Morning journal and courier., 1880-06-24

! ] ble Christians consider as among the most
 striking proofs of the divine mission of Jesus. | In the famous aIdfe's he makes no serious att tempt to disproye any alleged miracle, find- | ing it more convenient to assume that the his l tory of each one of them must, of necessity i be fabulous. The story of the resurrection of Lazarus puzzles him little, the evidence l being obviously of the strongest but he dis poses of 1t to his own satisfaction by declar- l ing that on this one occasion the Founder of ] our faith was probably guilty of fraud and conspiracy.
 The merits of the e.Vie de Jesus, D such as | they are, may be resolved into two, both purely literary. The French is excellent, and I the descriptive passages though too often marred by great faults of taste, are vivid and 1 picturesque. The critical value of the book l is slight. 'tThat jet of rose-water,' 3 growled Strauss contemptuously, twill not eStinguish l the altar fire" Bunsen sighed to think Re I nan had been brought up by the Jesuits. sHThey just managed" :" he said, Ito spoil him ! for a scholar.' There is more truth in this remark than appears at first sight, for Renan | has fought with the weapons of the Jesuits. | He can scarcely be termed fair controver- l sialist, perhaps it would be juster to say he cannot always be so considered Occasional ! ly he will sum up controversy with that inn partiality which, springing as it does from l the conflict of 8 multitude of noble sympa ! thies is among the highest manifestations of ! genius.
 ! The statement in one of his essays of the I relative logical strength of Catholicism and Professionalism is an admirable specimen Of temperate and lucid exposition, whether we agree or not with the writer. His opinion, by the way, is briefly this: As against the Pro | testantism of the Thirty-nine Articles, or the Westminster Confession, Rome can claim the victory. But the new Professionalism, which follows the spirit rather than the letter, the | creed of the Arnolds and Matrices and Stan leys. seems to him to be based on stronger foundations than those of dogmatic Catholic ism Renan's own faith seems to be vague Pan theism, with a half hope of the immortality of the soul and a fancy that justice may pos sibly be done to mankind hereafter. This you gather from his private conversation as much as from his books Indeed, it is ina tete-
 a-tete interview that he is seen at his best, for then he talks, not for effect, but simply to ex- plain his meaning and to elicit your own op1n l ions He is not bit proud, and will listen as courteously to the crude utterances of l lad fresh from college as he would to the well weighed expressions of Jowett or Dollin ger. He knows that the opinions of youth | have their value as well as those of age. He is absolutely frank in conversation, re- 1 vealing himself as a pure skeptic, in the true l sense of that much-abused word. He sus- bends his judgment on the great problems of natural religion He doubts of God; doubts of his own doubt, and jealously scrutinizes l the cause of his unbelief. Sometimes he startles you by such paradox as the follow ing: q will believe in Christianity the mo- ment find anybody else who does" He will add: q know several very good men who call themselves Christians, but each and
 all would find it necessary to explain away score of Christ's precepts if questioned as to whether they strictly followed their masters injunctions. No, Christianity is an ideal dreamed of by poet-never realized. But what is the use of trying to attain to height which even Fenelon and Lacordaire could not reach ?n
 The answer is sufficiently near at hand. Re nan will probably have pointed out the weak ness of his own argument before you have time to do so. Then, having restricted the orthodox view (far better than most champi- ons of religion could), he proceeds to assail it from another side.
 You depart from this intellectual feast con- vinced that the giver of it is man of the quickest susceptibilties, of the kindliest feel 1 ings and of the keenest wit; but, perhaps, ! too, recalling some words from a greater book than any our age has produced about him that doubteth, 'twho is like wave of the sea, ! driven with the wind and tossed, D and feeling ' that not from such comes the regeneration of @ country.
 The events of Renan's life apart from the publication of his different works, have been ! few and uneventfu1 His nomination to the
  l G862) provoked such sturbances-iberal | and Clerical students yelling at one another | and at the professor during the delivery of his ! inaugural address-that Renan adopted the simple expedient of keeping the peace by giY- ! ing no more lectures. The leisure thus gain. ed he devoted to bringing out the life of Jesus," then M Duruy cancelled his ap- 1 pointment. The minister cared nothing | about the subject, or, if he had any opinion, l was rather on the side of Renan than the 1 clergy But he could not openly support the | heresiarch and was fain to be content with
 bestowing comfortable place in the Imperial Library upon him. After September 4, 1870,
 Renan was reappointed Professor of Hebrew,
 | but he has small love for the republic. The l systems of government he most admires are 1 the English and the Prussian. Modern dem ocracy vexes his cultured soul by it's vulgarity, ! so any checks are useful which may help to restrain it's action. An hereditary aristocra- l cy, compulsory military service, a hng-nay, l 8 pope-were better ruler than parliament I elected by grocers and tailors with no one to keep them in order.
 I M. Renan's private life has never, by his ! worst enemies, been made subject of re proach He is so amiable man that Dupan- I loup, his old tutor, cherished hope almost ! to the last that they would some day be re- l conciled to one another, and very likely they I will, in happier manner than that imagined 1 by the good Bishop.