalist writer, he received a pension from Louis XVIII. In 1826 he published a second volume of 'Odes and Ballads,' which betrayed an inward revolution in his political and literary opinions. In the succeeding year he composed a drama, called 'Cromwell,' intended to assert the freedom of the Christian and romantic drama, against the theory of Aristotle's unity, as understood and practiced by Racine. He prefaced it with a dramatic theory of his own, to which, however, he hardly gave a fair chance of success, since its accompanying illustration contained scarcely a feature of merit. In 1828 he published his 'Orientals,' a poem of finished versification, but destitute of force or spirit. In 1829, Victor Hugo published his 'Last Days of a Condemned Prisoner,' and so vividly depicted the anticipated tortures of a man left for execution, that the terrific interest of the work gave it an immense success. Hugo now prepared to make a second attack on the stiff and unnatural dramatic system prevalent in his country. On the 26th February, 1830, his 'Ernani' was played at the Théâtre Français. The indignation of the old and the enthusiasm of the new party knew no bounds. The academy went so far as to lay a complaint against the innovation at the foot of the throne, but Charles X, with a good sense which would have been very serviceable to him four months later, replied, that 'in matters of art he was no more than a private person.' Meanwhile the drama, which was far superior in construction to 'Cromwell,' succeeded. Shortly after the revolution of July, his 'Marion de Lorme,' embodying his new political tastes, and which had been suppressed by the censorship under the restoration, was brought out, and was considered theatrically successful. In January, 1832, his play, 'Le Roi S'amuse,' was performed at the Théâtre Français, and the next day interdicted by the government. This was scarcely necessary, the piece had not been warmly received; in fact, people, however willing to be amused, especially at the expense of monarchs, did not like to see the quondam royalist employed in burlesquing the historical heroes of their country. M. Hugo afterward published a number of dramatic pieces of various merit; among them are 'Lucrèce Borgia,' 'Marie Tudor,' 'Angelo,' and 'Ruy Blas.' His greatest novel is 'Nôtre Dame de Paris.' He has since produced 'Chants du Creépuscle,' and 'Voix Intérieures.' In the works of this poet may be found some of the sublimest creations of French poetry. It is to be regretted that, side by side with these, the author's preverted taste led him to place images the most monstrous and disgusting. He was created a peer of France by Louis Philippe, and, on the downfall of that monarch, avowing the principles of the revolution, was returned to the constituent, and afterward to
