The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-04-05
THE SISTER OF RENAN.
New York Evening SIM


-s.es> Of Literature Owed Much.
New York Evening Sun.
In describing the simple life of his sister
Renan was forced to cast side lights on his
own But there was no egosm in the way
ne did IT,. The two existences were SO locked
together, the thoughts Of brother and sister
ran so side by side like the parallel lines
that meet at infinity as to make separate
treatment impossible. That the savants
career would have been a very different
one had he not enjoyed the watchful care
OF Henriette Renan is plain from the slight
est perusal of the memoir and letters. Even
the great mans very prose style, the despair
or all lovers OF the beautiful, was formed
under her keen eye and exacting criticism.
Endowed with a mind of the most sensi-
tive hneness the slightest negligence Of
phrase or expression never escaped her.
She first copied everything that her brother
wrote. She went over all the proofs careful
ly. and brought her severe canons of good
taste, formed on the French classics, TO
bear. Renan said that he doubted whether
since the days Of Port Royal, any writer
mad ever set himself a loftier ideal of per-
Iect dlction- She did not admire many
temporary writer's, and did not show much
content on reading over the early essays
written by her brother during her absence
from France. She found in them exaggera-
ton, harShness of tone and a want of re-
spect for the language. She convinced the
imagery denoted either misplaced preten-
sion or ignorance of the writer's real re-
sources: fundamental change in his style
dated from this period. He formed a habit
of composing with an eye for her judgment
and willingly sacrificed any passage she OBJ
5ected TO-.
''One quality of my work." says Renan
which gave her pain was the sarcastic spirit
which possessed me, and which 1 was apt to
known real suffering, took the cautious
smile which human vanity or weakness will
provoke S to be a sort Of token Of my phil
and relinquished 1t little by little for her
| sake. now see how right she was. Good
men should be simply good. Every touch of
| sarcasm implies some residuum of vanity
and personal defiance. which in the long run
surely degenerates into want of taste"
The circumstances under which the present
| book saw the light were quite in accordance
with the deep reverence in which the mem
brother. To him she was saint, as she will
| be to everybody who reads the pious ac-
| count. 1t was in September. 1862, that Ernest
"a Memorial for Those who Knew Her.
/ Only hundred copies were printed, In its
opening lines occurred the following sem
tence: These pages are not intended for
| the general public, and will never be offered
| to It." Even SO late as 1883 Renan in his
My sister was SO modest, her aversion to the
hustle of the world was so extreme that if L
had offered these pages (the Memors) to the
general public should have fancied her cast
I have felt that it would be a sort of desc
Grafton. have no right to expose
memory ] hold sacred the Scornful
| judgment which is part Of the right acquired
over work by purchase" In codicil to
his mind as to authorize the present reprint,
saying: "My wife will decide the nature of
the publicity to be given to my little volume
| OF memorials to my sister Henriette." 1t was
Nine Renan who selected the letters which
It is probable that Renan realized the i'm
/ possibility Of keeping the little work in the
| semi-privacy in which 1T had continued so
| long. General literature would have lost
been written. As matter of fact. Henriette
| Renan, the Woodworking goyerness, the deep
| student, the guardian angel of a brilliant
| ties If she had cared to use them for herself,
is now an imperishable figure in the records of
beautiful womanhood.
| life was that which showed itself when her
! brother PREACHED to her the matter of his
| marriage. Some time before she proposed
an alliance with a. young girl who. she
thought, would bring him happiness. But it
fell through: Renan was not prepared for
| the storm that broke forth when he tod
| her that he had made a choice for him
| self. She said that she had only suggested
his marrying in the first instance in the
| desire of trying his affection for herself.
When she warned him that the instant of
| his union with another person would be
| still. Did she Imply that this was the real
| feeling actuating her; that she actually de-
| sired TO raise obstacles in the way of the
marriage he hoped for? No! 1t was but
| the whirlwind in her passionate SOUL the
| revolt OF heart whose love was strong to
violence.
.At last" writes Renan, "the day
| dawned that was to end the cruel suffering.
| Driven into choosing between two affections,
which verged Emo most t Closely on duty. told
Mdlle. Scheffer that 1 could never see her
again until my sisters heart ceased to bleed
at the thought of our meetings. This took
| place in the evening. i went home and told
my sister what L had done. A great revul-
sion swept over her soul. The thought of
having prevented union so much desired
by me filed her with bitterest remorse.
| Very early next morning she FASTENED TO
Mr. Sheffers home and and spent spent long hours a
| tended bride. They parted cheerfully and in
firm friendship. After my marriage. indeed,
! IT was her savings that rendered the young
housekeeping a possibility. Without her
could never have COPIED with my new pos
Henriette Renan became the second moth
| err of her brothers children, and sacrificed
| She aided him during his archaeological ex-
/ petition to Syria and the Holy Land. In re-
iigion she was more nearly a Protestant
than anything else In the words of him she
| served SO well ''she loved all goodness and
| beauty without any of the calculating spirit
that seems to say 20 Coo; III heaven 1a ,, and
But God will not permit His saints to see
| corruption Mans immortality Is in
Gods memory. And there my Henriette. in
| everlastine- radiance and eternal sinlessness,
lives with a life a thousand times more
| real than when she wrestled, in her feeble
| strength, to create her spiritual personality,
| and. cast upon world which never knew
how TO understand her, strove obstnately
to attain the perfect state. Let us hold fast
her memory as precious demonstration or
those eternal truths WHEREOF every virtuous
life contributes proof 49,
In another place he exclaims: "Oh, my
God: have done all that in me lay TO In
| sure her happiness2"
| Hor INNINGS.