British Quarterly Review. October, 1863. (Jackson, Walford, and Hodder.)—Another very
solid six shillings' worth. The paper on M. Renan's " Life of Jesus," otherwise able, fails in this, that it does not do bare justice to his conception. The Jesus of M. Renan, says the writer, is "fit only to be the object of the bitterest execration or the most supreme contempt. His life was a blasphemous imposture, his death an indirect suicide." Like all other exaggeration, this sort of language will do more harm than good. Devout Christians do not need it in order to feel the pain which M. Renan's book will give them. The mass of mankind, unfortunately, are not devout Christians, and when they read the book, and find out what M. Renan's conception really is, the natural reaction of generous minds against misrepresentation will be likely to prejudice them in its favour. Among a mass of rather heavy papers, there is one on the Swiss writer Gotthelf, to be welcomed as much for its excellence as because it introduces us to the one great imaginative writer of Switzerland, who deserves to be better known in this country than he is.
Previous page
