The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-02-01

Here is parable Of the rats clipped from
"A scotch paper: A lab0Ter at the DUNDEE
larbOr recently told has wife on awakeninl
an the morning a curious dream which ht
had during the night. He dreamed thai
be saw coming toward him IN single fle ioul
rats. The first one was very fat, and wa
followed by two lean ones, the rear raj
being blind. The dreamer was greatly
troubled, rs there IS q superstition among
the ignorant that to dream Of rats fore
BODIES calamity. lie appealed TO his wife
concerning this. but she could not interpret
iae ill-omened dream. His son. sharl
lad, who had heard his fathers tory, Nolun.
teered to be the Interpreter. "Ihe fat rat.
me said, ''is the man who Keeps the pubic
house that We gang TO sac often; and the two
lean ones are me and my mother, and the
blind one is yourself, father
Esligiou. Unbelief
Religious unbelief, contemplate when il
is the outcome OF animal passions, rebellln-
against 'creeds that refine and restrain,
is. at all events, respectable II u IS tlc re-
suit Of conscientious inquiry. There rs .
true sense in the Olt-quOted lines OF Lord
rennysOn concerning the faith that lives lu
honest doubt. Hence the care with which
10 becomes us TO judge the motives % those
who reject Christianity. OF the most of
these persons even Of the portion Who ue,
heir pen TO explain their views, 1t Is dill
cult TO be quite sure that the opinion of
those who know them IS correct. Bul OF
! one prominent man Of letters, whose in'
huence in the civilized world is more dli-
fused, more penetrating. and more active
| than that of any other living Frencnm4n
! we have abundant means of judging. And
! 10 cannot be without "a good influence ON
| the NEST religious spirit 90 weigh carefully
| the mental dispositions and tendencies oi
he Frenchman 10 whom we alludc, II.
Renan.
He has called himself Gun pretre man
que" How far will careful student OF i-
writings approve Of this description of hm-
self Our own opinion is That VI. Renau ls
right in 50 calling himself The iaitn 20, b ,
childhood dwells with him as a sentiment.
lts poetry survives, side ~ side with tine
criticism which has been fatal 20 10 q, a
creed. Here Is an explanation of toe two
voices which are constantly heard through
out his writings. Il would Doe easy 10 accu-
mulate from bis volumes passages breath
ng the deepest spirit of piey; that abuega-
/ ton that elevation, that ideailsm, which
| are the essence of an religions.
More guarded must Doe our attitude Toe
ward his claim that he alone, iu bis time,
has really understood the Divine Founder
Of Christianity aud the Umbrian Saint, in
whom the image Of the trucihod SCENE
most perfectly reproduced. still. unqut--
tiOnably, whatever grave objections may
be made. aud ought to be made, from the
| point Of view both of critical science and
| II religious reverence, we cannot deny that
ae presents a living embodiment Of tire
purest idealism, where the popular theoio-
gy has been too apt tO offer dead ab5trac-
| ton.
NJ Rsuan is, nm fact. priest, whose go--
! pe is religious sentiment; and in "a critic
whose last words L. that for such sentiment
no basis Of fact is within reach.
| There u.s. at the present moment, a strong
| revival Of mysticism in France, by a sort of
natural reaction from the coarse and vulgar
earth TO Earth philosophy, which for SO long
! has made such proud bOasting i'm that
| country. We find its tokens everywhere iu
. literature. from the reasoned treatise to the
| unreasonable romance. 10 may doubtless
/ hn, ia many cases. mere Alteration, mere
! dilettantian. But, taken as a whole, It is
something more. II represents the iusatia-
| bic laying of mans spirit for nobler nOuI-
ishment than the sWinish husks which
! alone materialism has 10 offer. II repre-
SCENTS the aspiration alter the supersensual.
the eternal, the divine, which no fork OF
| pOsitivsm will ever cXpcl from humanity.
To this craving, this aspiration, NJ. Renan
ministers with poetry derived from the Old
Testament and with poetry borrowed from
the New.
II Christianity depended upon a pseudo
scientific view of IFS sacred books. formed
az an unscieutiilc period, aud irrecOncilca-
bic with the conclusions of real science.
Christianity would Doe doomed. The "tri-
diti0nal thesis" as NJ. Renan eXpOunds il.
les. 10 certain extent, IN this case. We
#
OF Christian dogma, such as that which
represents the doctrines of Christian
fy To have sprung, Uniformed, from
the Divine Founder, like Pdllas from
the head of Zeus. The metaphysical for
mulas. i'm which faith ombOdics its ideals.
having antecedents and require due prepI-
ration in time. Creeds are essential 20 re-
ligiOn as words are 90 thought. Neither
can exist without symbols. But the sym-
holzed is greater anddecper and older than
the symbol
Nor does this view in the least deny or
impugn the Christian revelation. The facts
of the Divine Life. with their redcmptNe
aud recreatiYe energy, are not the subject
of evolution. The Confessions ln which We
sum up one appreciation and Interpretation
of these facts, are slowly elaborated hy the
human intellect. II is impossible 10 deny
this. without shutting our eyes % the plain
est lessons of ecclesiastical history. But
we cannot, Tor one moment, allow that the
historical fact Of the gradual growth OF .hr
Christian creed "OccultO velut arbOr UNo'
supplies valid argument against il, any
more than we can allow that facts estab- |
lished by modern oXegesls regarding tbc
date authorship, or scientific language Of |
the Christian Sacred Books, affect their real |
claims upon our religious reverence.
As 20 the apprehension of the gradual |
evolution of dogma, which NJ. Renan |
thought Incompatible with the sincere pro-
res-i0n of the Roman Catholic religion, we
nav remark that IL is, in substance, the
foundation Of Cardinal Newman's ''Essay
IN Development" the orthodoxy of which.
90 tar as we know, has never been called in
question by the authorities of his Church.
Finally. NJ. Ronan argues that a super
natural fact-a MIRACLES impossible, be-
,ause ID would be abnormal; an iniractiOn
# the order OF the universe; a violation of
aw. But every thing depends upon what
+, meant by NORM 'Order of the uni !
erse," claw" Better is the definition oil
Iaut. that "mirac es are events in the
world, with the laws of whose working we
ne. aud always must be, unacquaintad."
There is profound truth in G0ethe's
ictum that the mere understanding finds
natter for laughter ia every thing, lhe
lHINtN III UdiuAN hHt NuiNAs ~ We aunt ] )
hat VI. Renan has the faith that lives Oh
onest doubt, We must still insist, that
aasOn il an endowment, in which he, ike
'oltane before him, is terribly deficient. |
Ind il is precisely the quality essential for
lust view OF these supreme problems Of
bought, with which NJ. Renan has 80 much A.
ccupi d himself.-London Quarterly fOg !
Religion Ia the Texas Univer-ity. 4
Several years o. at the suggestion oil a
r. Waggener. general meeting of the d
Iiristers OF Austin was held in the uniYer- v
Is building 10 devise the best way OF Z
ringing Christian Influences 10 bear lpon :
diversity students. These good and true G
IN nave done their duty nobly. With the Il
.riiai end practical cooperation Of DR.. u
agge or, early in each scholastic year 8
~ have procured the names OF those who s.
r whose parents) are members Of their II
spectiye churches; have sought them out, "
We visited them in person, have invited l
I'm 10 their homes, and have arranged IT. 81
ptiOns for tb0ir entertainment. In CT
,rd, these representatives Of the bOliest 10
ling known 80 men have let nothing un.
ne 10 bring university students beneath
, protecting egis OF the Church.
dead the following, which is one of many us
lilar card, incloscd In envelopes aud adj. Cl