The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-04 00:00:00

by themselves, as a kind of pillar to light up life in
the darkness of the past ages, and it will be well
worth your while, if you can get into the under-
standing of what these people were and what they
did." In allusion to reading iu general, Mr.
CARLYLE made some impressive remarks in his
usual grand style. He declared that itwaast
ifa a man
nerro-
neous notion, which some people had, that
were reading any work at all it was better thandonwon-
thin cr In short, he considered, as he wrote
0.
somewhere, that books were like men's souls,
divided into sheep and goats. Some of them are
calculated to be of very great advantage in
teaching—in forwarding the teaching of all
generations, but " others are going down,
down, down, down, more and more wilder, and
wilder mischief. Very truly did Mr. CARLYLE say
to the students around him that beyond technical
perfection and alone particular knowledge was a
higher and better aim. " Blessed is he that getteth
understanding." In these days more especially it is
very important that those who are entering on life
should know and feel that they must be on their
guard as to what literature they make their study.
It is quite refreshing to peruse Mr. CARLYLE'S
remarks upon the daily events and matters to
which such infinite importance is attached by many,
but which, looked at philosophically, are really of no
intrinsic value, and in themselves not worth the
struggling and stirring upon them. 44 No man
learns, or very few men know, what benefit
to get out of their money. In fact, it too often
secretly is a curse to him. Much better for
him never to have had any, but I do not
expect that generally to be believed."
Mr. CARLYLE goes down (deep into the
true meaning of things, he clears away the mists
which are too apt to gather round our social ways,
and shows us how false and fatal are the errors we
are makingperfection,
allthe while that we think we are approach-
ingifhcategory,Wise have
and he touches upon
not actually reached it.
All come under
the inconsistent way in which maid-servants are
brought up. They are getting instructed in the
ologies," and so on, and are apparently ignorant
of brewing, toiling, and baking—" above all things,
not taught what is necessary to be known, from the
highest to the lowest, strict obedience, humility, and
correct moral conduct." This is very true ; many
have found to their sad experience, and what is a
mistake in one rank of life will be so in another, if
people are rushing into extremes and forgetting the
primary claims of practical duties in their theoreti-
cal visions of excellence and grandeur.
Mr. CARLYLE thinks a great deal of the value of
silence. He thinks too much talk is the ruin of the
present day, and as for the illustrations of old times,
he thinks that PHOCION, who did not speak at all,
was a great deal nearer hitting the mark than
DEMOSTHENES. As for vocal education itself, he
thinks that great care should be exercised in order
to make the best of it, not to allow it to slip out of
our fingers and remain worse than it was. " For
if a good speaker, an eloquent speaker, is not speak-
ing the truth, is there a more horrid object in
creation ?" Mr. CARLYLE recommended the study
of one of GOETHE'S masterpieces of thought and
reflection ; it is one of the pieces in WILHELM
MEISTER'S Travels, and he considers it to be one of
the most remarkable bits of writing that he has
known to be executed in these late centuries. In
this it is said that the function which transcends all
others in importance to build up the young genera-
tion is "Reverence," honour to those who are
grander and better than you without fear ; distinct
from fear—the soul of all religion that ever has been
among men, or ever will be." In conclusion, the
eloquent speaker gave his hearers some very useful
hints about themselves, as to what should be their
inciting influence and their propelling power in their
" I need not hide from you young gentle-
men that you have got into a very
troublous epoch of the world," says this
plain - spoken and decided teacher ; and
then he goes on to dilate upon what they will re-
quire to enable them to succeed. The crooked
things around them are manifold he declares. But
why complain of this he asks, for that is the thing
a man is born to in all its epochs. "He is born to
expend every particle of strength that GOD
ALMIGHTY has given him in doing the work he
finds he is fit for, to stand it out to the last breath
of life and do his best. We are called upon to do
that, and the reward we all get, which we are per-
fectly sure of, if we have merited it, is that we have
got the work done, or, at least, that we have tried
to do the work; for that is a great blessing in
itself, and should say there is not very much
more reward going in this world." Surely this is
true wisdom to teach to the ranks of those who are
going forth to fight the battle of life ; it breathes
the spirit of the philosopher, and speaks with the
hope of the Christian ; it tells those who succeed
in heaping up riches that they should be made good
use of, and declares to those who fail in achieving
great distinctions that they may still effect a high,
and holy purpose if they strive to benefit the gene-
ration they live in. " Cut down the proud tower-
ing thoughts that they get into, and see that they
be pure as well as high : there is a nobler ambition
than the gaining of all California would be,
or the getting of all the suffrages that are on the
planet just now." Very wise also are the observa-
tions which are made on health in this discourse.
Too many are apt to neglect this important thing
in the pursuit of other objects, and too much stress
cannot be laid upon its inestimable benefit. These
mistaken individuals are here plainly told that there
is no kind of achievement they can perform equal to
perfect health. Mr. CARLYLE'S last words are full
of meaning. He tells his hearers not to think that
piety means people to be austere and morose. The
eternal sky is over the world, and it must not be
called a dismal prison-house. He exhorted them
to stand up to their work and not to be discouraged,
and, above all, not to think that every one is against
them, because each is pushing on in his own direc-
tion. " Keep out of literature, as a general rule, I
should say also," declared Mr. CARLYLE, to the
' amusement of his hearers. Altogether, we may
affirm, that this inauguration speech was worthy of
tke occasion ; and, if more solid than brilliant, was
well calculated to be of service to those who, flushed
with the pride of knowledge, perhaps needed in-
struction as to how and when this learning might
avail them, and what they should regard with the
most earnest attention and interest.

careers.

ing the example of Edinburg
The West Riding of Yorkshirhe
lhhads bseheenffifeoildloNsi-n-
-holding a Reform meeting. Lord HouGuToN took
the chair and delivered the opening address, which,
as is usually the case with his speeches, was sen-
sible, moderate, and conciliatory. More violent
speakers were of course not wanting, ani Mr. C. A.
LEATIIA3I was the principal representative of the
ultra party, but for the most part the gentlemen
present supported the measure on reasonable
grounds, regretting that it had not been
found possible or desirable to introduce a
larger and more liberal measure so as to deal with
the question in a more comprehensive spirit, but
accepting the bill as a step in the right direction,
which was at least better than standing still.
Lord HOUGHTON in his address dwelt especially