, 1879-07-31
4. TALK WITH. KENAN.

LIVES On Tie BecoHu loof Of spacious OLD MOTEL
at No. 1G Hue st. Gu!l'aumc, Paris. "As en-.
!nred hts bright, airy study the other morning.
snys tho rpportcr, "tha vast power which q
strong. clear. enthusiastic intelligence eau c1cs-
cise oyer the world struck me most fosclblv; for
tho benevolent aud alablc old gentleman who so
kindly greeted me and apo1oeized for not being
sble, by reason Of rheumatism, TO r,sa, was one
who had endcnvorcd, and With some SUCCESS, to
destroy d faith whlcu has been cher
ished by ths majority of cultivated bel1gs
ever Alnco the beginning Of the wosld,-a belief
III the divine and sunernaturat. Let no one
imagine that the great opponent of Christianity
has anything OF ths crpiclsm Of VoltMre about
| him. No nau is more human nnd kindly than
II. Roman, anlt Ills sympathy for men ID ns true
| and sinccseaa bis dlBtrust IN Divinity. Person.
| ally, there Ia nUtllthe remarkable to notice In
him, except, perhaps, his Kind genial smile aud
the brilliant, sllarp Rlanee Ut his eye, which l.as
| penetrated through mountains OF manuscript
| nn1 inscription TO get Ut tue secret Of truth.
Our clint naturally at the. beginning turned Oh
the events of the day. and lie aotd, speaking Of
the iase terrible tfnge'ly in Atr5ca: ,a~,,,,. -.
the calnmty. Tile frnce's courageo death
wns hut The natural result Of tmprudence and
hot youth, and there Is, to mt Hlinu4 nobody TO
| bfatnc in tho tnlttcr.'
| ain a fow moments announced frankly to
him tho object of rnatutinal Visit, nnl told him
tlMt Ind come to him, as The greatest author
| tty OIL the subject to nAls his oplnton on tile
prcsent condition Of religious thought a,'ong
tho lower classes In FJauce.-onc Of the most
vitality important questions Of thu day.
| al viii give you my opinion with the greatest
pleasure aaswereu the great sa7ant. II u u
pleasure 10 converse with rou, md will as
readily discuss. TINT subject with yon Us aay
olhcr.' lIu leaned bark. ils Ills cualr and re-
| lectei for moment, and tlGn began: Tie
lower ciasses iu France arc distinctly postivists
and troe-ttnGers. Tie working c'asses III
towns are still In0Te-thcY arc antt-clcrlcal. LII
tllc country toHns tho peasants are simply
skepiical; but 10 tie towns there Is deep
rooted dislike to all that savors OF the priest
hood"
Surely. this is a production Of modern
~ No. sud ii. Renau. This Is not growth
Of yesterday. although, OF course, s,lcl q phase
| Of thought naturally takcs ttmc to develop. Tile
Frsnch workfngman will not believe IN the
supernatural Spcak 70 him Of angels: "Who
has ever seen thcn,!'' hs Will AJAX, 'nnd what
Influence Gun we directly trace 20 tlleman speBk
to him Of prayer. and he Will nsk, Provo to
nc that PRAYER has ever bccn OF any avail No.
continued II Rcnau, With tt,l!e, The Ftcnrh
workman is distinctly u poaltlyift, ard onlY
trusts to Ills own common sense, The way in
which thts sticptlctam has sprehd Is, OF course,
simple euough,-ty conversation: and th!e Is
tic reason why It IS not 30 fully doSelopcd III
the country as In the town. In the country n
lahorlugmat, lives mora or less an isolated life,
wi,oreas III the srcnt ccutrcs Enen aro eTegarouB.
aud conversation ard argument Daturally pro-
alulguto theosics and tdeas.'
Il Is not tile paristan popu!ace more skept}cal
thau that OF other towns! Inquired.
WNu; It. Is The sR.nG III all the towns Of
France The workns.classes dcuy NIL that Is
miraculous and supernatural, md have deep.
rooted dislike to tue clergy
"eurcly this must have very bad moral ten.
