IN 1798, while the author of this work was residing in London, exiled from France by the horrors of the Revolution, and gaining a subsistence by the productions of his pen, which were tinctured with the skepticism and infidelity of the times, he was informed of the death of his venerable mother, whose last days had been embittered by the recollection of his errors, and who had left him, in her dying moments, a solemn admonition to retrace his steps. The thought of having saddened the old age of that tender and religious parent who had borne him in her womb, overwhelmed him with confusion; the tears gushed from his eyes, and the Christian sentiments in which he had been educated returned under the impulses of a generous and affectionate heart: "I wept and I believed." But the trouble which harassed his mind did not entirely vanish, until he had formed the plan of redeeming his first publications by the consecration of his splendid abilities to the honor of religion. Such was the origin of the Genius of Christianity, in the composition of which he labored with "all the ardor of a son who was erecting a mausoleum to his mother."*

* Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe, vol. i.

When this work made its appearance, in 1802, infidelity was the order of the day in France. That beautiful country, whose people had once held so prominent a rank among the Catholic nations of Europe, presented but a vast scene of ruins, the fatal consequences of that systematic war which impious sophists. had waged against religion during the latter half of the eighteenth century. The Revolution had swept away in its desolating course all the landmarks of the ancient society. Churches and altars had been overthrown; the priests of God had been massacred, or driven into exile; asylums of virtue and learning had been profaned and laid waste; every thing august and sacred had disappeared. In the political and social sphere the same terrific destruction was witnessed. After a succession of convulsions, which had overthrown the Bourbon dynasty, and during which the passions of men had rioted amid the wildest anarchy and the most savage acts of bloodshed, the chief authority became vested in a consul whose mission was to re-establish social order, and whose efforts in that direction were gladly welcomed by the nation, grown weary and sick, as it were, of the dreadful calamities. that had come upon them. It was an auspicious moment for the fearless champion of Christianity, to herald the claims of that religion whose doctrines constitute the only safe guide of the governing and the governed. But, among a people who to a great extent had conceived a profound antipathy to the theory and practice of religion, by the artful and persevering efforts of an infidel philosophy to render the Christian name an object of derision and contempt, a new

method of argument was necessary to obtain even a hearing in the case, much more to bring back the popular mind to a due veneration for the Church and her teachings. It would have been useless, when the great principles of religious belief were disregarded, when the authority of ages was set at naught, to undertake the vindication of Christianity by the exhibition of those external evidences which demonstrate its divine origin. Men had become deluded with the idea that the Christian religion, or the Church, (for these terms are synonymous,) had been a serious obstacle in the way of human progress; that, having been invented in a barbarous age, its dogmas were absurd and its ceremonies ridiculous; that it tended to enslave the mind, opposed the arts and sciences, and was in general hostile to the liberty of man and the advancement of civilization. It was necessary, therefore, in order to refute these errors, to exhibit the intrinsic excellence and beauty of the Christian religion, to show its analogy with the dictates of natural reason, its admirable correspondence with the instincts of the human heart, its ennobling influence upon literature and the arts, its beneficent effects upon society, its wonderful achievements for the civilization and happiness of nations, its infinite superiority over all other systems, in elevating the character, improving the condition, and answering the wants of man, under all the circumstances of life; in a word, to show, according to the design of our author, not that the Christian religion is excellent because it comes from God, but that it comes from God because it is excellent.

that/

For this purpose, he passes in review the principal

mysteries and tenets of Christianity, draws a comparison between Christian and pagan literature, displays the advantages which painting, sculpture, and the other arts, have derived from religious inspiration, its accordance with the scenes of nature and the sentiments of the heart, describes the wonders of missionary enterprise, the extensive services of the monastic orders, and concludes with a general survey of the immense blessings conferred upon mankind by the Christian Church. In displaying this magnificent picture to the contemplation of the reader, the author employs all the resources of ancient and modern learning, the information derived from extensive travel and a profound study of human nature, and those ornaments of style which the loftiest poetry and the most glowing fancy can place at his command. In turn the philosopher, the historian, the traveller, and the poet, he adopts every means of promoting the great end in view,-to enamor the heart of man with the charms of religion, and to prove that she is eminently the source of all that is "lovely and of good report," of all that is beautiful and sublime. Among all the works of Chateaubriand, none, perhaps, is so remarkable as this for that combination of impressive eloquence, descriptive power, and pathetic sentiment, which imparts such a fascination to his style, and which caused Napoleon I. to observe, that it was "not the style of Racine, but of a prophet; that nature had given him the sacred flame, and it breathed in all his works."

The publication of such a work at such a time could not but enlist against it a powerful opposition among

!

the advocates of infidelity; but its superior excellence
and brilliant character obtained an easy triumph over
the critics who had attempted to crush its influence.
In two years it had passed through seven editions;
and such was the popularity it acquired, that it was
translated into the Italian, German, and Russian lan-
guages. In France, the friends of religion hailed it as
the olive branch of peace and hope-a messenger of
heaven, sent forth to solace the general affliction, to
heal the wounds of so many desolate hearts, after the
frightful deluge of impiety which had laid waste that
unfortunate country. On the other hand, the waver-
ing in faith, and even they who had been perverted by
the sophistry of the times, were drawn to a profitable
investigation of religion, by the new and irresistible
charms that had been thrown around it. It cannot be
denied that the Genius of Christianity exerted a most
powerful and beneficial influence in Europe for the
good of religion and the improvement of literature.
The eloquent Balmes has well said: "The mysterious
hand which governs the universe seems to hold in re-
serve, for every great crisis of society, an extraordinary
Atheism was bathing France in a sea of
tears and blood. An unknown man silently traverses
the ocean,
... returns to his native soil."
He finds there "the ruins and ashes of ancient temples
devoured by the flames or destroyed by violence; the
remains of a multitude of innocent victims, buried in
the graves which formerly afforded an asylum to per-
secuted Christians. He observes, however, that some-
thing is in agitation: he sees that religion is about to
redescend upon France, like consolation upon the un-

man.