Litchfield enquirer., 1879-08-21
Religious Prospects in France.
OPINIONS OF M. REMAIN.

heuR1OuS fTOSpecCS Ill Erauce.
 OPINIONS OF M. REMAIN.
 A correspondent of the Whitehall Review, has called upon M. Renan, and asked him his opinion on the present condition of religious thought among the lower classes in France.
 '' I will give you my opinion with the greatest pleasure answered the great SGUGRt. 1t is pleasure to converse with you, and l will as readily discuss that subject with you as any other He leant back in his chair and re- fected for moment, and then began: The lower classes in France are distinctly positiv- lsts and free thinkers. The working classes in towns are still more -t they are anti clerlcal. In the country the peasants are sim- ply sceptical but in the towns there IS a deep- rooted dislike to all that savers of the priest hood
 'Surely this is a production of modern times p suggested.
 '' 'No, said M. Renan. This is not a growth of yesterday, although, of course such phase of thought naturally takes time to develop. The French workingman will not believe in the supernatural. Speak to him of angels: "Who had ever seen them ?" he will ask, land what influence can we directly trace to them ?" Speak to him of prayer, and he will ask: 'Prove to me that prayer has ever been of any avail" Mo- continued M. Renan, with a smile the French workman is distinctly positivist, and only trusts to his own common sense. The way in which this scepticism has spread is of course. simple enough-by conversation; and this is the reason why it is not so fully developed in the country as in the town. In the country @ laboring man lives more or less an isolated life, whereas in the great centers men are gregarious, and conversation and argument naturally promulgate theories and ideas
 ''Is not the Parisian populace more scepti- cal than that of other towns? 1 inquired.
 "'No; it is the same Tn all the towns of France. The working classes deny all that is miraculous and supernatural, and have deep rooted dislike to the clergy
 'Surely this must have very bad moral tendency?
 |" No, don't think so,' said the great phil osopher. We find constantly that what we thought absolutely indispensable we can real ly get on very well without and there can be no doubt that the lower classes in France to- day are infinitely more moral than they were formerly. Take, for instance, the department 1 know best, that of Seine ct Marne. Looking at the Assize Calendar, one is at first shocked at the great number of crimes and offences, but on inquiry one discovers that Tn former days there were infinitely more, only then 1 they were not punished and consequently not recorded and commented on.'
 But the Celt is essentially romantic, super stitous and sentimental Without a God where can he find vent for these sentiments2 We have had much of our sentimentalty worn out of us, replied M. Renan, with sad smile and have become very practical
 ''The French Revolution was doubtless the cause of this, observed"
 'In a great measure no doubt; but then, see, some of the leading men were not athe- ists. Robespierre for example, was a deist, believed in a primary and divine cause, in future life-in a word, in the supernatural. So did St. Just
 But the lower classes when they proclaim themselves positivists can hardly understand the meaning of the word?
 "Of course they do not understand it in it's full sense. Their theory is not the elaborate theory of Auguste Comte, who founded school or, more properly speaking, church. They merely trust to their comIuOn sense and their common sense revolts at the idea of miracles and the supernatural In seaport towns how ever, among sailors, who are constantly at the mercy of chance and unforeseen accident, there still fingers some superstition and some belief in the supernatural, but among the rest of the lower classes of France, there is abso- lutely no such belief remaIning.'
 ''Is there no hope or chance of a religious belief inspiring the French again?
 I hardly think so,' said M. Renan. Father Hyacinthe might have some chance, UuL IIleTc IS IOO IlluCH Ol LIle pFlcSL hUOuL HlI for the multitude to adopt his precepts. You see he still celebrates mass. His scheme will, l fancy, not enjoy a very long life, although, from what hear his church is well attended. An eloquent preacher, with just sufficient idealism, but not too much, and no supersti- tion, might perhaps prevail, but almost doubt it. A complete and entire disbelief in the supernatural is too deeply rooted in the minds of all the working classes of France to be easily eradicated. What is really the most to be re- gretted in the condition of these classes in towns is their dislike to marriage and their marked tendency to endeavor to escape from such social duties and obligations Here there was pause, and then M Renan resum- ed :-'But as regards what you ask me-my opinion as to the condition of religious belief among the lower classes of France to-dayI can only say that their scepticism and their disbelief in the supernatural are profoundly As have said before, the workingman trusts to his own common sense, and will not merely believe legend because it is told him, and if he cannot find in his own experience some proof that it is true.'