'' asNo, don't think So said tho great phlos.
opflcr. .Wa fl,d constantly TINT wtal wo
thought absolutely Indispensable We can really
yet ou very we'll without. And flitre eau ba no
duubt thAt the lover e'assca In Franco today
arc infinitely mosr moral than they wero for.
merly, Take, for Instance, The Department
| know best, that Of Seine Ut Marine. Looking
IL lt,r Assize Calendar, ono IL at first shocked
at the great number Ut crimes and oncnses, but
on Inquiry one discovers that In former days
there were Infinitely more, onlJ then 1lscJ wers
not punished, and consequently not recorded
| md commented en-
"put lte Cot Is essentially EoTa T;antlc, super
; whera can he find vent for these sentitnentsi
H'Wc have Ind much Of our sentIlucu.
tally worn out OF u.s. replied N. Rcuan. Htth 4
sud smile, and have become very practfrat''
"The French Revolution was doubtless tho
cause ot thir, observed.
"'In great measure, no doubt: bur thcp,
SEQ. soma Of tie leading ucn were not atheists:
Kobcsplerrc, for example, was a deist, believed
Ia u primary mud divine cause, IN future Ilfe,-.
il i word, in The supernatural. So did St. Just
"iInt tic lower classcs when they proclaim
themselves poHtisIsts eau hardly understand the
meansuI Of u!eWurd!
full sense, Their theory is not The elaborate
theory OF Augusta Comte, who founded sclool,
Or, more pr0pcrlY speaking, d church. They
n,erely trust to their cons,nau setse, and Their
eulI1lun srusu reyolts at the idea OF miracles
mt, thr supernatural. 1u seaport towus, how.
ever, anlauE sailors, who are constantly at the
mercy ut clatce md unforeseen accident, tlert
still lnger soino superstition and sono belief III
TIC supernatural, but among the rest Of tlle
lower cl4sses of Franco there Ia absolutely Nc
such belief rcEalnilig.'
"1s there nu hopu or c,ancu OF religious be-
lief inapFin@ ,le Frenrl1 agalna
al hardly think So said NJ. Renan. Father
Hyacinthe might have sotno Chance, but there II
too much Of ihe priest about him for Tie multi
tuds TO adopt he prcccpss. You sec ho still cclc
bratc. mass. Ills dctcusu will, fancy, not I'll,
loyn very long ltfe, although, from what hcar
Ills church 10 well attuuacl. .tn eloquent prcse
ur, With lust sufficient idralisln, but not too
much, anl no superstition, u!lEht perhaps pro
ya. but a!most Doubt 1t. 4 cou,pIetu and GU
tire disbelief III lhe supernatural is too decnl,
snuted In tbs l!tnds Of all 1te working elassei
uf Franco 10 DC casfly eradieated. What II
really tho must 10 10 regretted IL the eontitlo[
Of these classes III torns VI thrtr dislike 10 unr
rls.a aud lteir marked tundency to cilueayur Il
ascape from sleh soela! lui!c nlll obligations.
liasu ihure was palssc, nn!l tlen M ltcnan re-
saluc.i: But ~ regards what you ask me-uy
upln10fl u u ltlH FellHlaIh Otlle! A"!oHE Lux
luyur claAses OF Francs to.uay-l can only sal
tlmt their skeplietsln md tlaIr disbelief III u,
supernatural arc profound. As llavs sail liz
tt,tr, thu workinEman trusts to h!h u.su rntunlol
srnsr, and WY rot lscre!y beieys y tsgeu1 "
cause 1t ts told him. ail II h0 cannot iild tn Ill
own experience soue proof t!,al It Ia lsue.'
"Thrso rensurks having closed the subject,
turned tu ull.cr ulatters, anil uakel II. hena,l
shat lhad Heard Was lruu,-'.c., tlaat SONS of tl
leaders u 1lit. late cotmnna Wefe u,cn Ut rsa
ability. lie luughea ald stioUk lli& head. No
, none of lien. [ Hncw l.a Cectlia psrunnully
Hu WAS zimp,y i ulatilnan. Raoul Fayault ha'
capacity, t,l,i capacity fur eyll'
"Aml Floufultsa Inquired.
"'Ah! Flulrcn* WIZ QUO uf tho most worth
, nf all, II. Rullan remarked. [le, ct least, WI
bra1u al,l enthusiastic. liz IL, perhaps, tn0r
to ba pitieu tlla blalMed.'
''Just " thlA juneturo breakfast WAS nnnoun
ccd, and .oul< tuy luaye OF tlls great kayunt
who warmly invited lla to coElo ogaiu 10 20
, lllnl iu thu autumn, amd kindly offered to tax
| NO tb the Academy snill0 day 10 bs present q
, scsnca OF tha Immortal Furky.h
, A Human Otter,
: Latter 10 CA1efftlun StFs.