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Show A STORY OF VICTOR HUGO.-"I believe in a providence," said he to a company gathered around him in the Rue de Cheby, "because I am a providence myself." Being asked for an explanation, the poet replied. "We caught a mouse yesterday evening. Its death sentence was already pronounced, when my little granddaughter, Jeanne, with eyes glistening with tears, begged for the life of the gray prisoner. Her mother hesitated whether to listen to the dear little advocate or not and in her doubt said, ‘Grandfather shall decide.' So they came to me. For a moment I held the power of life and death over the diminutive creature, and I thought: The heavenly providence may find itself in my situation when the fate of a being of higher order is to be determined. Naturally, I set the mouse free, for when a man undertakes the role of providence on a small scale, he should at least imitate its generosity."-The Literary World. |