, 1873-07-24
REMAINS "ANTICHRIST."

REMAINS "ANTlCHRIsT."
nj @ %anS; : y Huoss fS5T,sn"ss 4 as{ Se
Tho author Of "The L!fo OF JoBus" ID as oaro-
fuE nH Hi impreantlo nhout tho conditions undor
which now work of hiN appears before tho
public. Tho AntichriBt Ina boon waiting D
loug as tho political fermentation continued,
Now thnt Afaratal MaoA1ahon ruloa instead Of
a, Thers; Ronnn could almost gay with. Virgil,
aotor il so o.s.io that Ill tho t.rrors Thioh ds-
turhed tho country month ago have completely
vanished; onr minds arc pao' hcd, and we can
read books aBain. Ronnn Ind carefully watched
his opportunity, and bs fecds Our hungry Apo
tiles with hH new work on tho origin Of Chris
tiAnity.
It is nootlless to say that tho "Lifo Of Josus ~
aoon booanlo popular; It has attained tho o1cop-
Gpal number Of thlrtocn editions: The Two
their character, leaH romantic, II may ray 80,
and micro flllod with tho somewhat arid details Of
exogosls. rho frst edtionH Of "Tho Apostles I"
is % e aa 81 rfs bo ss ars nSi IT s Gsto S1spssa
had not popular succoss. though Il will never
equal that Of tho " Lifo Of Jogus." Thoro Is
something In tho very nRrno OF the "AntichriBt"
wcm st1hss n tho pooe9 n a,,a and this now
egesis; tho other half Ia giyon to history.
In Ills introduction, nonan onters into an
elaborate discussion az to tho authorship Of tho
Apocalypse. which Is generally attributed to st.,
work Of q mombor Of tho Church Of Jer1salom;
tho Apocalypse Ia not Of tho PAULINE Bohool-it
broathos constant hatred Of tho dentilos. 1ts
author doeB not boong to the broad church; ho
Jorusalom nomo Ia to him tho city Of abomina-
tions; ho 1ias seen Its idolatroua pomps and its
crimes; Jerusalom Is tho beloved city. Tho
author Of the great Apocalypse is very eonvors-
have known not only tho Greek but tho
Ilobrow language. All these traits can DO
wolf applied to st. John. IL. Roman doubts, how
oyor, II st. john wrote tho Apocalypse him.
''that he know It, and ho allowed It to circulate
under Lis na.no." What Ia this lhese II. Roman
spoaks OF : He considers the Apocalypse ns q
sort OF mysterious manifesto, as protest agninst
porors. st. John was not q literary man, ono
who could from momory, with fragments OF the
| ancient jewish book, compoBe sort Of mystical
pamphlet Of this sort. Either tho eynoptio
EvangolistH arc wrong whom they represent tho
Apostles as pain and rudo NOR, and not rs learn
od and scholastic, lilo tho scribcs and phariaooH,
Or st. John was not utely to havo composed tho
Apocalypse himself but in time when people
did not care much about literary property, ho
may bayo accepted it, and allowed It to circulate
under ha name.
Tho book Of Ii. nenan opens with tho captivity
Of st. Paul in Rome. Moro Is cntoring his
94th yoar:: Tho cell OF st. Paul becomes tho
focus Of tho now religion, which Soon hnds de-
tho Jews, among tho slaves, the freedmen.
Renan admits tho tradition Of tho arrival Of st.
Foter Mt Romo st: Potor reproaonta tho passions
Of tho school Of Jerusalem, Of tho narrow
church, aud, though ho WIS full OF admiration
for Paul, ho follows him and acts aa prudent
guido and counselor. Tho gonoral bo1lof Of tho
churollos in the second century Of our era was
that Peter suffered martyrdom in Rome, but th6
that tho journey Of st. Peter to Rome llad nevor
taken place.. in order to shake tho worry
Foundation Of tho Papacy. Tho question hns
not 40 much Importance aR was Mt first beloved,
az it is we'll aBcortainod that Jesus did not insti
was not tho founder Of The EpiHcopato, aud that
ho wAH not likely to chooBe out Rome, from all
other places, as tho scat Of the rrinate Of the
Church. The vexcd question Of st. Poter's
Journey to Rome haa bocomo q mero historical
problem. II. Roman solyes 1t in the affirmative.
IIo represents. in vivid co1ors, tho followers Of
the new sect in tho mdat of imperial 1lorne, the
city Of horrors and crimes, tho now Babylon,
sad, full Of IN undiBguiaod antipathy for tho
lor,an world. turning thonl away from tho old
sanctuarios Of tho official religion, uccuHod by tho
multitude OF the most mysterious aud 1oinous
crimeH.
In win old St. Paul proach submission to tho
tians had oil tho ardor Of tic zealots Of Judoa
tlcy Ind tho spirit Of martyra. And how could
their sombre outhusnHm not be stirred by tho
sight Of Rome Tho world was given up to a
mAdman. "Whon Cnsar lost hiH mind, when
all the artories Of his feeblo load, disturbed by
gu uuhoaEd-of power, broke ut tho same timo,
then madness began to rulo. Under Moro, it
was someshng atrocloua and comical OF tho
samo tlMe, gfandioso ana abaurd. AS the
larry literary. The dreams Of all tho centuries,
g. gu 1ho pgomn, all tho iogonds1 BacohuB and
s snaroa1napalua Nihas l ana tflah. Troy anu Baby
ION, Homer, anu tno poema OF hia own time
were Aoating together IN tug brain Of medi-;
eore artistic, iuu OF concolt, to whom fato
hau given tho power to realizo AZ his chlmoraH.
Let US y imagine man aa Bensihlo as tho heroes
o. a.; s1csor H., hugo, pereeenago Or carnival
mixture OF tue nlatiman, tue 1ocrlsae, and tho
actor. with an absolute power, and charged with
the y m!Hs1on 2, Of governing tho world. He bud
not tho tn blaek s @ 9f poman lovo
Of ova1 l Tor sho saAo OF evn ho was not extraV-
ngant IKE Callgua; he vas . conscientious ro-
mantsque an emperor OF TUG opora melomane,
Mno trsmbloa before the ParterTo, and who made
u tromoe p9tore nlm, anu WOULD nowadays DO
poufseols, Ehoso common eons9 would have been
fC