ldren and went out to saunter
in the public gardens or on the Boulevards, and wherever they went they
carried happiness with them.

Hugo was still a royalist. It was more a sentiment than a principle with
him, for he had not yet regarded politics with conscientious study. In
1826 a publisher made a collection of his poems, and issued them in one
volume. It brought him wealth and renown. But though all this while Hugo
was very happy in his family, yet the critics were bitter in their
attacks upon him. He was accused of plagiarism, and especially when a
new romance of his came out, he was accused of stealing it from Walter
Scott.

The poet lost his first-born, and Madame Hugo took it so much to heart
that he thought it wise to close their residence. Besides, changes had
been made in the street so as to render it less pleasant as a residence.
After one or two changes he finally settled down in the Place Royale,
where he spent many years of his life. This dwelling was furnished to
suit the taste of a poet, and was beautiful in every respect. It was
filled with statues, paintings, and exquisite furniture, and his study,
especially, was a charming apartment. Here his friends came--and they
were numerous as the leaves upon a tree. Young authors flocked to his
rooms and received counsel, and old men came to enjoy his conversation.

He next published _The Last days of the Condemned, and Notre Dame de
Paris_, which had a fine success, and covered his name with glory in
France. He now wrote _Marion Delorme_ for the theater, but the censor
would not allow it to be played. The king himself was appealed to, and
confirmed the decision of his officer, and it appeared after his fall.
This was the play which Dumas stole. When this play was rejected by the
censor, Hugo wrote another for the theatrical manager who had engaged
it, entitled _Hernani_, which had a splendid success. The opposition
which he met from the actors and actresses was at first great, but he
conquered all obstacles. The king, as if to appease him for the conduct
of his censor, gave him a pension of six thousand francs a year, but he
nobly refused to take a franc of it.

The success of _Delorme_ was very great, and the Parisian public wept
over it in dense crowds. One peculiarity of Hugo has been, that having
once written a book or play he never recalls a sentence. Not to please
managers, censors, or friends even, has he ever recalled a line, though
it were to save