The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1864-06-04
Par Ernest Remains Life of Jesus.

Far Ernest Remains Life OF Jesus
This emanation from one of the most brill
liant minds Of France has produced deep i'm
preston in the religious world. The Pope,
the Cardinals, the Bishops, the Priests, and
the intelligent members of the Catholic
Church generally, have been much stirred up,
and the Church of England and all the Ortho-
dox religious denominations both in Europe
and in this country, have not escaped the ex-
have also been deeply interested in this pro-
duction of French genius. The British and
American Reviews have taken it up and Sc
verely criticised its doctrines, fearing their
tendency to evil, and praising the literary ex-
celence OF the work.
The volume has obtained large circula-
ton and q vast popularity. The Edinburgh
Review says this wide circulation and great
popularity are not altogether due to the de-
structive tendencies of Its doctrines, but due
also to the fact that the author has presented
q very clear and definite conception of the
person OF Christ to thousands who had never
read or thought much upon the subject. 1t
says, it were better for man to become ac-
quainted with the life of Christ through the
pages Of M. Renan, than not to become ac-
quainted with it at ALL"
This is a concession to the merits OF the
volume that we should not have expected
from such quarter; nevertheless it may be
true. We are quite sure, however, that the
severely Puritanical and the sternly Orthodox
would hardly consent to such statement
They might think it better for person to be
entirely ignorant Of the history and person of
Jesus than to possess such false information
in relation to his Divinity as M. Renan fur
nishes in his eloquent pages. Such informa-
ton might, and probably would, in the opin-
ion of these men, lead directly To Infdelity,
and that of the most hopeless kind. 1t would
furnish Inadelty with arguments to sustain
itself at the same time that 1t produced this
unbelef which all evangelical Christians, as
they denominate themselves, consider so great
sin. But over and beyond all this, NJ. Renan
has written q book whose pages abound in
descriptions of scenery rarely found in any
work-especially Of the scenery OF Galilee,
the ground over which Christ travelled, the
villages at which he sojourned, and the places
where he preached and held conversations
with the Jewish Doctors and with his own
disciples. The pages upon which such scenes
are recorded By the eloquent pen Of M. Renan,
must be deeply interesting to all classes of
readers.
Tha thar ba 0rnupd birncalf nd
travelled over the same places where Christ's
footsteps were heard eighteen hundred years
/ ago. The scenes too, Of his youth, as well as
those OF his manhood, are most graphically
described by this author. The picture he has
drawn of this landscape is one of extraordina-
~ excellence and beauty. No wonder he
said, when giving to the world such descrip-
tons, "7here nerer ,oiu be born another like
Jesus" This expression of NJ. Renan almost
redeems many portions of his volume, and
fills the heart of every reader with peculiar
pleasure whatever his religious creed may
be.
! No doubt NJ. Remains travels in Palestine,
and his repeated visits to the most interesting
and classic ground of all, Galilee, had pc cul-
lar effect upon his active mind and made him
give utterance to the sentiment above quoted.
1 It was there he said, "All that history which
while was at distance, seemed always TO
float in some unreal cloud-land, assumed a
body and a solidty which astonished me-
The striking agreement of locality with text
the marvellous harmony Of the evangelic ideal
with the landscape which served 1t for q
frame, were for me like new revelation
This shows what impressions he received
while viewing this interesting portion of our
globe. In fact, he exclaimed, II saw an ad-
mirable human form actually live and move
He might have said, "The very stones Of the
Holy Land cried out" In his brilliant i'm
agination the brightness Of His presence who
once traversed these regions, threw halo over
the most rugged rocks and desolate wastes OF
Judsa and made the scene enchanting TO
him.
We confess 1t Is somewhat surprising that
/ NJ. Renan should so far forget these elevated
thoughts and emotions which he certainly en-
| tertained and felt at different periods, as to
write some passages that are found in the
pages OF this volume, which is only prelimina-
~ to three other volumes ia which he intends
10 write the" History of the Origin of Chris
tianity," and trace the gradual growth OF
Christian ideas down to Constantine's reign.
The Christian, as well as the literary world,
will look for these promised works with much
interest; for NJ. Renan has proved abundant
iy that he possesses great literary excellence,
brilliant imagination and style of writing
which but few have ever attained. Portions
Of the volume under review almost make us
believe that he will become, ere he finishes his
forthcoming works, not almost, but altogether
. Christian. One thing is quite probable; he
will either plunge deeper into inidelity, or
mount higher into the bright regions OF Chris
tianity. Such mind as NJ. Renan possesses
cannot remain stationary while contemplating
such momentous and interesting subjects
Let him remember,
"Study IL like the heavens glorious sun
That will not be deep-searched with sauey looks"
Lieutenant Stevens.