New-York tribune., 1876-06-17
PARTISAN TOPICS.
, r1rFR FROM HENRY JAMES, JR.

MINOR ART EAhlbil ilioN NN-' ' "
vxposIrloN OF 1878.
,rpoM A REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF TIE TRIBUNEJ
PARIS. May 27.-M Ernest Renan has just pub
vebed n new volume, which will not fail to ma lts
~ sneedily into the hands of all lovers of good
s;,;nc A new volume 10y Ronan is an intellectual
.aa, if be is not the first of French writer's don't
,novv who NAV claim the title. In these Dialogues
:. Fragments Phiosophiques." indeed, it is the dia-
,,os clone that are new; they occupy but hall OF
.L yolume the rest of which is composed OF re-
nr;nted pieces. The dialogues are sort OF Je"
S,,orii. but jG Gesp'it of a very superior kind
,bo recreation of a man of elevated genius. They
,ofoced nv a few pages breathing a very de-
voted potriotsm and proving that the authors ex-
rh;tant intellectual roveries have not relaxed his
rse of the plain duties of citizenship TO WIN back
.hot esteem whlchhe appears willing to concede that
.i", hove in some degree forfeited, he exhOrts his
felIow-countrymen above all Things 10 WORK
IT,. ooch he says, surpass himself i'll his own
oticular professor. " so that the world may still
r. Of no 'Ihesc FIcuchmen still the sous of
-; fathers: eighty years ago CondoTcet, iii the
,a;1ot of the Reign of Terror, waiting for death in
bis biding-place in the Rue Seryandoni, wrote his
skatcb of the Progress of the Human Mind" NJ
Renan imagines a group of friends who assemble IN
oouiet corner of park of Versailles, to exchange
ro6ections upon tho ensemble de FUniverS." The
IL il ,Ntrnsi.e, and it may we'll take half "a
dozen takers to cover the ground. Three persons
however take the lead, each one of whom unfolds
b;sportcular view of the Cosmos. These three views
are casSed by NJ. Renan under the respective heads
Of Csrtsjnties. Probabilities and Reverles. He dis
claims them all as q representation vi his own
onipions, and says that he has simply entertained
himself with imagining what might be urged and
argued in each direction. IT is probable, however,
that if lis convictions aud feelings not identi-
cal with those either of his nerOcutors they have
y oreat deal III common with the whole mass Of the
discussion and that PhilalctheS, Tbeophrastus and
Tbeoctistes are but names for certain moods OF NJ
Remains mind. If so, can only congratulate HIM
upon the extraordinary ingenuity and fertility OF
his intellect and the entertaining company OF MS
thoughts These pages are full of good things adj
mirably SAID, of brilliant and exquisite suggestions,
and of happy contributions TO human WISDOM
Their fault is the fault which for some time has been
increasing in NJ Remains writnga sort of intellec-
tua foppshnesS, love of paradox and OF distinction
for distinctions sake. His great merit has always
been his natural distinction, but now, in this same
distinction, IN tie aTectation of views which are
,othing ii not exquisite, views sifted and filtered
through an infinite intellectual experience there Is
something rather selfcOnscious and artificial. Ihe
reader cannot help wishing that NJ. Renan might be
Brought into more immediate contact with general
lie itself general life as distinguished from that
horizon of pure learning which surrounds the
cabinet de Gdra1 of u Partisan scholar suspect
ING that, if this could happen, some OF
his fne-spun doubts and perpiexites world
find very natural solution. and some ot his
fallacies die very natural death
Plrlalethes, the exponent of NJ. Remains Certain
ties is not so certain about some things as hsrends
might have expected bat his skepttisln is narrowed
itGt tO graceful.
"In factr he saws, if | had been priest, |
should never have been willing to accept a
fee for INV mass | should have been afraid OF dong
a. the shopkeeper who delivers for money an empty
bag. Just so l should have had scruple
about drawing profit from my religious belIe1s'
should have been afraid of seeming to distribute
false notes and to prevent poor people, oy putting
them off with dubious hopes, from claiming thelr
portion in TINS world. These things are suostahI'
enough for us To talk about them to 1--we oy theh'
to think of them always; bat they arc no.
certain enough to enable us to be sure tha'
in pretending to teach them we are not mistaken
"a IN the ouaty of the goods delivered" Iheo-
nbrostus who discourses On probabilities" takes,
on the whole cheerful view Of the future
IL must be confessed with considerable aOatc-
mcnts. He agrees probably III gre"
measure with TheOctistes who remarks
81 have never said that the future was Cheerful
Who Knows whether the truth Is not sad r lhco-
nbrostus thinks that the maturity Of the world is TO
arrive by the expansion of science-On condition. III
deed that the mechanical theory OF heat succeeds
within five or SIX hundred years IN nventmga substI-
tntc for coal If it fails-and the failure Is quite
probable" humanity will enter into sort OF medi-
oortv from which she will hardly have the means to
EMERGE II must be added that Thcophrastus is
nrepared TO see art and beauty as we have hitherto
IN dlsanppaT. ." the VIII perhaps
come 1--WE already see its dawn when a great artist,
yirtuous man. will be antiquated, almost useless
things"
Tho spcculations of TheOctstes, however, are
much the most curious lie inagines "a develop
uent of science 80 infinite and immeasurable that
Il will extend our relations beyond the limits OF the
planet on which we dwell and he deems the function
of this perfected machine to be above all the produc-
ton of great men. The great men may he so selected
and sifted and improved that human perfection may
at last concentrate itself in extremely superior
being who will hold all the universe III
cheerful and grateful subordinatiOn. This is what
Theoctistes calls God being realized" With these
sentiments it is not surprising that he should not
expect that God viii be realized by a democracy.
He gets into deeper water than he always buffet
but his style is the perfection of expression. must
quote few lines more. "For myself, relish the
universe through that sort of general sentiment
20 which we owe il that are sad in sad city, gay
I'm a gay city. | ENJOY thus the pleasures of those
given up to pleasure, the debaucLery Of the debau-
ebee. tho worldhness of the wording the holiness
OF the virtuous man, the moditatOns OF the sdrdHt
the aust4rity of the asCetic. BY a sort of sweet
sympathy imagine TO myself that | am their CON
sciousness. The discoveries of the 8dcdm are my
property; the t1umphs of the ambitious are my
festival should be sorry that ANYTHING should he