The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1879-03-04
TUESDAY MORNING, MARCH 4
Paganism In Fiction.

We confess to no great liking for the special
ly religious novel, in which there is so often a
parade of devotion and Intrusion of pious senti-
ment that are go forced and artificial as to bs
di tinctly offensive; but that any one should at
tempt to portray conflicts Of passion and emo
tioo, to give what are designed to bs faithful
'elseatons of life, and yet eliminate currents
thought and motives Of action which enter
to and color al phases of human existence
nd human experience, See ms to US very ex-
.raodinary. II we can imagine any one wholly
ignorant of our civilization. we may suppose
him endeavoring to learn something of our
habits and manners, OF our morals, of our
phases Of feeling, of our tendencies of thought
~ perusing such popular books as are de-
clared to give the "age and body Of the time its
form and pressure Let us follow a student
OF this kind through the pages of Mr. Blocks
macleod of Dare" this being the most widely
read novel Of the day. For the first time in
his life, we may believe, he finds himself in
contact with people who are utterly without
the religious irstinct--who being oppressed by
sorrows, suffering under misfortune, tbwarted
in their hopes, plunged into grief and despair,
exhibit not the slightest perception Of grand
Christian scheme which is designed to bring
solace to the heavy hearted and offer compen-
sation in the future for sufferngs endured
here. Neither the grief-stricken mother al d
her attendants in Castle Dare on the bleak ard
remote Scottish coast, nor the gay pleasure
seekers in the heart of fashionable London,
seem ever to have heard of such thing as an
overriding Providence, of such trust IS faith,
OF such duty as submission, of such promise
as Immortality, of such possession as Chris
tianity. We have designated this utter excla-
sion Of religious thought as paganism-but ey-
en- the pagans called upon their gods, and had
vague surmises as to worlds beyond this, while
the men and women who move and have their
being in the story we have mentioned are as
iusensible to every religious aspiration as so
many statues. The inquisitivs stranger who
peruses this book and Others of its kind would
be puzzled indeed If he knew in advance that
the surface of the country is dotted with
churches, and most elaborate initiation or
ganized, the teachings of which begin in a
mau' infancy and follow him through life to
his dying hour. Are we to assume that this
elimination OF Christianity was conscious or
unconscious-a deliberate purpose TO cast out
God, or simply and evasion of an idea that
would have uncomfortably complicated the
artistic design of the author? We suspect the
latter suggestion to be the true solution, yet
how is it that religious convictions should thus
complicate the purpose of a writer? And how
ii this be true, is he privileged to disregard an
important factor in his problem simply be.
nse 1t adds TO bis difficulties? The
author of macleod of Dare is skill
full and tireless in his analysis of motive
and feeling; he psnetrates the workings of the
heart, and attempts to reveal all its mysteries.
yet he deliberately eliminates a whole range of
emotion, casts out q definite and powerful body
iQf1nonnQo M l.
lever or not can make no difference in this
matter. Whatever his own religious conyic.
tious may be. he was bound in depicting his
imaginary people, to show them governed
by the ideas and living uEder the conditions
that pertain to men and women in real life.
Our readers understand, of course that We ace
not citing Mr.. Black for special criticism, but
simply as Representative of the modern secular
novelist. ln numerous novels similar pagan
ism is evinced. 10 Mr. Hardy 3 The Return OF
the Native religious thought is not SO mplete-
~ 'gnored as in Macle cd of Dare, but the hero
inc, Eustacie Wye. is as thorough q pagan as
ever lived-self-indu lgent, sensuous, tbirsting
for the life and passion of the world, almost
without an idea of responsibilities or Christian
duties, giving scarcely an intimation that she
bad lived under the influences of the clviliza-
ton OF to-day. 1t is right enough artissicalIv
Tor novelists to depict their heroes and hero
ines as rejecting Christianity; they may imag-
Inc at pleasure communities Of infidels and ma
gans and they may trace the growth of a man "a
heart and mind who has bsen educated a.
John Stuart Mill was, in entire neglect of re-
iigion; but bow can they be justified 10 nor
raying characters who. being reared in the
there were no such thing as Christianity We
ask this question more in the interest," of art
than OF morals. L. is not at all certain that the
novel would be chastened or its influence
;ens nerer oy the INCORPORATION of relig-
catured or distorted-but it is clear that nic-
lures OF life cannot be considered true or ado
quate that fail to measure the sum of thinrs
tnat make up our civilization and 90 to form
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